The Dry Lake @ Dorney Park.....

The dry lake between SF and Laser is being torn apart. Sort of. It is all dirt and there are pretty many bulldozers and stuff. Do any of you know what they are doing?
Nope, but if you look at the creek that runs through there they are draining it off and ther is almost no water running through it. Hmmmm...a new attraction? Maybe. The land is big enough for a coaster, but they just built Talon. Only time will tell...

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Talon=Awesome

I do believe that Dorney will get a new coaster next year. With Talon receiving so much praise and success already, I think that Dorney will bring in enough money to get a new coaster next year. I have no idea what the new coaster could be but hopefully it will be another B&M. I would prefer a floorless looper, sitdown looper to the likes of Hulk, a flying dutchman, a 4D, or a B&M dive machine. A wooden giant like Colossos would also add to the park's great collection of coasters since Hercules and Thunderhawk are no longer drawing large crowds like they used to.

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Simmuh Down Nah!!!
I hope its a world class woodie like a CC! or a GCI. They need a stellar woodie. Ther is a ton of space back there! It could be an exciting new part of the park! Expect the unexpected! Anything could go in there, that area has been shuffled around for a while. Who knows what could happen?

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Talon=Awesome

I was just there on mothers day and i dont know what they will be putting in. But I'm hoping for some type of record breaker or new kind of coaster.

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Don't let it break.
I will be there on Friday. I will attempt conversation with a park person or two to see what I can find out; you all have me real curious. But, even if I do speak to someone, it will probably still be a "rumor."
I won't be able to post a reply until Sunday.

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Mother, did it need to be so high? *** This post was edited by MABrider on 5/15/2001. ***
Looks one day Dorney may be on par with it's big brother - Cedar Point.

What is the market there like anyway? Is it big enough for Dorney to grow and grow?

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The Buzzer Formerly Known As CoasterG-d
Taipan, since I live only ten minutes away from Dorney Park I know what the market is like there.

Let me just say that there are more than enough people to keep Dorney growing and growing for years to come. Dorney is located in Allentown which is the third largest city in PA with over 200,000 people. Also Bethlehem and Easton are no more than ten minutes away and they are also large cities with populations over 50,000 each. So there are over 300,000 people within ten minutes from Dorney. Now we have to add in the population that is under a two hour drive from Dorney.

First, Philadelphia is a short driving distance from Dorney and has a population of close to 2 million.

Second, New York City is under an hour and a half away and has a population of around 7 million.

Third, Scranton and Wilkes Barre are within an hour and that is another 100,000 at least.

Finally, Reading, Lancaster, and Harrisburg are all under two hours away from Dorney and have a combined population of about 200,000.

So with all the population added up Dorney is within a reasonable driving distance (two hours or less) from about 10 million people if not more.

There is also plenty of competition as far as theme parks go in the area around dorney with Hershey park, Knoebles, and Six Flags Great Adventure. There aren't too many other locations in the country where you can find three world-class theme parks within two hours from each other. So obviously there is some good competition and plenty of gp to keep the money coming in.

I hope Dorney will continue to expand and hopefully in the next 5 to 10 years it will rank up there with Cedarpoint!!

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Simmuh Down Nah!!!


*** This post was edited by Dollaz N Dollaz on 5/15/2001. *** *** This post was edited by Dollaz N Dollaz on 5/15/2001. ***
According to the Cedar Fair website, Dorney Park has a total market area of approximately 35 million people!!!That's alot more than 10 mil.! So there are definitely plenty of people around to keep DP growing! Cedar Point only has a market area of approx. 22 million. DP has the largest market area out of all the CF properties!

I'm hoping they will get another coaster! That would be awsome! I hope it would be wood too, cuz they need a good midsized woody!

DorneyJunkie
Peace out!
You are correct DorneyJunkie, however, i do believe that the market area that cedar fair uses is very large. I looked at the website where you got your 35 million from and it shows a purple blob around dorney that is supposed to be it's market area but it extends all the way up to Boston and west to Pittsburgh. Now I don't think too many of those people who live out by Pittsburgh and up by Boston would drive all the way to go to Dorney unless they built some extremely unique, sick, huge, creative rides.

When I said that there are about 10 million people within driving distance from Dorney I meant that they are within 50 to 100 miles. I am probably wrong with the ten million figure since Great Adventure has 27 million people withing 100 miles from the park. I believe Cedar Fair's market area goes up to 300 miles.

With this said, I don't understand why Dorney Park, Hershey Park, and Six Flags Great Adventure are not even bigger than they are now. All three of these parks have the largest market area of any park in the United States. Six Flags Magic Mountain always gets the newest and most roller coasters but doesn't have nearly as big of a market area as these three parks. I guess the only thing holding these parks back from becoming gigantic is that being located in the Northeast forces the parks to close for a good period of time since we can get some serious weather especially in the winter. If we could somehow have the same climate that Florida has then the northeast would be home to the biggest and best amusement parks in the world.

Anyways, I do hope Dorney continues to grow along with Great Adventure since they are both within an hour drive from my house.

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Simmuh Down Nah!!!
Ok, I discussed this with my dad the other day, there is plenty of people around that could keep Dorney expanding, but there is competition and they have to draw the crowds in with new attractions. I think that the best thing to put in that space would be a good wooden coaster. Hercules is just hopeless, and Thunderhawk gets boring fairly quickly. Whatever they put in there(if they do put something in there) I will make a visit in 2002.

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Dorney Park just... rules!
Yes, the key with the whole dorney thing is while they have a large population base, they also have tons of competition.

If its a coasters, i will go witht he crowd and say a mid sized woodie.

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WARNING: THIS POST MAY ACTUALLY INCLUDE SARCASM AND OR HUMOR. PLEASE CONSIDER BEFORE RESPONDING.
Jeff's avatar
Regardless of what the market area really is, the thing to consider is the number of parks in that area. More people live within a certain distance to Dorney than say Cedar Point, but people have a lot more choices on the east coast. The market is a little more saturated.

Come to think of it, that's why CP, PKI and SFWoA can all co-exist and thrive.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
Dorney park has approximately the same market area as SFGADV. The two parks are within approx 2.5 hours of each other. Dorney is about straight west of NYC while SFGADV is a little south.

I really don't believe the market in the amusement area has even approached saturation at this time. The shore beaches, amusement parks, and other entertainment facilities are overcrowded on almost any given day during the summer.

I do agree that while we have many choices on the east coast we could still use a couple of more quality parks.

DorneyJunkie said:
"The dry lake between SF and Laser is being torn apart. Sort of. It is all dirt and there are pretty many bulldozers and stuff. Do any of you know what they are doing?"

As I suspected, I was unable to get a definitive answer from the few park employees I spoke with on Sat May 19. They were still filling in the area with dirt, looks close to being smoothed out. There are no signs and no fences blocking the view. So, later this summer maybe we will know. I will be back at Dorney June 29. Maybe by then...?

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Mother, did it need to be so high?
I really can't say. I was there yesterday and I was unable to get any info. It makes you wonder, but why would they start so early if it was a coaster?

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Talon=Awesome

Wildcat,
Dorney has one heck of a wooden coaster they just don't know how to maintain or fix it. When Hercules opened there was all kinds of controversy over who had the largest first drop/lift hill on a woodie. Texas at that time had the highest lift hill but because of the unique layout at Dorney Hercules had the longest first drop.
That being said, why should a park that can't maintain a woodie get another one just to let it go the same route as the one they have?
Alright, I see your point, zeusagis, when Herc opened it was incredible. Now it is not so great, but is it really the park's fault. Currently it seems smoother than ever. Take away the brakes and it would still be one hell of a ride. It is a tragedy that it seems so hopeless but without the brake the ride autually would have airtime. I really don't believe a new CCI or GCI would have the same problems. Anyways, I think any coaster in that spot would e great as I live 15 minutes from Dorney!

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Talon=Awesome

Wildcat, I totally agree with you that Dorney needs another great coaster and a new CCI would be nothing short of fantastic. Better yet, the blueprints for the old Coney Island Thunderbolt were not destroyed and it could be reconstructed. Wouldn't that be a real shot in the arm for Dorney?
Herc could be a great ride again if the park would let someone like CCI come in and work on it and the idea of a second world class woodie there would be heaven for us in the in the area.
I think you are all failing to realize how great a woodie hercules is. remember when it debuted in '89. It was headline news and really broke ground for the park. the reason for the coasters poor riding to date is due to the accident that the coaster endured in 94. anyone remember?? yeah 2 trains collided injuring 14 people. the dinn corp really made some faulty coasters a few years back prior to charles dinn's retirement. look at the texas giant, screaming eagle, timber wolf, and hercules. great huge woodies all made by the dinn corp in the early ninteties and ALL have been involved in accidents and known to be dangerous. however, i believe that dorney park is the only one that took extreme measure to ensure that the ride would be safer and no more accidents would be incurred. that is where all the trim brakes come in, and why the second half of the ride is so *yawns boring. so i say that u all stop hating on the great ride and get the facts str8. my resolution>>?? lets reprofile Hercules!!!! make it as awesome as it was opening day. hell, the park reprofiled laser and thunderhawk and look how great a job they did. they run great now! so i say lets hold out on building another huge hunk of wood on the landscape and lets add to an already existing one.

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