Associated parks:
None
Yes I know, this is extremely late for a trip report, but since it's the off season I decided to tell you about my awesome day at Dorney.
Now, before heading to Dorney, I had lost alot of my former interest in roller coasters, so this was a great re-awakening and I also re-gained my roller coaster interest after this trip.
Heading with my youth group, we arrived at Dorney around 10:30 AM. The tempature was expected to be in the upper 90's. We entered, and I noticed that there were long lines for those who hadn't pre-purchased there tickets, so I expected the park to be packed. Man was I wrong! I headed off with Karen, Cameron, and Chris to ride Talon, which looked to be intense. We got about 5 rides in before deciding to head over to Hercules.On the way, we decided to play a shoot-water-at-the-target game. I won, and received a large sponge bob. After one ride on Hercules then, Karen and Cameron complained of headaches and we headed down to Steel Force, which was another walk-on. We decided to skip Thunderhawk for now and rode Dominator, Joker, and Apollo 2002 before meeting with the rest of the group and heading to the van to eat our packed lunches.
The tempature had to have been at least 100 now, so we took a spin on Hang Time, and another 2 trips on Talon, one was in the front. Deciding that we wanted to cool off, we headed to Wildwater Kingdom. So this was where all the crowds were! How crowded was it? Lets just say it was packed. All lines were at least 30 minutes, so we headed to the wave-pool which was also packed and was so full we could hardly get into the water. After the wave-pool, we went on Aquablast, and Speed Slides, and also went on the lilli pads, which was alot of fun. We also headed over to Island Water Works, which was a blast.
Seeing how cowded it was, we decided to get changed and head back into the park, which was literally a ghost town. We headed toward Thunderhawk and Laser, while catching up on some of the flats there, including Meteor, and I rode Hercules again. We hit Dominator again, which was a walk-on, and then headed towards Thunderhawk, a good-old wooden coaster. After that was Laser, an enjoyable double-looping coaster. Cameron and I tried to pull enough money to get on Skyscraper, but we didn't have enough. We then hit Steel Force again, and rode Dominator 7 times, before heading up towards Talon and riding it 2 times. We ate at Coasters-Drive in, which was a great little place to just relax and eat. It was a bit pricy, but the food was great. We met up with the whole group now, and it was getting dark. We rode Steel Force, Hercules, Thunderhawk, Dominator, and Laser at night. We tried to hit Talon, but unfortunatly the park closed then. We didn't ride the Wild Mouse, since we had already experienced the one at Hershey.
All in all, it was a great day. Dorney is well landscaped, has a great water park, and if your looking for something for the kids, Camp Snoopy is a great place. I prefer Dorney over Hershey IMHO, because the staff were nicer, there are less crowds, and it offers different rides than Herhsey, but thats just my opinion.
Ride (and coaster) Reviews...
Talon - 10/10, What an awesome coasrer! What made it even better was that it was a walk-on. We first rode in the middle row, and while turning into the first drop, I had a sudden fear of this monster, a feeling I have never experienced on a coaster before! The loop is great, but the action starts after the immelman, where it turns and twists, revealing it's intensity. Now, if you think the middle row is intense, try the front! The loop is x10 more intense, I nearly grayed-out, and the positive g's are even greater, and the final turn is amazing! My favorite invert, and it proves that size isn't always everything!
Hercules - 7/10, when I rode this I hadn't heard much of the complaints of it being rough, so I was able to ride it with an open mind. The drop out of the station is something I didn't expect, and you really can't see the first drop, but looking down at the lake and curve ahead of you is awesome. If you brace yourself, the cruve isn't to bad. After coming aloft again, you dive under the station, which creates a great headchopper, and then it just dives around itself. I thought it was sort of smooth, but kind of boring. Not a bad ride though!
Steel Force - 8/10, this ride doesn't offer to much as far as airtime in the beginning, but its height, the bunny-hops and helix make up for that! Looking down into the tunnel from the first drop, your not sure if your going to make it through, but before you know it your heading up the second hill, diving down and up and your into the helix, which was probably my favorite part of the ride. It then hits the midcourse, and enters some bunny-hills which create some nice airtime. I had high expectations of this ride but it didn't come out as well as I thought. But it was better at night, and I felt more airtime. The longest wait was 8 minutes, and that was after WWK closed.
Thunderhawk - 8/10, I prefer this over the Comet at Hershey. I took a back-seat with Cameron, and while waiting for more people to ride, we talked to the operators, which were really friendly and we talked about some of the rides and how empty it was at Dorney, and then we were off. After the slighty-curved first drop, you head over a speed bump which doesn't deliever much air, but before you know it your being slammed into the side of your seat and twisted around the trees, great fun!
Lazer - 7/10, the little coaster that could! It seemed like forever heading up the lift hill, but we made it. The 2 vertical loops made me gray-out, but after that this ride is as intense as Talon, heading through twists and turns. I believe all parks should have a ride like this that is short, intense, and fun!
Dominator - 9/10, we must've rode this thing 20 times, there was absolutely no wait! We rode the launched side more, and loved the negative g's.
Apollo 2002 - 8/10, just a great, fun ride. We screamed through the whole thing like babies!
Meteor - 7/10, it would've been better hadn't I hit my head against the headrest, which should have some cushioning on it, but it doesn't. Hanging there is a great sensation, but the loading time was a bit slow.
Hang Time - 8/10, this was my first top spin ride, and it was alright, they didn't have the water running due to the drought. It didn't start working until about 11:30. They really strap you in on this thing, and when they lowered the restraints, it was funny how everybody yelled.
Aquablast - 6/10, kind of boring, and wasn't worth the 40 minutes we waited for it.
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Good TR, though i've been to DP numerous times, I'm unaware of what Apollo 2002 and Joker are. Could you please tell me what they are and where they are located in the park?
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Top 5 coasters in no particular order: Nitro, S:ROS (SFA), Medusa (East), Talon, Batwing
(Taken from Dorneypark.com)
Apollo 2000
Apollo 2000 has fourteen cars suspended from a revolving center section. As they travel the circle in a clockwise direction, they oscillate alternately, lifting the riders parallel to the ground and then lowering them again.
Joker
The Joker features a ride platform that rotates in a circular motion taking guests up to 60 feet in the air. The circular motion, as experienced through unique forward facing seats, creates a thrilling ride sensation.
They are both near Dominator, inbetween Hercules and Thunderhawk.
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Favorite Woodies:
1. Wildcat 2. Pheonix 3. Hurler @ PKD
*** This post was edited by Eric 013 on 1/28/2003. ***
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