CJStephens15

Interesting color scheme, wasn't expecting the Orange track. Looks very similar to Dominator down at KD. Hopefully they take out that trim on the drop and it should be a great ride. So it looks like the only modifications come after the break run (no more corkscrew)?

Great photos. Thanks for sharing!

Anyone visit over the weekend? How were crowds/waits for coasters on Saturday and/or Sunday?

Best seat on the whole train. I love Gatekeeper... I'll never understand the hate it gets. Agreed and agreed. After getting a solid amount of laps on it this summer I'd have to say it has jumped to my 3rd favorite coaster in the park behind MF and Maverick.

Gatekeeper front row left wing one week ago at dusk

I really want to say mine was Apollo's Chariot around ~2000. Still one of my favorites.

^Are Sunday's the rest of the month generally about the same low crowd level? I'm hoping to make one more trip to Hershey this month. Would love to marathon some Skyrush/Stormrunner

*Coaster drop

For anyone who hasn't: give Hydra a front row ride at night, totally different experience. That first drop into the rock pit in near darkness beats any other drop in the park.

Trip Report from yesterday, Sunday Sept. 7th. Got to the park right for opening at 11. It was pretty evident that crowds would be light from the parking lot. Broke the normal routine of right to MF for first ride of the day and opted for a quick ride on Raptor since the line was about 10 minutes. Grabbed the second row and had a great first ride of the day. Started to head towards the back of the park next. Mantis, MF, and Iron Dragon were not opened yet so headed back on frontier trail towards Maverick. Skyhawk was a walk on so I jumped on it for a quick ride before Maverick. By this time MF, TTD, and basically all the rides in the park were operating. Got to Maverick and the line was about three quarters through the first set of switchbacks. Surprisingly the line moved super fast and I was on for a back row ride within 15-20 minutes. Pulling back into the station after that ride I saw that the line was now only down the stairs! So naturally I jumped back in line and opted for a front row ride this time and only waited about 10-15 minutes. Great start to the day. Headed over to Magnum for a walk-on ride in the 3rd row. Next up was TTD which had about a 15-20 minute wait for a middle row. Then over to MF which at this point (maybe 2pm-ish) had the longest line of the day at a little under 30 minutes. Opted for a back row ride. After that I wanted to grab a ride on Mantis in case I don’t get on it again within the next 6ish weeks. Line was down the stairs but only because there was about 10 minutes of downtime. Once that was up it was only another 10 minutes or so for a front row ride. I’ve never had a hatred for Mantis like some do, but it’s far from my favorite ride in the park. Sad to see it go but I’m sure what CP has in store will be much much more enjoyable. At this point it was between 3-4pm and I headed up towards the front of the park. Gatekeeper was a walk on so I grabbed 3 straight rides, 2nd row left, 2nd row right and 6th row right. Great rides as usual, glass smooth and I’m still in love with the first drop. Definitely my 3rd or 4th favorite ride in the park behind MF and Maverick and arguably TTD. After GK I walked onto MaXair and Windseeker which were both fun. I’d never been on Windseeker before (always been down on my past visits) and it was a cool experience. Now that I’d gotten on everything I wanted to, it was time to get as many laps on the big 3 as possible. By now it was around 5:30pm and crowds began to thin even more. Went back to MF and the line was just down the ramp. Waited about 10-15min for a second row ride. Next back to Maverick which had about half the first set of switchbacks filled. Line moved super fast again and was on for a second row ride in about 10-15 minutes. Headed back over to TTD and discovered that the line wasn’t even out of the station; something I’ve maybe seen once in the past 11 years. Got two more rides in the second and third row. After that it was about 7pm and time for MF. The line at this point was back to the unloading station and I was able to grab two more rides one being 3rd row and the next being 2nd row. After that it was about 7:45 and the line started to fill up down the ramp so I opted for GK as last ride of the day. Waited about 4 trains for a front row left side ride and I have to say this is probably my favorite seat on the ride. Excellent last ride to end the night on. Headed out right around the 8pm closing time. Some notes: -Absolutely gorgeous day. Mid 70’s as a high, low winds and not a cloud in the sky. This in addition to the almost non-existent crowds made for the perfect day at the point. I will definitely be returning this weekend next season. -Had no restrain troubles all day minus some road(coaster?) rash from the Mantis bicycle seat. I forget if the non-front rows are this way, but the front has that hump in between the middle two seats (I was 2nd seat from left) which made it really difficult to stand up straight correctly as it messes with your natural foot placement. No head banging though but I’ve never had much of an issue with that. Maverick and Magnum were totally fine, although I never had an issue with Maverick. -Operations were stellar. As far as I noticed there was next to no downtime on most rides. TTD and Maverick were hauling all day which was really refreshing to see. Final count: X4: MF, GK X3: TTD, Maverick X1: Raptor, Magnum, Mantis, Skyhawk, MaXair, Windseeker

Heading up to the point tomorrow for the day. Looks like it's going to be a beautiful day with ~10mph winds. Everything should be operating like normal, correct? Looking to get many re-rides on a low crowd day!

"Stand up jo-jo roll" made me cringe

Everyone please stop joking about Mantis going to Dorney. Please just stop. I'm skeptical about a relocation/total removal, so I'm pulling for a good overhaul with new paint/trains/theming/etc. I never had a huge problem with Mantis so hopefully an overhaul will make me really enjoy it.

5 year plan right there hahahaha

BEES?

Michigan's Adventure Agreed though about the coaster. I'd really like to think 2016 or 2017 will be our year. Dive Machine behind Thunder Canyon, anyone?

This. Same thing with people moving into a development built next to a major highway and complaining about noise. They knew what they were signing up for moving into an area like that. Anyway I believe I have seen a satellite image of Dorney that outlined some potential areas for expansion and one that was highlighted was the smaller parking lot area out from the WWK wavepool and Talon's drop. Not a huge area but I'm sure it could be utilized one way or another. The parking lot is enormous and as already stated I don't think I've ever seen it even 3/4 filled (granted I never go busy weekends in the summer).

Assuming that is a legitimate screenshot, how would someone have their hands on that animation? Just curious.

Spent the day at the park today. Crowds were more than I expected but still nothing insane. Longest wait was about one hour for Storm Runner around mid day and that's only because one side went down for a short period. Won't go into a detailed trip report but I'll share my thoughts on what I rode quickly. Fahrenheit - (x1) 8/10: First stop of the day. Sat front row on the only ride of the day with about a 45 minute wait. First time ridding this as I haven't been to Hershey since 2006ish. Had a smooth ride and didn't hit much rattle (if any) through the cobra or any other inversions. Nice pop of air towards the end. Vertical lift and drop were fun but the height/speed was nothing to write home about. Storm Runner - (x3) 9/10: Other than the close to an hour wait when one side went down for a short period (also waited for the front this round) we didn't wait more than 30ish minutes the other two times (rode 3rd row and second to last). I'm a big Storm Runner fan. Launch is one of my favorites anywhere. Great air over the top hat and the rest of the ride just hauls through those inversions. Last ride of the day was riding this second to last row at night and it was incredible, especially being pulled through that snake dive. Can't say anything bad about this ride, only wish it was a bit longer. Great Bear - (x2) 7/10: Had about a 30-45 minute wait both times (second and last row). Not one of my favorite B&M inverts but I can appreciate the custom layout and enjoy the turnaround before the drop. The ride just kinda crawls through the rest of the layout after the heartline which is a letdown. SDL - (x1) 6/10: Not much to say here. Only about a 15 min wait. I like how SDL is built into the landscape of the park and that might be my favorite aspect of the ride. Lightning Racer - (x1) 6/10: Rode Lightning side with a quick 10-15min wait. Doesn't deliver much aside from the racing aspect but it could be a lot worse as far as roughness goes. Wish this ride had some airtime. Skyrush - (x2) 9/10: This is what I came to ride. Waited about 45 minutes for my first ride in left wing of row 3. I was blown away by the ejector airtime over each of those hills; seriously felt like I could have slipped through my restraints over that first hill. The ride hauled through the rest of the course and loved being thrown through the twists and turns. Second ride was only about 30 min for last row right wing. Just as great of an experience back here, lots of fun being pulled through the course especially up and over the first hill. I had no problem with pain or anything from the restraints which was nice. I was only slightly disappointed with the first drop as it really didn't feel like 200ft. Really great ride overall. Skipped all the other coasters as I've ridden them before and the waits were longer than it'd be worth to re-ride any of them. Overall great day at one of my favorite parks in the state.

I actually think having backwards trains on Ka would take away from the experience. Half of the fun of the ride is sitting there staring up at the tower waiting to be launched, imo. Although I realize that the chances of this happening are slim-none.

KK trains turned backwards and marketed as a brand new You Only Live Once experience? In all seriousness I would be excited to see lap bar trains but I can't imagine that would happen. Maybe they'll figure out a way to get approval for KK/Zu to run together?

The park is down to weekend operations only now aka the park won't be open during the announcement so it really wouldn't make a difference. On the plus side hopefully we start seeing even more progress with construction now that the park is closed during the week/the announcement coming in just a few days.

^^Thursday the 21st, I think I heard at 11am EST. I also believe they will be live streaming it.

That's what Cedar Point was for until Skyhawk broke. Not a fan of Revolution? Ride The Claw at Hershey. That's what it's supposed to do. It's no Giant Frisbee but it's badass anyway when being run properly, I promise. Oh yeah, I agree Hershey's is a much more fun experience than Dorney's

I've never been a fan of Revolution. I wish Dorney would have put in a Huss giant frisbee instead. Add that and a large, non-upcharge Screamin' Swing and Dorney could have had a really impressive flat line-up developed over the years.