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This trip report goes under the New Years trip that I took, skipping work to do so. Therefore, don't mention it anywhere else yet!
So I'm totally aware that this is a little LATE, considering I've been spending the majority of the last 72 hours traveling either by rail or by road. Yes, I really did go to New York City all by myself. Do not freak out. I am here. I am alive. I am writing this. That should PROVE something.
Getting to Allentown was fun -- I got stuck in Harrisburg for TWO HOURS because they shut the main interstate down. I plugged some alternate routes into my GPS and listened to FM97 the entire way -- great Top 40 station to listen to, if you're ever in the area! It gets great coverage from Blue Mountain all the way to Allentown. (Although, these days, I think "Top 40" radio should be renamed "Songs with Pitbull in them.") My pass got me into the gate just fine.
When you first walk out into Dorney, from the front gate all the way back to the log flume ride, it feels like you're in some alternate dimension of the Point. You've got your Beemer right in the front (Talon, as opposed to Raptor), the Coasters dine in, and the bathrooms look like they got ripped right out of the area between Magnum and Dragster. (Trust me, I would know. Those are my favorite bathrooms at the Point, mostly because they're not automatic.) The park itself is very cute; it also has a GoodTime Theater that I would recommend to just about anybody.
As far as coasters go, I started my day off with the Wild Mouse; the ride ops didn't even know what Cedar Point was, and I told them they should go. (wink wink) I'm allowed to say that at a Cedar Fair park, nee? It's not like they're losing business. Wild Mouse was good, then I went over to Hydra, their floorless coaster. The interesting thing about this coaster is that it actually turns you in a corkscrew ONCE you leave the station. I wasn't completely thrilled by it, but I thought it was fun. (The Dorney Beemers are filled with sand to make them quieter; I think that threw me off.)
From there, I wandered over to Steel Force, their Morgan hyper. (Morgan kind of took over from Arrow when the shit was hitting the fan with them -- they're not the same company, but they look pretty darn similar. Morgan was the company that was called in to revamp Phantom's Revenge at Kennywood, which was originally an Arrow; take that as you may.) What I found when I went to Steel Force was very surprising; a quiet little area of the park where the Steel Force and the oldest coaster, the wooden Thunderhawk, stood together. There are some cute little areas, including a place to feed ducks and fish, and the entire place is very relaxing. It's old Dorney, I suppose, but if you're looking for a place to kill some time, go over there and just VEG OUT.
Steel Force looks like Magnum from the Point if you don't look too hard; you might even think that the paint job is the same (I don't know if it is or not, but Steel Force looks VERY moly orange). And they have the same scream tunnels! Dejavu, if I've ever seen it. But Morgan is surprisingly not as rough as an older Arrow, which was a lot of fun. It has some of the same characteristics of an Arrow and how it operates, but instead of forcing you to go one direction and then another, Morgan takes a couple of extra steps to go from point A to point B. If you're a fan of Magnum, ride Steel Force and you'll see what I mean. Remember the bunny hills coming back from Magnum, how they rock you in fours? Steel Force only gets like that VERY slightly toward the end. Highly recommended for anybody, even fans of Arrow.
I went back and rode Talon, which was better than Hydra in my opinion. Then I ran around and did some more stuff, saw the ice show, rode the kid coaster (don't ride it unless you've someone young!) and then rode Thunderhawk. Not too rough, not too smooth, a really good little woodie.
Overall, I would highly recommend Dorney Park! If you don't have a lot of time, do it Starlight, you can easily cover all of the coasters. Take your time, though, and make sure to visit the back of the park. I'll be back either later on tonight or tomorrow with the rest of my trip, and my thoughts.
So I'm totally aware that this is a little LATE, considering I've been spending the majority of the last 72 hours traveling either by rail or by road. Yes, I really did go to New York City all by myself. Do not freak out. I am here. I am alive. I am writing this. That should PROVE something.
Getting to Allentown was fun -- I got stuck in Harrisburg for TWO HOURS because they shut the main interstate down. I plugged some alternate routes into my GPS and listened to FM97 the entire way -- great Top 40 station to listen to, if you're ever in the area! It gets great coverage from Blue Mountain all the way to Allentown. (Although, these days, I think "Top 40" radio should be renamed "Songs with Pitbull in them.") My pass got me into the gate just fine.
When you first walk out into Dorney, from the front gate all the way back to the log flume ride, it feels like you're in some alternate dimension of the Point. You've got your Beemer right in the front (Talon, as opposed to Raptor), the Coasters dine in, and the bathrooms look like they got ripped right out of the area between Magnum and Dragster. (Trust me, I would know. Those are my favorite bathrooms at the Point, mostly because they're not automatic.) The park itself is very cute; it also has a GoodTime Theater that I would recommend to just about anybody.
As far as coasters go, I started my day off with the Wild Mouse; the ride ops didn't even know what Cedar Point was, and I told them they should go. (wink wink) I'm allowed to say that at a Cedar Fair park, nee? It's not like they're losing business. Wild Mouse was good, then I went over to Hydra, their floorless coaster. The interesting thing about this coaster is that it actually turns you in a corkscrew ONCE you leave the station. I wasn't completely thrilled by it, but I thought it was fun. (The Dorney Beemers are filled with sand to make them quieter; I think that threw me off.)
From there, I wandered over to Steel Force, their Morgan hyper. (Morgan kind of took over from Arrow when the shit was hitting the fan with them -- they're not the same company, but they look pretty darn similar. Morgan was the company that was called in to revamp Phantom's Revenge at Kennywood, which was originally an Arrow; take that as you may.) What I found when I went to Steel Force was very surprising; a quiet little area of the park where the Steel Force and the oldest coaster, the wooden Thunderhawk, stood together. There are some cute little areas, including a place to feed ducks and fish, and the entire place is very relaxing. It's old Dorney, I suppose, but if you're looking for a place to kill some time, go over there and just VEG OUT.
Steel Force looks like Magnum from the Point if you don't look too hard; you might even think that the paint job is the same (I don't know if it is or not, but Steel Force looks VERY moly orange). And they have the same scream tunnels! Dejavu, if I've ever seen it. But Morgan is surprisingly not as rough as an older Arrow, which was a lot of fun. It has some of the same characteristics of an Arrow and how it operates, but instead of forcing you to go one direction and then another, Morgan takes a couple of extra steps to go from point A to point B. If you're a fan of Magnum, ride Steel Force and you'll see what I mean. Remember the bunny hills coming back from Magnum, how they rock you in fours? Steel Force only gets like that VERY slightly toward the end. Highly recommended for anybody, even fans of Arrow.
I went back and rode Talon, which was better than Hydra in my opinion. Then I ran around and did some more stuff, saw the ice show, rode the kid coaster (don't ride it unless you've someone young!) and then rode Thunderhawk. Not too rough, not too smooth, a really good little woodie.
Overall, I would highly recommend Dorney Park! If you don't have a lot of time, do it Starlight, you can easily cover all of the coasters. Take your time, though, and make sure to visit the back of the park. I'll be back either later on tonight or tomorrow with the rest of my trip, and my thoughts.
