Dorney Park, 10/5/08

I wanted to get to the park at opening, we ended up getting there at 12:15 but the lot wasn't that crowded and I saw Voodoo had 1 person in line.

We went to Magical House on Boo Hill first since I wasn't sure how crowded it would get later. It seemed to be the same as last year with some punching bags added in one of the rooms and a lot more actors, especially clowns. The Polka Dot room was cool to see again.

Next I wanted to go to Road Rally to avoid lines but we stopped at the Whip first. A much longer cycle than the one at Hershey. Road Rally was running 4 cars again, I don't think I have seen it run more than 5 cars all season. No line. I wanted to go to Laser to get some possible final rides in but it was closed. Very fusturating especially because I know I won't have many more chances to ride and possibly no more if they keep it closed the rest of the season. We stopped at the Dragon coaster since it had no line.

Voodoo was a 1 cycle wait for the last row. The holding brake was awesome so far up the back spike.

Steel Force was running 2 trains, 1 train wait for the front which usually has a crazy line for the front row. It just didn't seem that exciting compared to Nitro.

Thunderhawk had 1 train running, the line was down the stairs and into the first switchback. The 3rd car was chained off (I saw the entire back half was chained off earlier). Again, fusturating since it had to be around a 15 minute wait and the entire train should have been open. I didn't feel like waiting.

To get to Krazy Kars you have to go through the exit of Headstone Hollow which looked like it would be a cool walkthrough. We also stopped at Zephyr, no Halloween props along the track this year.

Hydra was a walk on for the back row. It really had a lot of vibrations and was rough compared to Medusa. Wild Mouse was closed (it appeared to be broken as they were running empty cars later). Talon was also a walk on for the back row. We were going to stop at the Cedar Creek Cannonball but it was also closed. I also noticed Revolution and Meteor were closed.

On the way out we stopped in that everything 50% off store and got a Talon mug for $1.00, a Laser glass for $1.42 and a decorated plate for $2.00.

Overall crowds were light which I was glad to see and hope it stays like that every Sunday in October like in past years but the amount of closed rides especially Laser was dissapointing.

Is Laser officially closed for good now? Or just acting up like it did in the spring? (And why is Hydra vibrating so bad this year?)

I just read on another board that Laser opened last night. I'm glad to see they're not just letting it go.

^Argh! Laser was closed all night on Friday, very disappointing considering I had a newbie with me who'd never ridden it :(. ThunderHawk and Laser missing from the line-up was somewhat of a let-down. I'm glad they're at least opening Laser some for locals to get last rides.

^ It's a crying shame that an Anton whore like you missed the opportunity for Laser. That really had to suck.

Well, at least you can go drown your sorrow on a few laps of Scorpion. :)

^The only U.S. Antons I missed and *never* got since becoming infected with this coaster bug - Thrillville's Ripper and Coney's Jumbo Jet. TV was closed on the day we visited, and Coney's Jumbo Jet - I was too new and ignorant to know what it was that I passed on. To truly drown my sorrows, I might have to get up to SFoG and ride 'Bender. :) After getting kicked off Zephyr due to their over-fogging the area for the "meh" walk-thru, we did get back on that later....so at least I finally got Zephyr. Corn Stalkers was the one really well-done haunted attraction at Dorney, IMO.

^Why was ThunderHawk closed?

^ They usually close T-hawk and the Scrambler at 6 because of the walkthrough haunt along the walkway between them and Steel Force.

Bummer. TH is the best coaster there, IMO.

I'm glad Laser is still operating but it should be operating the entire time the park is open, not just a night.

Also this year, besides Thunderhawk, Road Rally and Scrambler closing at 6, all kids rides close at 5 and Cedar Creek Cannonball and Krazy Kars also close at 6. They really don't want kids in the park after 6:00 and the other 2 new closed rides this year are in the way of the walkthroughs (lights I guess)

I was the newbie with Gator on 10/3, and although there were a few drawbacks, I generally enjoyed my first visit to Dorney.

True, missing Laser and Thunderhawk was a downer; still, I found much to like. I enjoyed the coasters I did get to ride, with the exception of Voodoo. We had a miss-launch that really freaked me out. The train seemed to shuffle violently (IMO) from the get-go, something I have never experienced on an impulse before. We had what appeared to be a ride where the forward propelling LIM's malfunctioned. I was sure the ops would stop the ride, but no. So while we gained momentum to go up the back spike (though no holding brake), we didn't get the full push going up the front. Made me very nervous that something was seriously wrong, but the ride returned to normal operations after we exited, including the holding brake. Oh well. I did this ride at Geauga, so no big loss. The real surprise was Steel Force. I had heard so much bad or "meh" regarding it, that my expectations were low, to be fair. The fog was just settling over the coaster on my first time on it, so I had no idea what was coming since I couldn't see the track. I great way to have an initial ride! Lots of air, for me. I believe even Gator said it may move up on his list after our Friday night rides.

I very much liked Talon and Hydra as well. The inversion out of the station on Hydra had more hang time than I was expecting. Talon was a fun ride, if nothing spectacular; but as I have said before, I don't need a lot of intensity and extreme forces to really enjoy a ride. Even the mouse was fun, running very quickly when we rode.

Truly disappointing was that the walk through that was the cause of TH being closed was lame. They close their only wood for that? Crazy! I do agree that Cornstalkers was fun. But Club Blood was dumb. Nothing more than excuse to introduce young girls to the idea of pole dancing. I really felt kind of like a dirty voyeur, with all the teens put on display in that haunt. Still, they didn't seem to mind themselves, so end of that rant.

The haunts at Dorney would be better without so many yellow shirts walking around. having mgmnt keep an eye on the staff and telling them to get in their places, while you are walking right by, kinda kills the fun factor, you know...

And the fact that Dorney over-fogged their own rides, like the Zephyr, was a classic WTF moment, LOL.