Today was my first ever visit to Dorney Park. It pretty much met my expectations. It wasn't too crowded, but even with the slammed midways, all the major rides only have 10 - 15 minute max waits. They have a pretty good collection of moderate (for intermediate riders) flats, as well as a couple good moderate coasters. It's very well run, and upkept with fairly efficient employees (they got a little slow on some of the flats, but all of the coasters ran efficiently). Everything opened on time, and stayed open with very little breakdowns (Hang Time being the only one I really saw break down). I looked around for signs of Steel Venom, but never saw any track or anything that looked like construction. On a random note, they have a strange way of getting in with a Maxx Pass, you have to go get a special ticket instead of just showing the card... I thought that was strange.
Talon: my second favorite invert now (second to Montu), and, IMO, one of B&Ms best. I consider it the smoothest coaster I've ever ridden in the front row. The design is pretty nice, and very well paced. Awesome coaster, and the best at Dorney. 10/10

Hydra: pretty good. I really liked the jo-jo roll, and the layout was pretty good for as small as it is. Not the smoothest B&M, no headbanging, but it vibrates in the back. It's biggest flaw is being too short, but it's crammed in a very small area. 8/10

Thunderhawk: not very good... even for a classic wooden. It was poorly designed and rough. 3/10

Steel Force: not too bad, pretty good airtime in the back (especially on the final hills). This reminds me of a smoother version of Magnum, but even so it's not extremely smooth. Doesn't compare to the B&M hypers. 7/10

Laser: not very good, I'm sure Schwarzkopf was like B&M is today in his time, but this one isn't one of his better ones. The trains are entirely too small, thankfully Dorney has added foam pads so tall people don't have their knees killed. 4/10

Revolution: baby maXair! I strangely got more airtime on this than maXair, which may be due to the less restricting restraints. A good intermediate flat, but not something that is a must ride. 6/10

Meteor: For a flat, I thought this was a pretty fun ride, even as simple as it is. 7/10

Dominator: Nice drop tower, but it needs to be taller (but since I've heard Dorney has a problem installing tall rides, I won't count off). 7/10

Hang Time: easily my favorite of the three (this being the third) Top Spin's I've rode. Much more intense than the other two, it's always doing something instead of like the one at SFGAdv that just kinda goes around. 8/10

Screamin Swing: like all the others, except it gets two full swings. 7/10.

I rode a few other smaller flats with my brother that aren't worth rating (like Musik Express).

Dorney is a very good park for the intermediate ride group. They have a few bigger rides mixed in, but overall the park is geared towards a slightly younger age group.

Here’s how I rate a park:
Quality of rides (up to 8 points): 6
Overall Staff (up to 1 point): 1
Park Operations (usual reliably, cleanliness, efficiency of staff, etc – up to 1 point): .5
Dorney's Score: 7.5/10

Here’s how I rate an independent visit:
Number of rides running efficiently (up to 4 points): 3.5
Cleanliness (up to .75 point): .75
Staff (up to .25 point): .25
Dorney's Score: 4.5/5


-Note- Quality of rides is gauged by actual ride quality, amount and/or quality of scenery/theming and/or other interactive elements do nothing for this grade.

__________________

Going back tomorrow if you aren't going to Hershey until the 27th (according to your sig)? If you are, then try going to Wildwater Kingdom for a bit.

__________________

How were the lines? I went back in June and the longest wait was maybe ten minutes for Hydra.

__________________

Sadly no. My mom wants to revisit the Amish country (boring... but that's the only way I could get my mom to agree to go to HP and DP), so we're having to leave this area tomorrow to go to our hotel near Hershey and the Amish country. Wildwater Kingdom did look pretty nice though, from what I saw from Talon.

The longest wait I had was maybe 13 minutes, for the front seat of Hydra.

__________________

Amish country does need a visit. I live about 2 hours from it. It does look boring but it'll be interesting to pass a horse buggy on the road. It's an escape from the ordinary. The Strasburg Railroad nearby is pretty good. Perhaps you could work a deal with your mom to be dropped off at Dutch Wonderland. The park's on Rt. 30, which is the main drag in Lancaster anyway. It's now owned by Hershey. It has a coaster formerly known as Sky Princess, a good junior woodie, and Joust, a small family coaster. It's a highly geared family/kiddie park worth doing before you go to Hershey.

I just went to Dorney on Sunday. I wrote the first TR i've done in quite awhile. My opinions are different about Dorney's coasters, particularly this year, but we are allowed to differ.

__________________
Thrillnetwork Moderator - Rookie Year CHILLERLC1
Philadelphia Phillies - the 2008 World Champions!!!
LZ to SFA?

Well, good luck getting on here tomorrow in your highly sophisticated place your going to. Lol.

__________________

Thanks! I had forgotten that park existed, lol. I'll definitely try to get them to drop me off there!

__________________

Dutch Wonderland would want $28.95 from you. The monorail takes a while to load but it's a classic. They have an old missile or rocket simulator as well. They have a combo ticket with Hersheypark as well.

__________________
Thrillnetwork Moderator - Rookie Year CHILLERLC1
Philadelphia Phillies - the 2008 World Champions!!!
LZ to SFA?

Nice TR, sounds like you had a good time at Dorney Park. Was the weather nice?

Yes, it was hot though (some sign there said 90). But otherwise it was great, it did rain a little, but didn't interrupt any ride operation.

__________________

Glad you had fun at this park. Sounds like they had some pretty good coasters.

I don't get it. IMHO, Steel Force is about a boring hyper their is. A MCBR, rough, I don't remember getting any airtime. I thought Steel Eel and Wild Thing were better, but not as good as Superman.

The only reason you don't get it is because you don't agree with it. IMO, SF and S:ROS were equal, but IMO both were still far from awesome hypers.

__________________

Now, now, now..... I'm just stating my opinion.

I agree with you on pretty much everything but Laser and Thuderhawk's ratings. If you ride on the front seat of Laser, I grayed out for half the ride or more, and although Thunderhawk is rough, it is not painful (only a slight amount of pain, which is perfect, IMO) and if they took off the trims, the bunny hops at the end of Thunderhawk would be INSANE, probably bringing it to my #2 wooden spot, where Lightning Racer is, behind TGE's Comet. Instead, it is at #10 (I have been on only 15 woodies so far, and therefore places it in my bottom third.)