Jersey to Compounce(almost) to Dorney

My wife and I, along with a couple others had been looking forward to attending Haunted Graveyard at Lake Compounce for some time. We had Oct. 12th set as the date for about a month. The forecast called for rain all day with the percentages decreasing throughout the day, so we decided to give it a go.

Unable to contact anyone at The Lake prior to our departure, we left South Jersey at 12:45. Traffic was terrible, and what should have been a 3 hour drive turned into 4. At about 2:30 we were able to reach someone in the office at The Lake who said that they were fairly certain that they would be open, but suggested checking back right before the scheduled opening of 5 o'clock. This would not be much help to us considering that we were almost half way there already. At 3:30 we placed another phone call and the status still had not changed, they were going to open but suggested we check back.

Still motoring on and only about 15 minutes away now, at 4:30 we call only to get a voice mail that due to inclement weather the park would not be open today. I thought that New Englanders were a hearty bunch and that a light rain wouldn't dampen a little Halloween fun, but I guess I was wrong.

Faced with nowhere to go and all of us hungry, we decide to stop for a quick bite, and to figure out what to do with the rest of the night. The obvious choice from here would be to head to SFNE, but we did not feel like traveling even further from home to wait in what are usually very long lines. I threw Dorney out there as an option, because they were open until 10 and then we would only be 90 minutes from home when we were done rather than 4 hours from home.

Left Waterbury, CT about 5:15 and arrived in the Dorney parking lot at 8 o'clock. Much to our surprise, the park was not crowded at all. Talon was a two train wait for the front row, then it was off to Dominator, Steel Force and Thunderhawk, which all had little to no wait. They actually had the log flume running, so we decided to take a spin and got soaked(probably not a very good idea, considering the temp was about 58 degrees). Then it was off to Hercules and back to Talon for two more front row rides.

After our last ride on Talon, it was now 9:50 and they were still allowing people in line for the haunted house,so we got in line and we were in within 5 minutes. It was very good and had our entire group laughing and a couple of people jumping and screaming.

All in all, after 7 hours on the road just to get to Dorney for 2 hours, a washed out night turned into one of the best coaster days I've had in a while. Unfortunately, the Wild Mouse and Laser were not running due to wet track.

The biggest lesson learned here was not to travel all the way to Bristol, Ct if there is any rain in the forecast.

-----------------
Jim Hansen
Number of coasters ridden: 225

*** This post was edited by SJCoasternut on 10/13/2002. ***

Laser ran from about 9:15 to close that night. They finally got it running. Wild Mouse stayed closed though. Front row on Talon is nice, but after a season of riding, I most prefer (oddly enough) row six. Gives the most air on the drop into the end (near the photo spot) and again on the dip into the final brakes. Got to love inverteds that give air (Fire Dragon, Talon).

-----------------
www.coasterimage.com
Dorney Park visits in 2002: 19

I didn't know that Laser opened up. We were back to the front of the park by then. Although most of us have ridden it, we had a "coaster rookie" with us who was trying to ride every coaster possible. Maybe next weekend, as we will be returning to purchase our 2003 passes.

-----------------
Jim Hansen
Number of coasters ridden: 225

I also tried to go to LC on Saturday. We drove all the way up from Buffalo, NY to go to the Haunted Graveyard. We called the 1-800 number and they said they would be open. At 4:45 we left our hotel to go to the park. We get to the park at 4:50 and were stopping at the parking gates by two men. They gave us free tickets and said sorry for the inconvience but Lake Compounce will not be open today. So we drove to SFNE. The park was open and wasn't crowded. It was lightly raining there. The crowds were so light that they closed the park at 8:30 instead of 10:00. Oh well, at least we got a ride on S:ROS.

-----------------

You got free tickets? We turned around in Waterbury. For the freebies, I would have gone the extra few miles. There were four of us in our group. That would have been a nice gesture on their part considering our 180 mile trek.

-----------------
Jim Hansen
Number of coasters ridden: 227

Yes we received tickets. I asked the man if they would be open on Sunday and he said probably not because of all the rain. He also said a radio station was suppost to be there giving away tickets to the first 150 people. So I guess since the park was closed they just gave away the tickets to any people that went.

-----------------
Wicked Twister Count-40

Sorry to hear that you drove almost all the way to LC for nothing, Jim. I don't agree with parks closing due to rain, but if they do, they should at least decide 2 hours prior to opening and stick with that decision so that people don't come to the park for nothing. We called the park at 4:15 from our hotel and were told "come on over--the park will be open". Imagine our suprise when we get there and get told "oh, we decided to close 5 minutes ago". Real good! I'm sorry, but that's just poor customer service!

Yes, there was a radio station there giving away 104 tickets for the rides/Haunted Graveyard combo. There's no way you would've known, but it's too bad you didn't make it to the park to at least get them.

Sunday was a steady drizzle all day and we were prepared for LC to be closed again. Suprisingly, it was open! We really lucked out since the rain stopped as we pulled into the lot and didn't start again until we were walking out to the car after the last BD ride of the night. We were able to get in 38 rides on BD.

I'll be at Dorney this weekend too on Sunday. Maybe I'll see ya there!

Sue

-----------------
Sue Barry
CoasterSue@aol.com

I couldn't make it to Dorney last Sunday due to personal reasons. I will be making a trip up this Sunday though. Hope to see some of you there.