Dorney Park 6/23/09

Since the weather was finally good with no chance of rain, I took my sister to Dorney today. We got to the park at around 2:30, the lot didn't seem that crowded. The first stop was to get my sister's pass processed. Then we went into WWK and started at Aquablast. 20 minute wait. Most of the other slides were 5 - 10 minutes. Aquablast was later down to 10 minutes which we stopped at again on the way out of the waterpark. From the waterpark, I could see the ride side was empty with Talon having as few as 3 riders on a train at one point.

In the main park, we went to the Whip first. The cycle was long. Thunderhawk was next where we arrived to a completely empty station so we of course chose the front row. This was going to be the largest coaster my sister had tried and I was a little concerned about how it throws you around in the turnaround area. She thought it was an ok coaster, but was considering trying Steel Force. I told her Steel Force is a lot smoother but going from mine train coasters to Thunderhawk and then a hyper is a big jump so I wasn't sure if she should try it or not.

Before we got over to Steel Force we stopped at Road Rally. 6 cars running and it was about a 5 minute wait. Steel Force had an almost empty station and I figured we might as well wait for the front since it was only a 3 train wait and the first ride should be in the front seat. I was really nervous when the train got to the stop of the lift since she was saying how steep the first drop looked but by the time we got to the helix, she said she liked the coaster. I was very proud of her for trying both coasters and had to pick up the onride photo for Steel Force. It was $9 plus tax, which I guess isn't too bad.

Possessed was broken down with the last few rows of the train at the front of the station and the rest of the train in the area after the station but before the spiral tower. It seems like on at least half my visits to the park, the ride breaks down at some point while I am there.

I originally wasn't going to ride Hydra but since I saw the trains were going out half empty, I stopped for a ride and we went to the Cedar Creek Cannonball next. The op said nothing during the ride which was surprising since usually they talk about Thunder Canyon, Hangtime and Talon when the train passes them. The final ride of the day was Talon, also a walk on.

I didn't get as many rides in as I normally do but it was nice to take things at a slower pace and finally get my sister to start trying coasters other than family coasters and mine trains. I can't wait to take her to Great Adventure and see if I can get her to try Nitro next.

A bunch of my coworkers and I are heading to Dorney Park on July 1. I haven't been since the 90s. The last time I was there, Hercules was SBNO. I can't wait to try Hydra, but I wish Laser was still present.