PA park coaster tour help

[jarmor]

Ok here's the deal...

 

Im driving up from South Carolina to New York for a wedding. So I figured, why not make it a coaster tour so to speak. So far my plan of action is to drive up monday, July 2nd and spend the afternoon at Busch Gardens Williamsburg until they close. Now here's where it gets difficult. Three parks that want to go to are Dorney park, Hershey park and Knobels. The problem is, and where I need you guys suggestions, is Im only doing the parks that tuesday, july 3rd, and would comfortably have time for 2 parks. My initial plan was to drive and stay at a hotel in hershey and go to Hershey park tuesday morning and toss up between Dorney park and Knobels but I have had a relative tell me I can stay over at their place, which is 2 hours from Hershey park and 40 minutes from Knobels.

 

Here's where I need you guys help. I have never been to any of these parks and I have no idea how things run as far as crowds, traffic and things of that nature. I also have to keep in mind its a holiday week. So please, suggest an action plan I should look into. Which 2 parks should I do? Are their any discounts for the gate (which is also a factor since I have no annual pass for them)? Which rides are not to be missed?

 

Please share all info and suggestions. I will greatly appreciate it...

[Nozzy]

I would definately recommend doing Knoebel's, even if it wasn't so close to your relatives. It's so different from everything else, Phoenix, the Flyers and Skooters are all not to be missed and as you're concerned about price it is the cheapest- no parking fee and you can just pay per ride! The tricky part is that they don't open rides until noon (I think) so you might be better off starting at one of the other two and then doing Knoebel's at night.

 

As for Dorney vs. Hershey, both are very nice parks. Skyrush seems to be the highlight of the summer so that's probably a big pro for Hershey.

 

At Dorney, Talon is my favorite, but Possessed is a lot of fun as well. Hydra and Steel Force are pretty good too. There's never any lines so you don't need to worry about that- I went July 3rd last year and the park was ready to be bombarded (first time in years I'd seen 3 trains on Steel Force) but it was a normal empty day. You don't need any sort of plan other than "do everything before the waterpark closes" as the crowds then descend on the theme park.

 

In my opinion Hershey's best is Storm Runner (I'll get to try Skyrush on Friday) with Wildcat and Superduperlooper being very fun as well. Fahrenheit is nice but does often get long lines, and there's the free chocolate tour outside the park. General plan I see is get there in the morning, start with Fahrenheit and do everything else before Skyrush, whose line dies down in the afternoon.

 

For Knoebel's, it could be very crowded with the holiday, but lines tend to move well. The rides you don't want to miss are Phoenix, Skooters, Flyers and Carousel (get an outside horse!). You'd probably also want to ride Twister and Black Diamond. The Haunted House is famed and the Looper is a favorite of mine. For something different try the tiny train near the Skloosh. I usually eat at the International Food Court near Black Diamond.

 

Hope it goes well, feel free to ask for any other advice!

[larrygator]

Have you read about the operations at Hersheypark? I would not suggest trying to combine Hershey with any other park in a single day. Although if you do, I've seen discount coupons at Pennsylvania Chick-Fil-A's for $8-$10 days off.

 

Rides at Knoebels open at 11AM (not noon), but I would still suggest going to Dorney Park at opening then drive to Knoebels. Whitewater Kingdom draws huge crowds away from the rides early in the day.

Edited June 24, 2012 by larrygator

[beatle11]

You really don't want to miss Knoebels if your in the area. Everything there is awesome. Like Larry mentioned, if you want to fit Dorney in, you can if you are there right at open and just rush your credit run before heading to Knoebels. You'll probably want to hit the Wild Mouse first, then do Stinger and Possessed. The rest of the credits are much higher capacity rides. Have fun!

[cal1br3tto]

Overall experience-wise, I can't imagine picking Dorney over Hershey, unless one of the rides at Dorney is a major draw for you. However, in this situation the Dorney-Knoebels combination seems like the right choice, as stated above.

 

Personal opinions: at Dorney, my favorite coasters are Steel Force, Talon, and Hydra. Possessed is decent as well. Go for the front seat on Thunderhawk for a bit more airtime, and the third row on Steel Force. You might want to check out rides you won't see in many other places, like the Whip (also at Hershey and Knoebels) and Demon Drop.

 

Oh, and definitely take the Wild Mouse-first advice seriously, since only two adults are allowed per car!

[Tanks4me05]

If you did have the time, I would have recommended all the parks, as each one has something unique to offer. However, since you can only do two, I'd say Hersheypark, because it has four fantastic coasters and five or so good coasters, and Knoebels is famous for just about everything there (though I do say that their Roll-O-Plane, as rare as it is, isn't the most intense model I've been on.)

 

That being said, next time you are in PA, do make sure to get to Dorney, because the park still has quite a lot to offer. Their water park is really good, they still have two fantastic coasters (Talon and Stinger believe it or not; actually pretty smooth if you keep your head back and insanely intense) and four good coasters, on top of the awesome Intamin First Gen drop tower, and the Dinosaurs Alive (which actually was pretty well done) and it feels overall like a mini Cedar Point. And there's that new Laser Maze thing that I still didn't do yet but looks fun and unique.

[sspaz1000]

Definitely do knoebels. There are so many unique rides there, and good food, and it's generally just an overall good time.

 

As for Hershey or Dorney, Hershey is closer to knoebels but not by much. Now if you really want a variety of coasters Hershey is the way to go, but like someone else said,ops suck at Hershey right now and you'd probably only end up getting some of the coasters done before you'd have to leave to go to knoebels.

 

Dorney on the other hand while kind of an average park, their operations have been pretty decent, and like Larry said, wild water kingdom will be insane so the park side will be less crowded.

[jarmor]

Thanks for the info guys. While Hershey park was my main draw, it seems that my best options are Dorney park and Knobels. Who knows, maybe they'll have flying turns up and running by next week !

 

Again...thanks!

 

Oh, any more suggestions, comments...whatever is still welcomed!!

[pianojohn]

I just got back from almost the same trip! Here is my advice:

 

Knoebels for sure. Great park with great rides and atmosphere. We got the after 5pm ticket for $23. I included the wooden coaster but not Haunted Mansion or Black Diamond. That will set you back an extra $4 for both rides.

 

Hersheypark is about an hour from Knoebels. We bought discount tickets at Giant Food Store which are located all over the state. We got to the park right when it opened and headed to the left hitting Fahrenheit, Storm Runner, Wild Mouse, Wildcat, Lightning Racers (both sides) and Roller Soaker all in about one hour! We then headed to the other side to get Trail Blazer. Great Bear, SooperDooperLooper, Comet, and Sky Rush all are near each other. I would suggest watching the Sky Rush line since it fluctuates greatly. At one point it was 1 1/2 hours, and 20 minutes later it was down to 20 minutes.

 

Best of luck!

[jarmor]

If I could do that I would def do hershey and knobels. Has anyone ever been to hershey during a holiday week?

[amy_mel]

We are season pass holders at Hershey. The crowds seem to be different this year due to Skyrush. Personally I would recommend the Dorney/Knoebel's trip because you just never know how Hershey's ops are going to be on any given day, holiday or not. If you do go with Hershey, get there before opening. They start letting people through the gates at around 9:50 and the rope drops at 10. Keep heading left and hit up Fahrenheit first. The plan given above seems to be working well. Skyrush clears out around 1:00 or so for some reason

[Rai Fox]

Having just come from Dorney and Knoebels myself, I'm going to also have to say go for the two of them. It'd been a while since I'd been to Dorney...eight years or so? I remembered it as being a pretty mediocre park, but it took me by surprise this year. Operations were absolutely top-notch, staff was friendly and efficient, the park was beautiful with everything in gorgeous condition, well maintained and painted, and all the rides were running great. Even the food, which had been one of my major gripes in the past, was decent. The place definitely climbed waaaaaaay up towards the top of my favorite parks list in one trip. Definitely worth giving it a try this year.

 

Knoebels...well, Knoebels is Knoebels. You'd be crazy to skip it.

[jarmor]

ok ok...I have finally made the decision. Of course, Busch Gardens in the morning then Dorney tuesday morning and Knobels tuesday evening!

 

Any unknown discounts for Dorney's admission I may not know about?