Park Review
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Allentown, Pennsylvania
The Place: Dorney Park Dorney Park. Some love it, some hate it and some just never visit again. This was my second visit to Dorney, with my first occurring last summer from three in the afternoon until the park closed. I had to admit I enjoyed myself that day. No, the wooden coasters weren�t great (not even good) and the place needs some trees. But, on the whole, last year�s experience was positive and I was looking forward to adding Talon to my list of coasters. I awoke at Camp Ripples early, used a lot of hot water in the showers and hit the road by nine. I pulled into Dorney around 10:20 and could not wait to get some rides in before my night flight at Philly. But, once I stepped out of the car, I realized a jacket was needed if I were to enjoy my day at all. The admission for the day was $19.99 for Halloweekends, and it was well worth it because of a lack of people in the park. I immediately veered to the left down to Dominator (S&S Space Shot and Turbo Drop) for my first �wake up� ride. I always a get a little nervous before my first ride of the day, and I felt the butterflies as the S&S restraint locked into place, the ground fell away and all of the sudden I could see for miles - space shots are such a unique experience. I hopped on the Turbo Drop. For some reason facing inside to one of the other towers still makes me nervous as hell, while when I am facing outwards it does not appear that high at all. Pretty good for a turbo drop; I still enjoy Intamin drops the best for park models. The Whip (Mangels Whip) was next door. I found it to be well run for a theme par,k and it ties Rye�s for the best-run Whip today now that Whalom�s is SBNO. It has a nice building and a good cycle. Plus, I saw a lot of families getting on; it is good to see an old ride like this still draws the crowds, just as William would have wanted it. I walked back to Laser (Schwarzkopf Doppel Looper). If the drop ride was an enjoyable way to start the day, this was the intensity I needed to get the blood flowing. Very few people were waiting in line so I got rides all over the front two cars, including one in the front seat. This thing still is agrea ride. Most everyone has heard me extol the virtues of Laser too many times, but I cannot say enough good things about it. The tight turn out of the second loop is one of my favorite steel coaster moments. Schwarzkopf got it right, Herr Achterbahn is too simple a title to bestow on the man. Perhaps, �der Meister der Achterbahn�? On my way to Steel Force (Morgan hyper), I snapped a picture or two of Thunderhawk within the funky turnaround. On Steel Force�s platform I saw MABrider (Mike), and I joined him for a ride in Steel Force�s front seat. It was not moving as fast as last summer, but fast enough to deliver some nice g�s in the helix and good pops of air on the return trip. Of the four hypers I have experienced it is still third, behind S:ROS at Six Flags New England and Nitro but above Maggie. We got some good rides together on �the Force,� the back was riding wonderful that day, and we walked over to Laser so I could introduce MABrider to the forces that are Schwarzkopf. I think he enjoyed it but was surprised, like many, of the intensity this little looper produces (and, of course, the crappy loading procedure and extremely slow lift). We walked back over towards the front of the park so I could get my first rides on the new bird in town, Talon (B&M inverted). I had heard from many that the coaster was fun because it had a unique layout and a good location - they were right on both accounts. The queue wound nicely through the structure, but I did not have much time to look around, as the line was barely out the station. My first ride was in the back right. After disengaging from the lift, I felt some great air on the drop, enjoyed the loop, heard the anti-rollback bang on something as the coaster flew through the heartline, and held on for dear life as we dove into the Immelman (trim off). The concrete trench was a nice touch and the carousel turn was great. Some good airtime occurred as were pulled off the �phantom� mid-course and the coaster flowed seamlessly into the corkscrew, large turn and up onto the lift. The park definitely has a coaster it can be proud of and I think, with Talon�s placement near the midway, will be a major draw as years go by. I also got some rides in front and rear left, my two favorite seats, before Mike and I split ways. I went to Coasters, as I had not enjoyed breakfast, so I was a bit hungry. I left the restaurant a bit disappointed, as the only topping they had for my hamburger was onion. I guess �exotic� vegetables like lettuce and tomatoes are hard to come by when there is no one in the park. Add to the fact that I was told there was no ketchup for my fries and I was a little upset. I think I paid around eight dollars for lunch, and I do not think it is too much to ask to have basic condiments and/or toppings on hand, especially when the park is dead. Sigh. I went to two shops on the midway hoping to get a Dorney magnet for my fridge. The only one available was a Talon one. I wanted to lift my spirits, so I headed to the carousel (Dentzel). This was an attractive piece, but as is the problems with so many theme park carousels, it is run so slow that old people with walkers could lap it. I know they want to preserve the carousel, but it seems that many theme parks should concern themselves more with the paint jobs and chipping of their horses as opposed to the RPM at which a carousel turns. My favorite menagerie piece here was an elk; it had beautiful antlers and was an amazing piece of woodwork. For time�s sake I decided to make one more loop through the park before heading to the car. The first thing visitors notice walking down the midway is that there are no trees. I really hope the folks at Cedar Fair consider planting a lot of foliage sometime. I was there on a cold day with the sun out and had no problems. I cannot imagine how hot it must get on a sunny summer day with people all around. The now famous picture at RCDB (http://www.rcdb.com/installationgallery735.htm?Picture=4) shows exactly what I mean. Great concept, no green. I got one last spin on Talon and took two on Hangtime (Huss Top Spin). The program was average, but since these seem to be few and far between the further west you go, I wanted to get a few spins. Down the midway I saw an old favorite, the Wave Swinger (Zierer Wave Swinger) and enjoyed a romp over the vegatation-less midway. The wait for the mouse was way too long and besides, my old nemesis was calling at the end of the walkway, so I headed over to Hercules. Now, Hercules (Summers/Dinn, best elementn - the exit) and I did not get along at all during my visit last summer. I sat towards the back, kept my hands up and it was downright painful. This time I decided to try a different tactic. I waited for the front of the train, left some room between the stiff-springed lapbar and myself,f and held on for dear life. I could not enjoy the trip up the lift because I was afraid of the punishment that was approaching. On the drop and ensuing turn I held on tight and pulled my body up and away from the seat so my back did not touch at all, and so only a little bit of me was on the seat bottom. It worked surprisingly well, so I kept it up for the remainder of the ride. Because the ride was not overly painful, I at least got an inkling of what Summers was thinking with the design and appreciated things like the drop below the station. While my ride was not great, it was different enough so I will ride it one time every time I return to Dorney - as long as I can exert all of my energy keeping myself away from that evil plastic seatback. Still surprised I had not ruptured a disc, I enjoyed a trip on Apollo 2000 (Soriani and Moser). I found this fun last year, but after riding the Downdraft the day before it felt like a kid�s ride. Thunderhawk (Schmeck out & back with some twister) was next. This poor, poor coaster. If only someone loved it like they should. This ride was still trying to give pops of airtime (I was in 1.2), but both trim brakes were on hard, and they were really needed. You never know how out of control a wooden coaster is going to get with no lubrication and temperatures in the low fifties. If they are going to have a trim brake on the return trip, why not just finish the job they started and take out all the bunny hops? That way it can just go straight into the station without giving any airtime at all. It was hard to believe that this and the coaster I rode the night before (you might have heard of it, it is called the Phoenix) were the same designer. The frustrating thing is that this used to be a good ride; it was cited on Cartmell�s 1974 list and was among some great coaster company there. Now it sits as an example of not how to let a coaster age. Frustrations left in the concrete trench next to Thunderhawk�s station, I meandered over to Steel Force for one more ride, and then lucked out and finished my day on Laser in the back seat - a mini tribute to Anton for the countless enjoyable coaster rides he has given me. I left Dorney with the same feelings as last year. The three big steelies do a lot for me, the wooden coasters are good examples of what not to do, and the park has a nice flat ride collection. Sure, Alfundo and a lot of neon are no longer there. But, considering the POS park Cedar Fair was given, I think they have done a pretty good job. Now, if they could buy some trees, let some brakes loose, and buy some oil I would be more inclined to return.
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