Demon Drop Opens At Dorney Park

Dorney Park sent out a text message today that Demon Drop was (finally) open and like a moth to the flame I dutifully went after work to check things out. I've only been documenting the ride's construction for 7 months now, after all!

Demon Drop was being bad when I got there, and wasn't running. After a while it started testing and then we got to take a ride. Now I was on it when it was at Cedar Point, so I knew what to expect. And that's exactly what it delivered.

Here's a view inside the station taken from the exit ramp. They load three cars at a time, then dispatch them out of the station and each one waits for its turn up the tower. I'm guessing that's how it was done at Cedar Point.

As soon as the ride reopened it had a long line, but I can't imagine that the queue (which is indeed just the walkway up to the ride and no more) will handle all the crowds. It goes without saying but people seemed to come off happy, having enjoyed themselves. Not many of them had any idea the ride is 27 or so years old, though I heard a lot of comparisons to Stuntman's Freefall at Great Adventure.

I made a video of the ride operating that I thought you guys might like. I added some snappy music to drown out the Beyonce playing in the park, too:



I expected and remembered the ride to be much louder than it actually is. I heard they didn't change the brakes at all, so that leaves me wondering if my memory was just that bad. It's not really that loud at all!

The ride also ran at about the best capacity it could, with the cars rarely "stacking" in the station area. That should help keep the line moving as well. I'm sure it'll be busy this 4th of July weekend, so go take a ride!