Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom Discussion Thread

[YoshiFan]

I went to the park today and it was empty as usual for the Sunday of opening weekend.

 

For all rides except Wild Mouse, Fast Lane merges before the station although I didn't see anyone using it today.

 

Here is my Stinger review:

The queue is not that big, there is a pathway to the switchbacks which there are 5 of and then a long ramp to the station. Like Talon, they weren't letting many riders in the station at once so even on a day like today when the park was empty, the line was almost halfway down the ramp. I can see the ride getting a full queue on a busy day.

 

For my first ride, I took row 1 since there was no one waiting for that row. I haven't ridden a coaster with these restraints since 2007 when Great Nor'Easter still had the old trains and I forgot how uncomfortable the restraints were compared to Intamin or B&M inverted coaster OSTR's. It felt confining around my shoulders.

 

The ride was smoother than I was expecting with a little bit of headbanging in the cobra roll. Like a standard boomerang, going backwards through the loop was very forceful. I walked around and this time went for the last row. I liked that better since you go up the lift forwards and I don't like the feeling of going up the lift backwards and falling into the restraint. I also did not realize at the top of the first lift, there was a slight pause before the train went back down the lift hill. I also didn't know the floor lowers on this coaster type like B&M inverts, although it was done differently with part of the floor moving forward out of the station and then lowered with the part out of the station on an angle.

 

For my 3rd ride, I tried a middle row this time facing other riders. I had enough after 3 rides and although I thought the ride was ok, it's my 2nd least favorite coaster at Dorney (Wild Mouse is my least favorite). It seemed to be popular though with many people getting right back in line for another ride while a few people said it was too much for them and didn't go for another ride. FastLane has a separate line that basically runs parallel to the main line and goes to the opposite end of the station.

[scbt]

Since i'm heading here for the first time in a while next Friday, could anyone recommend any decent places to eat in the park? Also, could you folks suggest an order to ride the coasters in?

[RideofSteel]

I suggest riding the Wild Mouse first. They only allow two riders per car and then have as few as 4 cars on the track. Otherwise, you shouldn't have major lines as all local schools are in session.

[XYZ]

 

For my first ride, I took row 1 since there was no one waiting for that row. I haven't ridden a coaster with these restraints since 2007 when Great Nor'Easter still had the old trains and I forgot how uncomfortable the restraints were compared to Intamin or B&M inverted coaster OSTR's. It felt confining around my shoulders.

 

The ride was smoother than I was expecting with a little bit of headbanging in the cobra roll. Like a standard boomerang, going backwards through the loop was very forceful. I walked around and this time went for the last row. I liked that better since you go up the lift forwards and I don't like the feeling of going up the lift backwards and falling into the restraint. I also did not realize at the top of the first lift, there was a slight pause before the train went back down the lift hill. I also didn't know the floor lowers on this coaster type like B&M inverts, although it was done differently with part of the floor moving forward out of the station and then lowered with the part out of the station on an angle.

 

For my 3rd ride, I tried a middle row this time facing other riders. I had enough after 3 rides and although I thought the ride was ok, it's my 2nd least favorite coaster at Dorney (Wild Mouse is my least favorite). It seemed to be popular though with many people getting right back in line for another ride while a few people said it was too much for them and didn't go for another ride. FastLane has a separate line that basically runs parallel to the main line and goes to the opposite end of the station.

 

It seems they didn't do much on re-habbing the ride as this is basically the same exact ride experience when it was Invertigo in CGA.

[Tanks4me05]

^^^DP is infamous for its short lines throughout the park, except for Wild Mouse which its lines are famously long because of the weird two adults per car rule. So get to that first if you want the credit, but otherwise, do whatever. a super long line for Talon is reaching past the stairs, which I only remember happening on one of my visits, and I've been there many times.

[YoshiFan]

I think it will be somewhat crowded next Friday. Every Friday in May is Music In the Parks, I was only there for an hour today since I was in Allentown anyway so I stopped in to get a couple of rides but with the school groups lines were long (for Dorney). Stinger was 15 minutes and got a longer line by the time I exited the ride, Steel Force was 20 minutes and looked to be close to 30 minutes after my ride (the first set of switchbacks were full with the line on the stairs). Thunderhawk had 1 train running and looked to be at least 30 minutes. Possessed looked to be at least 20 minutes, same with Hydra and Talon's line was in the switchbacks.

 

 

It seems they didn't do much on re-habbing the ride as this is basically the same exact ride experience when it was Invertigo in CGA.

 

That's interesting to hear, since when the park got Voodoo I thought they refurbished the ride and trains. Maybe they didn't feel it was necessary for this ride?

[KDCOASTERFAN]

^^^DP is infamous for its short lines throughout the park, except for Wild Mouse which its lines are famously long because of the weird two adults per car rule. So get to that first if you want the credit, but otherwise, do whatever. a super long line for Talon is reaching past the stairs, which I only remember happening on one of my visits, and I've been there many times.

 

I don't know why they don't just replace this mouse with a Mack mouse along the lines of the KD & Carowinds models?Obviously the Mack mice havn't had problems with collisions resulting in such horrid minimalist capacity operations as this.

[Tanks4me05]

^Because they probably already did a cost benefit analysis and found that it would be less than the roughly $5 - $6 million it would take to get a whole new ride which the guests likely won't notice the difference, unless they went with a spinning wild mouse of course.

[jzoole]

So what is the deal with their Wild Mouse anyway? It's the same model as Gotham City Gauntlet at SFNE, which has a continuously moving station and no 2-adult rule, and the capacity is just fine. Does anyone know why Dorney has this problem?

[YoshiFan]

I think it's just CF and their strict rules. It's like that at other rides too. The Camp Bus for example has a rule of only 1 person over 54" per row, but the same ride at Great Adventure, Morey's, Dutch Wonderland and probably every other non CF park out there allows 2 riders over 54" to sit in the same row.

 

I skip the Wild Mouse almost every visit to the park because of the wait. What would be a 5 minute wait for the Dark Knight at Great Adventure is at least a 15 minute wait at Dorney. The loading setup also slows things down. They load from 4 rows, gates 1 and 2 unlock at the same time or gates 3 and 4 unlock at the same time so both 1 and 2 or 3 and 4 try to board the car when it's supposed to be just 1 row boarding which causes confusion (understandably so).

[linearinduction]

^^^^ When was there a Collision on Dorney's Maurer Mouse?

 

^^^ I don't know where you got your Figures, but the Maurer Mice Sold for just over 2 Million Dollars.

 

^^ & ^ Having operated the First Maurer Mouse in North America, at Lagoon, this has all left me scratching my head. Lagoon had some Issues with Stress Fractures in the Wheel Housings in 2005 and have done some Re-Enforcing of some of the Weldments on the Uprights and Track, but other wise Lagoon's Wild Mouse operates just fine!

 

- Sid

[Tanks4me05]

^Oh wow, that's it? I'm basing it off of the fact that DL got Motocoaster at a reduced price of $3.8 million because it was already built. I got the figures from discovering a surprisingly accurate rule of thumb that for steel coasters, the average price is about $4500 per foot of track (I know that's not how it's really calculated, but that's the best I can go by without having access to the bill of materials of each project)

[Ccron10]

http://www.wfmz.com/news/news-regional-lehighvalley/Riders-stuck-on-Dorney-Park-roller-coaster-for-90-minutes/-/132502/14665790/-/dvd1x8z/-/index.html?bmr=y

SOUTH WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. -

It wasn't the ride some Dorney Park visitors were expecting Wednesday afternoon.

 

A train on the coaster, "Stinger," became stuck, trapping riders in their seats for about 90 minutes, said Carrie Basta, a spokeswoman for the amusement park in South Whitehall Twp., Lehigh Co.

 

Crews were in the process of beginning a rescue operation, Basta said, when the coaster began moving and returned to the station around 2:30 p.m., allowing everyone to get off.

 

Medical personnel were called to evaluate the riders as a precaution.

 

Investigators have still not determined what caused the ride to malfunction.

Even though it moved more than 3,000 miles, Invertigo still loves to strand it's riders. At least it wasn't for several hours!

[KI Kidd]

Cedar Fair is really going out of their way this week to extend the amount of time their guests spend in the parks this week!

[Ccron10]

More info and a video has been added to the story above, which includes video of them lowering the train back into the station.

SOUTH WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. -

It wasn't the ride some Dorney Park visitors were expecting Wednesday afternoon. Riders were trapped in their seats for 90 minutes after the park's newest roller coaster got stuck.

 

The "Stinger" was completely full when it got stuck Wednesday. Riders were higher than 120 feet in the air for about an hour and a half. And we're learning this isn't the first time folks have been trapped on the new attraction.

 

Around 2:30 in the afternoon Wednesday Dorney's newest roller coaster 'The Stinger' had just started moving again. This after riders were trapped dangling in their seats for about an hour and a half.

 

"The riders all got off the ride in the station where we would want them to get off," explained Dorney's Vice President Jason McClure. "Nobody had any injuries, everybody was fine."

 

He says the coaster malfunctioned shortly after it exited the station, stranding 28 passengers higher than 120 feet in the air.

 

"Some people were facing down, some people were facing up," said McClure.

 

For 90 minutes riders were trapped in their seats. Staff had to manually release the roller coaster train and lower it back into the station.

 

Officials say an equipment malfunction caused the ride to break down.

 

"The ride has a number of safety mechanisms in it and if a safety mechanism detects something it will stop the ride, and when that happens we have to go back and clear it," said McClure.

 

But we're learning this isn't the first time this coaster has gotten stuck on the tracks.

 

Video posted to YouTube clearly shows passengers stranded on the ride during the park's opening weekend in April. We're told It happened again at the end of May, and so far twice in June. That's four times that we know of that this ride has broken down in less than six weeks.

 

"Your hanging there with that harness, hanging, hoping that they don't throw the wrong switch and the harness open up," said Ray Reichardt.

 

He and his family were scared and stuck on the ride for 30 minutes this past Sunday.

 

"I was hanging down and my face and my hands got numb after about a half an hour," said Reichardt.

 

But officials say getting stuck on coasters is normal.

 

"The only thing unusual about this was the length of time involved," said McClure.

 

'The Stinger' was closed for the rest of the day so staff could run tests, but they expect it to be back open Thursday morning. They say they don't anticipate this happening again, and the ride is safe.

 

We've also learned this ride has a sticky past. The inverted coaster was acquired from Great America park in California. There it was known as 'Invertigo' and in 2009 24 passengers were stuck for about three hours after a mechanical failure.

 

Dorney Officials say Wednesday's incident was "completely different" then what happened in California.

[deguy123]

I just saw this on the news this morning, its so funny to hear the news reporters description of what happened. Hopefully it's back up and running by Sunday.

[Swimace]

Cedar Fair is really going out of their way this week to extend the amount of time their guests spend in the parks this week!

 

It's the new Disney CEO! He understands that there is a correlation between time spent in the park and guest spending. He's just coming up with inventive ways to do it!

 

[SharkTums]

LOL! Love these comments!

[CoasterBeagle]

More info and a video has been added to the story above, which includes video of them lowering the train back into the station.

SOUTH WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. -

It wasn't the ride some Dorney Park visitors were expecting Wednesday afternoon. Riders were trapped in their seats for 90 minutes after the park's newest roller coaster got stuck.

 

The "Stinger" was completely full when it got stuck Wednesday. Riders were higher than 120 feet in the air for about an hour and a half. And we're learning this isn't the first time folks have been trapped on the new attraction.

 

Around 2:30 in the afternoon Wednesday Dorney's newest roller coaster 'The Stinger' had just started moving again. This after riders were trapped dangling in their seats for about an hour and a half.

 

"The riders all got off the ride in the station where we would want them to get off," explained Dorney's Vice President Jason McClure. "Nobody had any injuries, everybody was fine."

 

He says the coaster malfunctioned shortly after it exited the station, stranding 28 passengers higher than 120 feet in the air.

 

"Some people were facing down, some people were facing up," said McClure.

 

For 90 minutes riders were trapped in their seats. Staff had to manually release the roller coaster train and lower it back into the station.

 

Officials say an equipment malfunction caused the ride to break down.

 

"The ride has a number of safety mechanisms in it and if a safety mechanism detects something it will stop the ride, and when that happens we have to go back and clear it," said McClure.

 

But we're learning this isn't the first time this coaster has gotten stuck on the tracks.

 

Video posted to YouTube clearly shows passengers stranded on the ride during the park's opening weekend in April. We're told It happened again at the end of May, and so far twice in June. That's four times that we know of that this ride has broken down in less than six weeks.

 

"Your hanging there with that harness, hanging, hoping that they don't throw the wrong switch and the harness open up," said Ray Reichardt.

 

He and his family were scared and stuck on the ride for 30 minutes this past Sunday.

 

"I was hanging down and my face and my hands got numb after about a half an hour," said Reichardt.

 

But officials say getting stuck on coasters is normal.

 

"The only thing unusual about this was the length of time involved," said McClure.

 

'The Stinger' was closed for the rest of the day so staff could run tests, but they expect it to be back open Thursday morning. They say they don't anticipate this happening again, and the ride is safe.

 

We've also learned this ride has a sticky past. The inverted coaster was acquired from Great America park in California. There it was known as 'Invertigo' and in 2009 24 passengers were stuck for about three hours after a mechanical failure.

 

Dorney Officials say Wednesday's incident was "completely different" then what happened in California.

Completely different my butt. The only difference was time. I actually found this out through wikipedia

[Angry_Gumball]

To be fair, Invertigo's problem was a little more serious and complicated than the recent episode. Stinger isn't dealing with a busted, binding chain. They were able to get the train back into the station and get the riders off.

[alilstronger]

I had such a blast at Coasting for Kids this past Sunday! It was my first time at Dorney in two years and I had a great time. I will admit this is one of my favorite amusement parks. Not only is their coaster selection fun for me but they also have a good assortment of flats and a fabulous water park. They have the best top spins, scramblers (speed wise), Monsters, and swings. Talon is still one of my top inverts as well. The park was very clean and most of the staff were very friendly and kind. I did find out a tid bit of information I would like to share about Fast Lane at this particular park. Not sure if anyone mentioned this or not. I rode the Screaming Swing twice. The second time I got to talking to the operator and she said if one of the Fast Lane rides is down you are supposed to be able ride Screaming Swing once for free since you paid all that money and one of the rides is down.

[YoshiFan]

Interesting, so anyone with Fast Lane could have gone to Screaming Swing today since Stinger broke down (not stuck on the lift though). But Screaming Swing appeared to be closed at least when I walked by it today.

 

I wonder how well Fast Lane is selling at the park. This was my 4th trip to the park this season and I have yet to see a single person use it at any rides. I did see a family of 4 at the Fast Lane booth with wristbands but it certainly wasn't needed today. All rides had a wait of 0 - 10 minutes.

[NYJin2010tm]

Interesting, so anyone with Fast Lane could have gone to Screaming Swing today since Stinger broke down (not stuck on the lift though). But Screaming Swing appeared to be closed at least when I walked by it today.

 

I wonder how well Fast Lane is selling at the park. This was my 4th trip to the park this season and I have yet to see a single person use it at any rides. I did see a family of 4 at the Fast Lane booth with wristbands but it certainly wasn't needed today. All rides had a wait of 0 - 10 minutes.

 

lol that's what I was thinking...is it even needed at Dorney? I have been to Dorney every year for the last 5 years and never had a problem waiting.Every time I have gone I get there at opening and have done every coaster 5 times by 1pm.

[Sir Clinksalot]

Need some hotel advice in Allentown/surrounding area's.

 

For our ECB Extended coaster trip later this month we were going to make our "base" near Hershey for the 3 nights we will be doing Hershey/Knoebels/Dorney but the hotels around that area seem to be a little pricey.

 

When we did these parks in 2005 we stayed at the Holiday Inn Express across the street from Dorney and it seemed to work well as a "base" for those parks so I figured we'd do the same this time.

 

Are there any area's in Allentown/Bethlehem that we absolutely don't want to stay in?

[Sue]

I'd just avoid the downtown areas, although I'm not even sure what hotels are even there anyway. If you have some specific hotels in mind, I can let you know how those areas are.