Dorney, Hershey, Great Adventure 8/1-8/4/2013

Hey all, long time reader and member a long time ago. This past week/end I was able to get out to Eastern PA / NJ for a 3-day coaster adventure.

We started the trip at Dorney Park on Thursday 8/1. Unfortunately the weather was rather crappy - rainy and dreary. We have CF Platinum Passes so this was a "bonus" park on this trip. We got 2nd row parking (and the lot only made it to 3 rows of cars + about 8 school busses by the time we left). I hadn't been to Dorney since about 2003 and the bf had never been, so Hydra was new to me, and Possesed and Demon Drop were probably still at their original locations :). We made this a quick visit since the weather was so miserable. 2 rides on Talon, 2 on Hydra, 1 on Dominator, 1 on Thunderhawk, and 1 on Steel Force. Talon is still a good ride, Hydra was fun and the jojo roll was interesting. After that it was lunch time and we decided to just head out. We made our way to New Jersey where we spent the night.

Friday 8/2 We headed to Six Flags Great Adventure. I hadn't been to this park since 2003 and the bf had never been here either. The friend we were staying with highly recommended getting the Flash Pass since it was a Friday, and since we saved 2 nights in a hotel by staying with him, we decided why not. We also decided to sign up for the new Six Flags Annual Membership. With a 1 year commitment we're locked in through 7/30/2014, and since we plan to visit Great America this fall and most likely again sometime next spring, I figured it was a good deal. We got to the park early and had to stand in the mob of people trying to cram through limited metal detectors and ticket booths. We picked up our Flash Pass and processed our Annual Passes and headed off to ride. The park wasn't too busy for the first half of the day, so basically with the Gold Pass all of our rides were walk-on's, and I wasn't complaining! We hit Superman first, then headed to Kingda Ka. I had heard some comments that the launch didn't feel as intense as Dragster, but I felt it was definately a bit more intense. I still prefer the open seating of Dragster since I hit my shoulders on the OTSR going over the hill and down. I was most excited about El Toro and I was not disappointed! What an amazing and intense ride! The worst rides of the day were Rolling Thunder (ouch) and The Green Lantern. Stand Up coasters just don't work for me. They are WAY too painful and this ended up being the last ride of the day. This was a fantastic visit and I'm glad I got back. Ride Totals: Superman-1, Green Lantern-1, Kingda Ka-4, El Toro-4, Bizarro-3, Nitro-3, Batman-3, Dark Knight-1, Skull Mountain-1.

Saturday 8/3 we headed to Hersheypark. We came here last year (which was the bf's first time and my first since 2005). The forecast had changed to 60% chance of rain, but we had already purchased our tickets and wouldn't be able to get back again this season, so we decided to take our time and not rush to the park since it looked like it was pouring via radar. We arrived to the park at noon, and just as we arrived, the rain stopped! The park was packed, took a while to get parked and in. We headed to Skyrush first, and the wait was not terrible, only an hour for the front seat. I still can't believe how intense this ride is. I was able to brace myself better in the front since I could anticipate the turns. I'd say the restraints were slightly more comfortable (I didn't experience any thigh pain), and they release them a notch on the brakes so you don't sit there with it jammed on your legs while waiting to roll back into the station. My favorite ride is still Storm Runner...it's my favorite at this park and my favorite launch coaster. We skipped Fahrenheit as it is horribly slow to load and the line takes forever. I also love Lightning Racer. The Lightning side is my favorite as you can see the other car weaving around you better and I love the dueling design. Great Bear was fun as always, and the Wildcat was really rough. None of the lines were that bad, after the first ride on Skyrush we didn't wait more than 20 minutes or so for any of the rides. I'm guessing a lot of the people were enjoying the water attractions. On a side note, apparently Justin Timberlake was in concert that evening, and I couldn't help but imagine he was in one of the mascot costumes ready to bust out into dance like his SNL skit. :) Ride totals: Skyrush-2, Storm Runner-4, Wildcat-1, Great Bear-1, Lightning Racer-4 total (2 each side).

Sunday was the long drive home (6 hours) and it was tough to stay awake. I'm not sure I'd do 3 big parks in a row like that again, maybe add a day of rest in there, but it was definitely a great trip!

What? It was raining at Dorney and they didn't close the rides? I was at Cedar Point on a partly cloudy day with occasional light rain, and almost all the rides were down or closed. I was greatly disappointed. Though, I did talk to my friend who was still at the campground when the rain came after I left the park, and he said, it was raining so hard, you couldn't see the road. That was in New London Ohio, about 30 miles south of Sandusky.

But, that was closer to 7 pm. and I left the park at 5, when it was partly cloudy, and barely a sprinkle. It was actually a very nice day. So, was anything closed due to the weather when you were at Dorney? Since it's a Cedar fair park, I would think that their rain policies would be the same.

Just wondering.

Timber-Rider said:

I was greatly disappointed.

That doesn't happen very often for you. ;-)

But seriously, the rain policies at the different Cedar Fair parks are different. I was at KI during steady, constant light rain, and the only ride that was closed during some of due to rain was Vortex. I asked about it, and the ride op said that Arrow rides have their brakes flood during the rain.

Then, at Carowinds this year, it was pouring. It was even hailing, and every ride was open. I heard that the park closed at 4:00 PM because there were more visitors than employees there, and I left after 1:00 PM because I was cold. I had welts on my face from getting hail in my face on Intimidator.

Seemed like everything was running as far as I could tell...all the coasters definitely were. The rain was pretty steady when we rode Talon, it was rather painful in the front seat, and when we came in to the brake run, the "buckets" that catch the oil under the wheels still had water in them and dumped out over us... that wasn't so nice. :)

Dorney is good with running rides in bad weather. A few years ago there was thunder and lightning and I would have thought that would close all rides but they kept The Whip and Music Express open since they were under cover.

In 2011 when Hurricane Irene was going to hit the area and all local parks were closed that day, for some reason Dorney decided to open even thought there were maybe 200 people in the park that day (they did close at 6 when the heavy rain started).