Dorney Park 8/16

My friend Kevin and I were talking to other day and he said that he was going to visit Dorney for a few hours on Thursday, so I figured why not join him for a bit and get a few more coasters in for the season.

We met up just after the park opened at 10. For the most part, the park was empty. This was do to the cloudy conditions and occasional spits of rain. Our first ride of the day was the Laser. The Laser is a short, intense, and enjoyable coaster — a gem of the park. With possible news of it being up for sale, we each wanted to get a possible last ride in. It was a walk-on, where we got front row, which is impressive, since they assign you a seat.
We then went to Steel Force, which was another walk-on. We sat in the last row of the last car, my personal favorite. Steel Force was running fast and smooth. The complaints of it being trimmed to death were false on this day. There was excellent air to be had on the last half of the ride.

Thunderhawk was next on the list for the day. Thunderhawk is a classic out and back coaster, that has some serious ejector air if you sit in the front four rows of the train. It was only running one train, so there was a bit more of a line then the other rides. But it was still only a two train wait. On leaving the station, we were braked a bit, which surprised us. The rest of the ride was normal as always, with the typical trims on the bunny hills. It is still one of my favorite classic wooden coasters, with or without trims.

We then proceeded to Hydra, which was another walk-on. By this time, the spitting rain had turned it up a notch to a light drizzle. The pavement was wet, but not puddling. We sat in the second row and went on the ride. It had a few more vibrations then I remember previously, but not enough to complain about like people do. After we got off of Hydra we had been in the park for about 45 minutes.

Talon was to be our last coaster of the day (before re-rides), as we were both there only for a half day visit at most. As we neared the line, a person with a yellow rain jacket blocked the way, and we knew that the coaster was shutdown because of the “rain.” We messed around on flats for about an hour and a half until the “rain” had cleared. We went back on Steel Force and then headed to Talon. We sat in the back row, which is my favorite spot on Talon. The back row gives you a bit of air on one of the final drops. Talon is still one of my favorite inverts. It’s compact, smooth, and has a great lineup of elements.

After we got of Talon we went to the McDonalds across the street from Dorney. In the three and a half hours we were at Dorney, we got on all of the coasters they would let us on, and a handful of flats. It was a pretty successful day.

My only real complaint is this new rain policy. I’ve been gone for the past few weeks, but something similar happened at Cedar Point, only at Cedar Point anything that is wet and falls from the sky will close the coasters. I’ve ridden all of the coasters in Dorney many times in the pouring rain, why does a little drizzle close the rides now? They need to find a better system for judging the rain. This new policy only serves to frustrate visitors of the park.

Nice report, I missed going to Dorney this summer. It pains me that the new rain policy is so strict. My fondest memory of the park was my first visit when my cousin and I rode Talon dozens of times in the pouring rain.

I forgot to mention how easy it was to scan my Kings Island pass at Dorney. I was at Cedar Point and Knott's this summer and they both required me to go to guest services to get a comp ticket. At Dorney you just take it to the season pass line, you scan it, and you are it.

The rain policy is CF over-reacting and trying to make excuses and cover their asses for the minor accident on Magnum earlier in the season.