Dorney Park 5/15/09

Just got back from a bittersweet trip at Dorney Park yesterday. The bitter part was more my fault than park's. Overall it was a good day, and I'd do it again.

My friend and I arrived at about 9:45, and we waited a good half hour for our other two friends because they got stuck in traffic. Usually by this time on any other day, the parking lot is packed. Today, it was mostly buses for school field trips.

We got in at around 10:20 and decided Talon would have too much of a line since it's right next to the gate. So we started out on the Wild Mouse. The line took about 20 minutes, one of the longest waits we'd have all day, but it was fun. They don't allow more than 2 adults per car, so we couldn't all ride together, but that's more a line time issue than anything else.

Next up, we went over to Meteor for a spin. But as we waited in the line, something was wrong with the restraints and they shut it down. So we went over to Hydra. Wait time was about five minutes. Hopped in the back row, where I thought the ride was best by experience. And indeed it was, what a rush.

After Hydra, we went over to the Enterprise, and then Monster. Monster, Monster, Monster. I strongly recommend nobody ever rides this ride, ever. It is by far the worst flat-ride I have ever been on. Not only does it take forever to load people because of the way it's built (think of a scrambler type ride, but part of it is always off the ground), the seats were terribly tight and uncomfortable, and the ride itself was the most nauseating and painful thing I've ever experienced in an amusement park. Your neck and upper back will hate you.

So after the terrible experience on Monster, which was unanimously dubbed the worst ride in the park by my group of friends and I, we went for a ride on Possessed. We waited about 25 minutes for the front row, and aside from the crotch destruction when they hold you on the vertical spike, it was a good ride. We went to good old Steel Force next. We waited for about 10 minutes for the back two rows, to be sure we got some good airtime. Always a great ride. By this time we were pretty hungry, but we had bought the Backyard BBQ combo tickets so we only wanted a little snack. We headed back to the Monster Grille for some mozzarella sticks. It seems everything even related to "Monster" was terrible. We waited in line for FORTY-FIVE MINUTES, just to get four orders of mozzy sticks. The line was NOT that long. There were only about seven or eight people in front of us. The sun was beating down on us, and I still felt crappy from Monster. This was by far the worst part of the day. We finally got our food, which was surprisingly good. It was about 2:00 in the afternoon now, and we decided it was a good idea to get a little soaked.

Thunder Creek Mountain had a long line, and with only two or three people per log, it was gonna take a while. So we headed over to Thunder Canyon. Waited for about a half hour, longest line of the day, which was understandable considering the heat at the time. But it was so worth it. When they say "You Will Get Wet!", they really mean it. That nice refresher took away the headache from Monster and I felt pretty good again. From there, we took to Talon, front row. The line was about ten minutes, and as always, it was a great ride.

Meteor was back up and running at this point, so we headed back to it. Riding while facing each other makes for a hilarious ride experience. After that was Hydra, again, this time in the front row. We agreed that the back row was indeed better.

It was just about time for our lunch, so we headed to the Food Fest Picnic Grove. After a few minutes of looking for where we were going to eat, we got our food and ate. It was okay, nothing really special. Fried chicken, burgers, hot dogs, grilled chicken, and the like. The unlimited drinks was nice.

From there and throughout the rest of the day, we got on Thunderhawk, Dominator (both green and red, green is better), Sea Dragon, Revolution, and repeated rides on Hydra, Steel Force, Talon, Possessed, and Meteor. Somewhere along the line, phone's screen cracked, which was a little saddening. It was in my side pocket all the time so I don't know how it happened. As it came to nighttime, the park emptied quite a bit because all the field trips were leaving, and almost every ride was a walk-on. We ended the day with the green tower on Dominator, and left at closing, 10:00.

Talon x 4
Hydra x 3
Steel Force x 2
Possessed x 2
Dominator x 2
Meteor x 2
Wild Mouse x 1
Thunderhawk x 1
and almost everything else of less importance x 1

Aside from Monster which ruined a good two hours, and a broken phone, it was a good day. Would I do it again? Definitely. [:D]

Pics?

HAHA I live right by Dorney and I know what you mean by Monster...rode it once about 5 or 6 years ago...never have since...I would much prefer Laser still there then a ride on Monster...but Oh well.

^ yeah, I regret only ever riding Laser once. [:(]

Originally posted by coasterpimp

Pics?

I would have a few pictures if my phone's screen was still intact...=[

Well I went today to get my picture for my pass...and for some reason Hydra seemed rougher than usual. Granted it was cloudy and there was 10 people in the train at most, and I walked on the front row of everything...but still...it was more shaky than before.

Also, Thunderhawk had 2 X 4s running its entire length after the lift, so I am assuming it was retracked or worked on to some degree because those are new and the bunny hop after the drop had new posts on the right side, and it seemed smoother than previous years. I must say for being over 85 years old they do one helluva job keeping it running great. It's probably one of the smoothest woodies I've ridden, comparable to Lightning Racer, but I think it was even smoother than LR now after being worked on.

My feet hurt. Today sucked with all the cold and only having shorts to wear...... Surprisingly, we got lots of people in the morning. Later it got nice and worm. At least it didnt feel like i was driving though a car wash like on Saturday..... Speaking of.....DAMN THAT WAS CLOSE! (If you were in the area, you know what I mean.) Glad none of the rides got hit.

Friday was nice. Heat sucked as did traffic. Too bad Hydra won for that day.

(Listen to the podcast to find out what Hydra won.)

PS: To coasterking927 - Thats we the park has cubbies.

PSS: To ALL guests - The park now has a new policy about electronics. It more or less reads out to this - "Any visible hand held electronic device that should for any reason cause a ride to stop, will result in the person whom has it being ejected from the park with no refund."

IE - Get cought with a phone as you leave Talon's station, your gone for the day.

Thanks for the kind words. I'm glad that we could provide a fun packed day, besides some of the issues you in countered. I hope you left a comment at guest services about your park experience. If you didn't, try to leave a comment the next time you come.

Originally posted by SixFlagsFiesta

So technically you can get ejected for a watch.

No, the policy is for loose items and its only if a guest pulls it out while the ride is in motion.