SFGAd or Dorney Park

I have about 5 hours this Sunday to spend on either park but not both. I have been to Dorney but did not ride Talon, Steel Force, nor Thurderhawk. I have not been to SFGAd. Which one do you recommend? I am not very excited about KK but SFGAd seems like a good park to visit but I want to ride above mentioned three. Can you give me some suggestions? Thanks in advance.

Im guessing you'd get more rides in at Dorney.

Chuck

My last visit to Dorney was on a Sunday for about 5 hours...

Let's see if I can remember...

5 rides Talon, 5 rides Thunderhawk, 5 rides Steel Force, 2 rides Laser, 2 rides Hercules (gone).

My last visit to SFGrAdv was last Tuesday. I was there for about 2 1/2 hours...

1 Ride Nitro, 1 Ride Batman The Ride, 1 Ride Robin Chiller, 1 Ride Stuntman Freefall.

IF you want to get in more rides... I would say Dorney is your better bet. The forcast for Allentown on Sunday is sunny and 81 degrees wich means that Whitewater Kingdom will be taking alot of the crowd.

Ride to Ride comparrisons (my opinions only):

Hyper: Nitro VS Steel Force: Steel Force is a great coaster, but Nitro is better... GrAdv wins

Inverted: Batman The Ride VS Talon: Talon is easilyone of the best out there... Dorney wins easily.

Looping: Great American Scream Machine VS Laser: GRASM is bigger... Laser is really intense and fun. Let's call this a tie

Wood: Roling Thunder VS Thunderhawk: RT is a longer coaster, but Tunderhawk makes up in quality what it may lack in quantity. Dorney Wins

Floorless: Medusa VS Hydra The Revenge: Aside from both being named for figures from Greek Mythology, there is nothing much more I can compare since I have yet to ride Hydra. Medusa however is a good coaster... but that is about all I can say.

Shuttle / Launched: Batman & Robin the Chiller VS Nothing. GrAdv wins by default since Dorney has nothing to compare.

Rocket: Kingda Ka VS Nothing: Again, Great Adventure by default. However, the way things sound there are still some technical problems being worked out on Kingda Ka. If it is running when you are there, your entire 5 hours may be spent in line for one ride on this monster.

Mine Train: Runaway Train VS Nothing. Again, GrAdv wins by default.

Other coasters: Skull Mountain VS Wild Mouse: Okay, not the same type of coaster, but the closest comparison. Skull Mountain is the more fun of the two, but Wild Mouse, while very slow loading, still loads faster than Skull Mountain. For this fact, Dorney wins.

Other Rides:

Free Falls: Stuntman Free Fall VS Dominator: Dominator and Dorney Win

Shoot the Chutes: Movie Town Water Effect VS Whitewater Landing. Hands down Whitewater Landing (taller, Faster) and Dorney win (plus the fact that MOvie Town Water Effect was down for what looked like some rehab)

Flume: Sawmill Log Flume and Moon Flume VS what ever the heck Dorney calls their flume. While it is only a one drop flume, I like Dorney's better than most of the ones out there, so Dorney wins.

All in all... While GrAdv may have more coasters, I like Dorney's line up better. Also, while GrAdv has more coasters, on a 5 hour vist on a weekend you may not get to ride all of them. For these facts, I would pick Dorney.

However, others will have just the opposite opinion I am sure.

I say Dorney, you will get alotta rides in, and Six Flags on the weekends is SUPER crowded. Plus Dorney's new ride is VERY reliable, unlike Kingda Ka. I actually was looking forward to kingda Ka, I don't know what I was thinking. Shoulda been looking forward to Hydra.

Esp. with KK fresh out of the box, GAdv. is going to be a zoo on Sun. I went yesterday, a Tues., and even Skull mountain was a 20 minute wait.

But if you're into atmosphere, trees, weird buildings and scenery, Great Adventure wins

Thanks, everyone. I will probably visit Dorney since I already have CF pass. Also, I could not ride SF, Talon and Thunderhawk when I was there last time since my daughter was too small in 2002. She will be happy to ride these but I will be on a business trip so I will be alone. I still have not decided though. I can sense that SFGAd will be extremely busy.

Another question is which is a better way to go to Dorney from BWI? To I-83 to I-81 to I-78 or I-95 to I-476? Does anyone have a suggestion?

Mapquest is a good tool to use, on a sidenote though, make sure to watch for construction signs and detours. When we went to Dorney last Saturday, it looked like the exit we were supposed to take was closed off but somehow it was the very next exit. At first we thought we were on the wrong highway until we saw the highway sign so be cautious of that.

I think the shortest/quickest route is 95 to 476, but there are a few bucks in turnpike fees if that's a concern.

83 to 81 is just a hair longer, but I believe there's some serious construction currently in the area that can cause big delays.

I-83 is clear from Baltimore to Harrisburg. I-81 has some construction near where it meets with I-78. Not sure how I-78 is in to Allentown.

I'll be at Dorney for my very first time Sunday!

I-78 is down to one lane in each direction for about 5 miles between Kutztown and Fogelsville/Trexlertown exits. Sunday morning, it might not be that bad of a drive (I made it through doing 40-45 on a Saturday afternoon). The later it gets on Sunday, the worse it will be, especially toward evening when the NYC bound truckers are on the road. Then you can expect backups of 5-10 miles. Westbound shouldn't be that bad. Of course it only takes one accident in a construction zone to majorly screw things up.

476 is a toll road only from the Mid-county toll booth (where it meets 76, the East-West Turnpike) to the Lehigh Valley exit-- well only as far as you're concerned. That's only about 35-40 miles, so it should only be around 2 dollars. From the exit plaza, take 22 East to 309 south to the Hamilton Blvd exit, and you're there. *** Edited 6/4/2005 4:19:20 AM UTC by RatherGoodBear***

I know I took I-95 my one trip up to Dorney. It wasnt bad at all aside from the tolls of course. But I must preface, i was driving on a Thursday night (circa 8pm-11pm). OTOH, I've driven the I-78/I-81 route from Allentown to Hershey and it felt like the longest drive ever. The traffic was really congested. But again I must preface, this was on a Saturday Morning (circa 10am-12pm).

Some ppl fear the I-95 corridor, but I find that most ppl want to get where they are going so traffic moves generally well (except right near DC and NYC).

I would have to say Greatadventure, but if your only going for 5 hrs pay the extra money for a VIP pass. Then you don't have to worry about lines at all. It's only good for 4hrs but you can get in alot of rides when you get to go to the front of the line. Dorney's coaster line up does not compare to SF coasters. You get 4 great B&Ms and 2 launch coasters nuff said.

...AND you get the WONDERFUL guest service that Six Flags is known for (lol).

I'm sure you will enjoy whichever one you pick.

Not very helpful...sorry.

If you're traveling towards BWI and want to take I-95 you make out better since they only charge the $5 fee at the one toll plaza going towards New York. If you were traveling the opposite direction, you would lose out big time in toll money.

The route I would take avoids I-95 and I-78–which is quite possibly one of the most boring roads out there. I would take 222 to 30 west, which dumps you off in York where you can catch I-83 towards Baltimore. You could continue on I-83S (called the JFX) towards the city (about 15 minutes), catch 295S (about 10 minutes depending on the time of day) to rt.195 and be to the airport in about 10 minutes. I made it to Dorney in about 2 1/2 hours two weeks ago using this method (minus the airport part) from Baltimore. Once 222 is all finished, I imagine you'll be able to make it from Baltimore in about 2 hours, and also be a lot richer in your pocket .

option 2: continue on I-695W towards Glen Burnie from I-83S, hook up with I-95S (about 30 minutes depending on time of day) and take the rt.195 exit (less than 5 minutes) which leads directly to the airport.

In my opinion I would stop at Dorney over Great Adventure simply based on the fact that you have limited time. With the waterpark open, it's and open and closed case. Prepare to get an ass-beating from Thunderhawk, which is why you should be able to get multiple rides on it. Since it's shadowed by Steel Force, not that many people ride it. Skip Dominator, or just ride the Space Shot side. The Turbo Drop always seems to have the bigger line, and they're just not that exciting in my opinion. I would ride Stuntman's Freefall over and over again, before wasting time on a Turbo Drop. If you do plan on riding either Thunder Canyon or White Water Landing, bring a swimsuit so you can have dry clothes later on. Be warned that the flat rides load very slowly for the most part, so you may want to skip those also. *** Edited 6/3/2005 2:20:56 AM UTC by Intamin Fan***

Spent five hours at Dorney on Saturday, got nine rides. Spent nine hours at SFGAdv on Sunday, got three rides. SFGAdv's got more stuff, but you'll get plenty of rides on what Dorney's got.

go to dorney

95 to 476 is your best bet. The are also doing construction on 78 in both starting at exit 49 and going until exit 40 dp is exit 54 so you'd hit alot of traffic there not to mention harrisburg. Stick witrh 95 to the ne extension, its the most direct.

Why would he need to travel into Harrisburg at all? If he took 78, he could just connect to I-83 in York and follow the directions to the Baltimore beltway [I-695] I listed above. While I haven't tried the I-95 method, I'm not a big fan of giving over money unnessecarily to the local goverments if I don't have to.