Dorney Park...again. 7/2/08

Took Ivory to Dorney again. She wasn't going to go, but we went to Mango's for some food, and she took one look at Voodoo and started begging to go back to DP. Who am I to argue? :)

We were going to go straight to Voodoo since it was actually running, but as per usual, we veered off to Talon. I was shocked at how much more crowded Dorney was than it has been, especially for a weeknight. I felt like screaming, "Don't you people work?" LOL We got to the Talon line and it was actually into the first switchback. I was amazed. We still managed to get the back seat after only about 5-10 minutes, so the attendants were really on their game. I LOVE Talon on a hot day. It feels like it's going so fast that I can barely keep up my thought processes. It's got incredible forces, the surprise drop halfway through always makes everyone shriek, and the course is complex. Back to liking this one again. Fickle inverted coaster girl am I.

We did Hydra right after that, and once again, the second seat on the end was rough. What's up with the temperamental nature of this creature? Sometimes I get absolutely beautiful rides on it, and other times I feel like the coaster is going to just fly off its wheels because it is so rough.

Got a mini-cooldown on Thunder Creek Mountain. Ivory didn't want to get too wet, so I sat in the back. She was mad at me because the water was so cold, but afterwards, she admitted that it felt kinda nice to have a little spritz of water. I said told you so. :)

Next up was Voodoo. From here on out it was long lines. Not Great Adventure long, but long enough for Dorney. Voodoo was all the way down the first switchback. I was worried it would break down again and we wouldn't get to ride it, as this is my favorite ride at the park right now, but it held up long enough for us to ride the very back seat. I told her that I didn't like the backseat but that she should at least get to experience it once. She didn't like the back seat either because of that holding brake nearly 200 feet in the air. We agree that we'll stick towards the front of the train from now on.

We almost didn't get to ride Steel Force because the line was through a few switchbacks and down the steps, but we decided to ride...is it Revolution? and then see how Steel Force looked. Revolution was much less dizzying and much MORE fun than I remember, but I was embarrassed because I had to switch with Ivory and ride the big boy seat. I'm big, but I've never been so big that I've had to do anything remotely close to switching to a big boy seat on any other ride. *sigh* Still, I REALLY liked this ride, although I was a little concerned when I actually saw a black girl turn white and start to retch. Luckily, the ride was soon over by the time that whole fiasco almost took place. The funniest part was after it was done, she was laughing and saying she wanted to do it again! It was a no thank you for me and Ivory if SHE was going back on.

Steel Force's line had dramatically decreased back down to a few steps to the station, so we decided we'd definitely do it. Sat in the second to front seat. After my horrendous backseat ride and rougher recent rides on Force, I was really a little nervous and unenthusiastic about this ride. Still, when we got done, I was super impressed again. None of that tossing me around crap happened at ALL, the restraint didn't belt me in the stomach on every bunny hop, and in fact, the ride was so buttery smooth that I ALMOST felt like I was on a B&M coaster. I had the blue train this time, and I HAVE noticed that they don't use the blue train typically (usually black and/or red). Wonder if the blue train is just in better condition so it makes the entire ride feel new again?

We saw Voodoo had broken down again from the top of Steel Force, and we were pretty peeved. We had wanted to do that again before we left to go to a party. However, by the time we got down to the actual ride, it was open again. This time the line was just to the steel protective roof under the straight spike. We kept to our promise and rode third seat from the front, and this ride was so much better. I love the twisting spike on this thing. I can't WAIT to ride Wicked Twister at CP.

And then....we left. Great little trip we had, but Dorney's starting to get more crowded now. Never thought I would see the day. I'm happy, yet I'm not. Definitely can't make up my mind about this development.

Is there a holding break on V2 at SFDK? I saw on a coaster show another day how Voodoo has a holding break on the back spike, but on V2 it just seems to drift towards the top, but never seems to get all the way up there.

I'm honestly not sure...I BELIEVE V2 has a holding brake as well. The thiing with the holding brake is that from farther away, you can't really SEE it holding up there. It just looks like the train kind of floats or drifts on Voodoo as well unless you're up close and personal. Or maybe V2's holding brake doesn't actually completely stop you for a second but instead just slows it down enough to create a freefall sensation.

Why do you love Dorney so much!? Gosh!!...hehe, j/k! :)

I'm no Dorney expert at all (you've been there a billion more times than I have), but don't you think you should still give it more time before you confirm that Dorney is a "busy" park now? I mean, it is (around) the Fourth of July holiday time after all!!

And I've heard the thing about Steel Force (since I've experienced very temperamental rough-ness as well) is that it's sometimes weather afflicted...heat, humidity, and temperature swings can create a YMMV situation in riding.

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bunky666 said:She didn't like the back seat either because of that holding brake nearly 200 feet in the air. We agree that we'll stick towards the front of the train from now on.

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So lastly, how the heck are you supposed to ride Deja Vu with this mentality?! I think the holding break from the back seat is the best part!!

V2 at SFGAm does have the holding brake just like Voodoo. I am not sure about the one at SFDK. I know they had to modify that one because of clearance issues so it may not operate like how it used to.

I can see why you took a detour from riding Voodoo right away to ride Talon. Talon just plain rocks. Best invert I have ever ridden. Nuff said.

Interesting how people are saying that Hydra is rough. I rode it shortly after opening and it was glass smooth for me. I'm one of the few people on this planet that LOVE Hydra. I wish it was at my home park with the same non-existent lines because I would ride it over and over and over again :) I like it's compact layout, interesting inversions, and the little pop of air you get on that little floater hill near the station. It's also a very visually appealing coaster.

Hydra IS a very attractive coaster, and they really played up the fact that it "killed" Hercules and that it was a mythical snake like creature by using the green and blue track and twisting layout. Plus, it's not that I don't like Hydra, but I have noticed rough spots in certain seats. Plus, after having ridden Medusa, I can see where this ride is inferior. It's not B&M's best work. However, I have ridden it probably over 50 times and I've only just started noticing roughness this year.

Oh, I'll ride V2 and Deja if I get a chance. I may not like the holding brake, but it doesn't mean I won't do a ride. Heh....the only time I don't do a ride is if it is so damn rough that my head hurts afterwards. Even after my awful Steel Force experience, I realized that I had never HAD an experience like that on this coaster and I did it again. And I love Voodoo. Just hate that particular second of the ride where you're slammed against your restraint. It's a little too freaky for me.

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bunky666 said:
Just hate that particular second of the ride where you're slammed against your restraint. It's a little too freaky for me.

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Best part of the ride, IMHO :)

(Note, I haven't ridden Voodoo or S:UE as it was once known, but I have ridden two identical ones, V2 at SFGAm and Steel Venom at Valleyfair!. Same ride experience.)

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bunky666 said:Heh....the only time I don't do a ride is if it is so damn rough that my head hurts afterwards.

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Or if it's named Kingda Ka or TTD!! ;)

Sounds very crowded for a weekday. I hope it is just this week and won't be like that all summer. It's hard to wait more than 10 minute for anything at Dorney when you are used to walk ons and 2 - 3 minute waits.

I was at Dorney today as well!

I was surprised you had to wait "so long" for certain rides. We (my friend Kelly and I) were there from about 11am-6pm and all 3 rides on Talon were walk-ons (well the 2 in row 6 were walk on and the front row was a one-train wait).

Hydra was a walk-on both times (even for the front)..i know shocker! lol

Both rides on Thunderhawk were walk-on/1-train wait, with one-train operations.

I think the longest wait was for Steel Force, but of the 3 rides, the longest was about 7 trains for a front row seat. (I couldn't give a time, as we both decided to go cell phone-less for the day and neither of us has watches right now lol) mid-train rides were walk-on's as well.

Actually the longest wait was that big Tube ride over in WWK (Aquablast or something...i couldn't tell ya what it was actually called)

I think Laser was a one-train wait both times as well.

I hope you had a good time though, we did...it'd been about 3 years since i was there last. It's not the biggest or best park, but it's got a certain appeal (especially since Kelly's folks live about 10 minutes away, so its an easy drive from there).

Tigellinus, you rat b**tard! Bwahahahaha...you cracked me up. Actually, for your information, I have promised both of my best friends that if I went with them to Great Adventure that I would get on Kingda Ka if it wasn't shut down. I keep my promises. And, if my hubby does INDEED take me to Cedar Point for our anniversary like I asked him to, I will do TTD and see how I like it. I promised HIM. Now, I DID also mention to each person that if I didn't like said ride with the first person to get me on them, I wouldn't ride again with the other people because I can honestly say there is almost a 100% guarantee that these rides will put me in intense psychotherapy for years. LOL Of course, I was scared to death of Storm Runner and it is now my favorite ride, so I could be wrong. I am known to be wrong, in fact. ;)

V2 (or V2.1 or Diagonal Velocity) at SFDK has some of the equipment for a holding brake which is never used. Most of the wiring was taken down. The brake existed when the ride was 185' and they just chopped off the extra track to bring it down to 150' but didn't remove everything. The trains doesn't even come close to getting far enough up into it to be stalled, even if they had wanted to use it.

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