10/7/01 Dorney Park

I don't write TR's that often becasue 90% of my park trips are to Cedar Point and I would end up repeating myself in every TR. 

Sunday morning I woke up and couldn't feel anything at all, I slept in a tent ten feet from Twister on a very very cold PA night.  I left the camp site with Ritchie and his friend Jon and we drove to Allentown.

Driving down the freeway was very impressive seeing Talon, Steel Force and the S&S Towers.  I hadn't been to the park since Aug. of 1998 and this was going to be a real treat.

We pull in and notice the park is very dead, we make a B line towards Talon.  I one thing that bugs me about Dorney is that there is no real main midway, the park just seems to go on and on.  We find the Talon entrance and enter the queue.  I tried not to look at the ride becasue I have not seen many pictures of it and I wanted to be surprised.  The first thing I noticed on Talon was something that I didn't notice and that was the lack of sound.  Talon is so quiet I was shocked.  For our first ride we took the front seat.  The front seat is a must for anyone riding a new inverted for the first time.  My overal impressions of the ride were great.  I loved the elements and the pacing of the ride.  The heartline was crazy and I loved it.  The banked turn a few feet above the ground towards the end of the ride is awesome.  If I had to take a choice between Talon and its big brother Raptor I would take Raptor only becuase I thought there was some dead space on Talon in the middle of the ride.  We got in a total of 4 rides on Talon for the day.

Next was the S&S towers and we got one ride on each tower, the towers are only 200ft tall and this was only the second S&S tower I have been on and I thought smaller version gave a much better ride than Power Tower or maybe its just the way the parks run the ride.

After the towers Richie took a quick ride on the whip, a great ride, it was only the 3rd whip I have been on but I thought it was great.  Richie and I had an interesting converstion on what would happen if the cable broke.

After the whip we went over to the Lazer and we got three rides in for the day.  I forgot how much fun and intense this ride is.  The entire ride is great and I wish there was Anton ride like this close to me in Ohio.

Next was Steel Force now the last time I was at Dorney I got about 25 laps in one day on the Force and I really loved it.  Something happened in the last three years.

A.  I got spoiled with magnum.
B.  SF was having a bad day.
C.  SF was running the way it always does.

For me the ride was a big let down, and I hope the weather had something to do with it.  For my first ride I sat in 13 and noticed no air at all.  The second ride I sat in 61 and the speed was there but not the air.  I think the weather had something to do with it because the ride was a let down.

After Steel Force we hit Thunderhawk.  We waited for the front seat and the top huge pops of airtime we got crushed any air we got on SF.

After Thunderhawk we walked through CS and saw their Woodstock's Express which I didn't even know they had and as luck would have it we were able to ride it.  It was a fun little ride.

We ended the night on their mouse.  The wait was terrible they were only running four mice and their capcity was low.  The ride was fun and I wish we had one in Sandusky. 

I had a great day at the park, I thought it was clean and I had a blast.  It was great to hear The Doors and Pink Floyd as midway music.  Their halloweeknds was good but needs to be a bit more developed like CP's.  It was also nice to see our old carousel again.

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MF: 188
Magnum: 2101

You know, I thought Steel Force was better than Magnum. The turn around is smooth and fast, and the airtime is forceful enough without being uncomfortable.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
"From the global village... in the age of communication!"
Watch the grass grow!

I just think its a combination of two things, A.  the weather being cold.  The fact that I am used to the airtime that only Magnum gives.  SF was still a great ride but not what I remembered it to be.
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MF: 188
Magnum: 2101

Brr...the things we do for coasters! Glad Raptor still rules your sky, as it is one of my favorites. Sounds like you got some decent riding in, hope you had fun.
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Kara
403 Laps

After the towers Richie took a quick ride on the whip, a great ride, it was only the 3rd whip I have been on but I thought it was great. Richie and I had an interesting converstion on what would happen if the cable broke.

LOL. So its that Richie. If the cable snapped at least he would not be 270 feet up in the air. I was wondering were he went. We need him back!

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Save Cheese on a stick!

Truth be known, I like Talon and Steel Force better than Raptor and Magnum. It's a close call on the inverters, but I like Talon better. Don't anyone ever accuse me of being a CP zealot!

Raptor has its dead spot as well, in the straight section between corkscrews. Drives me nuts, I don't know what they were thinking there.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
"From the global village... in the age of communication!"
Watch the grass grow!

I also liked Talon more than Raptor, although it was a tossup on Steel Force/Magnum.  Talon, once warmed up, gives a nice intense ride that I didn't feel let up at all, and with the excellent low passes it just felt "right".

Steel Force was definitely smoother than Magnum, and on a nice summer day it gave decent air, but still not like Maggie's ejector seat.  (Of course, I still think PR is the king of airtime steelies right now ;) )

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--Greg
"Beat the rush, sign up for your post-Mean Streak MRI now..."
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