Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom Discussion Thread

[DorneyKid14]

It could be, it could be for something else. Like a ride or waterslide. Not really sure.

 

I have/had a feeling they didn't announce everything because they were waiting for final approval, so this could be it. Or it could be for the restaurant.

[Vonni]

It would be nice if there is something else, but I wouldn't expect it.

[DorneyKid14]

It would be nice if there is something else, but I wouldn't expect it.

 

Yeah knowing dorney it probably isn't much other than the new cafe in wwk.

[KBrylczyk]

It's for the restaurant and a new bench.

 

In other news, looks like Dorney's Halloween Haunt was fully unveiled. I'll be making the trip at the end of this month for sure!

 

https://www.dorneypark.com/play/haunt

[Haunting]

It would be nice if there is something else, but I wouldn't expect it.

 

Yeah knowing dorney it probably isn't much other than the new cafe in wwk.

Maybe 2019 will be the year. Maybe Cedar Fair will relocate Cedar Point's Woodstock Express to Dorney as a show of sympathy.

[ImNotOneOfYou]

It would be nice if there is something else, but I wouldn't expect it.

 

Yeah knowing dorney it probably isn't much other than the new cafe in wwk.

Maybe 2019 will be the year. Maybe Cedar Fair will relocate Cedar Point's Woodstock Express to Dorney as a show of sympathy.

 

That's a bit much.

[YoshiFan]

Today was one probably the most crowded I have seen the park in over 10 years (I avoid summer weekends). The overflow lot was being used with cars parking on the grass next to that lot. Everyone was mostly in WWK and even after 6 when it closed lines were still 10 - 15 minutes for Talon, Hydra and Steel Force (not that I was expecting to see 30+ minute lines). The major lines were for the $1 Crab Fries, Hot Dogs, Nachos, Icees and Ice Cream.

[DorneyKid14]

I would imagine the longest line would of been for crab fries.

[YoshiFan]

Yeah they were the most popular with the ice cream lines almost as bad. The WWK location had a full queue with the line past that and the location near Sea Dragon had a lot of people waiting to order and many more waiting at the pick up area. I avoided using my dining pass at any of the places that had $1 items because I didn't feel like waiting.

[coneyislandchris]

^ Was also there yesterday and have to agree re: the lines. It was definitely crowded by Dorney standards, which meant that for most rides you had to wait one to two cycles as opposed to walking right on. Since I had both the kids and their granddad with me, we spent a lot more time doing flat rides over coasters. Around 3:30 when the big kid wanted to do Steel Force, we ended up in the far set of switchbacks, but that still ended up being only about a ten minute wait to get in the station, because they were pushing out trains like crazy with both black and red running. Front row ended up only being five minutes from there. Front row is still best row on this ride, no doubt. I don't understand the physics behind it but we were getting tons of butts-off-seats airtime over every single one of the hills.

 

From the top of Steel Force, we spotted no visible queues at Thunderhawk so we bounced over there afterwards, walked up to the station and had about three groups waiting in front of us at the front row. Even though they were also running two trains, average dispatch time was about five to six minutes per train and it ended up being a longer wait than Steel Force. Seriously, these were like third tier Bizarro operations over here. My best guess is that no one working Thunderhawk knows what to do when there's more than ten people on a train. With that being said, I swear last time I rode this with the new trains, they had retractable belts that would constantly lock up at the slightest amount of slack. This time around, they appeared to be switched back to the old adjustable strap style. Not that it changes much, because the trims of disappointment are still active throughout the course. What I wouldn't give for an actual untrimmed ride on this someday.

 

Other than that, a couple other miscellaneous thoughts in lieu of an actual trip report;

- My daughter's first time on a Musik Express and Flyers. Of course she loved them both. Can't wait to get her back to Knoebels though and get her on a real set of Flyers.

- Longest line I saw all day was at the Road Rally. Full queue spilling out into the midway. No idea what that translated to in terms of wait, and wasn't about to find out.

- Managed to sneak away at one point for my first ride on Possessed since May 2016. Still love this, but a little sad they don't utilize that holding brake anymore.

- Got lunch at the Chickies & Pete's by Sea Dragon. Once again, the kiosks wouldn't cooperate with the meal plan on my pass; it would issue me one credit, but then tell me no options were available. We ended up just paying via a card, then having the cashiers fix it after the fact. This is when we discovered that there's two different types of meals. Since my father and I both got cheesesteaks, we were surprised to discover that after they changed one to the meal plan version, that one ended up being a half cheesesteak + fries while the other one was just a full cheesesteak, no fries. Not sure I get the reasoning behind this but whatever. The side of fries that came with it was more than enough to share between the four of us anyway.

- Speaking of Sea Dragon, still my favorite pirate ship anywhere. Same with Thunder Creek Mountain for log flumes, and that one surprisingly was running in rare form today, getting us soaked from head to toe as opposed to its usual light splashes. Was definitely more than welcome on a hot scorcher with no clouds like yesterday was.

- Final tip; if you're putting sunscreen on your kids, don't forget to put some on yourself too, otherwise you run the risk of getting called a tomato by your wife when you get back home.

[jconsolmagno]

^ Was also there yesterday and have to agree re: the lines. It was definitely crowded by Dorney standards, which meant that for most rides you had to wait one to two cycles as opposed to walking right on. Since I had both the kids and their granddad with me, we spent a lot more time doing flat rides over coasters. Around 3:30 when the big kid wanted to do Steel Force, we ended up in the far set of switchbacks, but that still ended up being only about a ten minute wait to get in the station, because they were pushing out trains like crazy with both black and red running. Front row ended up only being five minutes from there. Front row is still best row on this ride, no doubt. I don't understand the physics behind it but we were getting tons of butts-off-seats airtime over every single one of the hills.

 

From the top of Steel Force, we spotted no visible queues at Thunderhawk so we bounced over there afterwards, walked up to the station and had about three groups waiting in front of us at the front row. Even though they were also running two trains, average dispatch time was about five to six minutes per train and it ended up being a longer wait than Steel Force. Seriously, these were like third tier Bizarro operations over here. My best guess is that no one working Thunderhawk knows what to do when there's more than ten people on a train. With that being said, I swear last time I rode this with the new trains, they had retractable belts that would constantly lock up at the slightest amount of slack. This time around, they appeared to be switched back to the old adjustable strap style. Not that it changes much, because the trims of disappointment are still active throughout the course. What I wouldn't give for an actual untrimmed ride on this someday.

 

Other than that, a couple other miscellaneous thoughts in lieu of an actual trip report;

- My daughter's first time on a Musik Express and Flyers. Of course she loved them both. Can't wait to get her back to Knoebels though and get her on a real set of Flyers.

- Longest line I saw all day was at the Road Rally. Full queue spilling out into the midway. No idea what that translated to in terms of wait, and wasn't about to find out.

- Managed to sneak away at one point for my first ride on Possessed since May 2016. Still love this, but a little sad they don't utilize that holding brake anymore.

- Got lunch at the Chickies & Pete's by Sea Dragon. Once again, the kiosks wouldn't cooperate with the meal plan on my pass; it would issue me one credit, but then tell me no options were available. We ended up just paying via a card, then having the cashiers fix it after the fact. This is when we discovered that there's two different types of meals. Since my father and I both got cheesesteaks, we were surprised to discover that after they changed one to the meal plan version, that one ended up being a half cheesesteak + fries while the other one was just a full cheesesteak, no fries. Not sure I get the reasoning behind this but whatever. The side of fries that came with it was more than enough to share between the four of us anyway.

- Speaking of Sea Dragon, still my favorite pirate ship anywhere. Same with Thunder Creek Mountain for log flumes, and that one surprisingly was running in rare form today, getting us soaked from head to toe as opposed to its usual light splashes. Was definitely more than welcome on a hot scorcher with no clouds like yesterday was.

- Final tip; if you're putting sunscreen on your kids, don't forget to put some on yourself too, otherwise you run the risk of getting called a tomato by your wife when you get back home.

 

Since when don't they use the hold brake? I remember it this year and at Haunt last year.

[coasterbill]

Speaking of Sea Dragon, still my favorite pirate ship anywhere.

 

Chance ships are excellent. They put the other ones to shame. I almost never bother with pirate ships but I make an exception when I see a SeaDragon, Pharaoh's Fury or other Chance model (like the one in Wildwood).

[Genx24]

I actually like Possessed without the holding brake; makes the ride seem more out of control to me.

[njcoasterguy34]

Speaking of Sea Dragon, still my favorite pirate ship anywhere.

 

Chance ships are excellent. They put the other ones to shame. I almost never bother with pirate ships but I make an exception when I see a SeaDragon, Pharaoh's Fury or other Chance model (like the one in Wildwood).

 

Is the one at Great Adventure a Chance model?

[coasterbill]

No, which is why I've never ridden it.

[alilstronger]

Speaking of Sea Dragon, still my favorite pirate ship anywhere.

 

Chance ships are excellent. They put the other ones to shame. I almost never bother with pirate ships but I make an exception when I see a SeaDragon, Pharaoh's Fury or other Chance model (like the one in Wildwood).

 

This one and Rehoboth Beach Delaware are my fave ships.

[coasterbill]

Yeah, the one in Rehoboth is my favorite also. It comes within like 2 feet of a house on one side and like 2 feet of the kids jungle gym on the other.

[KBrylczyk]

Anyone been to Haunt yet? I'm heading up on Friday and I'm curious if the houses have gotten any better since my last trip in 2011.

[Jcoaster]

Anyone been to Haunt yet? I'm heading up on Friday and I'm curious if the houses have gotten any better since my last trip in 2011.

 

I haven’t been this year but I can vouch for last year’s haunt which was really well done. You should have a great time, expect a lot of fog. Dorney loves their fog.

[KBrylczyk]

^

 

[alilstronger]

Anyone been to Haunt yet? I'm heading up on Friday and I'm curious if the houses have gotten any better since my last trip in 2011.

 

Last time I went - 2 Halloweens ago. The haunts were very well themed but not scary at all. They sent us in groups of about 20 so it was too many people to scare at once.

[Satans Hockey]

Anyone been to Haunt yet? I'm heading up on Friday and I'm curious if the houses have gotten any better since my last trip in 2011.

 

I went the first weekend and enjoyed them all, I thought the new house tourist trap was pretty well done too.

[Physical]

- Managed to sneak away at one point for my first ride on Possessed since May 2016. Still love this, but a little sad they don't utilize that holding brake anymore.

 

I can actually offer a bit of insight as to why the holding brake has been disabled this season!

 

So, despite no longer working at the park, I have a few friends that still work there. After visiting earlier this season, I ran into a higher-up buddy of mine, I asked him about it, and here's what he had to say:

 

"Possessed has always put a power strain on the grid here, especially during the summer months when everyone in the area is running their A/C. The past few season, the ride has been getting stuck just outside of the station, when you'd occasionally get a "false launch." When the train would launch, for about 10 feet, then slam to a stop just outside of the station. Those are caused by power grid issues, where the ride detects a large dip in current, causing it to enter an E-Stop condition. (Aside: This is also why the ride programming has a timer, you cannot dispatch the ride without first waiting 75 seconds. Both to allow cooling on the LIM's, and for the capacitors to build up power) After disabling the holding brake, we've had a /lot/ less issues than we've had in previous seasons."

 

So there you have it folks, Allentown doesn't provide enough power to run the holding brake!

[DorneyKid14]

^ I can confirm this is true. I was told by electricians at the park when i worked there why is wasn't working.

[michaellynn4]

Welp, there goes one of the only attributes in the plus column for this park.