Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom Discussion Thread

[AmyUD06]

Some further tidbits from my trip to Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom yesterday with a buddy from college:

-So, passholders need to make reservations for the water park only, and daily ticket buyers have two choices - rides or rides and water park.  But, there's only one main gate...and no one was checking to see if you had the proper credentials to enter the water park.  I mean, I'm an upstanding individual, so of course I had a reservation and my friend had the proper dual-park ticket, but it did kinda annoy me that others could scam the system if so desired.
-The path from the water park to Thunder Canyon (the rapids ride) was locked shut, meaning if you wanted to ride the rapids you had to put shirt/shoes back on and walk through the dry park, as opposed to just heading straight over in swimwear as you could in the past.
-Like I said, every ride in the dry park was operating, and the only rides closed in the water park were the original wave pool and original lazy river, which is sadly the better of the two.
-Food stands were probably at around 50-60% operating, and we didn't encounter any insane waits.
-Note that the "build your own mac & cheese" at the Tidal Wave Cafe is nothing like what you get at Mac Bowl (King's Dominion) or Mac Shack (Cedar Point) - your only option was bacon or not.
-Fast Lane+ was mostly a waste at the dry park (only helpful for Wild Mouse and a few flats), as is usual.  There weren't any employee at the merge points at any line, so it was kinda a free-for-all, but crowds didn't really necessitate it.  Note that I have the all-season, all-park, but I did buy it for my friend.
-Fast Lane+ *was* a huge help at the water park, especially on Pepsi Aquablast (I will forever call it that).  Really they need to add it to Patriot's Plunge and the Lighting Falls slides.
-I found it absolutely hilarious that there was a live band playing for pretty much all-day around the water park's bar, but the bar itself wasn't open.  Though, I did encounter a bartender from Chickie & Pete's outside on a smoke break while I was as well, and he said that he was the only bartender employed by the park at the moment (another quit a few weeks ago), so I guess it's understandable.
-A minor gripe, but the smoking section is outside the ticket gate, as I've come to expect from Cedar Fair Parks in this post-COVID world, but if you're coming from the water park you need shirt and shoes to get back in...you're only in the dry park for like 30 seconds between the gate and the water park entrance, so this seems a bit unnecessary to me.
-Steel Force's black train was nowhere to be found; only running red and blue and the parking track was empty.
-Still no activity whatsoever on the older Laser/Stinger site, nor with the former Dino's Alive site, for that one person that was going to ask.

All-in-all, we had a great day, which was capped off by a trip for some adult beverages and Ishkabibble's cheesesteaks in Philly on the way home.

Next planned trip is to Idlewild/Kennywood/Lakemont on the weekend of July 9th.

[Taylor Finn]

Planning a visit on August 13th to do the after 3 ticket. A few questions.

1. Assume we will pay parking as usual?

2. Possible to ride all coasters, plus Log Flume, maybe rapids, and train in the 4 hours before park closes at 7? We'll probably ignore water park.

3. Any other tips, things we should not miss?

4. Anything been closed ride wise recently?

Been years since I've been there. Since before Laser closed!

[AmyUD06]

1.  No idea, I would presume yes.

2.  Yeah, with time to spare.

3. They have some classic flats that are getting more rare - looking at you Enterprise and Apollo.  Their Whip isn't half bad either.  Not to mention Demon Drop, the only 1st gen Intamin drop tower left in the US.

4. Not in the dry park.

[KBrylczyk]

^ To pile on to Number 3, Kaleidoscope and Monster are worth a ride.  IIRC their Tilt-A-Whirl is run pretty darn well, too.

You mentioned the rapids ride and I kinda want to stop you.  I've not ridden it in a loooooong time but when I did the water smelled like sewage and the smell didn't leave any of our clothes until a couple of cycles through the washing machine.  It may have been an isolated incident but you're never gonna catch me on that ride again.  The log flume is great, though!

[DILinator]

I'll be going to Dorney FINALLY for my first time, and taking my 4 kids a week from today! We're hitting it on our way to my relatives on the Jersey shore, so we'll only be there for the last 4 hours or so as well, so the above information was helpful. Thank you to all who chipped in advice! Just to confirm: The log flume is a must-ride here, correct? I seem to recall hearing that over the years, beyond just from Bill! 

(I'm also still excited to finally ride Hydra after all these years, no matter what all the naysayers about it have said! )

[AmyUD06]

14 minutes ago, DILinator said:

I'll be going to Dorney FINALLY for my first time, and taking my 4 kids a week from today! We're hitting it on our way to my relatives on the Jersey shore, so we'll only be there for the last 4 hours or so as well, so the above information was helpful. Thank you to all who chipped in advice! Just to confirm: The log flume is a must-ride here, correct? I seem to recall hearing that over the years, beyond just from Bill! 

(I'm also still excited to finally ride Hydra after all these years, no matter what all the naysayers about it have said! )

Yeah, the log flume is awesome.  You will get wet, especially if the boat is laden down.  If you split into two groups (one adult, two kids per boat) you might be only slightly dampened and not completely drenched.

As for Hyrdra, the back is the best for forces, but the front will probably give you a smoother ride. Either way, it's worth it for the jo-jo roll.

[DILinator]

^I'll make sure we hit up the flume then! I've always enjoyed a good flume (still miss WWL at CP - though I prefer Maverick obviously), as long as I don't end up completely soaked. Sounds like splitting up into two groups, with my oldest son (who is as tall as I am now) in the other boat, will be the best plan. Thanks for the tip! 

I definitely plan to ride Hydra multiple times, assuming the crowds are as low as I've heard they tend to be. I like B&M Floorless coasters more than most to begin with, and have always loved the look of Hydra, and been intrigued by the jo-jo roll. So I'll want to try it both in front and back for sure! 

[AmyUD06]

13 minutes ago, DILinator said:

I definitely plan to ride Hydra multiple times, assuming the crowds are as low as I've heard they tend to be. I like B&M Floorless coasters more than most to begin with, and have always loved the look of Hydra, and been intrigued by the jo-jo roll. So I'll want to try it both in front and back for sure! 

Meh, in my opinion prepare to be underwhelmed.  It's not the worst floorless (looking at you here, Firebird), but its far from the best.  I'd recommend doing one lap, doing the rest of the park, and then hitting it again if you have time, and have already done second laps on the better coasters (all of them except for Wild Mouse and the kiddie coaster) unless it has absolutely NO line.  Seriously I'd rank any of their flats ahead of a *second* ride on Hydra.
 

[DILinator]

In your opinion, what is the best coaster at Dorney? Talon? Is front, or back better on Steel Force?

[AmyUD06]

Talon is easily the best coaster there, by far.  Sit in the back row.  Steel Force is probably number 2 or 3.  I kinda like the front for speed on those type of coasters, but you can get some good air in the back, especially if you leave some gap between your body and the bar.  The "Magnum Trick" (slide forwards while they're checking the restraints, then slide back on the lift) kinda works here, but the tightness of the seatbelts doesn't matter as much since the hills aren't shaped like triangles.

Oh, and don't waste time on Wild Mouse until you've done everything else you might want to do.  It's the only ride in the park that gets a substantial line (showing 60 minutes right now LOL).

[DBru]

Dorney's line-up is unfortunate because it's full of solid supporting coasters, but doesn't have a single stand-out attraction (though I'm sure in the late 90's/early 2000's, Steel Force seemed pretty spectacular to the community). It has the exact opposite problem of Carowinds and Canada's Wonderland.

I'd still place Steel Force as my favorite coaster at Dorney, but I also think Talon and Hydra are quite fun. They both have unique layouts, but are relatively forceless (aside from Talon's finale).

[YoshiFan]

5 hours ago, DILinator said:

^I'll make sure we hit up the flume then! I've always enjoyed a good flume (still miss WWL at CP - though I prefer Maverick obviously), as long as I don't end up completely soaked. Sounds like splitting up into two groups, with my oldest son (who is as tall as I am now) in the other boat, will be the best plan. Thanks for the tip! 

I definitely plan to ride Hydra multiple times, assuming the crowds are as low as I've heard they tend to be. I like B&M Floorless coasters more than most to begin with, and have always loved the look of Hydra, and been intrigued by the jo-jo roll. So I'll want to try it both in front and back for sure! 

At the top portion of the log flume after the lift and some turns, there is a small drop of a few feet. I find that that drop usually causes a wave of water and gets me more soaked than the bigger drop. If you want to avoid that (or most of that part), sit towards the front of the log.

[coasterbill]

The front is easily the best row on Steel Force. If you ride up there it kind of feels like you’re riding a rollercoaster and not sitting on your couch. That’s the only place on the train where I’ve experienced that sensation.

[DILinator]

^Good to know. I'm definitely not traveling all that way to sit on my couch again!

[willh51]

Talon absolutely kicks butt.  It may not be quite as good as Montu or Raptor, but it is forceful, glass smooth and re-rideable.  Hydra is fine but not nearly as good.  I remember waiting in line for a second ride during the opening season and talking with some other guests about how it did not touch Talon.  It has some weird track bends and even had a small rattle opening season.  The drop is good in the back row and the JoJo roll is interesting.  

 

Steel Force is always quite good, especially when it warms up.  As long as you're not expecting Intamin air.  

[grsupercity]

On 7/7/2021 at 2:51 PM, DILinator said:

I'll be going to Dorney FINALLY for my first time, and taking my 4 kids a week from today! We're hitting it on our way to my relatives on the Jersey shore, so we'll only be there for the last 4 hours or so as well, so the above information was helpful. Thank you to all who chipped in advice! Just to confirm: The log flume is a must-ride here, correct? I seem to recall hearing that over the years, beyond just from Bill! 

(I'm also still excited to finally ride Hydra after all these years, no matter what all the naysayers about it have said! )

We came close to meeting at Mt Olympus last year. I am hoping we can meet at a park one of these years!

[DILinator]

1 hour ago, grsupercity said:

We came close to meeting at Mt Olympus last year. I am hoping we can meet at a park one of these years!

Well, I'll be going to Indiana Beach a few more times this year (we all got Season Passes), and I plan to make an appearance at MiA even (a very rare occurrence, even though it's the closest park to me!) So I imagine we should at least be able to meet at the latter park, hopefully! (I think I'm planning on being there the 8th of August, currently.) 

[AmyUD06]

If anyone was thinking of coming to Dorney for Haunt and you already have season Fast Lane on your pass, do not buy the separate Fright Lane. Apparently this is the only park in the chain where they're one and the same.

 

[BRTeller]

6 hours ago, Mike240SX said:

If anyone was thinking of coming to Dorney for Haunt and you already have season Fast Lane on your pass, do not buy the separate Fright Lane. Apparently this is the only park in the chain where they're one and the same.

 

Thanks for the info! We’re going tomorrow and I was contemplating buying frightlane, good to know our passes work. 

[anonymouscactus]

Good to know! That might actually convince me to go next weekend since I have Plat ASFLP. Hmmm... how was your visit? Did you visit the park, or just passing info along? Seeing if I should make a long weekend of nearby attractions.

[AmyUD06]

37 minutes ago, anonymouscactus said:

Good to know! That might actually convince me to go next weekend since I have Plat ASFLP. Hmmm... how was your visit? Did you visit the park, or just passing info along? Seeing if I should make a long weekend of nearby attractions.

Nope, I was there for most of the operating day on Friday (yesterday).  Great time, very mild crowds for the Haunts (didn't even really need the Fright Lane), but the ride lines were some of the longest I've ever seen there.  For a while, Talon was posting a 60 minute wait haha.  I just got done from working a college football game, and am going to KD tomorrow, but I should have my Dorney report up by Wednesday.  If you have any specific questions, let me know and I'll do my best to answer.

[anonymouscactus]

Cool, looking forward to the full report. Still debating, but yeah I'm thinking of going Friday night, but nearby and even on the entire route to Great Adventure I can't seem to find a hotel less than $170 that isn't sold out or looking at "recent" reviews have a bunch of horror stories lol. I did reserve one half way between but spending over $200 on a room is not what I typically am used to lol.

The plan was Dorney Friday night, Great Adventure during the day Saturday, and then drive towards home and hit two local haunts (reapers revenge and hellstead manor). I've been to a lot of the other haunts in the Philly area so figured I'd hit two farther on the way home in the evening since Six Flags is always a shitshow. Sounds like I'll be making the entire ride home at this rate and pulling over at a rest stop if needed afterwards.

[AmyUD06]

Photo TR: Friday, October 1st

Eager to get as much value out of my CF Platinum Pass with All-Park Fast Lane add-on, and also eager to get as much Halloweeny amusement park stuff as possible after last year's complete blank, I headed up to Dorney Park this past Friday.

First things first, as mentioned, Fast Lane and Fright Lane are one in the same at this park.  So if you have it on your pass, you automatically get the Fright Lane included!  This park also does not do the typical CF lanyard card for Fright Lane; it's just the standard Fast Lane wristband, meaning you can do the mazes as many times as you want...if you wanted to....which you probably don't.

So, park opening was 6:00, and I'll be damnned if they didn't wait until the clock struck exactly 5:45 for them to open the gates.  No early entry here haha.

Made my way inside, saw this nice decoration right after the gate.  Nicer than most CF parks Haunt-intro things, but I guess this makes up for doing nothing to the entrance plaza.  Hard to tell with the lighting, but the eyes glowed red.

After grabbing my Fast/Fright Land wristband from a gift shop (and a quick visit to Guest Services for a refund on my pre-purchased Fright Lane), I did a quick lap on Wild Mouse (walk-on), then it was time for Dorney Park's #1 coaster - Talon.  Here was the standby line, only 30 minutes after opening.

Yowch.  With FL, two train wait for the back row, left side.  Awesome as always.  I will say that the supports could use some paint though.

I then took in the "Overlord's Incantation" show, which passes the mantle from the Overlord to some new witch character as the new "Queen" of Haunt.  Predictable, about 10 minutes long, but the costumes were nice.

I stuck around a little bit for the "IllumiNightmares" show, which I expected to be cool, but was only some drummers playing over an EDM backing track.  They had talent, sure, but not really my scene.

I did grab this cool sunset shot covering most of their taller rides before moving on.

I then grabbed a quick lap on Hyrda (one-train wait for back row, left side), for the smoothest ride I've had on this since opening year.  Very nice.  Still, in my dream Dorney Park if I won the lottery and buy it, it would be torn down and replaced with a RMC I-Box named after one of Hercules' kids that follows roughly the old layout.

I then took on my first Haunt maze of the night, Blood on the Bayou.

It was decently long, lots of great gags and places for people to jump out of, and I guess CF got a group rate on the animatronic snake prop since it was used here as well.

Next up was a half-cycle wait for Wave Swinger, which was looking nice in red lighting.

Grabbed a ride on Kalediescope with a one-cycle wait that took about 5 minutes longer than it had to due to the lone ride op continually letting more people in once he had started the spiel and checking restraints.  But damn if this ride isn't pretty.

Next up was Tourist Trap.  Decent enough I guess....not particularly entertaining or great artistry.  You'll notice I haven't been mentioning waits for the Haunt mazes - because I didn't have any.  Even the standby queues were quite minimal, making it even better that I didn't have to actually pay for the Fright Lane.

They had some jugglers performing in the middle of the Steamworx scare zone.

And a really cool haunted tree at the entrance to The Hollow scare zone.

Next up was a ride on Possessed (three train wait for the front row).  As with most other rides here, no sense of urgency from ride ops, who stopped in the middle of checking restraints to have a personal conversation more than once.

Skeleton Crew show was back, with some fire twirlers and other acrobatics in addition to the standard "fall off the wall" act.

Next up was a walk through Enigma.

I thought this was a great concept (mirror maze, strobe lighting, and other optical illusions), but not really all that well executed.  Not a lot of actors, but I guess it doesn't really need them.

Still nothing on the Laser/Stinger site.

Next walk through was Necropolis, an outdoor "maze" in the dirt field to the left of the old Dinosaurs Alive site.  This was basically a grave yard, with all of the headstones with fake names and prior rides strewn about, and actors moving through it.  VERY open layout, to the point that I at first thought you could wander anywhere, but sadly that was not the case.

Next up was Trick or Treat.

I remember this one being better.  Artistry was just okay, and there were several rooms with no actors at all.

Next up was a quick lap on Steel Force (two-train wait for front row), which is always awesome in the dark.  Black train is back on site at least, sitting off to the side of the parking track under tarps.

Walked down the path in the infield of Thunderhawk, and experienced The Lair, something they call a scare zone but should probably be called a maze since you could only walk through it in one direction.  Very well done, great props and actually got spooked by one of the actors, which almost never happens.

Next up was a two-train wait for front row of Thunderhawk.  Amusingly, only the left side of the lights along the track were on, and they were just steady-burn.  Don't these normally run in a chaser pattern?  Either way, was a smooth enough ride.  Trim brake on the final bunny hills didn't grab as hard as it normally does, which was a super-nice surprise.

Cornstalkers was up next.  If you've read my Cedar Point report, I'm completely over this concept, but Dorney does it right:  You start in some redneck-themed house area, then do the corn maze, then end up in a slaughter house type building with a few rooms there.  Ingenious!  Each of these themes are overly played out by themselves, but in combination, it works.

Obligatory picture of the Dorney Haunt monster truck.

Then, on my way back to the front of the park, I grabbed a night-close out ride on Talon (back row right side, walk-on).

All in all not a bad trip.  Definitely glad I didn't have to spend any money for the Fright Lane, because it would have been a complete waste - none of the mazes had any sort of substantial standby queue all night. 

The Fast Lane, on the other hand, was incredibly useful - these were perhaps some of the biggest dry-park ride crowds I've ever seen at this park (Talon was posting a 60 minute wait time in the app for much of the night).

And that about wraps up might night at Dorney.  I headed home, needing to work the next morning, which should have taken me about an hour and half but actually took close to three because PA road construction is never ending.

Stay tuned for my next report!

[anonymouscactus]

Just made a quick trip to Dorney for haunt. #1 highlight should be obvious.... Demon Drop. Man I love that thing. Two of the mazes were just terrible. The others looked nice and had some decent actors in some, but overall not very good and very little scares despite going through as just the two of us through almost all the mazes.

In the blackout house, right near the end I managed to get lost and go through an emergency exit (because I thought it was the end and I didn't see any more arrows; the other houses had real exits through the emergency exit final door) and went through a door which took me back to the beginning of the maze LOL my wife who was in front of me got to the end of the house and waited 8 min for me to get out.  I don't think the people behind me who followed me were too happy lol!!

Talon ops made me want to scream more than the houses... guy was CLEARLY too big... guy starts arguing in his seat and refused to get up... they unlock and relock and try again, not even close to getting the buckle to latch (also note that the larger seat is right next to him but they didn't move him or try to get him on another train or anything so the train sat there about 15 min while they kept trying for no reason). Rides had the longest lines I've ever seen but I had free FL/FrL despite having a one train wait it took 20 min to get off Talon. Steel Force actually had some decent floater air because it was a full train! Never seen that happen at Dorney before, lol.

Anyways, if you are looking for a good haunt, I'd stay away from Dorney this year. We are going to hit up Reapers Revenge and Hellstead Manor after a quick trip to great Adventure in the morning so I can (hopefully) ride my first ever RMC single rail.

Huge thanks to Mike240SX for the free fright lane tip. Even though it wasn't the best visit ever, it was better than sitting at home. And... Demon Drop. C'mon.

Oh, and $10.01 for a waffle cone full of twist custard at Rita's, ouch. No platinum discount. Good thing I didn't get sprinkles lol. It WAS good though

[AmyUD06]

Dorney's 2022 pre-Labor Day operating calendar has been posted, at least for the dry park.  https://www.dorneypark.com/calendar-and-hours .  Opening day is Friday 5/13, daily operations begin Memorial Day, with 9 PM weekend / 7 PM weekday closings until the third full week of June when they move to 9PM closings all the time.  At least they're not closed on Mondays and Tuesdays like last year?

"Waterpark and Fall operating hours will be announced at a later date."