Dorney Park is arguably the most underrated park in the Cedar Fair chain.
Located in eastern Pennsylvania, this amusement park is overshadowed by not only the other
parks in Cedar Fair’s portfolio, but the other parks in the immediate area.
But is that really a fault of Dorney?
I think this park still has a lot of redeeming values and in this review, I’ll explain
why.
Dorney Park opened back in 1884, making it one of the oldest amusement parks in the United
States.
This is why the park still retains some old and historic attractions to this day.
One of the weirdest quirks about this park was that until 1980, there was a two lane
highway cutting through the center of the park.
Cars would need to be stopped periodically for the park’s train and patrons to cross.
Rerouting this road had a few benefits.
One, it improved traffic in Allentown.
Two, it gave Dorney Park more room to expand.
It did lead to the park being fully enclosed, ending the nearly 100 years of free admission.
Dorney Park made a major splash in the coaster industry in 1989 when they opened Hercules,
a Dinn wood coaster with the record for the tallest drop on a wood coaster.
The ride was lambasted for its roughness, which was why it didn’t last more than 2
decades, but it still put the park on the map with coaster enthusiasts.
In 1992, Dorney Park was acquired by Cedar Fair for $48 million.
The biggest change to the park’s skyline and set-up occurred in 1997.
That was the year when Dorney Park received Steel Force, one of the largest coasters on
the East Coast.
Prior to 1997, Dorney Park had two entrances.
The former front entrance was at the bottom of the hill, but this was closed to the public
and converted into an employee entrance to accommodate the new coaster.
Meanwhile the former back entrance atop the hill was transformed into the park’s lone
entrance.
This basically flipped the park’s layout.
Dorney continued to get new thrill coasters every 3-4 years, including two mutli-loopers
from Bolliger & Mabillard, but the park hasn’t added a coaster in over a decade.
Heck their last coaster added in 2012 was Stinger and it has already been removed.
At one point, Dorney was near the top of the Cedar Fair pecking order for new coasters,
but now they’re towards the lower half.
What happened?
First, there are more mouths to feed.
Dorney has not received a ground-up coaster since Cedar Fair acquired the Paramount Parks
in 2006.
Meanwhile, the former Paramount parks have received hyper coasters, giga coasters, and
RMCs.
Second, I think it comes down to why people visit Dorney.
One of the best parts about visiting Dorney Park are the minimal lines.
Most days, the major coasters are total walk-ons.
I’ve even visited during both summer and Haunt weekends, yet the longest line I’ve
ever had to wait in was maybe 15-20 minutes for Steel Force or Talon.
It’s exceedingly rare to visit a park of this scale with this caliber of coasters and
barely have to wait.
Part of it is Dorney Park’s operations.
They could get away with running one train on most of their coasters.
But instead they run multiple trains on everything that can.
Dispatches aren’t the fastest, but they’re fine given the crowd levels.
However, be prepared to wait if you plan to visit Wildwater Kingdom, the park’s attached
water park.
I think this is the park’s biggest draw.
It’s not uncommon to see Dorney’s coasters with station waits and the water slides with
lines spanning all the way down to the bottom of the towers.
I think Dorney Park can comfortably be done in a half day if you only care about the rides.
I could easily spend a full day here because of the quantity of attractions combined with
the solid coaster lineup.
However, I think this is definitely a full day park if you intend to visit the water
park as well.
My recommended touring plan is to start with Wildwater Kingdom if that interests you.
It’s prudent to knockout as many water slides as possible before crowds arrive.
Once you return to the amusement side, lines shouldn’t be much of an issue for most rides.
If you don’t care about the water park, you want to hit the Wild Mouse first because
of its awful capacity.
That is the one coaster that routinely can get a long line.
Then I would advise hitting Thunder Canyon and Thunder Creek Mountain if it’s a hot
day.
The other rides shouldn’t be much of an issue to experience.
Dorney does offer a Fast Lane skip-the-line pass.
The standard one costs $45-$55 and only includes the amusement rides.
I have never considered purchasing this since it’s completely unnecessary with Dorney’s
crowd levels.
Fast Lane Plus includes all the dry rides plus 7 attractions at Wildwater Kingdom.
This could be helpful on hot summer days.
This will run you $55-$65, but if you rope drop the water park, you should be able to
beat the crowds.
Alternatively, you can visit on a rainy day.
Dorney Park is usually pretty good about staying open and running most of their attractions
in rain.
These conditions allowed me to basically have the water park to myself, which is typically
unheard of.
Now let’s talk about the arrival experience.
Dorney Park is highly visible from the highway and the park has a large and impressive skyline.
When you enter the parking lot, you’re atop the hill looking down at all the attractions,
which gets you hyped for your day.
Tickets at the gate cost $70 as of 2022, but you can pre-purchase admission online for
$40-$45.
Sometimes they’ll even throw in parking, which is a $25 value, or an all-day drink
cup, which is a $17 value.
Typically I visit with the Cedar Fair platinum pass good for all their parks.
I find it funny Dorney is my closest Cedar Fair park, yet I’ve never had a season pass
to them.
My home park depends which Cedar Fair park I visit first and usually it isn’t Dorney
because of their operating calendar.
The park is usually open mid-May until Halloween.
Despite the attendance levels this park sees, the amusement park is open pretty late most
days in summer, which is really nice.
Dorney Park has an interesting feel.
Half the park feel like a generic Cedar Fair park.
That’s both a good and a bad thing.
You have wide, clean, and colorful midways.
But these sections lack shade and character.
Then you have a few older areas that have some nice shade and offer a relaxing vibe
you don’t usually get at a mega park.
In general, this park looks good.
Rides usually have fresh coats of paint and Cedar Fair does a great job designing ride
logos and entry plazas for their major attractions.
The only real theming you’ll find at this park is in the Camp Snoopy kids area, but
that’s fine since Dorney is going for the traditional amusement park and they mostly
succeed in that department because of how well-kept the park is.
Now let’s talk about the ride lineup.
Dorney Park has 7 different roller coasters and I think they cover a lot of different
areas.
The best coaster is Steel Force.
This Morgan hyper-coaster is the park’s tallest, fastest, and longest coaster.
This out-and-back layout gets stronger as it goes.
The large hills at the start give weak but sustained flaoter airtime.
Then the return run of bunny hills give much stronger floater airtime that toes on the
edge of weak ejector.
Steel Force always ran better than the other two Morgan hypers in the Cedar Fair chain
since the mid-course brake was more lenient and I’ve heard it hits even less now, so
Steel Force is running better than ever in 2022.
And what makes this airtime special is how much room you get between your lap and the
restraint as I talk about in the review.
It’s weird to get this much freedom on a coaster of this scale.
For looping coasters, you have two solid options.
Talon may be one of the weaker B&M inverts, but it’s still a smooth and fun coaster
as I cover in a review.
The first half has three ok inversions, but Talon has a great second half.
It’s pretty unique for an invert with some airtime hills and forceful turns along with
the obligatory corkscrew.
Hydra the Revenge is a weird B&M floorless coaster.
This is one of the weakest B&Ms in terms of positive Gs and whip.
However, this ride does have some redeeming elements.
A few of the inversions have hangtime, including that incredible jojo roll out of the station.
That is a standout element.
And I love the floater airtime on that straight first drop.
It feels like a mini B&M hyper drop.
Check out my review if you want to hear more.
Dorney also features a launch coaster in Possessed.
This Intamin impulse was rumored to be on the chopping block not too long ago, but it
is a solid ride.
The holding brake no longer works, but you get some decent launches, blasts of positives
at the base of the spikes, and nice weightlessness on the spikes.
The park’s only wood coaster- as of now- is Thunderhawk.
This PTC creation is nearly 100 years old, but it delivers an enjoyable ride up front.
That’s not only the smoothest row, but it’s also the best spot for airtime.
You get some strong pops on the turnaround section.
The finale would probably be strong too, but it’s neutered by a harsh trim brake.
The park was rumored to get a shuttle wood coaster like ZDT’s Switchback, but those
plans were put on hold due to the covid-19 pandemic.
Wild Mouse is the best family coaster.
I rarely ride this Maurer model due to the line, but it does have some good laterals.
Then for kids, you have Woodstock Express.
This Zamperla kiddie coaster is a familiar model, but this one seems to be considerably
jerkier.
I rode this back when I was a teenager, but I believe adults can get this credit without
a child if they so choose.
The park only has one children’s area nowadays in Planet Snoopy.
This is a well-shaded and colorful area with a series of Peanuts themed attractions.
A few rides are exclusive to kids, but many can accommodate parents who want to ride with
their kids.
For adult flat rides, Dorney Park does quite well.
You have plenty of classics.
You have some rare models here like their 1920 Whip and the Eyerly Monster.
The park has plenty of spinning rides both old and new.
Then the park has some notable modern flats as well.
There are two fun pendulum rides.
Meteor is a Zamperla Hawk.
It’s light on positive Gs, but it does offer some nice hangtime.
Then Revolution is a Chance frisbee that delivers several quick pops of airtime.
Then this park weirdly has two large drop towers.
Dominator consists of a duo of S&S drop towers.
One blasts you up and one blasts you down.
They’re not the most forceful towers, but the view of the park and surrounding area
is great.
But if you want a powerful drop, do not miss Demon Drop.
This is the last remaining 1st generation Intamin freefall in the United States.
This ride is downright terrifying.
There’s something unnerving how you move forwards out of the lift shaft onto the drop
shaft.
Then with no warning, you have a gut-wrenching drop.
This drop packs more of a punch than newer drop towers.
And some even consider this a coaster credit since the ride makes a full-circuit.
The drop weirdly leaves you on your back and then you reverse back into the station.
Just lean forwards during this part or else you could get your head whacked.
Another area where Dorney Park thrives is the water ride department.
I love Thunder Creek Mountain.
This is a weird log flume.
Most of the ride takes place atop the hill and then you have a standout drop.
It’s super tall and comically shallow, so it lasts an eternity.
You build up speed akin to a roller coaster launch before you hit that final splashdown.
Thunder Canyon is one of the most soaking rapids rides out there.
This one has barely any rapids.
Instead, you pass a series of drenching waterfalls.
Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Then you have White Water Landing.
This Arrow shoot-the-chutes ride opened as one of the largest in the world with its 80
foot or 24 meter tall drop, but it’s tamer than it looks due to a trim on the descent.
And then you have nearly 2 dozen water slides at Wildwater Kingdom.
You have a large mix of tube and body slides.
There are two slides in particular I recommend.
First is Python Plummet.
This trapdoor slide has a thrilling initial descent followed by a fast and forceful series
of turns.
This ride is intense.
Second is Patriot’s Plunge.
The red and white tube slides feature large drops at the end that can give a tiny pops
of airtime.
The final ride of note is Zephyr.
This classic train is modeled after the first streamline train and it has such a unique
appearance.
Like many of the parks in the Cedar Fair chain, Dorney Park runs Halloween Haunt annually.
I was surprised this event doesn’t get swamped like other Halloween events.
I thought the sets for the houses were pretty good, but they had a noticeable shortage of
scare actors to fully utilize them.
Then for food, I always eat at Chickie & Pete’s if I need a meal at Dorney.
This Pennsylvania sports bar has amazing crabfries and solid entrees as well.
So do I recommend Dorney Park?
I think it’s well-worth a visit.
This park may not get as many coasters as the other Cedar Fair parks, but it already
has an enjoyable coaster lineup plus some notable non-coasters.
It’s also refreshing visiting a park this big and knowing lines most likely will not
be an issue.
The park is well-run and it offers an enjoyable experience.
I think the biggest knock against Dorney is the nearby competition.
Just 1.5 hours away, you have three of the country’s best amusement parks in Hersheypark,
Six Flags Great Adventure, and Knoebels.
Speaking for myself, this is the main reason I don’t visit Dorney Park as often as I
should.
I prefer Hersheypark and Six Flags Great Adventure for the roller coasters.
And I prefer Knoebels for the atmosphere.
However, I think Dorney Park easily has the best water park of that bunch.
So when you combine that with solid amusement offerings, Dorney Park certainly has its merits.
While this is towards the middle of the Cedar Fair parks, it’s considerably better than
their lower tier parks.
So those are my thoughts on Dorney Park.
What are your thoughts on this Pennsylvanian amusement park?
Do you think this park is underrated?
Let me know your thoughts down in the comments.
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