Not too much to see with this short update, just my views as we made a quick stop at the start of our trip back home to Pittsburgh. Half of these shots were taken from a moving car. You will see some of the shots blurry and also with a hint of reflection of the dash onto the windshield. The workers were working feverishly to get the Island Waterworks Playground area beautified. We did not have the time to get out and check the Snake Pit site, but judging how there were very few slide pieces left in the parking lot staging area, I would assume they are making some solid progress. The area we were looking at back over the summer on the far end of the parking lot has grass planted for now. Keep an eye out on this site for you should see some future expansion either in this spot of the park or the parking lot. Either this spot, or some of the area into the current parking lot should be perfect for a park expansion in coming years.
Think of the following shots like a slide show animation, similar to the Flock of Seagulls errrr AHA "Take on Me" music video. On a side note, as I was looking at this first photo, I stupidly went to wipe at my screen like there were dirt specs on the screen when it really was the power line helicopter buoys near Lehigh Valley Hospital Cedar Crest. The line down the center-right of the shot is the reflection of the dash onto the windshield. This sequence of driving/riding has always excited me. It must be extremely exciting for someone who has driven quite a distance to visit the park. I recall being as young as three or four years old and getting extremely excited to see this view, especially after a boring trip to the Whitehall Mall. Some things never change, I can't stand shopping and I have always loved amusement parks. I recall seeing Laser, Thunderhawk, and Whitewater Landing are the only rides I recall from this time period. I never noticed Hercules, the tallest coaster at the park at the time. That corner sort of hides out of view.
Due to the rushed nature of this trip, we could not really stop. At this point I asked for Brit to let me out of the car as she waited in the drive thru at McDonalds. This has always been my favorite McDonalds for reasons having nothing to do with the food and everything to do with the view. I laughed yesterday when Reverend Cliff told me about how much he loves to stop at this Mickey D's and "stare at the Holy Land." In all seriousness though, please be extremely careful on Hamilton Boulevard because this is a very dangerous stretch of road. These four coasters really create a spectacular view.
Dorneyville: Invert Shuttle City. Not hugely known fact, Dorney is actually located in an unincorporated little village aptly named Dorneyville. The current main entrance road up to the large service gate at the end of that alignment actually consisted of a working street that went through the center of the park near Dominator.
The sheer length of Steel Force always amazes me. The nature of making every element huge makes this one of the most relaxing hyper coasters out there, in addition to making it the longest coaster on the entire East Coast. The length also puts it into a tie for 6th longest in America and into a tie for 11th longest in the world.
Boy I love Talon.
It feels like Steel Force's layout never ends!
Now for some (sorta) news. Here is the Island Waterworks. This fun water playground area has stayed popular since it was constructed 16 years ago now. This Whitewater West attraction was really groundbreaking for the time and set the example for future water attractions. You can see how great it looks now after all of the great repainting and revamp work they are doing. There was a large crew working on the ride yesterday. There is no time for breaks in regards to park preparation to be able to take a day off on Easter.
I see three of Talon's four inversions. I really enjoy the loop and zero-g roll, but I feel that the corkscrew on Talon is perfectly placed for a surprise. Even after hundreds of laps on this ride, the corkscrew catches me by surprise every time. This spot was filled with water slide parts on standby for installation just a few weeks ago.
This was a shot in motion, we did not have time to stop and check it out, but you can see that only a few slide pieces remain in the staging area.
We needed to head over to the other side of 222 before we could get onto I-78 to head back home. The following views are from 222 back on the approach to the park.
On the other side of this ramp is the area we were spotting last season for expansion. The site simply has grass for now. Expect some expansion in that area over the next few years.
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