Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom Discussion Thread

[Iby coaster]

I was at Dorney Park again today. Today wasn't bad although it was windy. I was there for a little but went on Talon,Hydra,Tilt-A-Whirl, and Thunder Hawk. Hydra was running 2 trains today so was Talon. Thunder Hawk was the only ride that had one train in operation.

Thunder Hawk was going up its lift hill

A pic I took of Apollo

Hydra was really good today sat in the back

A pic I took while I was coming in

[Physical]

I'm going to the park for the first time on Saturday 21. I would have rather gone on Sunday, but there's a private event, so I figured that the lines would still be okay after being on this thread for a while. I'm planning on getting there around 10 when the park opens. Does anybody have tips? Here is what my plan is for getting on all the rides I'm interested in:

 

Possessed, Stinger (if it's open), Revolution, Steel Force, Thunderhawk, Demon Drop, Thunder Creek Mountain (if it's ready for the season yet), Hydra, Meteor, Talon, Enterprise, Dominator Side 1, Dominator Side 2, Whip.

 

Does anybody have advice, tips, suggestions, or think that there is a better schedule I should follow for navigating the park?

 

Best way to get walk ons all day, start with the lower park (Steel Force first, work your way down past Stinger, hitting Revolution if you enjoy those rides, then Stinger, Possessed, Flyers if you want to ride really bad ones) and work your way up. Cross the bridge after Possessed, hit Thunderhawk, then head on over to Demon Drop and Thunder Creek Mountain. You might hit some lines near Hydra but it won't be anything major. If you time it right you can hit nothing but station waits all day. Once you hit Hydra and Talon people have usually spread out enough to ensure there's very little waits the rest of the day. Usually when you get there at opening, Talon and Hydra will have 5-15 minute waits because they're both at the front of the park.

 

Pro tip for Stinger: Ride it in Car 4 (rows 6 and 7 in the station) In my opinion (and I know some people will disagree with me here) Car 4 is the only place to ride that coaster. Practically no headbanging, and the ride is /very/ forceful. If you dedicate yourself an entire day to Dorney, you should be able to get on all the coasters front and back.

 

Be sure to check out some of the flats, none of them run long cycles, but most of them are still worth a ride. As for places to eat, I'd check out Burger Barn, or Center Stage Fries. Unfortunately Dorney doesn't have the best dining options, you're basically limited to chicken, burgers, and fries.

[coneyislandchris]

Thunder Creek Mountain (if it's ready for the season yet)?

It is in fact open and running. Visited on Friday while the rain was coming down pretty heavy. My buddy and I decided to do TCM because, hey, it's raining, how much wetter can we possibly get?

 

The answer is ALL of the wet, btw.

 

Both Whitewater Landing and Thunder Canyon are open and running, as well.

[njcoasterguy34]

Nothing like riding Thunder Canyon in the rain.

[coasterbill]

I'm going to the park for the first time on Saturday 21. I would have rather gone on Sunday, but there's a private event, so I figured that the lines would still be okay after being on this thread for a while. I'm planning on getting there around 10 when the park opens. Does anybody have tips? Here is what my plan is for getting on all the rides I'm interested in:

 

Possessed, Stinger (if it's open), Revolution, Steel Force, Thunderhawk, Demon Drop, Thunder Creek Mountain (if it's ready for the season yet), Hydra, Meteor, Talon, Enterprise, Dominator Side 1, Dominator Side 2, Whip.

 

Does anybody have advice, tips, suggestions, or think that there is a better schedule I should follow for navigating the park?

 

Every ride will be a walk on. Maybe a 5 minute wait for Thunder Creek Mountain and Steel Force. Navigate however you want.

 

Thunder Creek Mountain is open and amazing.

 

The only rides I went on today were CCF and Apollo because coaster lines and stuff were long.

 

The parking lot was mostly empty the whole day, honestly don't know how that could be.

 

From what I heard, lines were ranging between 20-40 minutes for most of the day.

 

And from what I hear they saw bigfoot in the Pennsylvania mountains yesterday

[coneyislandchris]

Every ride will be a walk on. Maybe a 5 minute wait for Thunder Creek Mountain and Steel Force. Navigate however you want.

You keep saying that, but when I visited on Friday -- on a day when the weather wasn't even great and it was perpetually raining off and on -- there were significant lines on several of the coasters. Steel Force had about a 15 minute wait, Hydra ended up being 30-40 minutes, and Thunderhawk was the worst because they were only running one train and the dispatch times were absolutely awful, even with five ops in the station.

 

That being said, ILTP, your plan is probably as good as it can get. Work from the farthest point back and head towards the entrance, though with these ops, I wouldn't blame you if you did Thunderhawk first to minimize the wait times if they don't have the second train on that day.

[coasterbill]

40 minutes for Hydra???

 

Pics or it didn't happen. Lol 5 minutes would be an excessive wait for Hydra.

 

In all seriousness I'm sure it's possible that randomly the park will get flooded with an abnormal amount of school groups or something but aside from that there will never be waits for anything at Dorney. Not on Summer Saturday's, not "when the water park gets out" not during Haunt. Never...

 

So if on rare occasion there are a ton of busses maybe it's possible but in all my visits in the last 15 years with a season pass I've never seen it and we usually go to Dorney on days we know every other park will be slammed.

[coneyislandchris]

40 minutes for Hydra???

 

Pics or it didn't happen.

This is the best I've got on my phone...

And somehow we snaked all the way around the outside of the tarps.

 

I'm sure it's possible that randomly the park will get flooded with an abnormal amount of school groups or something

And that was exactly the case that day. Busload after busload after busload of teenagers piling out into the park. I mean, even with that, it was still a relative ghost town. I'll be looking forward to coming back later in the season to bring the kiddo, hopefully once he crosses that 48" mark.

[rcjp]

Believe it or not I have seen hydra with a longer line than that ^ and have actually waited something like 40 minutes for talon (while having been to the park only once)

[boldikus]

What are those people waiting for Hydra smoking? Do they not realize there are at least 4 better coasters in the park?

[njcoasterguy34]

Not everyone enjoys shuttle coasters. However, in that case there are still 2 better coasters.

[rcjp]

It's actually my second favorite in the park. It is more exiting than steel force and, in my opinion, provides a more complete ride than the rest. Plus I didn't have any rattle issues

[michaellynn4]

They're all jojo roll enthusiasts. That's the only logical explanation.

[rcjp]

^You know, I'm not a big fan of extended hangtime so I wasn't looking forward to the roll that much but it turned out to be pretty fun while still being surprisingly comfortable. I wouldn't mind seeing it on more rides.

[YoshiFan]

Almost every Friday in May is bad during the day because of Music in the Parks school groups. Unlike at Great Adventure that also has the Music in the Parks, with more coasters and a larger park, crowds are spread out better compared to Dorney. With fewer coasters and almost everyone in the park teenagers who go to the coasters and thrill rides it makes the lines worse than normal.

[DorneyKid14]

Talons line right now.

[boldikus]

Whoa who would have thought school trips go to parks in the springtime on weekdays?

[Henry M]

I am sorry, I don't know if that counts as long for Dorney. How long time wise it is and is it worth the wait>

[boldikus]

Not everyone enjoys shuttle coasters. However, in that case there are still 2 better coasters.

 

Don't you talk about my Possessed like that!

[coasterbill]

I am sorry, I don't know if that counts as long for Dorney. How long time wise it is and is it worth the wait>

 

It depends. If the switchbacks are closed (likely) then 15 minutes. If they're open then the apocalypse is upon us.

[boldikus]

^

[coasterbill]

In any case it seems like the key to finding crowds at Dorney is to go on a Friday early in the season when there are school groups there. Now we know. I always went on Saturdays (which in most parks means huge crowds) and found a grand total of 11 other people in the park.

[boldikus]

Not to mention Talon SHOULD have a line. I know I'm in the minority but that coaster is phenomenal.

[michaellynn4]

^ I'm with you, it's one of my favorite coasters. It's funny, because it seems recently each of my visits to Dorney coincide with a major life change, and I always somehow end up reflecting significantly on said change as I ride Talon. I call it my "epiphany coaster".

[Intimidated305]

I'm planning on going to Dorney tomorrow. Since it may be raining, does anyone know the rain policy for the rides/coasters there?