Dorney Park 2024

[Orion-XL200]

2 hours ago, SonofBaconator said:

“Iron Menace”

 

Full web page

 

This looks to be Cliffhanger 2.0! Now Dorney has 3 unique B&Ms to call their own. I know dives can be seen as repetitive but part of me is a little jealous of Dorney; we don’t even have a vertical drop, let alone anything beyond vertical! I’m impressed that they went with the 7 row design. I’ve never been to this park but I’m just happy that they got some love considering they haven’t gotten anything custom in some time!

This looks to be a solid addition to Dorney...while Dive coasters aren't my favorite, I'd definitely make a trip out there to ride it. the tilted loop looks to be cool.

2 hours ago, MDMC01 said:

Looks interesting. I am most intrigued to see the "tilted loop" (aka the inclined loop) as I don't think that has been part of a (new) coaster since the 90's. Also, the inversions seem very rapid-fire. I'm still curious as to why they chose a dive (as Hydra is right across the park) and the name is meh (reminds me of how Pokemon names the "future" Paradox Pokemon lol), but it looks to be a solid addition.

Aside from having no floor, the rides will be completely different. The story which leads to the name makes it, imo, a great name/theme.

9 minutes ago, tks944 said:

Another super short ride bought by Cedar Fair. I know Dorney is a small park but this trend of going cheap and short seems to be the norm now. I hope The Vortex replacement doesn't go that way. Make us wait a couple more years to spend the extra $10ish million if you have to.

A multi-million dollar addition is cheap? In a time where budget cuts are happening across the chain and at a park that is mostly attended for the water park, I wouldn't say it's cheap...more of a smart investment. I mean a general idea was readily available with approvals being made public and what not. For a park that hasn't had a new ride addition since 2005, making them wait a few more years for an extra $10 million isn't practical, what happens if the economy completely collapses, the park has to close down, the park has a similar fate to 2007 Geauga Lake, etc.? This addition can and will be a boost for attendance to hopefully add additional finances for things down the line.

1 hour ago, johnjniehaus said:

I've always been a bit curious about having a dive and floorless in the same park seeing as to me anyway they are similar rides. However, this little dive machine looks like it'll actually be pretty sweet! Dorney is a great park as it is but this will give them another coaster that is different than their competitors. Congrats to Dorney Park on a coaster many years overdue! 

I thought the same thing when Cedar Point teased Rougarou....there were teasers that said "our first floorless coaster," when there wasn't one in the past I automatically assumed a dive coaster was coming later. Obviously the next year Valravn showed up. The difference between the two rides was starkly different, imo, that I felt they had a more solid line up with both additions. So excited for Dorney and cannot wait to see construction starting!

[tks944]

23 minutes ago, Orion-XL200 said:

A multi-million dollar addition is cheap? In a time where budget cuts are happening across the chain and at a park that is mostly attended for the water park, I wouldn't say it's cheap...more of a smart investment. I mean a general idea was readily available with approvals being made public and what not. For a park that hasn't had a new ride addition since 2005, making them wait a few more years for an extra $10 million isn't practical, what happens if the economy completely collapses, the park has to close down, the park has a similar fate to 2007 Geauga Lake, etc.? This addition can and will be a boost for attendance to hopefully add additional finances for things down the line.

 

I am talking about when the time comes for KI's new coaster. I don't care what Dorney gets. Good for them to get a coaster but the next KI coaster better not be super short. 

Also I just watched the POV and the ride time is only 30 seconds from drop to brake run. 

[DJSkyFoxx]

My fiancé' and I have been talking about making a trip up to Dorney because of their very self aware PR team's videos on TikTok and how funny they are. We have been waiting to see what this announcement would be and I will say that I have two sides of feelings. The positives being that it's great to see them getting a brand new major installation after so many years, the theming/story is creepy and cool and them getting a reliable coaster. The downside being that it is yet again another B&M. Nothing against B&M as they make great coasters, but it would be nice to see another player involved since there are so many other manufacturers out there doing rad stuff. 

Overall, I will be glad to hopefully make my first ever trip up there next year and check it all out. 

[Orion742]

4 hours ago, SonofBaconator said:

“Iron Menace”

 

Full web page

 

This looks to be Cliffhanger 2.0! Now Dorney has 3 unique B&Ms to call their own. I know dives can be seen as repetitive but part of me is a little jealous of Dorney; we don’t even have a vertical drop, let alone anything beyond vertical! I’m impressed that they went with the 7 row design. I’ve never been to this park but I’m just happy that they got some love considering they haven’t gotten anything custom in some time!

This looks fantastic! I find it funny that every dive coaster in the chain has orange track. 4 inversions is way better than I expected! Love the theme! The beyond vertical drop looks awesome.

[Orion-XL200]

16 minutes ago, Orion742 said:

This looks fantastic! I find it funny that every dive coaster in the chain has orange track. 4 inversions is way better than I expected! Love the theme! The beyond vertical drop looks awesome.

Haha, I didn't even put the color of the track to thought....guess you are right, the same ish orange color. Must have been a good sale!

[SonofBaconator]

5 hours ago, DJSkyFoxx said:

The downside being that it is yet again another B&M. Nothing against B&M as they make great coasters, but it would be nice to see another player involved since there are so many other manufacturers out there doing rad stuff.

Part of me thinks their choice in manufacturer was somewhat intentional; granted what choice isn’t intentional? There’s no way Dorney could compete with the likes of Great Adventure or Hershey, but adding a dive is something that gives them a diverse lineup that keeps their competitors from adding something similar. That’s not to say that they won’t someday, heck all three of these parks have inverts from the same manufacturer. 
 

“But what’s the point if your competitors are going to eventually get what you got; maybe better?” I argue it’s all about who did it first. If you’re the underdog park that adds something new, you have somewhat of a competitive advantage. Imagine if Great Adventure or Hershey decided they wanted to add a dive a couple of years ago- Dorney probably wouldn’t be able to follow suit because they’re the smaller park. 
 

Maybe I’m over explaining it, but I think they made the right choice.

[Orion742]

I had a thought that I wanted to share. What if KI was supposed to get Iron Menace in 2024 but with TT2 they had to give it to Dorney just on a smaller scale. Kind of like Valravn and Yukon Striker worked out.

[SonofBaconator]

8 minutes ago, Orion742 said:

I had a thought that I wanted to share. What if KI was supposed to get Iron Menace in 2024 but with TT2 they had to give it to Dorney just on a smaller scale. Kind of like Valravn and Yukon Striker worked out.

With the pandemic affecting everything it’s certainly possible, but I think this was always the plan for Dorney. I remember reading somewhere that CF wanted to invest more into their pre-Paramount parks and considering that they just gave something new to Worlds of Fun, I’d believe that to be accurate. 

[jsus]

28 minutes ago, Orion742 said:

I had a thought that I wanted to share. What if KI was supposed to get Iron Menace in 2024 but with TT2 they had to give it to Dorney just on a smaller scale. Kind of like Valravn and Yukon Striker worked out.

It would sure be interesting at some point in the future to learn about which projects were shifted around/canceled/etc in order to free up cap ex funds for TT2.  Unfortunately, if we ever learn about that, it likely won't be until well into the future.  After all, even such an admission could be looped into the lawsuit filed by the victim of the tragic incident.  After all, if they could scramble to put the funds together for the project afterward, why couldn't they before?

As for Dorney, haven't they been trying to get something built on this plot for a few years?

[Kenban]

5 minutes ago, jsus said:

As for Dorney, haven't they been trying to get something built on this plot for a few years?

The park filed a plan with the local government in either early 2020 or late 2019 for what appeared to be a wooden coaster for this plot of land.  The park withdrew the application after the pandemic hit.  My guess was it would have been set to open in 2021.

Based on the layout of the footers the speculation was it would be a Gravity Group coaster.  The reason people were pretty confident it was GG was the footer layout and it appeared to feature a spike like Switchback at ZDT.  The layout appeared to have a traditional lift hill and a track switch.  You climbed the hill and went through the course forward, went up the spike, then went backwards until close to the drop from the lift hill which is where the track switch was located and it would have switched to allow you back to the station.  The track switch would have allowed it to run two trains.

The plans also showed Possessed being removed, and even showed concrete work around where the sign was located so people were pretty confident it being removed in the plans was not a mistake.  Removing Wicked Twister might have saved Possessed.  As I remember the two never actually interfered with each other so I thought it should have been possible to keep Possessed and still build the wooden coaster.

[WoodVengeance]

23 minutes ago, Kenban said:

As I remember the two never actually interfered with each other so I thought it should have been possible to keep Possessed and still build the wooden coaster.

Even if they did, I'm certain Gravity Group could've redesigned the ride a bit to make it more compact. This is the same manufacturer that built Boardwalk Bullet after all. Although I still think a GG shuttle woodie would've been a far more interesting ride than the B&M Dive they eventually got, I understand why Dorney went with the latter. Factoring in Dorney's competition with parks like Hersheypark and Great Adventure combined with the effects of the pandemic, the park needed their next coaster to be highly marketable. Not only are dive coasters very popular with the general public, but it so happened that neither HP or SFGAdv had a dive coaster, so the opportunity was ripe for the taking.

[Oldiesmann]

Apparently Dorney has more to announce on September 7th...

 

[SonofBaconator]

6 hours ago, Oldiesmann said:

Apparently Dorney has more to announce on September 7th...

 

I think they’re tying in a Haunt attraction to the story so that might be it

[KIghostguy]

I attended Dorney Park's Winter Chill Out yesterday and got to see Iron Menace in person.

I am very excited for this ride! As has been noted many times before, this is something very unique compared to Dorney's competition and will definitely allow them to stand out. It looks a lot taller in person, and the colors really pop. It is shocking that they were able to fit such a huge ride into a piece of property formerly occupied by a Vekoma Boomerang! 

I am very excited to see the final thematic package for Iron Menace as well as for the surrounding Steel Yard land. The level of detail of what they have done so far is very impressive, especially for a park like Dorney. Kingdom Productions is doing the scenic fabrication; they did the fabrication/paintwork for Adventure Port last year. Everyone there seems very committed to the McTavish Steel backstory, and it's so awesome that the corporate XDS team developed this authentic, regional story to reflect in the park. I also have to note their Ghost in the Machine haunted maze, which we walked through with the lights on. I was absolutely blown away by it!

Everyone at Dorney is so excited for this ride. I got the chance to speak to both their Communications Director and their General Manager, and they were so enthusiastic about Iron Menace, Dorney Park, and hosting this event for the first time. It really seems like this project has injected so much new life into the park.

I attended Dorney twice in 2022, while I was completing an internship at Hersheypark, and thought it was very "meh." After yesterday, I walked away very impressed and excited for Dorney's future. I can't wait for Iron Menace to open and see where they go from here!

[KIghostguy]

Iron Menace has completed its first test run!

[Orion-XL200]

Exciting news for Dorney! The park PR team has knocked it out of "the park" with their updates this off season! 

[johnjniehaus]

Dorney park is such an overlooked and underrated park in my opinion. For a mid size park it's history is incredible and their coaster lineup is probably one of the best for a park that size. Iron Menace will be such a great addition to Dorney! 

[IndyGuy4KI]

New look for Thunderhawk's 100th. 

 

[DJSkyFoxx]

 

[DJSkyFoxx]

I read on their social media that they are still trying to get the timing on the holding brakes right for the dangling effect, but its still cool to see an official POV. Short but sweet little ride. 

[DonHelbig]

Soar to new heights with Ride for a Cause at Dorney Park!

https://themeparksbydon.com/ride-for-a-cause-a-night-of-thrills-and-touchdowns-at-dorney-park/

 

[Oldiesmann]

I'm glad to see Dorney finally getting a new ride and am looking forward to experiencing it when I visit again in July. With Hershey and Great Adventure both being within 90 minutes of Dorney, it's nice to see them getting the spotlight instead of just the other two big parks.