The Master Posted October 11, 2017 Report Share Posted October 11, 2017 Hard to believe the Haunt is inmits 10th season already. Really not too many changes this year except for changing Mansion House Hotel to Tourist Trap. Tourist Trap is downsized and half the size of the former MHH it replaced. Tourist Trap theme is set as a hotel during the 1893 Worlds Fair, where guests have been disappearing. Its good, but not as good as MHH was. This year the skeleton key rooms have been put into remote locations away from the main Haunt attraction they are paired with. The Carnevil scarezone has upgraded lighting. Unlike this spring and summer, Dorney's operations were pretty decent. However, both the outdoor houses, Cornstalkers and Grave Walkers had much slower moving lines than last year, resulting in them having much longer lines than the indoor houses. One other issue I had was when I attempted to purchase some pumpkin soft serve ice cream in the park, the cashier did not know how to give me my season pass discount, and she had to call her supervisor in to give to me, so I skipped getting the ice cream. Operatations at Dorney are not what they used to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemur Posted October 11, 2017 Report Share Posted October 11, 2017 Someone's been reading/watching up on H.H. Holmes it looks like. We're toying with going out there this weekend. I'll have to keep an eye out for those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Master Posted October 13, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2017 Some bad news, Dorney just sent emails saying that all the remaining operating days will be bring a friend discount days for SP holders. This will likely make the remaining Haunt nights more crowded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
29yrswithaGApass Posted October 13, 2017 Report Share Posted October 13, 2017 Has Dorney's attendance been off? It sounds like they are trying to play catch-up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viper26 Posted October 13, 2017 Report Share Posted October 13, 2017 46 minutes ago, The Master said: Some bad news, Dorney just sent emails saying that all the remaining operating days will be bring a friend discount days for SP holders. This will likely make the remaining Haunt nights more crowded. I guess they're trying to find ways to get attendance levels for Haunt and the dry park higher. They should also add Haunt on Sundays to better compete with Great Adventure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoshi Posted October 13, 2017 Report Share Posted October 13, 2017 They used to be open on Sunday for Haunt but attendance wasn't very good. Attendance might be lower for the season. WWK seemed less crowded and the ride side didn't get much more crowded later in the day once the water park closed like in past years. During the last few years, there were times I saw the 2nd part of the lot on the other side of the parking booths with cars in it on weekdays in July and August and only saw them using that lot once during that same time (not counting Labor Day where the overflow lot was being used). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Master Posted October 13, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2017 I thought Dorney seemed more busy this year, but maybe it was the poorer and slower operations making it seem that way? They also maybe trying to take advantage of the NE extension being closed this weekend just past the Allentown exit, exit 56. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemur Posted October 13, 2017 Report Share Posted October 13, 2017 16 hours ago, Viper26 said: I guess they're trying to find ways to get attendance levels for Haunt and the dry park higher. They should also add Haunt on Sundays to better compete with Great Adventure. I'm glad I read this. There goes Dorney. I'm not up to dealing with a Saturday crowd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GAcoaster Posted October 13, 2017 Report Share Posted October 13, 2017 It seems like everyone's attendance has been off this year. Disney just opened up all but the last couple of Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party dates to cast discounts. Usually they only give CMs a discount on the September dates, but now they are offering the discount through October 26th. They've only sold out one or two dates this year and that came much later than normal. Busch Gardens Tampa is offering any two nights of Howl-O-Scream for $49.95. There are deals everywhere but I think people are a little cautious between fear and caution about spending. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viper26 Posted October 14, 2017 Report Share Posted October 14, 2017 6 hours ago, Lemur said: I'm glad I read this. There goes Dorney. I'm not up to dealing with a Saturday crowd. I'm assuming Dorney's Saturday crowds aren't as bad as Great Adventure's however Dorney has slow operations so crowds would feel similar. 6 hours ago, GAcoaster said: It seems like everyone's attendance has been off this year. Disney just opened up all but the last couple of Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party dates to cast discounts. Usually they only give CMs a discount on the September dates, but now they are offering the discount through October 26th. They've only sold out one or two dates this year and that came much later than normal. Busch Gardens Tampa is offering any two nights of Howl-O-Scream for $49.95. There are deals everywhere but I think people are a little cautious between fear and caution about spending. If crowds for Halloween events are lower than normal, maybe some people have heard about the high crowds they get and go on another day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Master Posted October 16, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2017 I was at Dorney's Haunt this past Friday. It was pretty busy at first, there were six school buses there and Steel Force got a sizable line from slow dispatches. All the Haunt attractions had full queues. However, by 10:30, the park emptied out fast and everything was walk on by then, even Haunt attractions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Master Posted November 5, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2017 A bit late, but on my last trip to Dorney, on Oct 23rd, I used my free Frightlane from renewing my SP. It worked well for Haunt attractions but not too good on normal rides. On most of the normal rides like Steel Force, there were no attendants to blend Fastlane holders into the normal line, you just had to force your way in which is not ideal. Compounding this, non Fastlane holders sometimes entered the Fastlane line as there was nobody checking. However, all the Haunt attractions did have attendants checking for Frightlane passes and blending them in. The Frightlane also included key passes for the extra Haunt rooms which I only did two. First one was at Cutthroat Island extra room which was pretty bad and surprisingly lewd. Near the end of the night I decided to try the extra room for Blood on the Bayou which was pretty good, made me wish I had tried a couple of others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoshi Posted November 5, 2017 Report Share Posted November 5, 2017 I don't like when there isn't someone at the Fast Lane merge point when there is a line since there is more of a chance of a problem with people thinking a Fast Lane user is cutting in line if you have to force your way into the line. It seems to be more of a regular problem at Steel Force and Thunderhawk. Cedar Creek Flyers is probably the worst since the merge point is right before the turnstyle with a gate you have to push open and also force your way in, although to be fair I have never had to use it at that ride (the one time there was a 2 cycle wait, I just waited). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Master Posted November 5, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2017 Fastlane worked well at Dominator as they have attendants to group people into assigned seats and they let Fastlane holders in first. Steel Force was extra bad since there were several people in the Fastlane line without bands just cutting in line. Up until this year, they used to have attendants stationed at ride turnstyles on most of the major rides. Their operations have really declined over this past year. Dorney also got very crowded that night and without my free Frightlane pass, I would not have had a good time with all the long lines. Since it was the second to last Friday night Haunt, makes me wonder how bad the final Friday must have been as I did not go to Dorney that week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoshi Posted November 5, 2017 Report Share Posted November 5, 2017 Yeah Dominator is one of the better rides to use Fast Lane at. Friday was probably somewhat crowded, I heard on Saturday the wait times were up to 45 minutes for some of the coasters. I was going to try to get there Sunday but the weather stopped that, first time since having a season pass I didn't get there or Great Adventure in October (just 2 trips to Hershey). I don't know how much it will effect crowds next year but I think they sold more All Season Fast Lane than last year, the price went up from $125 to $160 this week when none of the other parks in the chain raised their price on it. Last year it sold out at the $100 price before bringing it back a few months later for $125. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Master Posted November 7, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2017 Without attendants, not sure how well a season Fast Lane would work. Perhaps they are reducing operatations to encourage Fast Lane sales? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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