Dorney Park, 5/4/08

I got to the park a little after 1:00. The park was dead, somewhere around 200 - 300 cars in the lot and 4 busses.

The season pass processing line was kind of short for the 2nd day of operation, but I had my pass mailed so I didn't have to bother with the processing.

Started at Talon as always. Walk on, 2 train wait for the front. Still my favorite invert.

Wild Mouse was closed with a car stopped at a block brake so I went to Thunder Canyon next. I usually never ride this early in the season but the waterfalls were off so you barely get wet. No wait, rafts were going out empty. Surprisngly, White Water Landing was crowded today but no way was I riding that today.

Hydra also was a walk on, the rattling seemed noticeable today but not too bad.

Tilt A Whirl was loading and so I stopped there and went to Dominator, both sides were going up with half full cars all day. Even Thunder Creek Mountain was sending out empty boats. Got drenched as usual.

The time share company that is at Great Adventure is now at the park, kind of annoying especially since I saw them stopping people walking by.

Thunderhawk was running 1 train but they had the whole train open unlike last year where they were constantly closing off the back half of the train on slow days.

Steel Force had a long wait for the front but a walk on for most of the other rows. 2 trains running.

Wild Mouse's line was slightly down the ramp, close to a 20 minute wait since cars were going out with only 1 or 2 riders in them thanks to the stupid rule of no more than 2 adults per car and the seatbelts. I won't be riding it that much this season since it isn't worth the wait especially when I can walk on to Talon and Steel Force.

I stopped at the arcade. One of the DDR machines (Extreme) has been removed. The premium prize this year is Rockband for PS2. 275,000 tickets. This is ridiculous, it is almost impossible to get that many tickets and when you consider the premium prize has always been 25,000 tickets like a PSP that is worth more than Rockband, something seems wrong. It will be sitting there all season I'm sure.

There are price increases all over the park, Soda is up to $3.50 from $3.00, Candy is $2.00 from $1.50, a chicken fingers and fries basket is $9.25. A hamburger and fries is $5.75. The combo deal at Subway is now $3.50 extra compared to the $3.00 extra from last year. I rarely ate at the park and with those prices I won't be that much this season either. I have always criticized Six Flags for having horrible food pricing and said Dorney's pricing isn't as bad. It still isn't, but it's getting there which is disappointing.

After visiting Great Adventure 4 times in the past 3 weeks it's amazing how different Dorney feels. There are flats everywhere you look and plenty of non coaster rides to rides. It was nice to not be stopped at every ride entrance with someone looking for loose articles since they have free storage areas in the stations. Operations were also better despite Dorney allowing loose articles in line. There was hardly any stacking on Hydra or Talon and Steel Force had no stacking. They also managed to have every ride open except for Laser and Voodoo (Laser is being worked on).

I saw some workers in WWK working on Aqua Racer, not sure what they were doing though.

It was a good visit but despite all the problems at Great Adventure, I think I actually have more fun there because of the better coasters. I'm sure that will change in a few weeks when the lines start to get bad and I can go to Dorney and have walk ons and 5 minute waits all summer.

Ride Count:
Talon, 2x
Hydra, 1x
Steel Force, 2x
Wild Mouse, 1x
Thunderhawk, 1x
Tilt A Whirl, 1x
Thunder Creek Mountain, 1x
Thunder Canyon, 2x
Dominator Blue, 2x
Dominator Red, 1x

Sounds like a good trip. I go to college in ohio, so CP is my main park now, but I live in Allentown now, and I agree, Dorney does have a lot of flat rides.

It's kind of like Busch Gardens old phrase, "Fear the Four" Their coasters aren't bad, they just aren't as great as they were. It's a park for families and a great park because of it. Voodoo falls in the same category, the park will love the new ride, but if you rode it at Geauga lake as well, then it's not so appealing.

Dorney will stay fairly empty until it warms up. I'd say the water park draws most of Dorney's customers.

I was at Dorney yesterday, Sun May 4, too. The park was dead. My kids and I arrived about 10:15 and there were only about 40 cars. I thought it wouold be packed since it was only the 2 day. I didn't get to ride any coaster because I was with the kids. But talking to one of the employees I foiund out that at 2:30 when we were leaving that the park only had 1835 guest as of 2:00. I also found out that Vodoo blew and engine during testing and the new one should be ther around Memorial Day weekend, at least they hope.

Its a shame about a park like Dorney charging so much for their food and drinks. It wouldn't even be that bad if the food was actually good, but its not. I would still buy Kennywood's food if they raised their prices to match Cedar Fair's.

Sounds like a fun day though, nothing like walking on rides as good as what Dorney has to offer.

I hadn't seen anyone online ever say that Voodoo actually was testing at any point. But if they blew a motor that quick, I don't think it's a good sign. And if they blow that easily, you'd think the manufacturer would keep enough in stock that it wouldn't take a month to get one.

And yeah, Dorney's food is nothing special, and every time I've been there, the service has been nothing special either. Usually they're understaffed, and sometimes they're incompetent.

It's a good thing the rides are decent and the lines usually move well. Plus lots of cheap days in the preseason and postseason don't hurt, since I never do water parks!

*** Edited 5/6/2008 4:55:27 AM UTC by Jim S.***

Does anybody think there is any chance that Dorney could end up like GL, where they shut the rides down and just keep WWK?

^ Under the right circumstances, I suppose any park could close at any time. But I don't see a parallel situation between GL and DP.

First, I don't see tremendous potential for redeveloping Dorney as could happen at Geauga. The lower portion by the creek is floodplain; you wouldn't be able to build much there. If the park weren't there, there would be a big movement to make that whole section by the creek a naturalized/ conservation area.

Plus, anything other than Dorney Park would still have to share an entrance with WWK, which I believe would not be the situation at GL.

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9 hour ride to RIDE!! said:
I was at Dorney yesterday, Sun May 4, too. The park was dead. My kids and I arrived about 10:15 and there were only about 40 cars. I thought it wouold be packed since it was only the 2 day. I didn't get to ride any coaster because I was with the kids. But talking to one of the employees I foiund out that at 2:30 when we were leaving that the park only had 1835 guest as of 2:00. I also found out that Vodoo blew and engine during testing and the new one should be ther around Memorial Day weekend, at least they hope.

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I would have guessed the number would have been half of that, or just under 1000 people. I mean Dorney is always dead early and late in the season but this is one of the emptiest I have seen it.

I rode Vodoo when it was in SFWOA and GL, so it's not a new coaster I know Cedar Point has some problems with Wicked Twister. I heard frm one of the workers it was electrical.

We are planning to go Mother's Day which has traditionally been one of the deadest days of the year, but withthe new promotion we will see how many extra people are there.

I would think it will still be somewhat empty, but that $9.95 admission is enticing. We are thinking about going on Father's Day, since the water park will be open then and that way we can go as a family for only $20, since my sister and I both have season passes.

The prices don't seem that expensive to me. Maybe, they are giving you small portions, and that's the problem. At Denny's, I had a Chicken Strips meal with hash browns (instead of fries) for $8.99. A hamburger and fries at an amusement park for $5.75 is a steal. Are you kidding me?

How much is the value meal at Mcdonald's or Burger King these days? Of course, you don't get a drink, but you could get water. Now, if the hamburger stinks, it stinks. A person went to Six Flags Over Georgia at a Johnny Rockets, and ordered a Double Hamburger, a drink, and fries for only $17. Wow, compared to $5.75.

I guess I wouldn't get food at the park if it's open later anyway except funnel cakes no matter how cheap it is because I want to get away, and come back.

It's time to take a nice break away from the park for me. I don't feel I can just stay at the park the whole day unless the park is only open till 5:00 pm, or maybe 6:00.