Dorney Park, 8/11/17

[Yoshi]

I was going back to my old neighborhood to visit some friends and since I practically drive right past Dorney on the PA Turnpike on the way, I stopped in for 2 1/2 hours. I wouldn't have otherwise gone to the park because of the threat of rain.

 

The main lot wasn't full which was surprising for a Friday in August, maybe people stayed away because of the weather.

 

It took 10 minutes to use my dining pass to get pizza at the top of the park even with only 1 person in front of me because they had 1 person as a cashier and taking out the pizzas, slicing them and putting together the combos with breadsticks.

 

Rather than pay $20 (with the season pass discount) for a locker that I would only be using for a couple hours, I went to the hourly lockers near Whitewater Landing. At $5 an hour it was still $10 less than an all day locker but still expensive when the same lockers were $2 an hour 2 years ago.

 

Wildwater Kingdom was where the most of the crowds were. The tube slides at Snake Pit looked like they were about 25 minutes, no wait with Fast Lane since there was no one else using Fast Lane. After going to all 3 tube slides, I went to Wildwater Rapids that had no wait, probably because the entrance is kind of hidden and then back to Snake Pit. In just under an hour I got 8 slides in and then went to Thunder Canyon that had a line to the entrance with no switchbacks used and was likely around 30 minutes.

 

I ended up getting a raft with a mother and son. The kid was around 7 or 8 and as soon as we got to the first waterfall and he got soaked, he started to cry and get really upset. The entire ride, even in the middle where there were no waterfalls, he was crying the entire time. What made it worse was that there was a family at the loading area that had all their stuff to the side and were putting back on their shoes and socks so the rafts in the station couldn't dispatch until they left the station and the rafts started to pile up and the kid was still crying. I felt bad for him although was glad to get back to the station so I could get away from the crying.

 

I wanted to ride Steel Force, Cedar Creek Flyers and Talon but it started to rain on my way to Talon so I decided to not take a chance and go to the lower area of the park with the radar showing thunderstorms in nearby. I rode Talon with no wait and also stopped at Wild Mouse on the way out since it was only a few minutes with Fast Lane.

 

Even though I didn't spend that much time in the park, it was still a good trip getting 8 slides, Thunder Canyon and 2 coasters in before leaving.

 

[The Master]

Sounds like one needs a fast lane plus to have a decent at WWK anymore. I just really hate what has happened to WWK in recent years.

[Yoshi]

Yeah it really helps a lot with the slides that are on Fast Lane Plus and I wouldn't have gone on Friday without it (or just avoided WWK). I'm going to have to see what they charge next year for the season before I decide if I will get it again. At $100 I didn't think twice before getting it, it's currently $125. If they charge more than that I don't know if it will be worth it or not since it really isn't needed on the ride side except Thunder Canyon on some days and Wild Mouse so it really only has value when WWK is open.

[Mrpq]

I wouldn't say 25 mins is all that bad for a wait time.

[The Master]

This year, WWK's dispatch speed has really slowed down. Lightning Falls is probably the slowest moving slide line, there were up to 8 minute intervals between the line moving one person. WWK used to be good at keeping the lines moving but not anymore, except for fast lane I assume. Even on the dry side they are dispatching some of the coasters a lot slower than they used too.

 

By Dorney's old standards, 25 min would be long even for Aqua Blast in the middle of the afternoon. Dorney's modern standards are much longer wait times with 25 min for the little Cascade slide near closing time. Contrast to Moreys, even if the slide lines are down to the ground you are though it in 5 to 10 min, not 25 min, they keep the lines moving which Dorney also used to.

 

Guess I am a geezer now, remembering the good ole days.

[Viper26]

This year, WWK's dispatch speed has really slowed down. Lightning Falls is probably the slowest moving slide line, there were up to 8 minute intervals between the line moving one person. WWK used to be good at keeping the lines moving but not anymore, except for fast lane I assume. Even on the dry side they are dispatching some of the coasters a lot slower than they used too.

 

By Dorney's old standards, 25 min would be long even for Aqua Blast in the middle of the afternoon. Dorney's modern standards are much longer wait times with 25 min for the little Cascade slide near closing time. Contrast to Moreys, even if the slide lines are down to the ground you are though it in 5 to 10 min, not 25 min, they keep the lines moving which Dorney also used to.

 

Guess I am a geezer now, remembering the good ole days.

Also, Morey's allows dispatching riders while another one is halfway down rather than wait for them to leave the landing pool. This is a major factor in why they have good water park operations. Sadly, Morey's dry ride operations tend to be similar to Dorney's especially in the afternoon.

[Yoshi]

I might get some disagreement on this but I think it's unsafe if Morey's isn't waiting until the previous slider is at least in the pool before the next slider goes. A teenager or adult is going to be moving faster than a little kid or if someone doesn't cross their arms and legs on a body slide, they move slower. At Dorney I have been at the top of the Wildwater Rapids body slides and seen people almost stop on the open slides. On an inner tube slide, there is the chance of someone falling out of a tube (even though that is rare) and the next slider crashing into them.