Life Is A Roller Coaster

Lex and I recently visited our local Cedar Fair park to put our Platinum Passes to use. The day was originally looking pretty gloomy, but we still got our fair share of rides!

Dorney Park is located right off of I-78 in Allentown, Pennsylvania, which is about 1 hour 40 minutes from New York City and about 1 hour 20 minutes from Philly. I used to call Dorney my “home park”, but over the years I have come to see Six Flags Great Adventure in that light. Dorney is definitely the cleaner, more family-oriented park, but Six Flags has the world-class thrills. That is not a shot at Dorney though because it has a solid collection of coasters itself (8)!

Upon walking through the entrance of Dorney Park, you get a great view of Talon: The Grip of Fear.

Once inside the park, Talon guards the entrance to Wildwater Kingdom with its signature B&M twisting drop.

I personally really like Talon’s color scheme.

Once you make your way to the entrance, you are encouraged to go on Talon: The Grip…

…of Fear. I find Talon to be one of the most under appreciated rides in the country. It is forceful, it is smooth, and it RARELY has a long line. Out of all the B&M Inverts that I have been on, Talon is definitely one of my personal favorites. My favorite part of the ride is probably the Zero-G roll, but the whole layout packs a punch until the final brake run. Since this ride really does not get that big of a line, I would suggest waiting for the front. If you are more of a daredevil and like more forces, the back is the seat for you.

Twisty!

Heading up the 135 foot lift (which feels taller since you are on top of a hill).

A mess of orange track that turns you upside down a total of 4 times.

Right next door to Talon is Hangtime, your average Top Spin ride.

Swings are always a guest favorite.

As is the Wild Mouse. If you plan on riding this, ride it early. The capacity of these rides make the lines move very slow.

Anyone want to get wet?

Oh they don’t even look that wet.

Oh but they are! And what is that green coaster in the back?

It’s Hydra: The Revenge, a B&M Floorless coaster built in 2005.

Hydra is a ride that always gets bashed for not being forceful enough.

But you cannot say that it’s not photogenic!

I personally really like the teal and green.

Does anybody know the back story to this coaster? Hydra currently stands where a former record-holding wooden coaster was: Hercules. According to legend, Hercules slayed Hydra, a multi-headed beast, in the swamps of Lerna. When Hercules the coaster was dismantled in 2003, Hydra finally got it’s revenge and landed at Dorney Park in 2005. Corny? Of course, but at least there is a back story.

As for the ride itself, it definitely is becoming a victim of some nasty vibrations. In the front they are hardly noticeable, but in the back rows it can get pretty bad. It’s not rough or jerky by any means, it just does not ride as well as it used to. To address its haters that say it is not forceful, it is hard to disagree. This ride is more about the smoothness of the inversions rather than the intensity. Hydra only stands at a mere 95 feet, so expecting a crazy intense ride is unrealistic. The best part of Hydra is without a doubt, the infamous Jojo Roll.

The jojo roll is a very rare element where a coaster slowly creeps through a barrel roll right out of the station. It is very unique and it is my personal favorite inversion out of the 7 that Hydra features.

Right next to Hydra is Meteor, a very fun flat ride.

The park also has a very impressive Planet Snoopy section for the young kids…

….and Lexie.

This is why Lexie was back here. She needed to get her Woodstock Express credit (I know, I wish I was kidding, too.).

Anxiously waiting her turn.

Uh oh… she is on board.

And she holds on for dear life. New #1 for Lex?

Good Grief is right… oh the life of a coaster enthusiast.

Up next we headed over to the ferris wheel, which offered a lot of great picture opportunities.

Here is the park’s S&S Drop Tower, Dominator, with Steel Force in the background.

What a great view!

Here we have Possessed and Stinger.

Steel Force absolutely towers over Thunderhawk.

Talon looking great as always.

A nice view of Steel Force, Dominator, and Demon Drop.

After the ferris wheel, we headed down to the bottom of the park to take a spin on Possessed. We decided that the line wasn’t quite worth waiting since we both have been on this Intamin Impulse coaster before, but we still got some pictures!

Possessed is a fun ride if you sit all the way in the front or all the way in the back. I personally really enjoy the back.

Possessed was relocated from the now defunct Geauga Lake in Ohio.

Those dark clouds look pretty daunting, so we must continue on to the back of the park.

Here is Stinger, the park’s newest coaster.

And it is not looking too good right now. I have heard rumors that this ride may be closed the rest of the 2014 season. Honestly, you are not missing much at all with this ride. Most enthusiasts would agree that inverted boomerangs are pretty bad rides.

But you never like seeing a ride not open.

Revolution is another nice member of the park’s flat ride collection.

And it happens to be right next to Steel Force, the park’s Morgan Hyper Coaster.

Steel Force in all of its glory.

It is a hyper coaster, which means that it exceeds 200 feet in height. Steel Force tops off at 200 feet on the dot. It is definitely the most imposing coaster that Dorney has to offer.

While the ride is very fun, it is not overly thrilling. The best part of the ride is the return trip which consists of nothing but bunny hops. Steel Force has lapbar only restraints, which means you can really get a lot of airtime. There is a great amount of airtime on pretty much every bunny hop on the way back. I highly suggest sitting in the back seat for this ride.

The next ride we stopped at was the original “Coaster” here at the park, Thunderhawk.

It is pretty well hidden with foliage and Steel Force.

A very old school ride.

I see some potential airtime!

But unfortunately it just doesn’t quite deliver. Thunderhawk was originally built in 1924 by famous coaster designer Herbert Schmeck and was named Coaster for 64 years. In 1988 it was renamed Thunderhawk and not much has changed since. I definitely suggest you ride this in the front because there are a few solid jerks throughout the course. I also find that when cresting some of the large turnarounds while you sit in the front you can get a decent amount of airtime. Give Thunderhawk a whirl, show some respect to your elders.

Dorney has some really scenic parts to it. Here is Possessed through the trees.

A great way to see some of the park’s beauty is to ride the very old, but very cool Zephyr train.

What is this awesome looking contraption?

It’s Demon Drop, our favorite ride in the park!

Demon Drop is originally from Cedar Point and it is an Intamin 1st Generation Drop Tower. These rides are becoming more and more rare, but I still think they offer some of the best dropping sensations around. Just make sure to lift your head up when you are about to go back down backwards into the station since there are a few uncomfortable jerks. It also worth noting that Demon Drop has its own custom soundtrack in the station which was just terrible, but we found it hilarious. Definitely something someone made in Garageband, listen to it!

Another great flat ride!

Who doesn’t enjoy the occasional Monster?

Steel Force cresting its first hill.

Here is a different angle of the first hill. I wish it offered a bit more airtime, though.

I will finish with Talon dropping into the Midway.

Dorney is truly a great, clean park that doesn’t get the respect it deserves because it lacks that one star attraction. It also is constantly being overshadowed by the metropolis that is Six Flags Great Adventure, but I think it offers much more charm. If you are in the tri-state area and you are looking for a fun day where you can get on a lot of rides without any major lines, I would suggest Dorney. It is a park that I have been visiting for over a decade now and the place is always very clean and family-oriented. Thanks for checking out our report!

If you have any questions about directions or hours, please check out the park’s website at DorneyPark.com.

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I am a huge travel and roller coaster enthusiast. I have ridden 504 unique coasters across the world and do not plan on stopping anytime soon. I graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and am now working with a creative firm in Orlando, Florida.