Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom Discussion Thread

[Blind Idiot God]

When you live in New England, profanity really doesn't tend to bother you because virtually everyone swears left and right here. I don't even notice half of it at SFNE, and that's right next to Springfield, one of the nastiest cities in the entire region.

[cal1br3tto]

^^Sounds like I'm lucky I attended one of their infamous "empty" days, with walk-ons for plenty of rides. Perfect.

[sspaz1000]

I wouldn't be blaming all the attitude and shadiness that Dorney has grown into over the years just on Philly. There are plenty of other groups of people from other cities that cause the same shadiness.

[Tanks4me05]

^^I'm surprised that I keep getting those days. I have been at Dorney Park almost every year for the past ten years, and every single visit has at least half of the coasters with a wait of ten minutes or less.

[UrbanLegend]

I used to go to Dorney all the time in the summer with my cousins when I was a kid, and it would always be packed. So imagine my surprise when the two most recent times I went (Halloween Haunt 2008 and this past August), the park was practically a ghost town. I honestly thought there was something wrong with Talon because there were so few people on it the whole day. Guess I just got lucky with crowds.

And I've never really noticed the hoodlum element at Dorney. Perhaps it's because this and Great Adventure are my home parks, so I've just come to expect a certain unsavory crowd at theme parks...

[TheAmazingCP]

I didn't mean just Philly. I'm just giving an example. Allentown has some pretty shady characters too.

 

Although now that I think about, if Steel Force was built two years later, it could've been a B&M Hyper, not a Morgan. That would've been kick-ass.

[Tanks4me05]

^After being on Steel Force many times and two B&M hypers (Behemoth and Nitro) I can say with confidence that you needn't worry. Steel Force rides pretty similarly to Nitro. The airtime intensity and frequency is a notch or two higher than Nitro, but the ride itself is a bit rougher (though far from uncomfortable.)

[jzoole]

Hmm. I'm guessing you come from some Whitebread suburb? Maybe it's because I grew up in the city, but I have never been bothered by rowdy or uncouth urbanites filling the air with profanity. In fact, it sort of adds to the theme park atmosphere in my opinion.

[TheAmazingCP]

Whitebread? Lol, I guess so. It's usually not bad, but... there was one day that was terrible. I had someone get in my face because I threw out a soda the same time they did. I guess it kinda ruined my memory of the place.

 

I've been on Steel Force more than fifty times, and I personally favor Nitro a little more. It's smoother and I think that Nitro's helix is a little more intense. Steel Force has much better airtime, though. But Nitro's trains don't allow preppy teenage girls to take duck-face photos mid-helix, I give it that.

[AmyUD06]

Being my hometown park, I have a season pass to this place. Most often, I go up with a group of friends to just hang out and have fun. I have mixed feelings on Stinger, but there is one major issue that no one's really brought up...

 

The people. The people at Dorney have to be some of the shadiest crowds you'll see anyway. Buses from Philly are common, and many poor urban families get their first coaster rides here. However, they're also obnoxious, loud, foul-mouthed, and love to line-jump. I'm not saying it'll ruin your day, but you can only hear someone scream "OH F*@K!!!! HOLY S#^T!!!!" so many times before it gets to you.

 

I'd say it's better that SFGAdv in terms of crowd quality. Dorney really only gets Philly and Trenton "thugs." SFGA gets NYC, Philly, Camden, Trenton, and Asbury/Neptune. Not to mention the juicehead crowd, which often can be worse. And metal detectors or not, I still feel safer in Dorney with their actually-trained-to-get-involved, Act 235-certified, security guys.

[coasterbill]

Stinger is testing!

From the parks Facebook

[alilstronger]

^ YAY! So excited to get to ride this on June 10th when I am at the park for the Coasting for Kids event.

[Philrad71]

I'll be going down for my nephews graduation at the end of June and hope to be hitting up Dorney. It's a nice way to spend an afternoon with my family when I get to Allentown.

 

Looking forward to riding Stinger!

[Hercules]

I wouldn't be blaming all the attitude and shadiness that Dorney has grown into over the years just on Philly. There are plenty of other groups of people from other cities that cause the same shadiness.

 

I think Philly can be held mostly responsible. After the Cedar Fair takeover the major marketing initiative was placed on the Philadelphia area, and gradually rougher crowds started to appear. The park does also pull from the Camden and Trenton areas too, but Philly can be held mostly to blame I think.

 

With that said, I don't really mind. I feel "safe" in the park.

[Blind Idiot God]

Again, SFNE gets a bunch of people from Holyoke, Springfield, Hartford, Waterbury, and New Haven, none of which can be considered nice cities by any stretch, but it doesn't bother me. I've been through enough inner-city areas to know that a good portion of the residents are totally indifferent to your being there and want nothing more than to let you be on your way.

[terdferg]

^If your talking about people from Camden going to Dorney, I do not see how that is possible. Camden is so poor most residents cannot afford to even enjoy the attractions their own city has, let alone pay tolls, transportation, and admission to a park almost 2 hours away.

 

Reading and Allentown may be contributing to this "crowd" you speak of, since they have had an increase in criminal activity in certain areas of their cities.

[alilstronger]

I have been to Dorney several times and I thought it was a "different" crowd that goes but no different then the crowd that goes to Six Flags America. It is definitely a lot different then the Hershey crowd. I guess I am just used to be people being a little ghetto and over the top living in Baltimore hehe. The only thing that bothered me about the park was the line cutting. These days I do not say anything to anyone about line jumping because people are not scared to raise a fist. Heck people line jump in SFA all the time but I never say nothing because that park has had its fair share of shooting and stabbings in the parking lot. This HUGE parking lot and people fight over one parking spot - I do not get it.

[eddie200330]

I have been to Dorney several times and I thought it was a "different" crowd that goes but no different then the crowd that goes to Six Flags America. It is definitely a lot different then the Hershey crowd. I guess I am just used to be people being a little ghetto and over the top living in Baltimore hehe. The only thing that bothered me about the park was the line cutting. These days I do not say anything to anyone about line jumping because people are not scared to raise a fist. Heck people line jump in SFA all the time but I never say nothing because that park has had its fair share of shooting and stabbings in the parking lot. This HUGE parking lot and people fight over one parking spot - I do not get it.

 

I live in Cumberland and we go to Baltimore a good bit to John Hopkins and the area around that scares the crap out of me!!!!

 

But yeah, I have been to a park, can't remember which one, and my dad who is in his 70's said something to a group of kids who jumped line and they were ready to take him out!!! I was actually concerned because they were some seriously looking shady people. I have been to SFA a bunch of times and never really had a problem with the clientele, same goes for Dorney. I just ind my business, put on a happy face and enjoy myself. I even try to strike up a conversation while in line with people to kinda break the ice so people can see we are all pretty much alike.

[mtavenger55]

Dorney is one of my favorite parks. I visit it a few times a year & get season passes every year. I've never had a problem with the crowd or atmosphere. In my opinion GADV's crowd is worse. I've never waited more than 20 minutes for a coaster there, even on a busy day, plus you don't have to worry about bags because their coasters have bins for your stuff!

[The49er]

I'm going to Great America on Saturday, and it's going to be my first time seeing the Invertigrass

 

CURSE YOU DORNEY!!1!1

 

I think that Invertigo tied for tallest coaster in the park; that's how bad we need a new ride

 

Oh, well. Hope you Dorney fans love this thing that I never could ride at CGA

[mtavenger55]

Stinger is now testing!

[Swimace]

Looks like Dorney is following the rest of the Cedar Fair parks by adding Fast Lane:

 

http://www.dorneypark.com/what-s-new/new-fast-lane

 

Fast Lane rides include:

Stinger, Steel Force, Dominator (S&S Tower), Possessed, Wild Mouse, White Water Landing, Hydra, Talon, Thunderhawk, and Thunder Canyon!

 

And yes, there is already a ton of whining on their facebook page!

[cal1br3tto]

Dorney needs Fast Lane?

 

Wait, on second thought, I love this just for Wild Mouse. If I hadn't had ERT last year I would've ended up wanting to use it on Talon and Hydra, too.

[SharkTums]

^All parks need Fast Lane!

[alilstronger]

^ I agree with Elissa, all parks should have a service like this of some sort. Laura I agree with you too about the Wild Mouse at Dorney!