Allentown, Pennsylvania – Sunday, July 15th, 2012
Moving on... Dorney Park is now home to a Planet Snoopy. Moving on...
Oh, hello there. I never expected to see you again, but here you are.
Demon Drop used to reside near the front entrance of Cedar Point, from 1983 to 2009. When it was announced they would relocate rather than scrap this aging attraction, I figured it *had* to be heading to my home park, Michigan's Adventure. We were the only park in the chain without a drop tower of any kind, and we still needed new attractions to make up for lost time. It wasn't a long shipping distance, and people would love having it. But it wasn't to be, and ended up here, where they already have an S&S Combo tower. Le sigh...
Part of the reason I'd be thrilled to have it at Michigan's Adventure is because it's one of the few types of "drop tower" rides I enjoy.
Most drop towers are so two dimensional in design and experience. On Demon Drop the process of getting up to the top and then back down to the station is so convoluted that the freefall is only a small part of the experience.
There's an experiential story on the Demon Drop completely with introduction, rising action, anticipation, climax, and resolution.
Most of it is just plain weird, though. It's an interesting to observe from an engineer's point of view.
The unrestrained freefall, followed by the feeling of "falling backwards" as you curve around the bottom of the drop, always gets me in a way that the standard air-powered drop towers by S&S do not.
So redundant... at least Pennsylvanians now have a slightly better drop tower to ride. Michiganders are still out of luck.
This giant stone-and-concrete freeform fountain/sculpture is a neat piece of local history, and possibly the least "Cedar Fair-ized" element remaining in Dorney Park. The abrasive visual quality of this piece is a strange contrast to the rest of the sanitized amusements.
Dorney Park began it's life as Solomon Dorney's Trout Ponds and Summer Resort. Some fish (and ducks) are still here, but fishing is no longer allowed.
A brief history of the fountain.
Strolling along toward the western end of the park, past the original park entrance...
The center of Dorney Park is mostly coaster-less, filled with many traditional (aka typical) flat rides.
Thunderhawk is Dorney Park's classic (aka old) wooden roller coaster, known for most of its life as the Roller Coaster.
Thunderhawk is a portmanteau of two of the most overused cliches in roller coaster naming: severe weather and birds of prey.
This view of the twinned lift hills of Thunderhawk and Steel Force has become one of the most iconic images of Dorney Park.
Today would be only one train operation. Is there ever a day when both trains are running?
Thunderhawk begins with this partially subterranean trip to the lift hill.
Climbing the 80 foot lift.
Thunderhawk and Steel Force
Fun with weird camera angles.
First drop is about 60 feet and 45 miles per hour, but it feels like a lot more given how rough it is.
Most of Thunderhawk's layout encases this pleasant forested midway.
Unfortunately Thunderhawk is probably only the fifth best coaster designed by Herb Schmeck that's still operating in the state of Pennsylvania. The cars are simply too heavy and rigid to handle the track well. A bit of jostling should be allowed, but they try so hard to smooth it out that the natural vibrations compound and make the whole thing worse.
Despite it, Thunderhawk could be a cool ride. The fishhook out-and-back layout is relatively unique among classic wooden coasters, as are the descending spiral drops.
Thunderhawk is definitely a front seat ride, both because most of the airtime is found in small bursts at the top of the spiral drops (which don't offer much negative-G's on the way down), and because for whatever reason PTCs usually track tolerably from the very first row and nowhere else.
A trim brake along the final leg of the track kills a lot of extra speed, resulting in a weak finish. The potential for a good ride is there, it just needs more love.
Thunderhawk and Steel Force: different eras, same concept.
From this angle Steel Force dominates Thunderhawk.
Yeah, that’s pretty much all the highlights there. I love the log flume there and am a huge fan of the Zeyphr, but Thunderhawk is a shell of itself circa 10 years ago before the trims were really turned up. Once upon a time, the opening 2/3 of the ride was all standup air with a trim killing the run to the station. Then they installed one after the first drop and, well, that was that.
Demon Drop is Awesome! It’s the clanking at the top and the release. Great review!
I have a strategy I’d like them to try, it’s called building better rides.
What happened to these 2012 photo galleries?
Looks like the app I was using for a few updates back in 2012 to connect to Flickr is no longer supported and I’ll have to import them manually. Not at the top of my priority list but thanks for bringing it to my attention. This was the gallery it pulled from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rollercoasterphilosophy/albums/72157635051168226