Dorney Park -- 9/4 -- various observations

Went to Dorney Park yesterday and had a fun time as usual. I'll keep this simple as usual.

--The park was more crowded than when I went in July, but still, not crowded as usual, at least in the amusement park.

--Met a fellow Buzzer while there, who informed me of the possibility of an impulse coaster going in on the old skyscraper spot. It would be a great fit for the location, IMO.

--Don't expect to be able to purchase food with a credit card at some of the locations within Dorney Park. This is one area where I think Six Flags has the advantage.

--Most, if not almost all, of the rides were running, which is definitely better than we can say of some of the SF parks lately. Didn't notice many breakdowns/seat closures, either.

--Dorney could use some paint in places, such as Steel Force and Lazer. Some other things could have used some cleaning or replacement, such as ride seat parts, etc.

--Hydra was running bumpy as usual. It's worst when you ride on an end seat over a wheel. The inner seats are smoother.

--We couldn't ride Woodstock Express with more than 1 adult in a car at a time, which wasn't posted, AFAIK. I was able to do this at SFGAdv on the same type of coaster several years back.

--Normal train op on all the coasters--Steel Force (2), Talon (2), Hydra (2), Thunderhawk (1), Lazer (1).

--The Screamin' Swing doesn't seem to get much ridership. Should they decrease the price?

--Thunderhawk seems to be under-rated. If you want some INSANE airtime, ride it in the "Schmeck" seat. The one pop was so crazy that I was stopped by the seat belt, which wasn't on tight.

Overall, Dorney is just a great medium-sized park with some nice attractions, small crowds (in the amusement park--the water park can get busy sometimes), and good operations. It does seem to lack some character and/or theming, but it's decent at what it does. You're much more apt to ride a lot here than at SFGAdv.

I was there yesterday as well. Even with the lot somewhat crowded I was surprised at how short the lines were since I have been at the park on days when the lot had about the same number of cars and the lines were longer than they were yesterday. I didn't see Talon's line get out of the station all day and the longest coaster wait I had was 10 minutes for Wild Mouse.

I agree about Laser needing paint. You can see the old red color the track used to be in a lot of spots.

The last sentence you wrote; "You're much more apt to ride a lot here than at SFGAdv." is exactly why I have a season pass for Dorney and not Great Adventure. I know I can go to Dorney and spend 3 - 3 1/2 hours in the park and ride all the coasters and flats I want and have time for lots of re-rides. At Great Adventure, I would be lucky to get 5 or 6 rides total in that same amount of time.

I think an Impulse coaster would fit in great at Dorney, especially since there aren't any others in PA and they're alot of fun. That spot seems perfect for one as well.

I've been crying, "Impulse!" since early in the 2003 season.

Still seems like a decent idea 3 1/2 years later. :)

Some interesting comments in that linked thread - especially with all that has gone down in the time between then and now. Give it a looksie if you have a few minutes,

That's funny as I thought the same thing when I was at Dorney last year - an Impulse would fit perfectly on that long stretch between Monster and Lazer. But how would you quiet the launch with neighbors so close to the park?