Dorney and first WWK trip of the summer, 6/14/17

[The Master]

Went for my first trip to WWK and was disappointed with the even further deterioration of operations there. First issue is they have resumed banning aqua soxs from being worn down their slides again after not having this ban for several years. Second issue is the lifeguards were slower than sloths dispatching riders down slides this time. It appears they have a new safety protocol where they wait until a rider completely exits the landing pool before they send the next rider rather than wait until the first slider hits the landing pool. Some people really take their time exiting a landing pool which with this new protocol really slows down the lines. Third issue is the lifeguards do not go after people rough housing in the river like in the past. There were people forming chains as long as 20 people as well as pushing. Just a couple of years ago the lifeguards used to keep order and not even allow river riders to have their feet down which used to really limit misbehavor.

 

Operations in the dry park were worse too. Many of the dry rides were dispatching much slower than they used too. Talon was closed most of the day but finally reopened. However, when it did open, they were dispatching very slow and had stacking. Worse yet, they had an employee pulsing people on the stairs into the station letting several rows go empty which caused the line to be artifically longer than it should be. This was to allow empty seats for fasttrack holders and is similar to HH'S flash pass practice. They were not doing this over at Hydra but it too was suffering slow dispatches. Didn't make it to Steel Force to see if they were pulling the crap at Talon.

 

Not helping matters was that WWK was fairly crowded for June, likely because of the cheap season pass bring a friend special this week. Dorney runs a lot of weekly specials and deals anymore.

Edited June 15, 2017 by The Master

[Yoshi]

It's a shame operations are worse.

 

I have seen that at Talon where they only let 1 train of riders in the station but letting rows go out empty is bad, especially when hardly anyone uses Fast Lane especially on a weekday.

 

It's also disappointing to hear about the lazy river, I liked how they were strict about not allowing anything bad.

 

Did you happen to notice if shirts were allowed to be worn on the inner tube slides? I heard at Cedar Point earlier this year they weren't allowing them and hoped it was just their policy or new employees making a mistake and not a chain wide policy.

[The Master]

They did allow me to wear a tank top on the tube slides. I did not notice if other shirts were allowed.

 

Only ride that seemed to be operated well was Thunder Creek Flume. Fast dispatches and no line.

[Yoshi]

I usually wear a tank top as well so I'm glad to hear it's still allowed (one time a few years I was told I wasn't allowed to at Patriot's Plunge and Aqua Racer but I think that was just an employee not knowing the policies).

 

If things are the same by July, I guess I'll just stick to my usual plan of going to WWK from 5 to 7 since it is usually less crowded then and I take advantage of the lockers only costing $5 after 5:00.

[dougdrummer]

What does the term "pulsing" mean in the original post?

[The Master]

It means letting a small number though every so often instead of letting a continuous even flow.

 

I usually try getting there around 1 to 2 so I have 4 hours there. This year WWK has cut back their hours and so they are only open to 6 on most days in June until the last week. In past years they would be open to 7 starting by mid June. Also in the past they used to be open until 8 on weekdays in the middle of the summer, in recent years they are not open past 7 on weekdays. Things are so different there now than just a couple of years ago, the management there has just gone really downhill.

 

Despite WWK selling aqua soxs, the rule signs for their slides states all footwear must be removed. Contrast to Hershey's Boardwalk where the sign for their slides say aqua soxs are permitted.

[Viper26]

Didn't make it to Steel Force to see if they were pulling the crap at Talon.

 

I heard that Steel Force was running only one train earlier this week with slow operations. Does Talon and Hydra run only one train during the week?

[The Master]

I heard that Steel Force was running only one train earlier this week with slow operations. Does Talon and Hydra run only one train during the week?

Both Hydra and Talon were running both trains. Though they were dispatching much slower than normal. Steel Force used to run two trains most of the time including weekdays. However, with Dorney's decline, who knows.

[dougdrummer]

Both Hydra and Talon were running both trains. Though they were dispatching much slower than normal. Steel Force used to run two trains most of the time including weekdays. However, with Dorney's decline, who knows.

In what sense is Dorney declining? Attendance? Maintenance? Appearances? Clientele?

[Viper26]

In what sense is Dorney declining? Attendance? Maintenance? Appearances? Clientele?

Most likely the clientele and operations.

[The Master]

Most likely the clientele and operations.

 

Yep, mostly clientele and operations. I would say their attendance (crowds) are rising which is related to the decline in clientele. I also do not think they are maintaining stuff as well as they used too either. With 3 trips to Dorney so far, Talon was broken down for two. As we know with GADV, running lots of special discount deals brings in less savory clientele which Dorney runs a lot of anymore. Dorney's quality has been declining for several years but this year it has taken a big plunge.

[Viper26]

 

Yep, mostly clientele and operations. I would say their attendance (crowds) are rising which is related to the decline in clientele. I also do not think they are maintaining stuff as well as they used too either. With 3 trips to Dorney so far, Talon was broken down for two. As we know with GADV, running lots of special discount deals brings in less savory clientele which Dorney runs a lot of anymore. Dorney's quality has been declining for several years but this year it has taken a big plunge.

That's the problem with Cedar Fair. They neglect their smaller parks except for Great America and Knott's and only focus on their larger parks especially Cedar Point.

[dougdrummer]

 

Yep, mostly clientele and operations. I would say their attendance (crowds) are rising which is related to the decline in clientele. I also do not think they are maintaining stuff as well as they used too either. With 3 trips to Dorney so far, Talon was broken down for two. As we know with GADV, running lots of special discount deals brings in less savory clientele which Dorney runs a lot of anymore. Dorney's quality has been declining for several years but this year it has taken a big plunge.

I used to wonder how you can get poor clientele in an area like Allentown which I thought was in the middle of basically nowhere. Boy was I in for a rude awakening when I took the kids to Dorney's water park about 10 years ago. I thought I was in some type of ghetto where we were the only ones speaking English.

 

It's amazing how far people travel for amusement parks. When I went to SFGA for the Justice League grand opening, there were dozens of school trips that day, with groups as big as a couple hundred kids. One of the bigger groups was a school from Washington DC. It has to be a 2.5 hour trip from DC. But then I remembered my high school had a senior trip to SFGA in 1979, and from Westchester County, NY it was a 2.5 hour trip.

[Viper26]

I used to wonder how you can get poor clientele in an area like Allentown which I thought was in the middle of basically nowhere. Boy was I in for a rude awakening when I took the kids to Dorney's water park about 10 years ago. I thought I was in some type of ghetto where we were the only ones speaking English.

There has been a significant increase in population along the I-476 corridor; sometimes population increases in suburban areas can lead to rowdy people moving. Dorney Park also attracts people from the Allentown and Scranton areas, both of which, especially Scranton, are areas where the population are a bit on the rougher side.

[The Master]

I used to wonder how you can get poor clientele in an area like Allentown which I thought was in the middle of basically nowhere. Boy was I in for a rude awakening when I took the kids to Dorney's water park about 10 years ago. I thought I was in some type of ghetto where we were the only ones speaking English.

 

It's amazing how far people travel for amusement parks. When I went to SFGA for the Justice League grand opening, there were dozens of school trips that day, with groups as big as a couple hundred kids. One of the bigger groups was a school from Washington DC. It has to be a 2.5 hour trip from DC. But then I remembered my high school had a senior trip to SFGA in 1979, and from Westchester County, NY it was a 2.5 hour trip.

10 years ago, Dorney was still pretty nice, most of the time. I had trips to GADV where there were not many english speakers. A few years ago I was in line for the Log Flume at GADV, and me and my friend were the only english spearkers in the long line. Depends on the bus groups on the day you go I guess as well as whatever specials and discounts.

 

Every year I always have a couple of bad trips to the local parks, but bad trips used to be rare for me at Dorney. But this year, 2 out of 3 have been disappointing (side note, with all 3 trips to Dorney, the majority of the clientele were speaking in english). Plus its sad remembering how well they used to run stuff and now anything goes. The lifeguards in their rivers were almost like nazis in the old days, who used to not hesitate to blow whistles or yell at misbehaving guests, now they just ignore bad behavior like at HH's river. A lot of water parks are that way anymore.

 

CF, isn't the only company to ignore their smaller parks, Six Flags has also often ignored their smaller parks too like SFA.

 

As for Allentown, it is a pretty depressed area with the closing of the steel industry there. Many of the old blue collar workers moved out, leaving cheap housing for other groups.

Edited June 17, 2017 by The Master

[dougdrummer]

I've been to Sands Casino in nearby Bethlehem several times. The number of Chinese people at the casino is mind-boggling, I would venture to guess that way more than half the people there are Chinese, and I keep wondering where do all these people live?

 

It would probably be interesting to be a sociologist and study culture patterns and trends, especially in the northeast,

Edited June 18, 2017 by dougdrummer