Coasting for Kids 2014 - Dorney Park

[URL][IMG]This is my first TR for this year, well for a few years I think. I tend to have diarrhea of the fingers when doing these, and I just pour my thoughts out, so bear with me!

This trip was, sort of, a milestone for me. It was the first event I have done since being part of the CBC, the first ACE event for me since Coaster Mania back in 2004, and the first time doing GKTW. What an all around pleasant experience it was!

I got to meet so many awesome new people, made some great new friends, and got to take event in such a great and generous event.

I got to the part at about 9ish, and was so happy to see how close the parking was to the gate. I gathered all my coaster gear (backpack with wallet, towel, change of clothes, water shoes, contact lenses, tylenol, lol anything that I may possibly need..... and nothing that I needed at all) and started walking to the gate when I heard someone shout out my name. I looked behind me wondering if I had just heard things, and low and behold there was Bunky! It was so nice getting to meet her in person. She introduced me to her friend, and we started our day.

Registration was a breeze. The t-shirts were awesome!! We were informed about the two ride policy, and while no one was particularly thrilled about it (not even Buddy, our supervisor for the day..he didn't even agree with it), there was nothing we can do. After all, we were raising money for kids not to see how many rides we can squeeze into a day. Right? !?

Our first stop was Possessed.

Now being somewhat on the "large" side, I have heard that this was the most difficult ride to get into. I was not sure I was going to make it, but then the attendant said "No worries, I got this" and he stapled me in.

This was the first time I have been on this, and while I have been on rides that are similar (Wicked Twister, etc), it was a fun way to start the day. It really felt good to be able to go again without having to do anything.

Next up was Steel Force.

There is nothing negative I can say about this ride. It is so much fun, it is almost relaxing. It's not rough, too terribly fast, not a crazy amount of airtime, it's just a fun fun ride.

It was time for lunch. We all headed over for a decent meal and then the awards ceremony.

I was so proud we had raised as much as we did. The Dorney Park crew raised a little over $20,000 and all in all everyone raised just shy of $200,000. We were in second place, under King's Dominion, as the most amount raised.

We then headed over to Talon.

I have been on this before, I like it. Not a very exciting ride, I think, but I love the front, especially when you are going through the fast turns right near the ground towards the end. It really makes you feel like you are zipping through at a very high speed.

I felt the need to take a small break, grab some more water, and do some flat rides. So I got to go on

Meteor

First time on this...what a crazy ride. Took a long time for the ride to be cleared, because they kept on having issues with the restraints. The attendant would have to come over with a screwdriver and open the restraints and then have the riders move to another row. This wasn't because they were large, because they weren't, so I am not sure what the issue was. Made me just a tad nervous.

Then headed over to

Screaming Swing

Now, this..... is.....awesome. For an upcharge ride, at only being $2, this was incredible. Loved this!

I then made my way back to Talon only to see that our group had moved over to

Hydra

I was not thrilled with this. It was still fun, but I have been on way better floorless coasters before. And I was not crazy about the barrel roll right out of the gate.

It was time for the Log Flume, which was awesome. Had a fun sing along with my persons, and I got soaked. I think I got talked into sitting in the back. Sure, have the fat one sit in the back..... they won't get wet!

We decided to dry off on Screaming Swing!

It was then time for a last hurrah at Chickie and Petes. Had some great great company (I apologize if I don't know your CB names...) with Bunky, Mike, Justin, Joan, Joe, and Katie. After some filling crab fries and awesome crab beer, thought it was prudent for

Screaming Swing again.

Another great ride. I really enjoyed this.

Then it was a race to get in other flats, so we got Meteor in again and then The Whip.

This was the last ride of the night, and what a way to go out!

All in all, I had a wonderful trip. Made some great, i can tell long term, friends. I already have plans to get together with them again soon! I cannot wait until next years CFK event.

Maybe this time I'll get to keep my lap counter! :P

Oh, and...

I got my cookie.

Johnnyecks said:

Next up was Steel Force.

There is nothing negative I can say about this ride. It is so much fun, it is almost relaxing. It's not rough, too terribly fast, not a crazy amount of airtime, it's just a fun fun ride.

I don't disagree with this one bit. I think Steel Force was always underrated.

Interestingly, it is the 36th fastest roller coaster on Earth.

Our enthusiast perception of the exceptional has always interested me. It's funny how exceptional things become mundane very quickly in the coaster world.

Lord Gonchar said:

Our enthusiast perception of the exceptional has always interested me. It's funny how exceptional things become mundane very quickly in the coaster world.

It's funny that you said that, because after a few rounds on Talon the fact that we were getting two rides in before having to change, or wait on lines, or anything special... sort of became normal, and the enthusiasm started to dwindle. We weren't even vocal on the rides. I was a little disappointed in that regard.

Last year it got to the point where we considered bringing pillows and a magnetic chessboard on Steel Force. Our whole SF marathon, we were making further plans for the day, discussing best places to eat, etc. while heading down the first drop and around the helix. Very re-rideable coaster, and one does get kinda used to it after awhile.

I don't think I ever scream too much for Talon...I've got a bit of home park fatigue, I think.

Haha, singalong...such a tactful way to put that song we made. Excellent.

I like Screamin Swing much better sober.

Great report on what went down. The whole thing was a blast! I really enjoyed having the opportunity to meet some people face to face - including but not limited to Johnny, Bunky, Katie, Judy and Justin (Mike I had met before). Just wish I could have hung around longer but Hydra more or less did me in. (I noticed that by the time we got to Hydra, our group had dwindled and Hydra was clearly the least popular of the three coasters we rode.) When I did the math, I realized that I had been turned upside down 56 times on that ride alone (7 inversions x 8 laps) and were I 22 instead of 62, it might not have affected me as much. Anyway, I had to leave while I still felt competent to drive, drop off the car I borrowed, take a train back to Philly and knock off an article about the event.

As to Talon, I've ridden only a limited number of inverts but this one is high up on my list, second to only Montu.(BTW, my avatar on this site was taken on Talon - the only good on-ride photo I ever got.) Buddy was absolutely awesome! What a great guy to have as our tour guide. You guys all deserve to be proud of yourselves for raising so much money for Give Kids The World. Next year I plan to start early and maybe I can come up with some ingenious scheme for raising funds. (Posting it on Facebook, emailing just about everyone I know and sending an email to everyone at work didn't do the trick.)

Johnnyecks said:

Lord Gonchar said:

Our enthusiast perception of the exceptional has always interested me. It's funny how exceptional things become mundane very quickly in the coaster world.

It's funny that you said that, because after a few rounds on Talon the fact that we were getting two rides in before having to change, or wait on lines, or anything special... sort of became normal, and the enthusiasm started to dwindle. We weren't even vocal on the rides. I was a little disappointed in that regard.

It's a common but seldom discussed phenomenon called "Enthusiast Specific Coaster Desensitivity Syndrome".

Maybe they should have a marathon for that.

I dunno... I never get bored riding Phoenix and the Phlyers over and over at PPP, nor did I get bored at the SRM's and HWN's I've attended.

But then again, those are events that are specifically catered to the crowd, and everyone is there for one reason. (Gravy!) While I wasn't at CfK, I could imagine that it wasn't the same, just being a smaller group of "enthusiastic" people, mixed in with the crowds of regular park guests.