Dorney Park

Our senior class took a trip to Dorney park this June. When they told us we have to leave the park by 4pm I was a little disappointed. But for just 20 bucks I wasnt going to complain. After spending the day there, I wasnt certain there was much more to experience, so I was happy to leave by 4. My friend Matt and I are big coaster fans and were looking foreward to getting on Hydra. That was what we hit up first.

Hydra:

Being only 105 feet tall, I was skeptical if this ride would be able to pack a fast punch. I was way wrong. The ride blew me away. Easily B&M's most uniique ride, Hydra ran fast, smooth, and fun! The inversions were sized perfectly to allow the trains to pass thru them with exciting speed yet also maintain the smoothness. The pre-lift jojo roll was cool, and the interesting incline dive loop (which i still think is a fancy name for an overbanked turn) was really cool. The zero-G roll was amazing, probably the best zero-G on any B&M. Overall I think it is the best B&M floorless ive been on, even having ridden Medusa among others. Overall: 10/10

Steel Force:

Its your typical out and back hyper. Nothing special here but it gave a very strong ride and the helix was fast and fun. The block brake run kinda kills any airtime you could get over the return run bunny hills, but they still let you float a little bit. Good ride, scary lift, fast first drop. Phantom's Revenge is still Morgan's best work. Steel Force has nothing over Steel Phantom/Phantom's Revenge. Overall 8/10

Talon:

Great B&M here. It rode smooth and very fast for a smaller invert. The inversions pulled great Gs and were taken with grace and smoothness. Gave a great ride with a pace that never let up. Much faster than I remembered it. The short track length does nothing to weaken this coaster. I love it. Overall: 10/10

Thunderhawk:

Wow did this ride pack a mean punch. I remembered it being fun, but not this fun. Fast with sharp turns and great air made this ride easily one of my favorite wooden coasters. It is a classic and for only being 60 feet tall, it is incredibly fast paced. The brakerun can leave a sour taste in your mouth about this ride. They are applied much too hard it seems and cause you to violently jerk to a halt. Otherwise, great ride. 9/10

Laser:

Was not open due to rain.

Overall Park Rating

Overall, the trip was fun and worthwile. I recommend getting to Dorney even just to ride the two B&Ms. Great trip, good rides, fun time! Dorney itself could be a little better kept as far as atmosphere, theming, and lower prices. Food is overpriced and so are alot of things like merchandise, parking, etc... Its a chain park so what do you exepect, but still fun. It's no Kennywood, but it's a worthwile visit. Overall for the park: 8/10

-Jeff

Thats the first time I've heard anyone really rave about Hydra.

yeah I found it to be ok, but the front just plain hurt :(, and I think the pacing was a little off, but glad you ahd fun. Also, Thunderhawk got a higher score then Steel Force??? I guess if you think so, I think the breaks and roughness killed it for me. Nice TR though, Dorney is a great park.

This is the first time I've heard anyone really rave about Thunderhawk. It was an interesting ride, but way too painful for me to really enjoy. I did enjoy the small hop after the first dip though.

I like Dorney even though it is small. The end of the Thunderhawk is a killer though. I mostly go for Wildwater kingdom since I don't have a pool. The park has changed so much in the past 20 years. Although there are die-hard Hercules fans out there, I am glad to see the ride gone for one main reason, the first drop it had. I lived across the street for many years and over the winter seasons I watched the hill and turn over the water get torn apart and put back together. It made me stay clear away. I also am disappointed that the ride "Journey to the Center of the Earth" is gone. It was so great. A little dated but fun. For everyone who doesn't know or remember, it was a boat ride with some-what gory scenes behind glass through a dark cave. The end was a lift hill followed by a not-too-high drop into the water again. It was removed because needed parts were obsolete and up-keep was too costly. Since it is a chain park it can be a little costly, but because of the size you can enjoy the park in a day easily. If you go toward the end of the season after the water park closes it really isn't crowded and it's Halloweekends are fun. For some irrevalent info, my god-father(who ironically is Italian and and pours concrete...;-)) was one of the people who poured the concrete when the park removed the black-top. It's kind of neat to walk there and think of that. I am sure you will all lead better lives now that you know that!!! Hey, all you, hope you have a great holiday... I am WORKING right now!

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Jeff Reim said:

for a smaller invert.

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Actually, of the 28 B&M inverts out there, only 6 are taller than Talon, and it has a longer drop that a couple of those 6. It gives the feel of being short because of the lack of a mid course brake.

I agree with your assessment of Hydra. It has gotten stronger in the last couple weeks, especially in the heat. The key is riding in the back row for the better ride.

I think Dorney Park is a cool theme park but i still think that Six Flags Great Adventure is better and has more rides than DP.

Hydra is an excellent ride IMO, B&Ms just keep getting better. There layouts and elements are the best, and what did you think of the station its 1 of the nicest looking coasters. Its my favorite new steel coaster of 2005 and I've ridden alot including KK. I got 25 rides on Hydra at coaster maddness on june 10th. Dorney is a great park and I hope they keep adding rides of this calliber.

Didn't feel this merited an entirely new trip report, but I went to Dorney Park this weekend (Saturday, July 2) and it was a near-perfect day. No closures, no lines, beautiful weather (Wildwater Kingdom was packing some pretty long lines, but my group and I weren't too interested in getting wet). Every time I've been to Dorney Park I have never had to wait longer than 5 minutes for a ride. Is it just me?

Talon was superb as usual. Hydra was pretty good (first-time riders' reactions to the jojo roll are priceless). Thunderhawk and Laser were both nice and intense. Steel Force was great, better than I remember. We chalked up a few rides on each, as well as a bunch of the flats. On Steel Force, my group and I decided to have a screaming contest. If you're with a large group of people on Steel Force, I highly recommend this...the results can be hilarious, especially through the echoey tunnels. Though I did feel a little sorry for the rest of the people riding with us ;-)

One thing I did notice is that the queue areas for the major rides are set up to hold what looks like no more than 45-60 minutes worth of riders (compared to a queue like that of Kingda Ka or Superman: Ultimate Flight at SFGAdv which traverse ridiculous distances capable of easily holding 3+ hours of riders as helpless hostages). I suppose Dorney isn't meant to be a particularly high capacity park.

That's my two cents. *** Edited 7/5/2005 3:17:24 PM UTC by JoQuo711*** *** Edited 7/5/2005 3:35:29 PM UTC by JoQuo711***

I didnt necessarily mean Talon is short in height when i said smaller invert. Its decently tall, but it is alot smaller and more compact with less footage of track then many. Alpengiest, Raptor, Montu, Silver Bullet, are rides i consider bigger than Talon. Anyway, it is a suberb ride.

Yes I do think Thunderhawk is better than Steel Force. I didnt find T-hawk too incredibly painful that day, but I can see where you are coming from, it does get a bit rough. I just think its a faster pace and more exciting than Steel Force. Sure SF is tall and pretty fast, but I dont think it has a great pace and the only 2 good parts are the end of its helix and the first drop. The block brakes kill the airtime for the bunny hops. Phantom's Revenge is way better in my opinion as a hypercoaster.

Anyway, thanks for your replies.