YoshiFan

I was at the Willow Grove mall today too. I hate the fact I live less than 10 minutes from what was once a park and now it's just a boring mall (all the fun stores like Challenge's arcade are gone) but it closed before I had a chance to go. I always used to like watching that merry go round display above the fountain when I was younger. I also had no idea there was a park in Glenside. So that makes 2 local parks lost.

100 minute wait on a weekday in June? Sounds horrible. Were all 3 trains running? Hershey should have never installed a ride with such horrible capacity.

I don't know it if will happen next year but I see Sidewinder, the Dry Gulch Railroad and maybe the flats like the flyers and kiddie rides in the area removed next time they want to expand the boardwalk. I'd hate to see that actually happen since Sidewinder isn't that bad of a ride and the Dry Gulch is a great family ride but they are really lacking in slides there and I could see more rides being removed for another waterpark expansion.

I don't know why they are so strict about Little Laser, it never has a line so it's not like adults riding will make kids have to wait longer plus I know at a coaster event a while ago they did let adults ride so it's not like they can say it's dangerous to let adults ride. At least they got rid of the maximum height for Woodstock's Express. When it first opened in 2000, that and all the other rides in Camp Snoopy were if you were over 54", you had to ride with someone under 54" It also looks like it was very crowded for Dorney if Thunderhawk was 20 minutes and Talon was 30 minutes. It's very rare to see Talon with a 10 minute line let alone 30 minutes.

You will have no problems with Kingda Ka or Bizarro. Even if you can't fit in a regular seat on Bizarro, row 5 has larger seat but if you can fit on Batman, you should be able to fit in a regular seat on Bizarro. Kingda Ka is very accomodating, I have never seen anyone turned away. Hydra and Talon also have the larger seats if neccessary in rows 4 and 5. Voodoo might be a tight fit, the ride ops will help you buckle the seatbelt if you can't get it yourself. Do NOT go by the test seat, the belt is way shorter than the actual ride belts. I couldn't get the test seat buckled last year but when I actually tried the ride (with the advice from people on another site to ignore the test seat) I was able to buckle it myself.

It's possible it was more than just season pass holders there. Great Adventure had Coasters After Dark on May 1 and this year and in 2008 they allowed schools that were there for physics day and music in the parks to stay in the park (the park was closed that day to the general public). Lines were still short but it was still fusturating to have multiple school groups there when they advertised it as season pass holders only.

Unfortunately late August is a very crowded time to visit the park. If you are going on a weekend it is going to be jammed, weekdays are less crowded but lines are still going to be 30 minutes - 1 hour for the major rides during a lot of the day. What I would do is get there at opening and try to ride Kingda Ka, El Toro, Bizarro and Superman before crowds get bad as those are going to be the longest lines in the park. If you are planning on staying until closing, the last hour the park is open lines tend to die down as well. I would save Nitro until later since it has a very fast moving line when all 3 trains are running. A line up to the 90 minute wait time sign is roughly 30 minutes.

Great pictures, I went to the original park in the late 80's and really like it. I remember those mice cars and the pumpkin coach and the little toot boat. I remember the ride op said the boat stops at some mountain with slides in it but it was closed. I was very disappointed about that. It's kind of strange to see all those ride vehicles and other items somewhere else 20 years later.

My top 5 are: 1. Talon, 136 rides 2. Hydra, 98 rides 3. Steel Force, 91 rides 4. Nitro, 85 rides 5. Laser, 60 rides (Skull Mountain is right after that at 59 rides which will pass Laser into the top 5 since I doubt I will ever ride Laser again). I started keeping track in 2006 and have my ride numbers for every coaster at Dorney and Great Adventure but don't have accurate numbers for Rolling Thunder, Runaway Mine Train and Thunderhawk as I rode those a bunch of times before I started keeping track of rides.

It's likely no water bottles were allowed because some kids put vodka in them.

If there is lightning a certain distance from the park, the rides can't run. Last year I was there in April, Nitro shut down because of lightning and it was sunny out. Apparently there was lightning a certain distance away from the other end of the park so most if not all rides were shut down for a little while.

2 hours of SDL? Awesome, I'd really like to try that. It is such a fun ride.

I'm also surprised it was so empty, it is usually that weekdays are dead at Dorney and weekends are jammed, both the waterpark and ride side. It was empty today as well, no lines for anything even in the waterpark.

About the pricing, If the tickets don't expire, it is cheaper to buy the 9 pack if you plan to use them over time, or if it is a group of friends/family who only want a few rides they can buy the 9 ticket deal and split them up.

That line for the Dark Knight looks crazy. I don't think I have ever seen the line for it at Great Adventure that long.

It is possible people may not get as upset at Busch Parks because there are a lot less rides so you are using the lockers a lot less, the same with Cedar Point where only 2 out of 15 non kiddie coasters have them. Where at some Six Flags parks where you have over 10 rides with lockers, you are going to be using the lockers all day. Probably because most people don't realize you can't take them in line until after it is purchased. No where on any of the banners advertising the bottles or at the food stands does it say it can't be taken in line so if you buy one befor riding anything or don't see anyone getting stopped with one people might think they can be taken in line. Of course if they mentioned that on the banner, I'm sure a lot less people would buy them.

And to add to that, some stuff you have to take in the park with you. One thing that I can think of is the refillable souvenir soda bottles. They look like a great deal at $12.99 for the season with free refills all day and then $0.99 refills the rest of the season but you can't take it with you in line or leave in the station. I have to pay $1.00 each time I go to a coaster then it isn't such a money saver anymore. Then they added snack bars selling bottled soda in Superman and Nitro's lines. I don't know if all Six Flags parks have it or not but Great Adventure has a prize check, $1.00 per item. You leave the prize a games area and I guess they give you a claim ticket to get it later.

But they allow cell phones, ipods and anything else that you can fit in a pocket in line. I guess all the complaining didn't work because the article said more rides got lockers this year and Great Adventure added them to Skull Mountain and Scream Machine this year as well as at the log flume and rapids. Not counting kiddie coasters, 9 out of 11 coasters have them now

Sounds like today was just as empty as yesterday. How many trains was Bizarro running? Yesterday it was running 2 but they went down to 1 later in the day (it was never more than 10 minutes)

If nothing can be left in the station, shouldn't theft decreased more than 30%. I still don't buy the whole speed of the line argumement. Lines move faster yes but I have been to other parks without lockers that still dispatch trains faster because they have more than 2 people checking a train that seats 32 or 36 people. Plus there is the whole negative view of them. I see people getting annoyed every visit and I'm sure there are plenty of people who don't say anything and are annoyed by it. The comments say it all.

It has been closed to probably save costs. It's not because it is broken. Same with Music Express and Bumper Cars in Old Country and Tango. It is very fusturating to have those rides all SBNO after so many rides have already been removed.

Dominator at Dorney was lowered from 52" to 48" in 2008.

I agree, there are other rides better than KK at the park but the problem is that since it is the most popular rides it makes all the other lines longer. Last Tuesday in the middle of the day Nitro looked to have close to a 40 minute wait, Batman around 30 minutes, Superman 90 minutes (1 train running) partially because KK and Bizarro (not open yet at the time) were closed. On that same week last year, everything except Superman was a walk on. I hope it opens soon if only to make other lines shorter.

It was longer than Great Adventure's and Dorney's rapids, the layout was good with a lot of turns it was just more fun than the ones at Great Adventure and Dorney. I also think a lot are unhappy with the new expansion because it shows how poorly the boardwalk was planned, throwing it in the middle of Midway America and then having to have other rides removed for more expansion. There are still very few slides. When they want to add a new slide tower or two, you have to wonder what rides will be removed next?

Dorney won't be too bad, some school trips but lines shouldn't be more than 10 minutes at the most. The waterpark should also be rather empty since a lot of schools don't allow the kids on the trip to go to the waterpark. Just ride the mouse early or late the day because that is the only ride that can have a wait on a slow day thanks to their stupid policies of no more than 2 adults per car and adding seatbelts to the ride which slows down loading and that they only run 4 or 5 cars usually.