Photo TR: The Kiwis Take On North East/Road to Cedar Point

[Chrisrad]

I love the look on my face while sitting in Nor' Eastern's station.. I have a look of "OMG this is going to suck" on my face.. And then I had the stupidity to ride it again because I thought the front would have been smoother. Even the ride op said that all seats were the same.

 

 

And yes, it, I mean 'IT', was a great ride, and was definitely a bit unnerving.

 

EDIT: ^ I'm talking about 'it'.. the ride with lap bars only. That ride spiel had more puns than the 'Airplane' movies.

[terdferg]

It is so weird that the new trains on the nor easter are so rough. They are actually new trains, not just retrofitted with new restraints. The old trains with OTSRs ran like a dream (for an SLC anyway). I could re-ride it over and over with those. These new trains are insanely rough, and I generally just skip it now when i find myself in wildwood. It seems like Morey's plan to make the ride more tolerable kind of backfired.

 

Glad you enjoyed the shore, and saw that there is no connection between the show and the southern Jersey beaches!

[beatle11]

They didn't make a damn bit of difference! (Though saying that I couldn't imagine riding this with the old restraints.)

 

You probably wouldn't be sharing these photos, because you'd probably be dead from multiple concussions. I was actually looking forward to an SLC for once, but I guess I should have known better.

[mattnz]

What can I say about Knoebels that hasn't already been said? It is a park I can now cross off my 'must do' list. I had heard so much about it... The friendly, homespun atmosphere, great food, amazing setting, fantastic rides, all run better than almost anywhere else... And all of it was true! TPR visited on a very wet day, but the weather didn't make one iota of a difference to our enjoyment of the park. As Robb said, if there was ONE park on our itinerary where it could rain without ruining our day, Knoebels was it.

 

And rain it did - on and off, all day, as our pictures will show. The crowds came and the rides ran regardless. Coming into the park was kind of like stumbling across an amusement park randomly scattered across a forest in the middle of nowhere. You wander around and discover more and more surprises at every turn. The locals come for the food or stay onsite at the campgrounds. It has an awesome atmosphere - and it smells amazing! You can literally eat your way through the park. They have a lot of interesting food options too, such as the travel’n taco (taco fillings in a potato chip bag!), perogies (dumplings stuffed with mashed potato, sauerkraut, etc.), birch beer (a local speciality), cheese on a stick, homemade fudge, and so much more.

 

The rides are all great, and there are a lot of rarities, such as the Satellite (Roll-o-Plane), Looper, Whipper, Downdraft (I'd never seen one of these before), Fascination parlour and two historic carousels (the park seems to have an affinity for carousels). Even the amusement park staples, such as the Auto Skooters (bumper cars), are worth checking out. In fact - definitely worth checking out! The Knoebels claim that their bumper cars are the best in the world is quite possibly true.

 

The coasters are few in number but all great fun. Phoenix, of course, is incredible - a small coaster with a big attitude. Riding with buzz bars only and no seat belts was extraordinary. You really feel like you could be thrown from your seat and quite honestly if you stood up you'd be in a lot of trouble. The fact that the park hasn't installed seat belts still amazes me - I never thought I'd see a park trusting their patrons to this extent in the United States! Twister is a good compliment to Phoenix - and a very different ride experience. As for the kiddie coaster...it has airtime! Can't ask for much more from a kiddie credit.

 

We also got a tour of the new Black Diamond indoor coaster/dark ride hybrid (formerly the Golden Nugget at Morey's Piers, Philadelphia Toboggan Co.'s only steel-tracked coaster) and it looks set to be a great attraction. I liked how Knoebels have re-themed the ride to fit in with the local mining history. Flying Turns, of course, is still under construction... If they ever finish the ride it will definitely fit in with their collection of odd and awesome rarities!

 

In the middle of the day we stepped out of the park to visit the nearby offices and factory of Great Coasters International which was a very special treat. Thanks Robb and Elissa for fixing that up for us. Onto the photos!

Arriving at Knoebels you wonder if you've actually come across an amusement park at all. It's the middle of nowhere and feels like a giant campground. As you wander in you start to see all the rides poking through the trees...

We made it! Yay! I have always wanted to visit Knoebels.

I haven't ridden a thing and I already love this place.

TPR got to head over to Twister to ride before everyone else.

Rick Knoebel gave us a spiel about the ride, which is a scaled-down version of the old Mister Twister at Elitch Gardens, a John C. Allen design.

Twister has a curved station. (Note to Cedar Fair: No seat belts are necessary to ride Twister!)

The ride itself is solid fun. Cool split lift, large, sweeping drops and this...

...double helix! I couldn't count the number of rides we got on Twister during ERT. But it was a LOT! I felt a bit bad for the public lined up after our ERT session ended. Oh, well!

Armed with more ride tickets than we needed, most TPR people next lined up for the legendary Phoenix. (Hey Roxanne!)

The ride did not disappoint! Airtime on every hill, and so smooth.

It was incredible riding with all that airtime - and buzz bars only!

Rows 1-3 were my favourite though any row would provide a great ride. And night ERT was absolutely awesome! More on that below.

Soon enough, it started to rain...but we had TPR ponchos to help keep us dry.

Aforementioned poncho...and me sampling some hash browns (can't remember the name the park gave them). All the food here was so cheap - I ended up eating much more than necessary.

The rain today did not keep the crowds away. And yet I don't remember waiting in any queues to speak of...

I really liked these revolving picnic and food stall pavilions. (The park's love of carousels in action.)

We checked out the progress - or lack thereof! - on Flying Turns.

It certainly looked like it was ready to go.

Quite a few people stopped to watch the video progress update which included a POV. Looks set to be a very fun ride.

Credit #3 was Kozmo's Kurves - a kiddie coaster with airtime!

Nearby was this interesting-looking old school boat ride.

Not a lot of head room under the coaster!

The Danes are very good drivers.

The Californians...not so much!

Also in the vicinity is this awesome and rare Roll-O-Plane. Andrew and I rode together, and we LOVED it! Crazy fun.

The chair swings looked very nice by day but spectacular by night (I'm afraid I don't have photographic evidence.)

The park has a Whip ride, appropriately named.

We rode other Whips on the Road to Cedar Point but I liked this one the best - because it was at Knoebels!

It really started to pour so we took a break for some pizza (the broccoli one was interesting) and birch beer. I thought the birch beer tasted a little like cough syrup at first but later on developed a taste for it.

Looks like others had the same idea we had!

The park has plenty you can do indoors - like Fascination. I will admit, Andrew and I don't quite 'get' Fascination... I guess TPR must be attracted to its complete randomness!

It was so wet today we may as well have ridden the log flume...

We didn't get on it but it looked like fun.

I was really looking forward to the park's ghost train.

'Please prepare your children!'

It had lots of old school tricks and one or two great surprises. I would definitely rank it as my favourite ghost train.

The park also has a lot of interesting shops.

We bought quite a lot from this store.

It was time for a trip out of the park to visit Great Coasters International, which like Knoebels is also located in the middle of nowhere!

We couldn't really take photos during our tour but do have this kind of bizarre-looking one to prove that we visited!

I can't quite recall which order we did things in - but sometime during the day we had a group lunch.

This was particularly cool because lunch was delicious and we got to hear from Dick Knoebel himself!

After lunch many of us rode Downdraft just as it started raining again...

Shoot-the Chutes by the name of Sklooosh! Also the sound my shoes made today.

We rode the curious carousel with the ring dispenser. If you ride on the outside horses you can grab the rings (which is quite hard!) and if you get the brass ring you'll receive the cost of the ride in tickets.

You then return the rings in here. Random fun!

The park even has a carousel museum.

Time to sample some more random food... I like the look of those prices.

Dennis tried out the travel’n taco. It was - yeah, just taco fillings in a bag... Curious but convenient!

Nearby Black Diamond is the park's history museum.

They covered a lot of history of the area (especially mining-related stuff) and some park-related history too.

At the bottom of this photo you'll see an old Vekoma credit. Something probably best left to history!

Knoebels claim that they're still around because "they never throw anything away". Everything is re-used for something.

TPR got an exclusive back stage tour of Black Diamond.

Here's one of the nicely-themed trains in the yet-to-be-completed station.

We entered the three-storey bowels of the ride...

Some of the unfortunate miners (not TPR members) on the right.

The ride is going to have some nice little trick effects.

Looking down to the spinning lava tunnel...TPR member thrown in for free!

Fortunately, no trains were running during our back stage tour.

This is the 'flaming' part of the ride.

You'll see these guys at the top of the lift hill.

Some authentic themeing inside the ride. The Knoebels "never throw anything away" attitude in full swing.

Water will later be added. Man, it didn't look like fun to be a miner back in the day!

The ride will also have some speedy bits.

Thank you Knoebels for the tour - Black Diamond looks like it's going to be AWESOME!

As the day started to dawn we had to get on the Flyers. And Knoebels runs this great. I managed to get in a snap or two.

TPR also did a bumper cars takeover (notice all the bling?).

I agree with this sign. You can really get these cars going fast and it all becomes violent fun!

Photo from earlier in the day. Blur unintended but also unavoidable.

Let's get more bling!

Our final ride before night ERT was on the park's indoor Himalaya-style ride, the Cosmotron. TPR loves indoor flat rides!

TPR is decked out and ready for Phoenix. But is Phoenix ready for us?!

Night ERT on Phoenix was perhaps the most fun I've ever had at an amusement park. What a great ending to an awesome day. Thank you Knoebels!

[ILoveRides]

Hey... It's wayyyyy more fun to crash the boat than drive it well! And I had to take advantage of the fact that there wasn't a track, because there normally is at most American parks.

 

I agree with you about Phoenix ERT, it really may have been the most fun I've had at an amusement park. A+ to Knoebels for being so awesome. It was my favorite park of the trip.

[grinch1313]

Great Knoebels photos, Matt! I really love that place. I'm extremely disappointed that I didn't get to the park this year. Black Diamond looks amazing. I can't wait to ride it! Your TR is great and I'm looking forward to more photos.

[beatle11]

 

at Miles and TP Dave!

 

It's hard to say anything bad about this place. They have all kinds of classic flats run exceptionally well, and a couple really good coasters. That ERT session on Phoenix will be hard to top.

[Joe Cool]

Awesome photos!!!! It was awesome meeting you guys. I am going to have to agree that ERT on Phoenix was the most fun I have had at an amusement park ever. That first ride of ERT I have never laughed and had so much fun on a roller coaster.

 

Don't worry I didn't really get Fascination either, maybe its the fact I spent like 20 dollars and did not win once. I miss Knoebels though, cannot wait to get back and ride Black Diamond. Looking forward to some more photos!!

[Stitch_101]

I really hope they can find a way to make Flying Turns work. I'm sure a lot of us are anxious to see it up and running. And Black Diamond looks like it will be a total blast!

[Chrisrad]

Yay, Knoebels! For everybody who does TRs, I've been looking forward to this park the most!

 

I'm also glad that you got pictures of the park itself, and not just the rides. I was sidetracked with the awesome rides that day and didn't get too many photos, and even forget to get a picture of the infamous flyers.

 

I'm really thinking about the New Hotness tour next year just because of Knoebels!

 

[cal1br3tto]

^Chris, that's a major selling point for me too! I've been claiming since our visit that I WILL be on the next TPR trip that includes Knoebels.

 

This report made me sad that I'm not at Knoebels right now. But that's okay because I had fun reliving our day there!

[805Andrew]

Great photos of Knoebels. That park is in a beautiful location with all those trees. Reminds me Northern California a couple hours north of San Francisco (without the rides ). All the rides look great too. Makes me wish we had a funky park like this out west (I guess the closest we have to this is Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk). I didn't know anything about Knoebels before reading about it on TPR several months ago but it is now one of my "most wanted to visit" parks. Looking forward to more pics of old school PA coasters and parks.

[mattnz]

Thanks everyone for your comments so far - they are much appreciated!

 

Hersheypark was the next stop on our Road to Cedar Point. Just like Knoebels this was another park on my 'must visit' list. But Hershey is certainly a more corporate affair than Knoebels. Not 'Six Flags' or 'Cedar Fair corporate' - but corporate nonetheless, at its apex in Hershey's Chocolate World which features a cheesy ride through the chocolate factory which is basically just a long advertisement ending in a giant gift store!

 

There is certainly a lot to do at Hersheypark, from the water park to ZOOAMERICA and the park looks (and sometimes smells!) great. There are 11 coasters of all different types, and earlier in our trip the annoucement came through regarding their new Intamin creation, Skyrush. We had a backstage tour around the perimeter of the park and saw all the ride parts.

 

My favourite coaster at Hersheypark was Storm Runner, and we enjoyed early morning ERT on this great Intamin accelerator along with Fahrenheit, which was definitely a less exciting affair. I liked the beyond-vertical drop, twisted layout and pops of airtime - I guess I was just expecting something a little more intense. Great Bear was a decent B&M invert with an interesting layout. Sooperdooperlooper was a classic Schwarzkopf that I'd been looking forward to. Not all that exciting either - especially compared with, say, Mind Bender in Atlanta, but you can't argue with a looping Schwarzkopf coaster with lap bars only.

 

Of the woodies my favourite was Lightning Racer. It was an absolute blast racing alongside the other train through the duelling layout, and at night we experienced another legendary ERT session. Again...I think I might have been expecting a little bit more out of Lightning Racer. I had read some very good reviews but without the racing aspect I don't think the ride would be anywhere near as much fun. But I guess that's a moot point because the park ALWAYS races the trains, right down to an annoucement as you pull into the station as to which train has won. Finally I think Wildcat is a bit underrated. I enjoyed the crazy, criss-crossing layout and thought it was a solid ride, and not rough at all.

 

TPR held an awesome East Coast Bash at Hersheypark. The weather was a bit on and off but that also helped stave off the crowds and there weren't any waits to speak of today. We had a great lunch including live animals, Q&A sessions, free beer, TPR Quest and giveaways! At night the park came alive and I loved how the wooden coasters lit up like Christmas trees. In all, it was another very long but very satisfying day!

Another day, another 'must visit' park on the Road to Cedar Point.

Today we are all VIPs!

It had been raining pretty heavily in the days leading up to our visit, turning the streams at Hersheypark into 'chocolate'.

Our day began with ERT on Fahrenheit. I guess in New Zealand they'd have to call this one 'Celsius'. Doesn't quite have the same ring to it...

I love beyond-vertical drops!

Fun fact: This is a 'Norwegian loop' borrowed from a Norwegian coaster by the name of Speed Monster.

Fahrenheit kind of looks like Maverick...but it ain't Maverick.

We also had ERT on Storm Runner...another Intamin creation, but one that REALLY knows how to strut its stuff.

Although today was a bash event, there were no queues at all during ERT.

Storm Runner is probably now my favourite accelerator coaster.

It may not be as tall as others...

...but it does lots of fun, funky stuff.

After ERT we took Robb's advice and hit up Comet Hollow, which tends to get a bit crowded and bottlenecked.

Comet is the park's oldest coaster (1940s) and an amazingly smooth ride that goes right out across the river and back.

It has some bunny hills with air time written all over them (sorry for the lack of photographic evidence). Alas, there was no air time to speak of due to strong braking on the second turnaround.

Sooperdooperlooper was another ride I was looking forward to.

Any ride from Schwarzkopf the mad genius is fine by me, even one of his more gentle creations!

Yay for looping coasters with lap bars only!

Sooperdooperlooping with Great Bear overhead.

Speaking of Great Bear, we waited for this to open and rode it next. I quite enjoyed the odd pre-drop helix. It didn't add any speed to the ride though...

This is the bit where it really gets going...

Loop-de-loop!!!

Heading into the Immelmann.

Great Bear is another Hershey coaster with some 'funky bits' due to its location along the riverbank.

It's probably a little too meandering to be a top-notch B&M invert, but I'll take it over quite a few others.

We gave it the thumbs up!

Many rides in Comet Hollow interact with each other, such as the log flume, which had this awesome-looking drop.

Hershey's chair lift to nowhere!

Hershey also has a Condor. We ended up seeing quite a few of these on the Road to Cedar Point. I guess they're not quite a dying breed just yet.

Trailblazer is the park's Arrow Mine Train.

Not a very good one, but the kids we rode with sure seemed to like it.

In search of more credits we wandered through the water park, which saw some business today despite the weather.

I was really looking forward to Lightning Racer.

It may be a high capacity ride but the empty queue was ridiculous!

This was much more fun with full trains during TPR's night ERT. (More photos from the walk-back tour further below.)

In this vicinity of the park is the iconic Ferris Wheel, which was down for the count today.

Next up we rode the Wild Mouse, which I'd heard was a particularly good one due to lack of braking...

On our visit, it rode just like your standard Wild Mouse, i.e. just 'OK'.

Much more wild than the mouse was, appropriately, the Wildcat!

Another ride with no queue at all.

I was glad to see Millennium Flyers on GCI's very first coaster, which I'd heard ran a little rough!

I didn't find it rough at all - quite enjoyable actually!

At lunch the park brought out some animals for us, like this owl.

And this baby alligator...

Getting to see this up close was awesome!

I did NOT want to get anywhere near this though.

The skunk was cute!

Soon enough, random TPR fun ensued!

After lunch we still had to get our Boomerang credit on Sidewinder.

This was another example of new trains with better restraints not really helping out a rough coaster all that much!

At some point during the day it decided to POUR.

Fortunately it didn't last long and it was soon time for a hot, steamy walk-back tour!

Bits and pieces of Skyrush waiting to be assembled...

From the perimeter of the park we got some good views of Lightning Racer. Here's the cool off-set lift hills.

Round the bend...

First drop fun.

The red train tends to win - but not always!

Not as much air time on this as I was expecting, but what's a girl to do?

The layout really is masterful.

We found it odd that the supports were just sitting there by the roadside. But I guess they'd be pretty tough to cart off!

Roller Soaker was down today due to the recent deluge (go figure!) but apparently it's kinda crap anyway.

Wandering back into the park we saw these guys performing.

We also bumped into the 'milkmen'.

We decided to give the train a spin.

It took you past some areas of important historic significance.

"Boogedy boogedy boo!"

We also rode the monorail.

This park sure has some great ways to get around.

The monorail takes you right outside the park boundaries.

I see a chocolate factory!

The monorail also goes right over ZOOAMERICA.

And right past Storm Runner's twisty finale (train not included).

We then decided it was time to eat some chocolate! The fudge was amazing.

Umm...is this racist or what?

Heading over to the chocolate tour we passed by the statue of Mr. Milton S. Hershey himself.

And here we are at Hershey's Chocolate World!

The tour was a little bit 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory'...

Complete with singing cows.

It sure smelt great in here!

Time to get roasted...

Or are we toasted?

Hmm, what's round the next bend?

Advertising overload...

The advertising paid off by the looks of how popular the GIANT gift store was!

"Mommy, I want one!"

I actually really did want one of these!

Ah, who am I kidding?! I'm a chocolate consumer and I love it!!

As the day started dawning we had to get up the kissing tower.

The view wasn't so great today!

As night fell we got in another ride on Fahrenheit.

And Storm Runner - which was great in the dark! ERT on Lightning Racer followed, ending our fantastic first visit to Hersheypark. Thanks for reading!

[simon8899]

Great Photo-TR - many good-looking coasters in that park. Would love to do it but Hersheypark is a little in the middle of nowhere from an overseas point-of-view. Would love to do the SuperDooperLooper as Revolution was quite ruined with OTSRs.

 

And I think you still find a lot of Huss Condor's around. Many first league parks are selling them by time - but they crop up in the second and thrid league parks. I find them a nice relaxing ride with a view.

 

But honestly Hershey chocolate is not my kind of taste. I love chocolate - but a good chocolate only contains: chocolate powder, chocolate butter, sugar and maybe milk if a milk chocolate - Hershey's products mostly add half a chemical plant so its a no-go for me....

[Chrisrad]

As usual, great photos, and perfect descriptions!

 

I look forward to the next park!

 

[DJeXeL]

Thanks for the report. Awesome shots.

 

 

I absolutely loved the Norwegian loop on Fahrenheit. I hope more Intamin installations get these.

[PKI Jizzman]

Awesome reports and photos! I feel like your PTRs always have photos/angles from parks/coasters that I've never seen before! Keep it up dude!

[beatle11]

Storm Runner was definitely my favorite coaster in the park. Lightning Racer was definitely good too.

[auzzieparkz]

Awesome report and great photos. Makes me want to go on a TPR event so bad.

[mattnz]

^ All I can say is find a way to do it! Beg, borrow and steal if you have to, you'll have so much fun!

 

Thanks for the comments all!

 

Simon: I will say NZ chocolate is much better than the Hershey stuff. Probably because there's a little more dairy and a lot less castor oil.

Zach: Stay tuned for our Kings Island update - hopefully we found some good angles there too!

[805Andrew]

Nice pics of Hershey Park. I'm not a fan of their regular chocolate (though it is good for S'Mores) but their chocolate with nuts (almonds, etc) is better and they make some products I like (Reese's Cups and Pieces, Almond Joy, Rolo, Heath, Skor, Hershey's Cookies N Cream, Kit Kat (they make it in the US, but Nestle makes it elsewhere in the world), Hershey's Special Dark (with nuts), and Good and Plenty (liquorice candy)). I wouldn't compare Hershey's to Lindt, Milka, Ritter Sport, Perogina, Chocolove, or a gourmet chocolate brand. Hershey's is more of a candy company and I would compare them to Mars (makers of M&Ms, Snickers, Twix, Skittles, Starburst) and Nestle (makers of Crunch, Butterfinger, Baby Ruth, Wonka).

[mattnz]

It has been incredibly sad over the last week to see all the flooding at Hersheypark and especially at Knoebels after having so recently visited in person. My best wishes to them in their clean-up efforts...

 

I wasn't quite sure what to expect from our next stop on the Road to Cedar Point - Dorney Park. I'd heard it had a pretty mediocre collection of rides, and was very corporate, with its traditional park atmosphere stripped beyond recognition only to be replaced by concrete. I certainly found that to be true - especially for a Pennsylvanian park - though I'm not quite sure how much that is the fault of Cedar Fair (who acquired the park in 1992). I suspect a lot of its charm disappeared before then - maybe someone can enlighten me? (I know the park suffered a pretty major fire in 1983...)

 

In any case, as I was going through the photos for this TR, I was reminded what a nice day we had during our fairly brief stop at Dorney Park. The weather was great and the crowds were light - ideal conditions for any Cedar Fair park visit! We had early morning ERT on Talon and Hydra: The Revenge. I'd rank Talon as a 'solid' B&M invert - fun, though not too intense, and eerily quiet due to its sand-filled track. Hydra looks quite interesting on paper, with all the elements in an unusual order for a B&M, the oddly shaped cobra roll, and a couple of hills that looked like they might deliver some airtime... But I found the ride to be incredibly tame, and perhaps the most forceless B&M coaster I've ever ridden! The bizarre 'jojo' roll before the lift hill was completely pointless but at the same time kind of cool.

 

Steel Force looked very much like Mamba at Worlds of Fun and was similarly fun. I have developed a bit of an affinity for these Morgan hypers. Possessed was great - I love twisted implulse coasters and this one had a working holding break. Yay! Thunderhawk is the oldest coaster at the park (1923) and was 'OK', with some surprising airtime in the front of the train, especially at the crest of the second hill. Unfortunately the return bunny hills were bereft of airtime due to trim brakes. The park could certainly do with a modern woodie. Another ride I'd highlight is Demon Drop. I had never ridden a first generation Intamin drop tower...and I LOVED it! It was very intimidating and I'm glad the ride was saved from the scrapyard.

 

At some point during our visit to Dorney I remember Andrew and I looking at each other and rolling our eyes at the addition of seatbelts and the endless barrage of safety messages on EVERY single ride. I know Cedar Fair parks are all the same in this respect - but I guess after our recent visit to Knoebels it kind of struck us how unnecessary it all was.

 

After Dorney Park we had a great surprise in store - an evening at Kennywood with nighttime ERT on Phantom's Revenge! That was an awesome perk - and Phantom was one of the coasters I was most looking forward to on this trip. But I'll cover that in the next update. For now, onto Dorney Park!

First up on our agenda today - the historic Dorney Park!

Dorney Park were doing their bit for breast cancer awareness.

As you enter the gate the first thing you see is Talon's impressive-looking drop.

This way to ERT!

I spy TPR members! (The best part of Talon? Riding WITHOUT members of the general public.)

As our trip progressed I think I became less and less enamoured with the GP and more and more of a snob!

Talon was a very fun, impressive coaster.

I really liked this low-to-the-ground helix. One of the more intense parts of the ride.

Hydra was also open for our ERT session. This is the bad-ass sign.

There really is nothing like having a park pretty much to yourself first thing in the morning.

Pics from later in the day: So Hydra does some pretty funky stuff - like this 'jojo' roll.

Here's the bent-out-of-shape cobra roll.

Always best to try the front row on floorless coasters.

Zero-G roll taken rather slowly...

At least its colourful.

Next up TPR rode the Wild Mouse, which had an annoying policy: only two adults per train, so long waits even before the general public got round to riding.

Speaking of the general public...oh, they don't look so bad!

Let's see what else the park has to offer...

Steel Force coasting in the distance. We'll get to you soon!

It was time to get 'Possessed'.

Another bad-ass sign, something this park seems to specialise in.

Waiting in the very short queue we snapped some TPR members having fun.

I LOVE twisted impulse coasters. Front row, back row - every row, in fact, is great fun.

And this one had a working holding brake! Take that, Six Flags Great America!

This photo almost got a little X-rated...

The part of the park around Thunderhawk/Steel Force was quite scenic.

There was a nice little stream.

I had been looking forward to Steel Force.

It looked very much like Mamba, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Is the woman in the front posing for us?

The queues were short today but despite that the park ran this coaster very efficiently, so hats off to them!

Like all Morgan hypers, the mid-course brakes come on pretty strong.

All in all, Steel Force was a very solid ride. I liked it a lot, though I think I'd give Mamba the slight edge.

Thunderhawk was next (nice to see Piers riding a coaster!).

It certainly had a traditional flavour.

The lift hill was somewhat dominated by Steel Force in the background.

I was surprised by the ejector air on the crest of the second hill!

The return journey wasn't quite as good.

Hey - the park has a Whip ride!

The oldest ride at Dorney - nice to see it still operating, even with the long safety spiel.

Like almost every other Cedar Fair park there was also an S&S tower complex.

Looks like the GP are having fun.

Speaking of tower rides, I was looking forward to trying out a first generation Intamin drop tower.

Cedar Point's loss...

...is Dorney Park's gain! This was awesome! I held my breath before the drop. What an intimidating ride experience.

This is the weird part of the ride where the carriage drops backwards to return to the station... Very odd but also interesting and old school.

Dorney Park also has a cool log flume, with a very long incline up the hill, some nice, speedy sections and big drop at the end.

Here's the station. Another short wait today.

It was also quite a wet log flume, but it was hot enough to warrant a ride.

The park had quite a few flat rides.

Here's one...

Here's another. (I don't know how many pictures of chair swings I must have uploaded to this TR by now...but it's quite a few!)

This flat ride was great fun.

The park also had a large shoot-the-chutes, quite similar to the one at Cedar Point.

These are always fun to photograph.

The splash didn't look too big though.

Definitely a 'wet' ride nonetheless!

We checked out the new and improved Planet Snoopy, which was looking pretty good.

They had all your standard kiddie rides.

This looked fun!

This I don't get at all.

Back on the 'Road to Cedar Point', here's beautiful Pennsylvania!

Kennywood here we come! (Stay tuned - thanks for reading.)

[beatle11]

 

I'm going to have to start colouring my hair.

 

With TPR, you can have a great day at almost any park. I will say though, they guy who took my order at the hamburger stand didn't impress me. It was nice to have a short day after two long days at Knoebels and Hershey. Talon was definitely my favourite coaster there. I forgot to tuck my name tag in my shirt on Hydra and almost lost it on the jojo roll. While it wasn't very intense, it was certainly a unique layout. I definitely preferred Steel Force in the front. I came down hard on the air time hills in the back.

[raptor6]

Great TR! I went to several of these parks back in 2007 and you are making want to have a return trip soon!

[televisedconfession]

Their log flume is definitely in my top 3 favorite log flumes ever. That drop doesn't look like much, but man does it pack a punch! SO cute.

 

Keep up the great TR!