Dorney Park - June 10th, 2024

On Monday, June 10th, we visited Dorney Park, the second amusement park on our road trip. It was great to be back at this classic amusement park located in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Since my last visit in 2015, they added a couple of flat rides and the all-new-for-2024 Iron Menace dive coaster! Be sure to enjoy the photos of our day at Dorney Park! 🙂

New this year at Dorney Park is the Iron Menace!

Iron Menace was manufactured by Bolliger and Mabillard and is the first dive coaster in the Northeast! Here is an almost complete view of it from the parking lot before we headed into the park.

Here is the iconic and thrilling Talon.

It is a compact and forceful Inverted coaster manufactured by B&M. I was really looking forward to riding Talon again as I greatly enjoyed it in 2015!

When I took this photo, there weren't too many people around. But shortly after, a large group of school kids filled the entrance plaza.

Once 10:30am rolled around, we headed over to Iron Menace, located in the newly formed Steel Yard area of the park.

The area is themed to an old steel mill.

The theming for Iron Menace is very nice!

The queue and station is themed to the abandoned McTavish Steel mill that closed in the early 1900s.

Like all dive coasters, the train is held momentarily before plunging down the first drop.

From the 152 foot drop, you head into a Immelmann inversion followed by a zero-g roll, a forceful inclined loop, finishing with a corkscrew inversion!

Here is a train full of passenger navigating the twisted vertical spike on Possessed!

Iron Menace is a small, but really fun and forceful dive coaster! A great addition for Dorney Park which hasn't had a newly built roller coaster in nearly 20 years!

After getting rides on Iron Menace and Possessed, I went over to the 100 year old Thunderhawk! This classic figure-eight out and back wooden roller coaster opened in 1924. The last time I rode Thunderhawk in 2015, it still had buzz-bar trains. In 2016, those trains were replaced with new ones featuring individual ratcheting lap bars.

After a ride on Thunderhawk, my Mom and I took a relaxing ride on the Road Rally cars.

Here is a look at the newer trains now used on Thunderhawk. They ride very well and are comfortable.

Up next was a ride on the airtime-filled Steel Force hyper coaster!

It is just how I remembered it in 2015! If you're a tall and skinny person like me, you'll be out of your seat for most of the ride as the lap bars only go down so far!

Up next was a ride on the Revolution, a Chance Rides revolution frisbee ride.

If you visit Dorney Park, be sure to take a stroll down the path located between Thunderhawk's track! It is very scenic and gives you a great view of this century old roller coaster!

The Zephyr is a train ride that was built during the Great Depression.

It has been providing relaxing and scenic rides to park visitors since 1935.

Here's my mom and I inside one of the cars on the Zephyr.

The train now chugs along under the new-for-2024 Iron Menace.

It's awesome how close you get to Iron Menace while riding on the Zephyr.

Here's a view of one of the cars on the Road Rally from the Zephyr.

It also offers a nice view of Thunderhawk, Scrambler, and Steel Force!

While Iron Menace was the main reason for my visit to Dorney Park, I really wanted to ride the Demon Drop as it is the last Intamin Freefall rides in the US and one of only a handful Worldwide still operating to this day! For some reason I didn't ride it in 2015, so I definitely wanted to ride it this time around! It didn't open until 2pm on the day of our visit.

While I waited to ride Demon Drop, I took a ride on the fun Dominator power towers!

Afterwards, I headed up the hill to get a bite to eat at the Chicken Shack near Hydra The Revenge (pictured).

Looking back, the Dominator stands tall above the trees!

The grilled chicken sandwich I ordered from the Chicken Shack was very good as it was flavorful and had melted cheese on it to hold it together!

Hydra The Revenge is a fun, floorless coaster offering a unique array of seven inversions. Unfortunately it seemed a tad rougher than I recalled when I first rode it in 2015.

The Enterprise is still operating at Dorney Park! I made sure to take a spin on it during my visit as Enterprise rides are extremely rare these days!

After waiting until 2pm for the Demon Drop to open, it was finally time to ride! This rare Intamin Freefall has been at Dorney Park since 2010. Prior to Dorney Park, Demon Drop operated at Cedar Point from 1984 to 2009. It is a kind of "sketchy" drop tower ride as you load into a four passenger car that heads up the 130 foot tall shaft. Once at the top, your car rolls forward where it momentarily waits before plunging down the 60 foot drop. After the drop, you come to a halt at the bottom of the track on your back!

From there, your car then rolls backwards down this track that returns you to the station.

It may be a bit rough, but it is a really fun experience and quite a rarity! 

The wait at the top is the most intimidating part of the ride! Despite being a bit "sketchy", I rode Demon Drop a total of three times during my visit to Dorney Park!

After being dropped on Demon Drop, I took a relaxing ride on the Cedar Creek Cannonball, Dorney Park's other train ride. 

It takes you along the Thunder Canyon River Rapids ride. In 2015, my brother Scott and I rode it and were soaked for hours as there are waterfalls around every bend! I didn't ride it this time as I didn't want to be soaked for hours afterwards! 

The Cedar Creek Cannonball also goes close to Talon! 

A train load of passengers just passed through the Immelmann inversion just after we went by. 

Here's my Mom and I on the Cedar Creek Cannonball. I love it when parks have many rides we can do together. 

Up next was a ride on the forceful Talon! It was just as intense as I remembered it being from nine years ago! It hasn't lost its touch!

You can really feel your feet tingle as you pass through the zero-g roll! Talon still remains to be one of my favourite Inverted roller coasters! 

Since my last visit in 2015, Dorney Park added two classic rides, a Dodgems and Troika named Kaleidoscope. Pictured is the Dodgems. They were manufactured by Bertazzon. 

Here is the colour Kaleidoscope, the Huss Troika! It was one of many rides Cedar Fair picked up while looking for rides in Europe a decade ago. You can't go wrong with a classic Troika ride! If I recall correctly, the Kaleidoscope sits on the grounds of the former Screamin' Swing that I rode in 2015.

Up next was a ride on the classic Antique Carousel. This classic Carousel was manufactured by Dentzel in 1921. From 1972 through 1994, it called Cedar Point home. In 1995, it reopened at Dorney Park. It also features a Wurlitzer band organ. 

Here we are before taking a spin on it! 

Nearby the Antique Carousel is a topiary carousel horse. 

In the late-afternoon, I took a ride on the Thunder Creek Mountain log flume. It has a very long drop as it utilizes the terrain. Unfortunately the water-curtain trick section was removed from the Thunder Creek Mountain sometime over the past nine years. 

In 2015, the McTavish Buckets opened as the Cedar Creek Flyers. For the 2024 season they were rethemed to match the newly created Steel Yard section with the opening of Iron Menace. 

Here is a look at the Zephyr as it chugs along the stream. 

When I rode Possessed in 2015, it still utilized the holding brake. Since then it had been removed. But the airtime on the vertical spike is still very fun! 

It's great to see the classic Whip still going! I took it for a spin before heading out for the day! 

Here's my Mom and I after a great day at Dorney Park! Up next will be photos of our two-day visit to HersheyPark! 🙂 

Off-ride video of Demon Drop: