Bob O Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 Im going to visit Dorney/Hershey and Kennywood parks the first week of August and im looking for any info that might be helpful. Ive never been to these parks so any plan of attack so i can ride all the coasters, good places to eat in the parks or any other information you have would be appreciated . Also any discounts available and how do these parks handle carry-ins, ie snacks/water bottles etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 I can tell you about Kennywood. Bring your own food and drink, there are a ton of pavilions. near the jack rabbit and log jammer. You are not allowed alcohol in the park FYI. They do have very reasonably priced food. A basket of chicken strips, fries, and a drink was aroun 6 dollars. Fried Oreos, mexican food (Near the pirate ship), a sit down cafeteria, it goes on and on. Don't forget Patch Fries they are a must! Even if the queues are filled and then some on the coasters, the lines are no more then 20 -25 minutes. If you are taking kids, KW is very kid friendly, and has a lot of older rides that are awesome for kids. www.kennywood.com has a list of height restrictions, rides, and a park map. Try AAA for discounts to the park, I don't know of any other discounts, other then pepsi cans, I don't drink pepsi so I don't know. Kennywood packages are offered at some local hotels, with the room offered with tickets. There are 3 hotels on the other side of West Mifflin that are about 10 minutes from the park. Marriot Spring Suites, Comfort Inn (has an indoor pool), and an Extended Stay (they have a fridge and small kitchen) they are pretty cheap. Hope this helps. Katie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meteornotes Posted July 20, 2005 Share Posted July 20, 2005 Hershey: While the park can be very crowded, the coaster lines usually do not get too long. The exceptions are Storm Runner (because it's the newest) and Roller Soaker (because the capacity isn't all that great). If you want the RS credit, I'd advise heading there first, or waiting until closer to park closing to ride if you're going to be there the full day. The longest lines in the park are usually for the various water rides (splash down boat, rapids) so it's probably best to get to those early too. Food at Hershey is OK, nothing really stands out in my mind. They have a lot of "chain" places (Taco Bell, Subway) so you'll be able to find things you probably like. You can't bring your own food/drink into the park. Overall, the park is well run and it's one of the better parks in the US. Dorney: The water park is the big draw here, as it's one of the best in the US. Be prepared for long lines. If you have no desire to go to the waterpark, the rest of the park is pretty easy to do. I haven't been there this year, so I have no idea what the Hydra lines are like, so I can't really offer advice on that one. One strategy might be to go to the back of the park (Steel Force) and work your way forward. Honestly, I've never really had trouble with crowds here, other than at the water park. Be prepared for almost no shade (thanks, Cedar Fair!) and plenty of trash cans! As far as food, it's pretty bad here. You will not be able to bring food/drinks into the park. You're a lot better off just snacking on something safe like soft pretzels, and leaving the park for food. There's a McDonald's across the street, and just down the road are a TGI Fridays and a Carrabba's. Hope this was helpful... dt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddaver177 Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 Kennywood: You will have no problem getting on as many of the rides you want. Only on a bad day you will have a long line for PR. All the woodies are usually a small wait except for jackrabbit which can take 30 minutes. As for carry ins, they are very easy to work with. I do not know if you are allowed to bring in glass... Hershey: Storm Runner is a long line. Also Rapids can back up on a long day. The other coasters will have average waits. Lightning Racers and Super Duper Looper always have a short line. As for carry ins I do not remember the policy. Dorney: I have not been there since Hydra has opened so I can not give you that scenario. Talon and Steel Force both are about 25-45 minutes depending on the day. Feel free to email me for more info at ddaver177@aol.com for more info since I am very familiar with these parks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob O Posted July 21, 2005 Author Share Posted July 21, 2005 Thanks for the info, it is greatly appreciated!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groteslurf Posted July 28, 2005 Share Posted July 28, 2005 hello everyone, i'm planning a trip for next year June as follows : Depending on how packed the parks are mid June, we would go for following planning : arrive Cleveland on Friday 9 June Geauga lake : Saturday 10 June CP : Sunday 11 and Monday 12 June PKI : Tuesday 13 June Kennywood : Wednesday 14 June Hershey : Thursday 15 June Dorney + Waterpark : Friday 16 and Saturday 17 June SFGA : Sunday 18 June and Monday 19 June fly back fm Jfk on Monday 19 june in the evening. Does anybody know whether we can expect long or short rows ? Do (some of) these parks also have an 'express pass' similar to the express passes you can buy at the Universal parks ? If we would go for above planning, which ticket combination or season passes should we take ? Any hotels/motels near to above parks which you recommend (we don't want to spend hundreds of dollars for 1 night but we also want to avoid ending up in unclean places. We would also like to stay in places as near as possible to the parks (we'll be driving in the evening to the next park) ? Benny 'plse help' Huygen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoasterFanatic Posted July 28, 2005 Share Posted July 28, 2005 Geauga lake : Saturday 10 June Geauga Lake is very rarely corwded unless there is some kind of special event there. CP : Sunday 11 and Monday 12 June If you go both Sunday and Monday to CP, you won't have any problem riding EVERYTHING. I suggest getting sit-down meals (Bar-B-Q, TGIFridays, Macaronis) as they are about the same price and much better than any other food in the park. Expect long lines for Millie and TTD, and ride Mantis and Raptor near the end of the day. CP offers a free virtual queue called FastLane. Use it on TTD and Millie if you are there early enough to get it. You can only get 2 a day and the stamps take a week to wash off. PKI : Tuesday 13 June Should be pretty easy to get everything on a weekday. Flight of Fear and IJ are usually the big lines here. If you are there early enough, stand on the ACE plaque near the front entrance to get a walk back to the Beast, Son of Beast, or IJ. They never check membership cards. Kennywood : Wednesday 14 June Kennywood is really a hit or miss as they have so many school events and company picnics. In any case it never gets REAL bad and you should have no problem riding everything. Make sure to give the following a ride: Kangaroo, King Kahuna, Turtles, Auto Race, Old Mill, Noahs Ark, and of course all of the coasters. Hershey : Thursday 15 June Get there early and hit Storm Runner first. The only woodie that usually gets a long line is The Comet. Keep an eye on the Great Bear line as it varies in length throughout the day. Dorney + Waterpark : Friday 16 and Saturday 17 June There is no need to spend two days at Dorney. Try one of the nearby parks on the second day. I would HIGHLY recommend Knoebels! SFGA : Sunday 18 June and Monday 19 June Shop up early. Buy QBot. Superman and KK are the big queues here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groteslurf Posted July 28, 2005 Share Posted July 28, 2005 Thanks Ted. Really appreciate yr reply. What's Qbot (sfga) ? Knoebels would indeed be an optional park. What would be the best day to visit the Dorney park ? I guess on Friday ? We were thinking about visiting the waterpark on Saturday at opening time until early afternoon and then go back to the themepark. If we indeed have done everything on Friday already, we could go to Knoebels on Saturday afternoon, before going to Sfga. Benny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoasterFanatic Posted July 28, 2005 Share Posted July 28, 2005 ^ Qbot is a virtual queue device that you pay extra for. Basically it is like a pager that holds your place in line while you do other things. It is available at two different levels (Regular and Gold), but the Gold level is very expensive. If you get to Dorney early on Friday, you will knock out the waterpark and theme park with time to spare. Start planning you route to Knoebels. // could spend 3 days at Knoebels but only one at Dorney Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groteslurf Posted July 29, 2005 Share Posted July 29, 2005 ^ thanks again Ted ! You are really very helpful. Is it correct that you don't have to wait anywhere with a qbot gold ? And with the regular qbot you have to wait as long as the other riders, but you don't have to wait in line ? I cannot find any info about this, nor about the prices for qbot on the sfga website. Can you tell me how much approx this would cost. As it probably will take another few years after next year's visit before we visit sfga again, we might consider the qbot gold if we don't have to wait anywhere and can do as much rides as possible during our visit. In Cp, i guess the fastlane is similar to disney but limited upto 2 'tickets' ? The Ace thing in Pki : do you mean that there is ert for ace members every day after closing time ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groteslurf Posted July 29, 2005 Share Posted July 29, 2005 ^ thanks again Ted ! You are really very helpful. Is it correct that you don't have to wait anywhere with a qbot gold ? And with the regular qbot you have to wait as long as the other riders, but you don't have to wait in line ? I cannot find any info about this, nor about the prices for qbot on the sfga website. Can you tell me how much approx this would cost. As it probably will take another few years after next year's visit before we visit sfga again, we might consider the qbot gold if we don't have to wait anywhere and can do as much rides as possible during our visit. In Cp, i guess the fastlane is similar to disney but limited upto 2 'tickets' ? The Ace thing in Pki : do you mean that there is ert for ace members every day after closing time ??? Benny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoasterFanatic Posted July 29, 2005 Share Posted July 29, 2005 SFGA - With regular QBot (approx. $30), you are supposed to have to wait as long as the queue is, but you don't have to stand in it. With Gold QBot (approx. $60), I think you are supposed to wait 1/3 the regular wait, but I have heard that it is more like 5 minutes. Of course, Kingda Ka will be an exception to all of this. Hit it early!! Adding additional people to the QBot is cheaper than the first person. CP - The FastLane system is almost identical to the FastPass system at Disney. Even down to the hour-long windows. PKI - At PKI, the gates open about an hour before the park does. If you stand on the ACE LOGO (located in front of the gift shop to the right as soon as you enter) about 20 minutes or so before the rides open, a PR employee will come and escort you to one of the three following coasters: The Beast Son of Beast Italian Job Which ride you end up going to is based on preference of those attending and availability. You will manage to get a handful of rides before the GP enters the park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Real Posted July 29, 2005 Share Posted July 29, 2005 You can only get 2 a day and the stamps take a week to wash off. LMAO Isnt that the truth. Sometimes it feels longer. Its like black tar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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