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This past weekend marked not only Memorial Day Weekend at Dorney Park, but also the opening of Wildwater Kingdom for the 2018 season. That means that the property's largest expansion of the year also had its grand opening, and that's Tidal Wave Cafe. Apologies for the tardiness of this post, but better late than never!
Above is the main entrance to Tidal Wave Cafe, which is in the center of the expansive new building.
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Drawing backward a bit, you can get an idea of how this midway in Wildwater Kingdom has changed. It also helps to have Talon framing the shot as well! The area really looks complete now, with almost the entire stretch (starting with the new locker structure all the way down to the Papa Luigi's) totally rebuilt from scratch in the past few years.
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Tidal Wave Cafe is so large that it is complicated to get the whole thing in one photo, but here's part of the far side of the building. The structure alternates between green and yellow and has greatly improved the aesthetics of this part of the water park.
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This sign out front gives visitors an idea of what is offered inside... including hand battered shrimp, rotisserie chicken, brisket and even gourmet mac 'n cheese bowls.
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The atrium that you first enter is seen above, with various nautical theming all around. The park did a wonderful job on both the interior and exterior of the building, it is truly unlike anything else that the water park has offered to date. To be honest, it is leaps and bounds above the water park's food offerings even as of just a few years ago.
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There are two large serving stations that branch out at 90 degree angles from each other; in this photo only one of the serving stations was open. The cafeteria style ordering allows guests to pick what they want, have it quickly prepared, and then they're free to move on.
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On either side of the building are two check-out areas that also have some a la carte items offered as well. The side seen above also has a margarita bar built into the back wall, visible in the far left of the photo.
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I couldn't help but try the gourmet mac 'n cheese bowl my first go, after hearing how popular the item has already become at other Cedar Fair parks. I added some chicken, bacon and broccoli to mine, seen above, and it was delicious. Photos do not do it justice, and honestly the serving would have been enough for two!
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In addition to Tidal Wave Cafe the park also made some dramatic changes to the area seen above to add more space for a large dining area. They used some landscaping to keep the area separate from the main walkway (smart) and also added some great covers to let guests eat in the shade.
I can see myself, and probably many others with the dining plan, making Tidal Wave Cafe their location of choice whether they hit the water park or not!
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Elsewhere in the park I had missed this pre-Haunt display that is located near the entrance to Dinosaurs Alive on the park's opening weekend. Not sure if there's anything hidden in here or not... we have a pirate themed skeleton and a crypt with 2018 written on it in roman numerals. Could that mean something is changing related to the park's pirate-themed scare zone? I've no clue.
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These gravestones are also located adjacent to the display, but I'm not picking up any hints from these.
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Memorial Day Weekend also marked the opening of Thunderhawk for the season after an extensive retracking project was completed. In the photo above the track coming from the middle left of the photo and down the curve to the center was re-engineered and rebuilt.
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The curve is much smoother now and gives less of a jolt as the train makes its way through, which makes that first air-time hill before the trim even more enjoyable. Props to the park for continuing to make keeping this classic wooden coaster in great shape a priority!
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Lastly, here we have the park's nicely manicured field, formerly the home of Stinger. While taking these photos I heard several reactions from guests that had no idea the ride is no longer at the park.
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As expected the area has become a nice field with plenty of grass, and not much else.
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I did notice some pink flags off in the distance (any theme park fan is somehow trained to spot these from miles away) so I zoomed in and found some new landscaping waiting to go in. Perhaps these are for the Stinger field, to break it up a bit, or elsewhere in the park.
Stay tuned for more updates as the year progresses!
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