Dorney Park or Hersheypark

I have a very simple question for those who have been to both parks. Which is better Dorney Park, or Hersheypark, I only get to go to one this summer.

I went to both this summer and both are good. If I had to choose on one I think it would be Hershey. The atmosphere is much better in this park. But then there is this little coaster going in at Dorney. Tough choice for you.

I agree with Iggy! They both are good parks but Hersheypark is more expensive. But for anything else It's a tie! Then third Kennywood and last Knoebels!- My top 4!

Hersheypark is one of the best parks in the world, imho. Dorney is good, but not great.

Hershey has been in major expanding mode for the past 10 years or so. They have so much to do, and the service is usuially way above my expectations. It is very charming and satisfying. Shade is abundant.

Dorney is a nice little park that lacks a lot of choice and atmosphere. With the exception of Talon, their coasters are good, but not great. I think that maybe in 10 years, Dorney will be as good as Hershey if they keep up the expanding. They have one of the best waterparks I've been to, however it has a very confusing layout and isn't very shady.

Both are very clean and friendly.

DISCLAIMER: The above is not fact, rather it is MY opinion. Read signature below.

I think it comes down to what you prefer in your coasters....in this case, are you going to want to ride an awesome rocket, or an extreme, and all new floorless?

Everything else is equal in my opinion.

Josh

Even though I could be called a Cedar Fair "fanboy", my nod would have to go to Hershey, for a few reasons.

Hershey has more wooden coasters to choose from. I love Wildcat, and Lightning Racer is just a fun ride, especially in the back where you can really enjoy the crossovers. Plus, in my opinion, Hershey is an "all daY" park, where Dorney can be done in a few hours, unless you like water parks.

However, at Dorney, Talon is one of my favorite inverted coasters, and though it's not Magnum XL200, Steel Force is a very good ride. Plus, the double loops on Laser, WILL give you a brown out.

I'd take Hershey hands down. The only reason I am going to Dorney this year is to ride Hydra. You can get a neat park or a concrete jungle.

I live in the Harrisburg area, and get season passes to both parks. Hershey by far has a much better atmosphere, and overall better selection of rides.

Dorney has a good waterpark, Hyper, 150ft S&S tower, Talon, Classic Schwarzkopf, Decent little woodie, crappy mouse, and of course the new B&M Floorless.

In my opinion I'd rather ride Hershey's rocket more than any coaster that Dorney has.

I don't mean to get all defensive here because I like both parks just a equal. But, why do most people think that Dorney Park is a concrete jungle? If you want trees, go take a walk in the woods. I don't know about you, but I'm there for one thing, and that's to ride roller coasters. If Dorney wasn't a "concrete jungle," then Dorney would end up being just as crowded as Hershey Park on a light day. I'm not sure if it's just me, or does anyone else think that, what should be a light day at Hershey feel like a 4th of July weekend? Those pathways are way to narrow.

I love how people always say DP is a concrete jungle with no shade. And yet they make HP so innocent. Most people need to think outside of their prepackaging. DP has parts that are shaded (for example, path next to Hydra's Cobra Roll, path underneath Thunderhawk) and yes it also has parts of the park that aren't (namely the Main Midway up by Talon) Guess what, other parks are the same way. Each park has parts that are shaded and parts that aren't. Have any of you ever been to Midway America in HP, cause if I remember correctly, there wasn't much shade there either. How comes we never hear about how the Boardwalk at SFGADV or the Main Midway at CP has no shade, hmmm?

We are looking at the park in a whole. Not just sections! Dorney park isn't great. Its a concrete jungle!! Its a fact!

If you only have one day for one park, Hershey is your best bet, hands down. It has more to offer unless you are wanting to hit up a water park.

^ Agreed with everyone else who pretty much said go with Hershey. Then again, it also all depends where you are in relation to the parks, and how much time you have. If you have just one day, then hit Hershey, for it's large variety of coasters, and flat rides too. If you want a short little coaster trip, and are closer to Dorney, (and if it's in the summer and you want waterparkage too), then hit that.

Then again, I'm not telling you anything...that you don't already know. :)

Crashmando, "concrete jungle" is no fact. There are plenty of areas in Dorney that are shaded.. just not near the entrance, which is what everyone remembers - their first impression.

Dorney's entrance area: Not any trees except for the occasional small one, all concrete, very bright (reflected sun). Note: further in the park are shaded areas - between camp snoopy/hydra, under thunderhawk, back end of tot spot (Dragon Coaster especially), by Solomon's Snacks down the hill from the Ferris Wheel, even the midway near the monster has considerable shade from that big vegetation island. The only problem is bright, sun-reflecting concrete. The shaded areas don't seem so shaded.

Hershey's entrance area: Big trees, and asphalt.. it doesn't reflect the sun as much as concrete. Note: further in the park (such as almost the entire back half near midway america) is, from my memory, almost treeless and not very shaded at all. Their redemption comes in, yet again, with the asphalt pavement. it's darker and not very light-reflective so it's not as bright, and thus people think it's more shaded.

You may still choose to have a concrete jungle OPINION, but it is by no stretch a fact.

My advice on the 2:

Want Chocolate? Go to Hershey :)
Want Coca-Cola? Go to Hershey
Want Pepsi? Go to Dorney
Want better versions of same rides? Go to Dorney (Talon beats Great Bear, Laser beats Sooperdooperlooper, Revolution beats The Claw)
Want more unique coasters? Go to Hershey (Stormrunner.. Kingda Ka still doesn't go upside down ;), Lightning Racer, Roller Soaker)
Want a cleaner park? Go to Dorney (I have yet to visit a park that keeps it as clean as Dorney. Even CP isn't quite as tidy) Note: This isn't saying Hershey is littered.. it's not.. but I've noticed DP is cleaner.

I guess that's an even 3/3 split for me. ;)

Want lots of walking and numerous hills and a big ass heat wave? Go to Hershey Park.

When we went 2 years ago in the summer at the end of June, my dad got heat stroke, and both my parents got tired of walking all over the hilly terrain.

Hershey has fun rides, I hate pepsi, and I like going upside-down. ;)

Let's not forget that Dorney is 1 big hill.

But Hershey is 4 or 5 hills. If it's raining and you choose Hershey, be careful about the steeper paths, like under Storm Runner and into Comet Hollow - "a bit slippery out today!".

I'll try and add another perspective: Hershey's more of a thrillpark than Dorney. Dorney has a lot of coasters, so if you're just looking for credits, that will work for you. If you want big time rides, the percentage of total is better at Hershey. Many of Dorney's coasters are smaller and have more charm than thrills, although there is one definite and one upcoming possible exception to that. If you're planning an entire vacation, there's more to do around Hershey besides the park too.

RE:Concrete jungles:

The thing is, with Midway America at Hershey, there are trees, but they are not mature trees. Until the mid 1990's, that area was one big open field (used for some events like car shows). Up until around 2000, the areas around Lightning Racer were still open. Give the trees there a few years.

As for Dorney... I will admit that I am more familiar with Hershey, but from what I remember of Dorney, the "newer" sections of the park (not in the creek valley around Thunderhawk) were pretty baren and almost wall to wall concrete or buildings.

RE: Atmosphere

Some sections of Dorney do have personality and atmosphere. The older section of the park (in the creek valley) still has atmosphere. Of course, I am worried that even some of that atmosphere (around the log flume) may have disappeared along with Hercules sitting on its hillside.

If you have been to other Cedar Fair parks, you have already seen many of the coasters, drop towers and flats that are installed at Dorney. Hersheypark will offer more variety if you've done a trip to Cedar Point recently.

I can't speak about Hydra The Revenge at Dorney or Storm Runner at Hersheypark because I haven't visited either park in the last two seasons. I can say that Dominator at Geauga Lake (another B&M Floorless, like Hydra The Revenge) was not my favorite coaster. I loved Top Thrill Dragster, and expect the same launch thrill with Storm Runner. (Note: Storm Runner has OTSRs and TTD has only a lap bar and seat belt. There are other threads dedicated to how this impacts ride experience.)

We visited both parks on a cold, wet weekend in May 2002. We had a great time at both. If I had to pick a favorite, it would be Hersheypark only because of the chocolate scent wafting from the factory. :) *** Edited 1/17/2005 3:09:14 PM UTC by greatwhitenorth***

The same goes for Dorney about not having mature trees. Dorney has been installing more trees for the past 4-5 years, not a whole lot each year, but a little each year. Since all of Dorney's midways have been redone into concrete over the past 4 or so years, all of the landscaping and such hasn't had enough time mature. And from what I understand, concrete is much much easier to keep clean than asphalt, so that's why Dorney is always so clean. Also, if I remember correctly, the entrance midway was just finished in its newest form in 2000, so that's why it doesn't have much landscaping.