Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom Discussion Thread

[boldikus]

Since you're going on a Saturday in the summer I would expect enormous crowds (by Dorney's standards) so don't be surprised if wait times for the coasters reach as long as 2 or maybe even 3 minutes.

 

lmao. we should meet up at dorney some day this summer.

 

excited to go next sunday for C4Ks.

[Genx24]

Good to know it's still the same ol' Dorney Park we've all come to love. I'm actually really excited for their flats. Demon Drop, Dominator (space shot side), and the Whip all are excellent there. Also looking forward to getting the Stinger credit.

 

Glad to hear the BBQ place is good. Definitely going to stop in for lunch.

[njcoasterguy34]

I'm surprised they're allowing single riders on the Scrambler. Their web-site still says no single riders allowed.

[neil009]

Also forgot to mention, Dorney's carousel organs are running beautifully. The Chance carousel organ, which has been worryingly warbly in the past, sounds recently refurbished. If this small-ish corporate park can keep two classic band organs running, no other park in the country has any excuse. Although, we are in a sweet spot for that here in eastern PA. I wouldn't be surprised if they pay the person from Knoebels to come down and maintain them.

 

While I'm very glad the Chance carousel doesn't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon, does anyone know why the rest of the building housing the organ (next to the ferris wheel) isn't being used? Seems like a perfect spot for some kind of concession stand but it's totally vacant.

[Donkey123]

I think we shouldn't of said that Stinger is running ok this year because it got stuck today on the second lift hill. I don't have anymore information then that, but let's just hope it's not something major (It probably isn't major because most of the mechanics are on the first lift hill).

[Donkey123]

I think we shouldn't of said that Stinger is running ok this year because it got stuck today on the second lift hill. I don't have anymore information then that, but let's just hope it's not something major (It probably isn't major because most of the mechanics are on the first lift hill). Also Steel Force got stuck on its lift hill today, but that happened a number of times last year, and it should be back up very quickly.

[Genx24]

LMAO of course Stinger breaks down the day before I come visit. I'm starting to think the fates do not want me to get that credit.

[grsupercity]

LMAO of course Stinger breaks down the day before I come visit. I'm starting to think the fates do not want me to get that credit.

 

Could be back up and running tomorrow

[Genx24]

^ Of course it could be. I was just having a laugh at Stinger's expense.

[glucky11801]

Good to know it's still the same ol' Dorney Park we've all come to love. I'm actually really excited for their flats. Demon Drop, Dominator (space shot side), and the Whip all are excellent there.

 

Don't forget Meteor! It's my favorite flat at Dorney. So much fun, especially if you sit in the front seats!

[Donkey123]

Stinger is most likely going to be open by tomorrow, like it did when it got stuck on opening day and reopened the next day. A tip is to ride Stinger in the front row where you are facing up the lift hill first, you will get much less head banging and more forces!

[YoshiFan]

I'm surprised they're allowing single riders on the Scrambler. Their web-site still says no single riders allowed.

 

The no single riders on the scrambler annoyed me for years. On Eli Bridge's website it says "Recommend No Single Riders Unless Seat Belts are Installed and Used" and since Dorney's scrambler has seatbelts, single riders should be ok.

[RideofSteel]

Stinger was open all day today, and it was riding great! I loved the rapping ride rules. Full report later.

[coasterbill]

^I miss the awful Demon Drop rap song, they need to bring that back.

[cal1br3tto]

Also forgot to mention, Dorney's carousel organs are running beautifully. The Chance carousel organ, which has been worryingly warbly in the past, sounds recently refurbished. If this small-ish corporate park can keep two classic band organs running, no other park in the country has any excuse. Although, we are in a sweet spot for that here in eastern PA. I wouldn't be surprised if they pay the person from Knoebels to come down and maintain them.

That's nice to hear, no pun intended. I was rather pleased to hear the one at the main carousel play "(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?" last year.

 

I know the story behind the single rider rules on Scramblers, but it's definitely only a recommendation as mentioned above. I've ridden single on at least two that did not have seatbelts.

[p-sychiatrist]

^I miss the awful Demon Drop rap song, they need to bring that back.

 

Nooooooo!! How could they get rid of it?

My friends and I all loved that stupid song, it was one of the highlights of our last visit!

[njcoasterguy34]

Don't forget the annoying Wild Mouse song.

 

[RideofSteel]

I had a great day at the park yesterday. No crowds in the amusement park but the water park looked packed. The longest line was maybe 10 minutes for any of the coasters (besides the Wild Mouse which was only running with 4 cars).

 

Ride Count:

-Steel Force 3x - Decent coaster... Not too much airtime but it had great speed and the last few hills were really fun. The crew was also barely stacking which was great.

-Dominator 3x - Both sides were a lot of fun. Great ride.

-Demon Drop 5x - Loved this!! Definitely my favorite non-coaster ride at Dorney. The drop was unbeatable and it wasn't uncomfortable at all.

-Thunderhawk 3x - Great woodie. Kinda rough with some jarring moments but it was a blast. The last few hills would have been amazing if the trim was off.

-Stinger 3x - So much fun. Very smooth and intense. Ran all day without issues.

-Possessed 2x - My first coaster of this type. I loved the holding brake.

-Hydra 1x - Decent, the roll out of the station was definitely the best part of the ride. Kinda forceless.

-Talon 1x - Perfectly smooth and great layout. Definitely in the top 3 at the park.

-Log Flume (I forget the name) - Really fun and surprisingly wet! The capacity was awful though. Is a visual scan really needed for each boat?

-Also rode several flats but I'm blanking on the names.

 

Operations were much better than I'm used to at Great Adventure. However, none of the employees seemed happy or were friendly. The food workers seemed very young and did not seem like they knew what they were doing. The park also was perfectly clean and looked beautiful, especially between Thunderhawk and Steel Force.

 

I'll be back this season for sure.

[cfc]

^I miss the awful Demon Drop rap song, they need to bring that back.

 

Nooooooo!! How could they get rid of it?

My friends and I all loved that stupid song, it was one of the highlights of our last visit!

 

Definitely one of the most interesting things at Dorney,

[Physical]

^I miss the awful Demon Drop rap song, they need to bring that back.

 

Nooooooo!! How could they get rid of it?

My friends and I all loved that stupid song, it was one of the highlights of our last visit!

 

I'm actually a ride operator in the Demon Drop/Thunder Creek Mountain ride group. We got rid of that terrible song because it couldn't be heard over the ride. As I'm sure you know, Demon Drop rattles a /lot/ and there's only 4 speakers in the station. It couldn't be heard at all, so it had to get changed.

 

If I remember correctly there's a similar rap at Stinger now.

[Jcoaster]

Made a trip out to the park yesterday with Genx24 and another friend. Needless to say it was a typical Dorney day meaning there was not a real waiting line to be found in the entire park. Our two longest waits were Wild Mouse and Thunder Canyon which were both around 15-20 min respectively. I love Dorney in the sense for what it is, a small local park that does great business with the general public which doesn't expect much of anything. On the other hand, the place is completely outdated and needs a new custom coaster to shake things up (I know I'm beat a dead horse). Now on to the rides:

 

1.) Stinger (2x) - The ride ran the entire day without a problem, which came as a surprise to us. We hadn't gotten the credit yet so we headed there first once we arrived. I have to say I was very pleased. As a person who is quite fond of Vekoma torture devices this thing was smooth for the most part and forceful.

 

2.) Possessed (2x) - Walked on twice, once towards the front and other towards the back. Same old awesome forceful self.

 

3.) Steel Force (2x) - Rode this in the front and back as well. What can I say? I say the same thing every time I've ridden this coaster in the past 5 years....It isn't a bad ride by any stretch of the imagination it is just underwhelming and outdated.

 

4.) Thunder Creek Mountain (1x) - I love this log flume, it is always a good time riding with friends and it gets you the perfect amount of wet.

 

5.) Demon Drop (1x) - It is still my favorite Drop Tower of all time. Huge fan of Intamin 1st generation towers. This thing makes me miss Stuntman's Freefall more and more.

 

6.) ThunderHawk (1x) - Fun for what it is, a rough, trimmed, old woodie. I did catch massive airtime in the back row though.

 

7.) Hydra (2x) - I feel as if I am one of the few who like this minnie floorless. The layout is funky and the first drop is underrated, sure it has a rattle but it has had that since it opened.

 

8. Wild Mouse (1x) - Your standard mouse.

 

9. Talon (2x) - My favorite ride in the park and one of my favorite Inverted coasters. Everything about this ride is positive. No wait, butter smooth and forceful. It doesn't let up form start to finish.

 

10. Whip (1x) - Your classic awesome flat ride.

 

Overall we had an awesome day at the park as usual. I just wish something new was headed its way coaster wise.

Edited June 1, 2015 by Jcoaster

[rcjp]

 

7.) Hydra (2x) - I feel as if I am one of the few who like this minnie floorless. The layout is funky and the first drop is underrated, sure it has a rattle but it has had that since it opened.

I also quite like Hydra and I didn't get any rattle when I rode it. It's definitely my 2nd favorite ride in the park after talon.

[boldikus]

Talon (2x) - My favorite ride in the park and one of my favorite Inverted coasters. Everything about this ride is positive. No wait, butter smooth and forceful. It doesn't let up form start to finish.

 

Thanks for the update, I'm stoked to visit this park next weekend.

 

Talon is my favorite invert, I find it to be perfect from start to finish.

[Jcoaster]

I forgot to mention Thunder Canyon in my report. The ops were painstakingly slow and they were stacking 4 boats at a time. Besides that it is a great rapids ride. We was so wet afterwards we were ringing out our socks an shirt on the bench afterwards.

[Genx24]

As Jcoaster mentioned, we paid a visit to the park yesterday and were very pleased. I like Dorney a lot, and I don't understand why the rides park is basically shunned by the GP, but it makes for a great day of riding.

 

I'm glad I was able to finally ride Stinger, and was pleasantly surprised. I think this is my favourite type of Vekoma boomerang. Rode once in the front, facing out, and once towards the back, facing other riders. Rode much smoother than I would have expected, and was real forceful through the inversions. 8/10

 

Don't have much to say about the other coasters, other than that they should take the trim off Thunderhawk, and that I love Talon and was reminded why it's one of my favourite coasters, and probably my favourite invert.