Dorney Park to go Linear?

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halltd said:
Dorney does a great job at capacity, but they also don't have that many people there. At least the time I went, we were done with the park in about 3-4 hours. Then we did it all over again. But, their mouse coaster had to have been THE WORST queue I've ever waited in. That thing just dragged on for the longest time.

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Tim, that jogged my memory. When I visited with my family last summer, the Wild Mouse had the worst wait in the park. Everything else was running 20 minutes or less, but the mouse was more than a 45 minute wait. Talk about s l o w. It wouldn't have been so bad, only my then four-year-old-daughter was waiting with me.

The Wild Mouse always has a ridiculous line for a few reasons. First is the rule of only 2 adults per car, so a group of more than 2 people (if no kids are in the group) have to take seperate cars.

Secondly, the loading system is horrible. There are 4 loading gates and gates 1 and 2 load at one point and gates 3 and 4 load at another point. Say it's gates 2 turn to board, both gate 1 and 2 unlock so people from gate 1 think they are boarding too and it slows down the line when those people have to go back to their gate after an op tells them the other car is boarding.

Thirdly, they never run the full amount of cars on the track. Most times I see 5 - 6 cars out of I think 9 on the track at once but on some days I have seen it run with as little as 4 cars on slow days.

I refuse to wait more than 10 minutes for it and try to get on the ride late at night or on very slow days (but even on the slowest of days when Talon has an empty station, the Wild Mouse can still be 20 minutes easily)

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X Factor said:

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matt. said:ONE?

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Hypersonic doesn't count. ;-)

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I guess Flight of Fear doesn't count either?!?

For Dorney's mouse, the past couple of years the crew has done a good job of running the cars through - you can't really blame them too much on most days. It's just not a high capacity ride. First, the computer system can barely handle 6 cars (I believe there are a total of 8, but those are pretty much spares now.. just like TTD's 6th). Second, there's a maximum of 4 per car (assuming there are 2 kids). Third, there's the 2-adults-maximum thing. Fourth, it's located right next to camp snoopy, and is the only "big rollercoaster" that kids under 48 can go on. Combine it with the close proximity to both Talon and Hydra ("ok, I'll go on the mouse with suzie while you guys ride Talon/Hydra") and it draws disproportionately to the other rides.

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DorneyMan88 said:

I still see the park looking at a GCII first before anything else though.

If the electric cable rumor is true (and I wouldn't doubt that it is) I think that is just the park getting ready for major infrastructure expansions in the years to come.

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The little bits I've heard have indicted that to be the case.

As far as the electric cable goes, it's probably for general expansion and not one single major project. It makes sense... the park gets bigger, the park needs more power and a better way to get it there.

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T-W-I-S-T-E-R said:

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X Factor said:

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matt. said:ONE?

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Hypersonic doesn't count. ;-)

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I guess Flight of Fear doesn't count either?!?

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Well HS:XLC is going bye bye just as soon as they can find a buyer for it<fat chance> & I say good riddance as the ride was a maintenance nightmare.

I noticed the same queue problem with PKD's/KD's mouse as well.The loading configuration on that thing is horribly slow.

^Waiting for the the Mack mouse at PKD is nowhere near as bad as Dorney's. In fact, a lot of the time it can be a walk-on. I think part of the problem with the Dorney mouse is the wall that doesn't allow you to track your progress very well in getting up to the station.

We found Rajin Cajun at SFGAM (a Zamperla spinning mouse) to have the same problem. Because of the facade that separates you from seeing the loading area, it can feel very long before you get on it. It could also be that they're a dime-a-dozen nowadays.

That wall is there because when it was first put in, people used to harass and throw things at the operator (not to mention talk to their friends, who wouldn't be paying attention to the ride).

I say reconfigure the way the ride is set up.. it seems like there are a total of 5 "station blocks" - 2 unloading, 2 loading, and 1 that's after load but before the lift. It should be 2 unload, 1 load, and 2 pre-lift. Have the ones that are before the lift automated.. as soon as there's a specified distance between the cars, the front two will automatically advance the cars.. the crew only has to worry about loading 1 car at a time, and once it's clear it advances into the automated process. Plus, if you start stacking, there are 2 unload stations to catch the "overflow", and you can send one car empty (like they do on Thunder Creek Mountain when the logs start stacking in the station). I really think that would increase capacity. Too often I see the cars stacking because the 2nd loading car isn't cleared yet (and the first is well on its way). If they did one after the other, I think it would clear faster. I'm not sure how easy it would be to reprogram the ride computer, though.

This isn't about Dorney 2008 but they did post their brochure on their site today for 2007.

You can see it here:

http://www.dorneypark.com/public/trip_planning/brochure_request.cfm

The mat racer slide is confirmed now.

I put some highlights on the blog (link in signature).

Mike

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Intamin Fan said:
Hydra was like the filler track on a CD. It wouldn't wind up on the B&M Greatest Hits compilation, that's for sure.

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Maybe not yours... ;)

^ Another CF shows of a ride for 2007. Saturday PKI announces X-FLIGHT. When will MIA have some kind a clue. Their the smallest park they better get somthing.

Or.... You'll stomp your feet and throw a tantrum?

^ If a tantrum would get MiA a big new ride, I think it's a safe bet he WOULD... ;)

....but it wouldn't get MiA squat anyway...LOL!

In chains, small parks get less not because corporate is "mean", they get less because the money goes where the money's made... ;)

But back on the topic of Dorney and SV...Dorney has noise issues (NIMBYists), and a lack of wood (through no fault of H.P. Schmeck, that much is certain). PCar has an abundance of wood, no noise issues, and no launch coaster since WL left in '88.....yet.

If I were to place bets on '08...I'd say SV *will* work its way to Carolina, and that "someone else" in CF is getting a GCII...gotta be either Dorney or CP.

GL, like PGA, is headed in the direction of "waterparks with rides"...

These are my THEORIES...

*** Edited 2/3/2007 12:11:19 AM UTC by rollergator***

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Coasterkid200 said:
^ Another CF shows of a ride for 2007. Saturday PKI announces X-FLIGHT. When will MIA have some kind a clue. Their the smallest park they better get somthing.

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You're so obsessed with MA you just HAVE to turn every topic into a discussion about it. Re-read your post... you answered yourself on why they haven't gotten anything really big this season.

... in case you didn't get it,and it wouldn't surprise me, it was the whole "theY'RE the smallest park" part ;) *** Edited 2/3/2007 3:36:55 AM UTC by P18***