Physical

The new park models are pretty decent as far as fair rides go. I actually prefer them to Zamperla's Hawk Manual control so you're kind of at the mercy of the op, but the last few times I've been to SFGAdv the ops on El Diablo were pretty decent, weren't making it just whip around far too fast (Which is my major complaint about Zamperlas model, it goes around far too fast for my taste) and gave us some pretty decent hangtime, along with a very good stall at the top of the loop.

Seatbelts can be loosened. Lap bars can't unless you're carrying a restraint key with you. The front seat (or car 1, rows 2 and 3, to a lesser extent) ejector airtime on the hills (especially the first one, before the first turn) is actually pretty impressive, even if you have your seatbelt as tight as it'll get, it'll be loose by the final turnaround. I've walked away with bruised knees before from being thrown into the non-padded part of the buzz bar.

Despite the complete silence on Dorney's part, after talking with a number of people, a general consensus has been reached on what Dorney is doing for 2016. New trains for Thunderhawk (with lap bars instead of buzz bars ) and a general refurbishment. I would assume this entails retracking and maybe a bit of reprofiling (Here's hoping the trim on the airtime finale is removed) This is just rumors but I firmly believe this is what they're is doing for 2016.

Sorry, there are no single riders lines except for X-treme Challenge. I wish there were for the coasters. I wonder if I can be "that guy" and shove my way through the queue going "SINGLE RIDER SINGLE RIDER"

I'm going to Hershey next week, however I'm going alone. I've been there multiple times with groups, and never noticed a single riders line on any rides. Is it possible to sit on standby waiting for an open seat? Or do I have to wait in line?

To be fair Dorney does have some busy days, sometimes randomly throughout the week. But Saturdays, the dry side always gets a 2 to 3 hour rush when the water park lets out. When I say "Rush" I mean in the Dorney sense. Most rides won't see anything over a 30 minute wait, but I came into the park as a guest last Saturday and wound up only riding Thunderhawk, as the wait for all the other majors was in excess of 45 minutes.

Been there, done that. I'd rather jump in the wave pool with all of my clothes on than ride Thunder Canyon ever again. lol If you don't mind getting wet, it's worth riding it just to watch your friends get slammed around when the raft bumps into the walls. Especially if they aren't ready for it. I remember the first time I rode it, was like "Why does this ride have seatbelts..." as soon as we were on the course, getting slammed into walls, everybody was like "Oh... That's why."

Worst overall operations is probably going to SFGAdv. Terrible stacking, extremely rude operators, ("You have to take your hat with you on Kingda Ka." then replying with "Oh cry about it" when I asked them to just throw the hat out because I'm not taking something that will do damage if it hits somebody.) and horrible stacking. Bonus points: An op on Superman tried to pick a fight with me when I was wearing a Dorney Park crew hat. Stating that Dorney is "an inferior park" and if I didn't agree I should "Do something about it." He then proceeded to throw his entire bodyweight at my restraint instead of doing the firm push that he did for everyone else in my row. Worst operations on a specific ride: Afterburn at Carowinds. Literally only the head attendant on the loading side was doing their job. The operator made the all clear call, and people in the back half of the train were screaming "WAIT WAIT NOBODY CHECKED OUR HARNESSES." Curious as to what was going on, we hopped back in line and got on the back. Turns out the rear unloading was talking to guests, when the operator called over the PA to "Check rear." "Rear unloading, check your cars." "{Name} Check the back half of the train." the rear unloading just walked down the exit and didn't come back. The head attendant checked his rows after that. When the rear unloading was actually in the station, not only did he not check his rows, but he shot an all clear implying that he did check it. Luckily the operator was paying attention and didn't dispatch it. however, I must say the crew Carowinds had on Fury 325 on the day we went, was absolutely phenomenal, the best crew I've ever seen. Literally dispatching trains on a 20 second interval. As soon as you sat down there was an attendant there to check your restraint. Very friendly, very focused, and they made up for the Afterburn crew (and the crew on all the other rides, for that matter, as operations were overall pretty bad there. At least nobody was excessively rude like they are at SFGadv)

Shockwave. It's earned its place in my scrap list. Walking off that thing I was sure it had broken my neck. Runner up: Hurler at Kings Dominion. There is absolutely no reason for that coaster to be that rough. It wasn't helped at all by having such terrible lap bars, walked away with blood running down my leg (sat in the left seat, first turn repeatedly slammed my thigh into the lap bar)

Would that make their best steel coaster the used Vekoma SLC or the used TOGO stand-up? Speaking of Stinger, if you ride it in car 4 (and only car 4, not 5, not 3) on either side, it's a /fantastic/ ride. If you haven't ridden it in 4 you're going to call BS on the next part, just hear me out. It's pretty smooth, no headbanging, and extremely forceful. On the return trip, coming into the cobra, I started to grey out. Completely changed my opinion of Stinger from "Tear this hunk of scrap out" to "This is the most comfortable torture device I've ever been on." I've never ridden a Vekoma that felt that smooth. Give it a shot if you're in the park. If you want to compare, ride it in car 1 or 7, it's a night and day difference.

Park was super dead as it rained most of the day today, snapped this pic as the storm was rolling in. I won't embed it as it's massive but you guys might appreciate this.

Sometime in September they are making an "announcement" I haven't heard about this yet. The only thing I heard was "Either new trains for Thunderhawk or retrofitting those crappy lap bars on the PTC trains." Any other details or just "an announcement?"

Very guilty

Possessed at Dorney.

Either Impulse at Knoebels or Fury 325, I believe Fury 325 was newer when I rode it though, but not by very much.

Relocate Shockwave from KD and Skyrider from CW and install Olympic Race themed stand-up dueling coasters! Shockwave is up for sale if you trust the source. Having Dorney as my home park, and riding shockwave this year for the first time, all I can say is "Thank god we aren't getting that piece of scrap" So um... not to be a downer but Demon Drop was up for sale too. And when nobody bought it we got it. So let's hope somebody buys it fast. With Demon Drop we hit the jackpot, but Shockwave is a complete train wreck of a ride. Quick! Somebody start making offers! How much are you willing to pay so we don't get Shockwave?

Relocate Shockwave from KD and Skyrider from CW and install Olympic Race themed stand-up dueling coasters! Shockwave is up for sale if you trust the source. Having Dorney as my home park, and riding shockwave this year for the first time, all I can say is "Thank god we aren't getting that piece of scrap" I've heard rumors of Dorney getting a GCI where Dinosaurs Alive is (after the 2016 season, as that's the last year for Dinosaurs Alive IIRC) and a premier rides launched. But other than that I have no idea. I will say I don't think we'll get a GCI in that area, there's Cedarbrook nursing home not very far from the back of the park, and I don't think they'd tolerate a loud woodie in that section.

So far, it was from Pennsylvania, to North Carolina for Fury 325 at Carowinds. Stopped at Kings Dominion on the way down and on the way back for I305. Good fun, but 10 hours in a car started to suck.

Intimidator at Carowinds It just felt so "meh" to me. People hyped the airtime, especially in the back row, I did enjoy that "floater to ejacter" style airtime the back provided, but it felt so darn slow. If the trim wasn't there, I think it'd be a great ride. It bit very hard, and ruined most of the airtime for the first half of the hill (in the front, middle or back) The helix also left something major to be desired. all in all, a very "meh" ride that was touted as "One of the best B&M hypers" next day edit: Don't post while drunk.

Steel: Kingda Ka Steel (non launched) Fury 325 Wooden: El Toro

Steel Force was down for most of the day due to construction of the new Haunt building nearby. They were using a crane and they didn't want to run Steel Force with a crane right next to it. The entire park had lines (Demon Drop was nearly a 20 minute wait from what I heard, I wasn't working) until Steel Force opened, then everybody ran over there. I guess that old Morgan still brings the crowds out somehow. It's earned the nickname Steel Forceless from me tbh.

There's rumors swirling around Dorney about them removing the buzz bars on thunderhawk and installing lap bars like they have on The Beast, and the KD woodies. I sure hope that's not the "improvements" they have planned for Dorney. The excuse being "We can't find parts for the PTC Buzz Bars anymore" Honestly I feel that style of lap bar is utter crap and will completely ruin the last redeeming quality of Thunderhawk. The airtime in the first half of the ride. I find those lap bars to be extremely painful as well, beats on your legs the entire ride. I can't imagine Thunderhawk would be fun with those lap bars, espessially in the final turnaround right before the trimmed air time hills. That turn is brutal as is, add in a hard metal bar (even if it's coated in foam) and you have a recipe for some bruises.

They moved Demon Drop... Anything is possible... But Demon Drop is awesome. After riding Shockwave for the first (and only) time a few weeks ago, I think I would cry if CF relocated it to Dorney. My god I have never experienced pain like I did on that ride, it was even worse than KD's Hurler. I'd imagine the excitement graph would go something like this: Dorney announces new major, extreme excitement. Dorney announces it's a relocation from another park, excitement decreasing. Dorney announces it's Shockwave, crippling depression followed by not leaving the house for a number of days.

Dorney used to have a similar ride, I believe it was called The Joker. I don't recall when it was removed, but it used to be down constantly, and parts had to be shipped in from Europe.

Went for the first time yesterday, parking lot looked crowded, but lines were very short. Longest wait was 35-40 minutes for Flying Turns. Impulse was about a 15 minute wait during the day, and <5 minute wait at night (around 9:30PM, hopped on it on the way out) I gotta say, this park has some seriously crazy flat rides, everything felt like it was turned up to 11. Downdraft spun so fast that it felt fake. I can see why people love this park, we went in expecting to spend a few hours there, after spending an entire day, I'm ready to go back for more. The flyers lived up to the hype, unfortunately most of the day the op that was there would run it full speed for about 45 seconds, then turn it down to around half speed for the rest of the cycle, regardless if people were snapping or not. We managed to get two cycles when a different op was on, and he put it on full speed the entire time. My back is still sore from some of the snaps I was getting. Phoenix truly is something else, it looks too unassuming to provide airtime like that, but after the first ride, I walked off saying "WOW." What's everyone's favorate rides there? We hit all the majors, and most of the flat rides, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's something we glossed over thinking it wasn't that good. Every single ride we got on blew us away.