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| Status: |
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Operating since 1884 |
| Also Known As: |
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Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom |
| Phone: |
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610-395-3724 |
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610-391-7601 |
| Web: |
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Dorney Park's site |
| Address: |
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3830 Dorney Park Road
Allentown, PA 18104
USA
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| Visits: |
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407 |
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| More About This Park |
History:
Started in 1884 as "Dorney's Trout Ponds and Summer Resort". The park expanded throughout the next 40 years, when "The Coaster" was built. The park survived the depression thanks to owner Jacob Plarr and the installation of the Zephyr train that continues to run today.
The park was purchased by Cedar Fair, LP as its 3rd park in 1992. Today, Dorney Park is home to 8 coasters.
Notes:
Has over 49 rides, including many family rides in Camp Snoopy and the Tot Spot. The older part of the park still has many of the original buildings left and some of the classic rides, including a Whip, the Zephyr train, and the water scooters. The water park, Wild Water Kingdom, is included in the admission price and features over 30 rides, slides, and activities. |
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| Reviews |
Sir Willow
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 3552
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October 6, 2001
Weather: A bit chilly, with rain as we arrived, though that cleared up in a short time, becoming a beautiful day.
Who: Me, Josh, Nate, Brian (AFLAC!), Jeremy, and Corey - the last two being new to our list now.
Background: This was my first trip out to Dorney, and it was a stopover on our way to Phoenix Phun Phest at Knoebels that night, after our horrible night at Cedar Point on Friday. We planned on having just a few hours here. We stopped at a hotel across the street at about 4am or so, so were also running on about 4-5 hours sleep for those of us who were lucky.
Dorney is a beautiful park. It's not huge, but for its size it has a lot in it. It has a great set of flat rides, a good mix of coasters, and looking at the brochure, it looks like the shows might have been interesting, too, if we had time to see them.
The front gates are not in the middle of the park here. They are actually on the far right side, so the park stretches out to your left as you enter. Except for one thing, that is - Dorney's newest coaster, and the one that so many have raved about - Talon. And of course, that's exactly where we headed first.
Talon - B&M inverted
Unlike most other B&M inverts, Talon doesn't have a turning drop. Instead you turn around at the top of the lift hill, then have a nice straight drop, then up into a vertical loop, an immelman/inline twist over the station that gives massive hang time, a zero-g roll that takes you to a helix, back over the station for another drop, another roll/ corkscrew, and then a helix that, if you are on the left side, makes you feel like you could reach out and grab the mulch that is flying by before coming back up and around to the station. Talon is an incredible ride, and it only got better as the day went on. One of the things that I love with the B:TR series is the incredible intensity in the back of the trains, where my feet end up numb by the end of the day, and in the morning Talon didn't have that. But as the day progressed and dried out it sure picked it up, and by the time we left it was definitely outperforming Batman. One other touch I liked was on the way up the lift hill, if you look down there are signs that read "halfway there", "getting closer", "almost there", and "goodbye" right as you reach the top of the lift (sorry, I forgot the first couple). Overall, Talon was an awesome coaster, and a great way to start putting me in a better mood after the night before.
From Talon we began to make our way around the park, past the Top Spin at Talon's exit. The Mouse wasn't open yet, so we headed down the hill to Hercules.
Hercules - Dinn and Summers wood
It was still raining very lightly, and from what I've heard, that may have helped us out here. Hercules starts out of the station with a fast u-turn that leads you up its 105-foot lift, and preparing for its 148-foot drop. Right as we start over the lift and gain momentum, a trim brake grabs (What!!! We don't have that kind of stuff out in CA!), then with what little speed we have left we're down the hill and into this incredible turn out over the water, then back in for a series of hills, dips, and turns. The one thing I'll remember about Hercules is that drop, and how it could have been so much better without that stupid brake. That and it was my first experience with the massive seat dividers that seem so popular out here in the Midwest. Hercules wasn't great, but it wasn't too bad, either. At least not in the morning when it was still a bit wet. Some of the guys went again later on when it had dried out and they had a different story to tell, but I'll let them tell that.
Now it was off in search of our next big thrill. Instead, we settled for a small one and took a couple of circuits on the Woodstock Express, a Zamperla junior coaster. Since it was just us, they gave us four go-rounds on the coaster (nice!), and I couldn't help but think how much my daughter would love it. From there, we made our way over to Dominator, an S&S tower with both a turbo drop and space shot side, and of course we had to do both directions. I'll say this - Dominator makes Power Tower at Cedar Point blow. The shot's sudden stopping pushes you all the way up into your restraints and gives you massive amounts of airtime. And the drop is also a tremendous ride. I loved this tower.
Before we headed off to our next coaster, I also made the guys do one other ride with me - the Whip. I had never been on one before, since we don't have these out in CA either. It was a lot of fun. If you've never been on one, you've got to try them out when you get the chance. Again, my only complaint with it was how much my daughter would have loved being on it with me, but she wasn't there. :-( Oh well.
Then it was back to coasters. I may have these out of order a little bit, but the guys will forgive me. As I recall, our next stop was:
Laser - Schwarzkopf steel double looper Man, does this ride pack a punch. After one of the slowest lifts known to mankind (naptime anyone?), it's probably one of the most intense coasters out there, with two power-packed loops, a quick turn that will throw you into your neighbor's lap (Hi, Nate!), and some more turns that just keep on packing on the G's. After our first ride I had it marked about equal with Revolution at Six Flags Magic Mountain. But a second ride later on when it had dried out kicked my tail and left my head spinning for a while. Fantastic ride, but I don't know how some of these guys can manage repeated rides on it.
We then took a quick spin on the Dragon kiddie coaster (for those of us who count them), another one my daughter, and even my chicken son, would love. Then made our way over towards the big guy in the park - Steel Force.
Steel Force - Morgan hyper
With it's 204-foot drop, Steel Force ended up being my second hypercoaster after Goliath (since Cedar Point wouldn't let me ride any of theirs), and is a completely different animal than Goliath is. Steel Force is all about airtime, and lots of it. I can see why some people would call it's first drop a bit rampy - more so than Goliath - but from there it's got several great "get out of your seat then smack you back down into it" pops of airtime. The helix turnaround in the middle starts out slow then gradually builds to a moderate intensity before slowing down again and up to the midcourse brakes, then down again to another series of airtime hills. I've heard some say that they didn't get much airtime on Steel Force, but I really wonder where they were sitting or what was going on, as it seemed to give pretty good amounts to me. Steel Force was a lot of fun and moved it's way into my top 10, just a couple of spots below Talon. Overall a great ride; some of us came back for a few more rides later on.
Then it was off to Thunderhawk - Schmeck woodie
I managed to get a ride in the "Schmeck seat" - first car, 3rd seat - and I'm happy I did, as it seemed like it might have been the only place on the coaster that did much. This poor old woodie needs some help, particularly in the department of lubricating the tracks. A little rain in the morning doesn't cut it, guys. Sadly, I think that would be my one complaint about Dorney - they seem to take care of their two woodies about as well as Six Flags Magic Mountain has taken care of Colossus: practically not at all. Sad, because this coaster seems like it has so much potential that it just doesn't live up to.
Our last coaster for the day was the Wild Mouse, a near duplicate of the Mack mouse at DCA (known as Mulholland's Madness), which I had just ridden as my first mouse a couple of weeks previously. So throughout it was being compared to that. Dorney's, however, is made by Maurer Sohne, and the differences were obvious. While a typical mouse layout, this one seemed to crawl through the course, and even had trims grabbing on the top switchbacks. There wasn't much tossing to the side, and the drops seemed weak. There were also several cars they weren't running, though with the slow loading, I don't know that they could have since with only four or five cars running we still got stacked at the end. Overall, very disappointing. They could take some lessons from Disney on how to run a mouse all out. (Sorry guys, I know some of you don't like hearing that, but, well....)
After that we grabbed some lunch, took some pictures, and grabbed a few re-rides on Steel Force, Talon, and a couple of the other rides around the park, before we packed up and headed out to Knoebels for that evening's activities. Overall, Dorney was a fun park, and one that I would have liked to have had more time at so that I could have ridden more of the flat rides and taken in a bit more of the park as a whole. The skyscraper looked awesome, but I didn't go due to tight funds, and most of the other guys didn't seem all that interested. Maybe next time. But Dorney is definitely a park that I hope to come back to again in the future.
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| 1-21-04 12:06:23 |
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spcleddy
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 21
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I must say that I had expected more from Cedar Fair than just copycat rides. Certainly Dorney surpasses many rotten Six Flags parks, but it cannot compete in charm with the likes of Hershey. Granted the coasters do not disappoint, but the overall aesthetic of the park does not live up to that of the flagship in Sandusky.
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| 3-26-04 1:23:07 |
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RLLrCoastrLover
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 1059
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This park looks really fun. Hydra is going to be a great addition to the already great selection of rides.
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| 11-23-04 21:47:04 |
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slnewbus
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 1670
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My homepark. I love it. Plus their is a great free waterpark with it.
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| 2-12-05 14:51:32 |
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Tanks4me05
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 849
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This is one of the best parks I've been to! Good scenery, great rides, god staff effiency, and the lines were short on some of them. Unfortunnately, I found that some of the ride lines were not owrth it. I will wait 30 minutes for a rollercoaster, but not a waterslide. everything was great, and although the only coasters I went on were Hercules, Thunderhawk, and Wild Mouse, I still loved it there! One of the best parks ever! It really SUCKS that Hercules is removed. But at least I have Hydra to look foward to. Also, the cheese fries were AWESOME! Yes I am a cheese fries and BIG WORDS fan. A great medium sized park.
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| 4-19-05 20:11:22 |
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ThunderDan
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 592
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Dorney is a nice clean park located in eastern Pennsylvania, worth a trip every few years if you are in the area. More people go to the waterpark side; coaster fans will be happy with the small lines for the coasters. There are small lines for Thunder Canyon and White Water Canyon which are wayer rides in the rides side of the park. These rides will leave you more soaked than the water slides.
Steel Force, Dominator, Thunderhawk and Talon are the stars of the show. Talon is a nice treat for Batman:the Ride fans. While not as intense, its open flow of laterals is fun in the roll overs, helix, and a horizontal drop in the middle of the ride. Thunderhawk has some nice airtime and speed that will remind you of the Phoenix. Dominator is a tall S&S power tower with a nice view of the park. Steel Force is a great hyper. Although it starts out rampy, it ends with nice airtime on the bunny hops. The cars are spacious and deliver a good ride in the front and back.
The park also has a Schwarzkopf double looper and a wild mouse.
The park's newest flat rides are a top spin, hawk and a revolution. They also have plenty of standards including the classic whip, wave swinger, monster, flying carpet, scrambler, tilt-a-whirl, enterprise, pirate ship and a Musik Express. The park also has a carousel, ferris wheel and two classic train rides. Two children ride areas come complete with play elements and their own coasters.
Bring your sun glasses and sun tan lotion! The newer part of the park used to be the parking lot for Wildwater Kingdom. Also this part of the park has a sanitized Cedar Fair look. However the back of the park still has the older terrain that looks like the old fashioned trolley picnic park that Dorney once was.
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| 4-22-05 10:13:07 |
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James
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 10547
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Dorney is one of the better CF run parks but it seems to lack. Most of its flats not run as good as they can so it was a let down.. Also Hydra was VERY tame.
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| 8-5-05 22:18:57 |
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dpgadvfan
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 32
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This is one great park. I have worked at it for 3 years and have enjoyed it thoroughly. The park is great, the rides are great, everything is great.
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| 5-15-06 15:42:54 |
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Dave
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 130
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This is a fun park and it is my home park. I am a little disappointed with it as of late. The waterpark has recieved all of the attention for a few years while the park has stayed the same since 05. They are getting a used coaster and the park is extremely corporate.
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| 8-30-07 13:58:24 |
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