Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom Discussion Thread

[AmyUD06]

Solid addition, no complaints (Okay, one:  It's not Laser.)

[Hilltopper39]

All of the letters I sent to B&M demanding that they bring back the tilted loop must have finally payed off. Tilted loops are so back baby.

[bert425]

so glad they're FINALLY putting something in that space where Stinger was at the front of the park (from the parking lot)

 

looks great.

[michaellynn4]

Looks to be a great addition. Glad to see this park getting something new!

Dumb little thing that probably only I appreciate, but I like how they figured out a layout to take more advantage of the weird little path tangent they've had there for a few years where the flyers were just kind of stuck out in the middle of nowhere.

[willh51]

This looks great, and is a perfect fit for Dorney.  I love the placement, color scheme, elements and general flow.  Dorney is always such a fun park to visit, and I can't believe it's been since 2005 that Hydra opened.  I used to visit frequently back then.  Talon still takes the cake, but this should be a crowd pleaser.

[swfan1988]

I'm excited for this! It seems a little short, but I love the whack layout for a dive coaster! I really enjoyed Dr. Diabolical at Fiesta Texas, so I hope B&M is on a role with small dive coasters. Would love to see more!

[Superbatboy]

Perfect addition for Dorney! 

[abovethesink]

I am very happy to see this, don't get me wrong, but I am a little surprised to see all the "perfect fit" comments. Of course I do get that literally any new coaster is basically a great fit because the park has been so starved for one. However, I wouldn't have chosen this model even though I expect to like it fine. Yeah, it has the beyond vertical drop, but otherwise it is a B&M sit down steel looper not too dissimilar to Hyrda and at least in the same realm as Talon. There are tons of models that would have been a better fit in my opinion. A modern woodie, any RMC, a B&M surf coaster, any flyer, anything that spins, a launched coaster with an actual layout, etc. I could keep going.

Beggars and choosers, I know. To be clear I am not remotely upset about this. I am thrilled, actually. I haven't been back to Dorney in close a decade even though I live in NY and visit PA parks almost annually. There just has been no reason to go back so I always skip it. Now there is a great reason and I look forward to not only checking this out but also re-experiencing the rest of the lineup. It is just that my reaction to this has been "wow, that's amazing that Dorney is getting this, but also kind of a weird choice" and everyone else seems to be thinking "great choice!" so I couldn't help but comment on that.

[thrillseeker4552]

^I understand what you're saying. I almost feel like Zambezi Zinger would've been a better fit at this park, and Iron Menace would've been better at Worlds of Fun.

Just interesting to think about and not a complaint either way. It's very refreshing to see Cedar Fair throw their small park a bone - and a B&M at that! Between this ride, Wildcat's Revenge, and whatever is coming to SFGAdv, I definitely need to hit up this area of the country again next summer!

[Twisterfan1995]

Love it! Glad to see one of my home parks finally get some love again from the Cedar Fair HQ. 

One of the things that also seems interesting about this addition is that park management said they wanted to emphasize theming with the ride, and giving it a decent backstory that both is locally relatable (Steelmaking being a major industry in the Lehigh Valley at one point)  and also ties into their Halloween events definitely help. A lot of the articles/videos also seem to be painting a picture that the park wants to go in a more theme-heavy direction moving forward as well, which I am excited to see.   

[MartinU]

Making my first trip to Dorney Park this weekend. Going Friday and Saturday. How are the Haunts this year? I watched some videos from LAST year, and saw a couple that look pretty good. 

Any First-timer tips? We will be there rope drop to close on Friday and ropedrop on Saturday (We'll leave early afternoon Sat. to drive home). Looking forward to Hydra and Talon, and Magnum's lil' brother. 

Thanks as always! 

[AmyUD06]

I was there this past Friday (TR incoming).

The new haunted maze, Ghost in the Shell, was absolutely incredible.  The others were not so much, but that's probably because I go to this park every year for their Halloween stuff and not much has changed in the other haunts.  The main theatrical show, Conjure the Night, was awesome.  Make sure you catch at least one showing of it.

I can say that you probably won't need a day and a half at this park, unless you intent to hit every adult flat too, but Friday only will definitely not be enough time to do all of the coasters and Haunt mazes and shows.

Note that the Haunt stuff doesn't start until 7 on Friday (not sure what time on Saturday), so if you get there right at opening you will have time to hit Talon, Hydra, and the flats in the main entry midway prior to the Haunt stuff starting.

EDIT:  Oh, and if you have any bag-carrying-people in your group, note that the bag policy stated on the website (5"x8"x2" if non-clear, 12"x12"x6" if clear) was not what they were actually doing at the park, which was 6.5"x4.5"x2" no matter what.

[MartinU]

17 hours ago, AmyUD06 said:

EDIT:  Oh, and if you have any bag-carrying-people in your group, note that the bag policy stated on the website (5"x8"x2" if non-clear, 12"x12"x6" if clear) was not what they were actually doing at the park, which was 6.5"x4.5"x2" no matter what.

Thanks for the update, especially about the bags. I've been seeing a few people comment how the new bag policy at a few CF parks has been confusing or caused people to walk back to their cars. 

As for as a day and a half, Friday we really want to hit the haunts and a few night rides on coasters. Hopefully it's not too busy. We've been to CP on Halloweekends once, and got really lucky with weather and the park was dead (pun intended). 

Thanks again!

[MartinU]

Tiny pseudo trip report, 

I went to Dorney Park for the first time this weekend and it was GREAT! Thank you @AmyUD06 for your help. 

I'm terrible at taking pictures while in the park, so nothing to share that way, but our impressions were:

Smooth Coasters!

• Talon is amazing! so smooth, great transitions and no line the whole time! Great, great, GREAT ride. (We like Raptor at CP a lot, but this one is just so much more fun. Less intense, but more fun!). 
• Hydra is a blast, and the back is so fun floating down the first hill. 
• Steel Force is a great classic Arrow Hyper! So smooth, good airtime, and the g-force in the turn around is perfect. Just a great ride (Again, sorry Magnum, SF is more re-ridable than you). 
• Possessed, that launch and back row!! IYKYK.  

The only weak coaster was Thunderhawk, the parks woodie. And weak does not mean bad, just weak, and could use some love. Yes, it's almost 95 years old, but it feels... rough in sports. Not painful... IDK, just not great. 

Again, we loved the coasters. Oh, and did we mention NO LINES on Friday (6-11pm) or Sat. (we left Sat. at 2). Our longest wait the entire weekend was for the Wild Mouse which was 15 minutes. Even the haunts, longest wait was less than 10 minutes. 

The Haunts were all pretty good. We went to Busch Gardens Williamsburg a few years ago and the haunts all felt the same, show buildings and rooms with black curtains. HOWEVER, Dorney had houses and environments.

• Best house by far was their new one, Ghost in the Machine! So much detail, lots of actors and variety of rooms with a few cool surprises. 
• Stop and Chop was probably my next favorite. It's outside, so make sure it's dark before you start this maze. 
•  Black Out was nice for those who don't like jump scares. It's mostly pitch black and only a few actors made any noise. There may have been more, but we didn't "see" them. I laughed because as I'm groping in the dark, I blindly grabbed the chest of one actor. I didn't see him, but I felt him. haha. 
• Tourist Trap and Blood on the Bayou  were both good. (Both had nice surprise endings. That's all I'll say. 
• Trick-or-Treat was ok. Felt sort and only a few witches 
• Necropolis- Meh. We laughed in this one the most. One actor was totally phoning it in, "I want your brains" in the most highschooler-I'm-too-cool-be-here voice ever. 

Again, first time in the park, it's a great one day park. Small enough to be done in one day, easy to navigate, and all the rides are close so you don't have to hike to get to the next thing. 

Staffing was great. Friendly people everywhere and lots of management around making sure everything was running smoothly and that guests were being good. 

Bags- I was warned about this, however, when we were there on Friday Night, I saw bags of all sizes coming in. So, not sure what's up with that. 

We are looking forward to going again this summer and hitting up the waterpark. 

LAST THING - Food outside the park, look up Lazeez Grill. It's real Mediterranean food made from scratch. It's only 5 minutes from the park. Show them some love and stop in for the best Shawarma I've ever had, the the Namoora (A type of coconut, almond flavored cake) was so good!  The owner is so friendly and helpful, he loves what he does. 

 

 

 

 

[Coasterfreak18]

When renewing my season pass, can I renew it for the sale price I got it at, or will it only be available to renew at the current price that new season pass holders can buy it for?

[AmyUD06]

You renew at whatever price they're selling the renewal for when you do it. There is no "price lock" or anything like that.  It should be a very slight discount from a brand new pass. 

[MartinU]

I was out walking my dog when WHAT DO I SEE? Two trucks with some new track! I snapped a pic as quick as I could. These appear to be brake run sections. Many of the fins were already in place. This was in western Maryland on I-68. So, if you're between here and Allentown, keep an eye out. Only 3.5 hours away! 

[ricklap77]

Can't wait to ride this new beast!  My only visit to the park was in 2003!  A lot has changed since then.  I wish they kept Hercules.  I got to ride it several times the Sunday of the Labor Day weekend.  The next day it was giving its last rides but no one knew.  

[DannySixFlags]

This park seems to love Pig-Pen. He's been there BOTH TIMES I went last season. Hopefully I meet Lucy at KD, because that's who I wanna meet.

[tndank]

Great news for the kids.  Iron Menace is only a 48" height requirement.