Dorney Park 8.7.12 Update

This will be pretty brief, as now that the dog days of Summer have set in most parks, like Dorney, are coasting along until the Fall season sets in.  That's when the excitement is back, and instead of heading to the wave pool first thing you put on your jacket and head toward a haunted house!

But before we look at those things that are scary, I took notice that the Screamin' Swing is now only $2 per rider.  Maybe it has been that way before, but that's far cheaper than I ever remember seeing it.  It seems to be working though, as there were actually a handful of folks in line for it today!  I have to wonder if the ride has served its purpose at Dorney in the 8 seasons it has been there, and might do better at another park for a while, a la Skyscraper?

Some more movement has been made on the park's gigantic new haunted house, said to come in at 13,000 square feet using both the former Club Blood building and a lot of outdoor space as well.  For comparison the Mansion House is 10,000 square feet, and is noticeably longer than most haunts.  Add another 3,000 square feet to that, and well, this new one could be quite a treat.

The structure that has gone up has been enclosed and painted, and then destroyed some for the sake of theming.  I still can't be sure exactly what it is, but I'm sure when the theme is revealed it will make more sense.

Heading around the back of White Water Landing we can see some more build for the new haunt.  I'm not really sure what this structure is supposed to be, but it is covered in some sort of netting.  Obviously the outdoor path for the new haunt will take guests under the ride and through different structures and sets.

Zooming in some, we can see sets being worked on, which I will guess are for this new Haunt.  It's not impossible that they are for something else, though, since they are backstage and that's where the park preps all the attractions.  There's Schwab's Pharmacy, which has an almost Western look to it, perhaps for Cut Throat Island?  There's some more dilapidated walls over here too with one dirty looking toilet involved as well.

Still zoomed in we can also see more sets up backstage, these have barbed wire lining the top of them.  I can't wait for Dorney Park to reveal more about Haunt V - they just set up a new Official Blog and are promising that Haunt news will be forthcoming!

In other Haunt news the walls for Death Trap have been brought out of storage, which means that they will probably be quickly assembled soon.  Technically I'm assuming they are for Death Trap, as the park hasn't announced for sure that it is coming back.

Some other small observations around the park - Thunderhawk has these new metal barriers lining all low sections of the track.  I can only guess that they are to keep people out of the ride's path, even though there is a separate, rather tall, fence as well.

I took a stroll through Dinosaurs Alive! to see how the new attraction was holding up, and I was impressed to find things looking better than opening day.  The grass and other plants that the park put in have grown out nicely, giving the area even more atmosphere.  Some small changes, like the addition of benches, have made the path even more guest friendly.

The winding path through the woods is very peaceful during the day, especially if you catch it when there are not a lot of other people around.  I wonder if Dinosaurs Alive! will be open in any capacity during the Fall - I do not at all expect it to be used during Haunt, however.

Finally, if you look at this photo in the larger size just about in the middle you can see a marked tree and a couple flags, but honestly this is so at the end of Dorney's property line that I'm not even sure the land we're looking at belongs to them.  The photo was taken deep in Dinosaurs Alive! at the very backside.

I've been scouring the park looking for potential markings for a new attraction, and this is all I've turned up so far - so not much.  We'll stay tuned, though!