Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom Discussion Thread

[crazywolf88]

^ Although it is based on opinion, Six Flags has the comparable batman and hershey has great bear. The thing is that they also have El Toro and Skyrush respectively. If Talon is the best the park has, it's not enough. On top of that, in America, a 105 ft super thriller is hardly marketable because it breaks no records and doesnt stand out in the park's skyline. They have some hope with an El Loco because they could easily market the steepest drop in america, but that's their only hope now for a marketable coaster.

[Dr. M]

^ And see this goes to show it is all based on opinion because Talon is my favorite suspended coaster. Granted I have not been all over the world to ride coasters but for all of the parks I have hit in the USA it is still my favorite one.

 

I agree! Great Bear and BM:TR are both too short, Alpengeist was too rattly, and Raptor was basically the same ride except I prefer Talon's compact layout and high-speed ground-level turn finale. I think Steel Force and Talon are both more-than-decent rides, in fact, I'd put them both ahead of any steel coaster Hershey has except Skyrush.

 

So there's definitely potential because the rest of the park is pretty good, it's just lacking that one ride that makes you want to keep coming back.

 

What's sad about that is Steel Force managed to be that ride for a surprisingly long time. It's true SFGA opened up Nitro just four years later, but Steel Force was still longer than that ride, and don't forget that at the time it was still ranked in the top five coasters in the world, making Dorney the cheaper and easier option for a lot of people. No other park in the area even had a coaster over 200 ft until Skyrush opened last year. It also still has one of the best water parks, or so I've heard.

 

^ Although it is based on opinion, Six Flags has the comparable batman and hershey has great bear. The thing is that they also have El Toro and Skyrush respectively. If Talon is the best the park has, it's not enough. On top of that, in America, a 105 ft super thriller is hardly marketable because it breaks no records and doesnt stand out in the park's skyline. They have some hope with an El Loco because they could easily market the steepest drop in america, but that's their only hope now for a marketable coaster.

 

A coaster does NOT have to break records or be particularly tall to be marketable. A 105 ft coaster would absolutely stand out in the park's skyline, I mean have you seen the park's skyline? It mostly consists of about three coasters and a drop ride (if you ignore the "Corner of Suckitude" that used to hold Laser). Skyrush was marketable purely by being the "tallest coaster at Hershey Park", since it wasn't the tallest or longest in the state or anywhere else. They could put a coaster like Maverick there and then market it as "the fastest coaster at Dorney Park". I think any coaster built there would be marketable, especially if word got out that it was awesome, because it's been so long since they got an awesome coaster and there's a lot of people who love Dorney and need a reason to go there.

 

Now that I think of it, you get a really great view of Dorney from the highway, you can easily see any ride that's taller than the treeline. I can't think of any other park I've been too that that's true for.

 

But I do agree, the Dino exhibit is a total and complete waste of space.

[alilstronger]

^ Thank you for agreeing!

 

Yes, Great Bear is way too short for me to like it. Talon is still my favorite suspended coaster

[crazywolf88]

^^ I wasn't saying it's not marketable at all. I'm just saying that its more difficult than marketing a 175 ft wing coaster that holds the record for highest inversion and double keyholes over the park entrance.

[alilstronger]

^ And then you ride Gatekeeper and realize how boring it is after the first drop. I only wanted 2 rides (front and back) and never went back to it the 3 days I was at Cedar Point. I think its a really boring short coaster.

[crazywolf88]

^I know it was boring. It's just extremely marketable. That was the only reason they got away with such a sub par coaster.

[cmullin]

I gotta agree with that. GateKeeper was really boring and the restraints were very uncomfortable, they made it hard for me to breathe. I thought Gemini and Blue Streak were both better and rode those more than GateKeeper during my visit.

[cmullin]

By the way, I'm making my trip to Dorney tomorrow and I just wanted to double check that Dorney has places to put bags beside the ride on the station platform, because we are planning on bringing bags into the park. Just wondering, if anyone knows if this is true that would be awesome!

[biker7766]

^Yes, there are special bag holders in HUGE racks, and dont worry about your stuff getting stolen. The lockers have a cover for each train, really neat!

[cmullin]

Haha thanks for the info!

[SaintJared]

Went to Dorney Park yesterday for the first time.

 

Loved the entire experience.

Very clean park. Workers were VERY nice.

I'm used to going to SFGA and while I like that park Dorney seemed to really care about my experience more, as a whole.

 

Can I just say, I thought Talon was one of the best rides I've ever been on. So smooth, no head banging, and great speed.

 

The rapids were super wet. Sometimes I ride a rapids ride and can get off with just a little sprinkle. This ride had the entire raft soaked through and through.

 

The flume, although short, was very different and fun.

 

Steel Force was another favorite of mine. The speed in the helix is crazy... LOVED IT!!!

 

Stinger wasn't my favorite, got me too dizzy.

 

Possessed was closed most of the day, didn't get to ride it.

 

Hydra was a surprise. The loop right out of the station was amazing. My ass was totally out of the seat.

 

Thunderhawk was also a nice surprise. I was laughing the entire time.

 

I'm so thrilled with this park.

I'm gushing.

[CNYCoasterguy11]

Took my first trip to Dorney Park Today, from everything i have heard or read about this park, I wasn't expecting much more than a stop for credits. Boy was I wrong, I mean it's not a park I would travel the 4 hours too every year or so but for a once in awhile thing it was really good. Let me just say if you want to get credits here but are on a time crunch, just make it to the park at open. We literally rode every coaster (some twice) in 2 1/2 hours and that was taking our time and riding some flats in between. The lines were short all day for the park because as people have said before everyone heads for the waterpark.

 

Overall the park was very clean and the staff was friendly. Food was ok, a little overpriced and the games were plentiful. The flats were ok for the most part, nothing really wowed me and most ran short circuits. I was somewhat disappointed with Revolution it seemed very slow, maybe thats because Ive ridden the same type of ride at the NYS Fair which is cranked up faster. However the Whip is one of the best I've ridden, it really sends you around the corners. Thunder Canyon was also a pretty good Raft ride, it was close to 90 most of the day and this ride does get you wet and it felt amazing afterwards in the heat.

 

Now for the coasters in order of Least to most Favorite:

 

Woodstock's Express 2/10- Basic Kiddie Coaster, not much else to say.

 

Wild Mouse 3/10-Worst Wild Mouse I've ever ridden, it was weird that they wont allow more than 2 adults per car which contributes to it's slow loading and long lines. My tip is to ride right away instead of the higher capacity coasters.

 

Stinger 5/10- Just a basic boomerang but under the track, only real nice thing was it was very smooth for a SLC like Mind Eraser at Darien Lake. Not very forceful either.

 

Thunderhawk-5/10 Just slightly better than Stinger but thats not saying much, very short and just a little to rough for my liking, decent first drop and some sir at end, but after riding Twister and the Phoenix the day before from Knoebels it kinda shows this rides flaws.

 

Possessed- 6.5/10 Fun ride and I do love a good launch, the straight spike was more fun because of the force and hang factor, however very short, It could stand to let it launch once or even twice more but fun nonetheless.

 

Steel Force-7/10 Not bad for being the Old guy (besides thunderhawk) of the coaster lineup, at one point this was probably one of the premier rides on the East coast, but it just can't compete with the newer hyper and giga coasters. Its first drop was kinda unimpressive for it's height, however the Helix saves the ride and the few hills after have some good airtime, the back row or middle are the best seats for me.

 

Hydra- 7.5/10 Actually not as bad as I had been reading about, yes its smaller than most other Floorless, but its basically a continuous inversion, I rode in the front row and back row, and the front gives good views but this is a coaster that needs to be ridden in the back, its much more force-full and you actually do get some airtime especially of the first hill, I was off my seat the whole way down.

 

Talon-9/10 Hands down the best coaster in the Park, no contest. Makes it into my top 10 of coasters (I have only about 100 to choose from), very intense inverted coaster, and I've been on Alpengeist and the Great Bear but this one is better than both, the loop was amazing and I loved the helix. Only coaster we had to wait for and that was only about 10 mins.

[SaintJared]

 

Talon-9/10 Hands down the best coaster in the Park, no contest. Makes it into my top 10 of coasters (I have only about 100 to choose from), very intense inverted coaster, and I've been on Alpengeist and the Great Bear but this one is better than both, the loop was amazing and I loved the helix. Only coaster we had to wait for and that was only about 10 mins.

 

I agree about Talon. It's AMAZING!!! I was blown away by it and kind of shocked it doesn't get more coverage.

The Great Bear was my favorite inverted, not anymore.

[vacoaster09]

I love talon and nice smooth, great layout, and very re-rideable. I love how quiet it is! I wouldn't mind if this layout is replicated elsewhere. I enjoyed it alot more than Patriot for some reason. I layout like this would be nice at KI!

[_koppen]

I wouldn't mind if this layout is replicated elsewhere.

 

Skara Sommarland!

 

Please, please, PLEASE!

[cmullin]

I love Talon also, I think its better than Great Bear, Batman Clones, Silver Bullet, Raptor, and Flight Deck. Aren't Talon and Patriot identical track layouts except for a few minor details?

[GnastyGnoric7]

Possibly going for my 19th birthday, how are crowds on a Sunday? I will not be visiting Wildwater Kingdom.

[CNYCoasterguy11]

I just visted on Sunday the 21st and the crowds are light if you don't plan on visiting Wildwater Kingdom, I was able to hit all 8 coasters with multiple re-rides on some and a few flats as well in about 2 1/2 hours and that was taking my time. My suggestion is to ride Wild Mouse first as it has a low riders per hour. After that any order is fine, Talon tends to get the longest lines but that's not saying much, I waited maybe 10-15 minutes. Of course they were running two trains on Talon, Hyrda and Steel Force which also helps.

[cmullin]

If you're not going to Wildwater Kingdom, you shouldn't have a problem with riding all the coasters and getting re-rides. You could probably do most of the flats as well. When I went, the only ride in Dorney Park that had a longer line than something at Wildwater Kingdom was Wild Mouse. I wouldn't be too concerned about the lines, but you can always get Fast Lane if it's really bad.

[GnastyGnoric7]

Thanks for the help, I will consider this for my birthday plans.

[michaellynn4]

I'm at the park right now. Guess what just got stuck again?

 

These poor bastards have been stuck at least 30 minutes now.

Poor souls.

[cmullin]

Seems like Stinger gets stuck a lot. It got stuck once when it was Invertigo at CGA when I was there for 4 hours. There's definitely a problem with this ride.

[IronWolfman]

Dorney should ask KI how they do so well :/..

[TyRush]

Thats classic how it keeps getting stuck. Those poor people....

[mike541x]

Thats classic how it keeps getting stuck.

 

They should've renamed the ride Déjà Vu.