Review: Talon at Dorney Park
Dorney Park is a smallish theme park located in Dorney, Pennsylvania. If you’re not from Eastern PA or New Jersey, you may not have heard of it. Part of the Cedar Fair chain of parks, it currently has a roster of 7 roller coasters with three real eye-catching standouts: a Morgan hyper coaster (Steel Force), a floorless B&M looper (Hydra: The Revenge), and a B&M inverted coaster (Talo...[Read More]
Review: Hydra the Revenge at Dorney Park
In May of 2016 I visited New York with my parents for the purposes of seeing the Yankees take on my Chicago White Sox in the Bronx. I insisted that on this visit, we make the 2-hour drive west to Allentown, Pennsylvania and log some coaster credits at Dorney, another Cedar Fair property. Though it was a wet and rainy morning, by afternoon the skies cleared and I was able to nab multiple rides on a...[Read More]
Stinger Gone From Dorney and For Sale
It became known sometime in December that Dorney Park was going to get rid of its Vekoma shuttle coaster, Stinger. (See my post of December 17, 2017, Showdown and Rant: Goliath vs. Stinger.) Since then it’s been confirmed that Stinger has left Dorney. And the park didn’t waste any time disposing of it. Amid speculation as to whether the coaster would be scrapped or relocated, I discovered that...[Read More]
Showdown and Rant: Goliath v. Stinger
Never a fan of Vekoma boomerangs, some of which I found torturous, I rode two that I actually enjoyed so thought that it would be interesting to compare them. I was planning to post this sometime next month but just got word that one of them (Stinger) is being removed from its park so posting this now is more timely. Layout Goliath is a giant inverted boomerang – one of only half a dozen currentl...[Read More]
Defunct Coasters We Wish We Could Have Ridden
Defunct Roller Coasters That Were Gone Too Soon Over the years there have been some great-looking roller coasters that we just never got a chance to ride. Some of them have become legendary within the coaster enthusiast community. Some had record-setting or one-of-a-kind elements. And some were just roller coasters that we kick ourselves for not riding, because they’re gone and now we’...[Read More]
Great Bear vs Talon | Roller Coaster Showdowns
Great Bear Anecdote When I came up with the idea of comparing Great Bear and Talon, I was reminded of something that happened in June of 2014 at Coasting For Kids, a fund-raising coaster marathon at Dorney Park during which I set a personal record of 36 rides in one day (12 on Steel Force, 16 on Talon and 8 on Hydra). On one of my rides on Talon I found myself sitting next to a teenage boy who st...[Read More]
The 10 Oldest Roller Coasters in America
For all of the modern thrill rides we’re spoiled with this days, there’s still something really enjoyable about riding the few classic, nearly century old roller coasters. They paved the way for our favorite rides today and give you a glimpse of what the biggest and baddest coasters were many, many years ago. Some still have traditional lap bars and are stopped with huge a game-show li...[Read More]
What’s the Worst Defunct Coaster You’ve Ridden?
Last week, I asked you about the best defunct roller coasters you’ve ridden. This time let’s take a look at the other side. Good Riddance! Kings Dominion’s air-powered launch coaster, Hypersonic XLC wasn’t egregiously bad, but it was overhyped, way too short, and often out of commission. For those reasons I wasn’t sad at all to see it go. Hypersonic was crammed into t...[Read More]
Dinosaurs Alive! Reviews
Theme park chain Cedar Fair has been adding Windseekers (jumbo 300-foot tall swing rides) and Dinosaurs Alive attractions to their parks. For a $5.00 fee guests can enter a dinosaur park where they’ll encounter dozens of life-sized animatronic and stationary dinos. According to Wikipedia, Dinosaurs Alive! is currently at five Cedar Fair parks. The table to right lists the parks, the number o...[Read More]
Stinger to Debut at Dorney in 2012
Dorney Park Announces Stinger for 2012 Last week, Dorney Park confirmed the rumors of their new coaster for 2012 with the announcement of Stinger. The Allentown, PA park will be receiving California Great America’s Invertigo. It’s an inverted Vekoma shuttle coaster providing three inversions that riders will experience forward and then backward. The train’s seats are turned aroun...[Read More]
Featured Photo #24 – 74 Years & 120 Feet
I took this photo back in 2003 near the end of a Knoebels & Dorney Park trip. The hyper coaster, Steel Force, dominates the skyline at the Allentown, PA park. And here, it dominates the classic woodie Thunderhawk. Steel Force’s peak reaches the 200 foot mark while the wooden coaster in the foreground is only 80 feet tall. There are nearly 75 years between these two coasters and the advan...[Read More]
Fright Fest, Halloween Haunt, & More
Theme Parks Gear Up for Halloween 2008 TransformationsThis month, theme parks across the country will begin their transformation for Halloween-themed events like Six Flags’ popular Fright Fests. Typically on weekends in the month of October, parks will take on a whole new look with spooky decorations, haunted houses, fog, and strange and disturbing performers roaming around the park. Hallowe...[Read More]
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