Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom Discussion Thread

[coasterbill]

Yeah Hydra back in 2005.

 

It's time for an RMC woodie! Hercules the redemption coaster anyone?

 

Maybe if Cedar Fair never wants a return on their investment. I'd imagine an original RMC would cost a pretty penny.

 

 

Silver Dollar City afforded one and their attendance can't be more than Dorney Park. I'd also imagine that Allentown is a little more populated than Branson.

 

You can't really look at Dorney's overall attendance though when you're comparing it to other parks because their main draw is the waterpark.

 

Personally I don't see why Cedar Fair would invest any substantial amount of money into a new coaster for Dorney. The coasters never have lines and usually have a lot of empty rows on each train. It's like this almost every day of the year, even on Saturdays in October.

 

The big draws in this park are the waterpark rides and flat rides, both of which are much cheaper than coasters. I feel like the park already tried taking a leap of faith on some expensive custom coasters in the early to mid 2000's with Hydra and Talon and a little earlier with Steel Force and clearly they didn't attract the coaster fans enough to generate any lines. I'd love to see them get a new coaster but they're probably content to play to their strengths and mix in a relocated coaster every once in awhile when the opportunity becomes available.

[gilly_bob]

I was at Dorney yesterday for a Color Me Rad race and to get my platinum pass processed. It was quite a fun day and my group took about 1.5 hours in the park after the race then headed home. Snake Pit is a lot larger than I expected it to be with pieces of the constrictor slide in the lot still. The race ran through Wildwater Kingdom and there is quite a bit of work left on the complex, but it shouldn't be much longer until it is finished. As for Stinger the train was no where to be seen. The race ran through the maintenance areas with the doors open and you still couldn't see the trains anywhere. I wonder if we will see stinger up anytime soon, or removed! *fingers crossed*

[Sue]

We also noticed the Stinger train is MIA. Must be pretty serious for the train to be gone.

[coasterbill]

Must be pretty serious for the train to be gone.

 

I think I speak for pretty much everyone when I say I hope you're right.

[YoshiFan]

I'm sorry for those that got injured but maybe this will be enough for them to remove the ride. Even if it reopens, I don't think I'm going to ride it again. I know rides can have issues and Stinger has had way too many since it opened at Dorney.

[ScreaminNewEngland]

Is stinger back up?

[YoshiFan]

It's still closed. The train was still missing from the station last time I was at the park a week and a half ago.

[EastCoastKid]

Was at the park yesterday for Father's Day. Weather was gorgeous but crowds weren't too bad.

Stinger is still closed with train missing. Hmph.

[ScreaminNewEngland]

Hopefully it's up before July 12th!

 

How will the saturdays this july be in the park?

[The49er]

We also noticed the Stinger train is MIA. Must be pretty serious for the train to be gone.

 

MIA...like the acronym for Michigan's Adventure...

 

Maybe that's where it's going? Ladies and gentlemen, you heard it here first

[Rollercoaster Rider]

We also noticed the Stinger train is MIA. Must be pretty serious for the train to be gone.

 

MIA...like the acronym for Michigan's Adventure...

 

Maybe that's where it's going? Ladies and gentlemen, you heard it here first

 

 

No its touring with the singer who flipped America at the Superbowl a few years ago.

[YoshiFan]

Hopefully it's up before July 12th!

 

How will the saturdays this july be in the park?

 

 

The ride side won't be too crowded during the day when Wildwater Kingdom is open. The waterpark will be packed and later in the day around 7:00, the crowds start leaving the waterpark and going to the ride side.

[bert425]

Is stinger back up?

 

was there on Monday (6/16), and the ride is closed, and no train in sight.

[ScreaminNewEngland]

Looks like a missed credit for july 12th

[Ride On_17]

Typically how busy is Dorney? I've never been before and I'm going for my first time on Tuesday July 1st. I'm only doing the regular park and not the water park, and I'll only be there for a couple hours in the late afternoon and early evening. I've heard it's never too busy but what are the wait times (if any) I should expect?

[YoshiFan]

I would expect wait times of 0 - 10 minutes for the coasters except Wild Mouse which will probably be at least 30 minutes.

[bert425]

Typically how busy is Dorney? I've never been before and I'm going for my first time on Tuesday July 1st. I'm only doing the regular park and not the water park, and I'll only be there for a couple hours in the late afternoon and early evening. I've heard it's never too busy but what are the wait times (if any) I should expect?

 

you should try to go in the morning if at all possible.

 

EVERYTHING was a walk on from ~10:30-3pm.

 

at around 3, folks started leaving the waterpark portion, and headed for the coasters, which made 20-30 minute lines. . still not too bad (tho we were warned that in the afternoon is when all the kids with season passes typically get dropped off by parents).

[Ride On_17]

That's not too bad. We'll probably arrive around 2 in the afternoon, maybe 3, so I'll expect some lines. But still if they are only 20 to 30 minutes, that's very manageable.

[neil009]

What cheap transplanted coaster do you see them getting next? Another boomerang? Maybe another wild mouse or two? Bullsh*t.

 

Instead of getting angry over a hobby that's supposed to be fun, why not let us know in the Dorney thread what expensive coaster you think they'll get and why you think it would be a good investment. I'm really curious.

 

Ok so I apologize for lashing out. I know it's silly but I took your statement a little personally since I have a lot of happy memories from Dorney, and it's gotten the short end of the stick lately. It's a little like if your sister graduated from law school, but her husband left her and now she's too busy with the kids to take the bar and start her career, and someone tells you, "Well it's ok, your sister's really not that great at all that lawyering stuff anyway, best if she doesn't worry her pretty little head about it and just takes care of her kids."

 

Plus, unless you've got some hard figures to back up your argument, you can't tell just from looking at the length of the lines whenever you happen to be there what kind of impact Hydra made on attendance. The water park is a bigger draw sure, but you can't say people who go to Dorney aren't interested in roller coasters because that is demonstrably false. The people who go to Dorney are the same people that go to every other park. I am 100% certain they will get a major new installation at some point, when I can't tell you, but I'm certain they will, as long as CF isn't planning on abandoning the property. Why do I think the strategy you propose is a bad one? Because no major park can hope to survive without occasionally adding new headlining attractions, that's simply a fact (especially in an area as competitive as this one). Also keep in mind that the economy, as well as many of the areas around Allentown, are on the upswing.

 

What coaster will they get? A GCI would be great, as would, oh, I don't know, anything. Wing coaster, giga coaster, you name it, they need it. Where will it go? At the moment, Stinger's spot is looking increasingly likely.

[yankeeman311]

Honestly I would not be shocked if Dorney got an RMC one day. It's cheaper than the major steel companies and it could give them the star attraction they need. Just a thought.

[RCF]

With how small Dorney is in Cedar Fair at the moment, I see them adding a small thrill coaster like a eurofighter or the Premier coaster that's being added all around. Neither would actually HURT Dorney at this point.

[scbt]

Personally, I think something along the lines of a GCI Big Fun would work really well at Dorney. It wouldn't be a huge capacity ride, but they really don't need it and if I recall correctly, GCI claimed they cost roughly $1 million.

[thrillseeker4552]

^I think Dorney could just use any GCI in general. Something along the lines of Gold Striker would be great. Their only woodie currently is Thunderhawk.

[ScreaminNewEngland]

RMC. Hercules: The redemption! OMG that would be crazy.

[GigaG]

^I think Dorney could just use any GCI in general. Something along the lines of Gold Striker would be great. Their only woodie currently is Thunderhawk.

 

YES! The world needs more Gold Strikers. Maybe with a few less turns and more airtime hills, but Gold Striker manages to cram a bunch of airtime pops into a ride with few true airtime hills, so I guess that the verbatim hills are not always needed. Considering that Cedar Fair has been working with GCI at their smaller parks recently (CGA, WOF, Valleyfair), I think that a GCI is the most plausible idea.