A Preview of Grand Carnivale At Dorney Park - Event Opens July 20th!

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We've been patiently waiting for the "ultimate cultural celebration" that is Grand Carnivale to premier at Dorney Park, which happens Saturday, July 20th, and now we're only a few days away!  After getting a taste of the festivities at a couple other Cedar Fair parks, our anticipation of the event has hit a true peak.  To that end we checked out the park as they are in their final days of preparation for Grand Carnivale in order to give a preview of the event to our readers.

Walking up to the park, Grand Carnivale makes itself known immediately.  The main entrance plaza is decked out in its finest, with giant beads, colorful flags and special signage all over.

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The fun continues immediately once you enter the park, with decorations and signage present all over.  Unlike we saw during the celebration at Kings Dominion and Kings Island, Dorney Park's Grand Carnivale is presented in a more condensed area, a benefit in my book.  The amount of decorations the park has already put in place along the main midway is giving the area a bright and shimmering appearance - there's seriously something to look at no matter which way you turn.

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Entertainment is a central part of Grand Carnivale, and there are separate stages and performance areas found all over.  This main one is located on the backside of the Antique Carousel, but stages can be found stretching all the way to bordering White Water Landing's lagoon.

The above stage is by far the largest and most elaborate that the park has created, and it's impressive all on its own!  It still isn't totally finished, but when it is it will be the location of the Grand Carnivale Opening Ceremony, featuring the King & Queen of Carnivale.  That performance will officially start the festivities, including the opening of food and craft tents, the Adventure Club and more.

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Each of the countries being celebrated during Grand Carnivale (China, France, Germany, India and Italy) have their own food stand.  This is Italy's which is located just beyond the Antique Carousel.  Each of the countries attractions, entertainment and food are clustered together, with decorations and theming throughout.  As you move down the Main Midway you encounter other countries, next is China, then India, and France and Germany share the area in front of White Water Landing's lagoon.

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The stage that went up over the former water fountain/planter looks like it is going to be homebase for the entertainment related to India.  You can see some new decorations that have been added to this area to liven up the stage a bit.  It was a hot day at the park when I took these photos and the stage was still serving as a nice place to rest.

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Also scattered throughout each of the themed sections are Adventure Club stands.  Visitors can partake in the Adventure Club Challenge, which is filled with clues and puzzles that can be solved in order to gain acceptance to the club.  There will be printed Adventure Club guides available at the stands that tell you where to go, and you can start at any country.  Each task that is completed earns a stamp in their guide book, and completing all tasks earns you an Adventure Club Badge.

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Here are some shots of the far side of the Grand Carnivale celebration, sorry the sun wasn't really agreeing with me taking photos!  You can see many food tents set up in the area for Germany and France around here, along with tons of new seating.  There's actually new seating located all along the walkways for guests to sit and eat and relax.

The food is an important part of Grand Carnivale, with each country offering several tastings.  Groups of six tastings can be purchased for $30, or each item can be purchased on its own.  The items offered all correspond to the host country, with authentic foods and desserts offered at each.  There are a lot of tasty sounding items, such as China's Emperor's Chinese Spare Ribs, complete with a sweet sticky sauce, and Italy's Roman Suppli, which are fried rice balls stuffed with cheese and pepper and doused in marinara.

Those with a sweet tooth will love the Banana Baji, a batter dipped fried banana in India, Apple Strudel from Germany, and France's Profiteroles, which are delicate cream puffs, among others.

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As covered earlier each area has their own entertainment stage or area, this one here belongs to France.  Shows are varied with a ton of performers, again each themed to their home country.  For instance, Germany will have polka and accordion players, France will have mimes and magic, and Italy will have authentic puppetry performances.  There's going to be a ton of live entertainment all throughout the evening, so be sure to look for different performances while you're at the park.

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When these photos were taken the park was already heavily decorated, but there was still a lot more to come.  This look inside the Good Time Theater shows that there was still an abundance of decorations that would be heading into the park before the premiere.  And this was only part of what still needed to go out!  I can't wait to see the finished product.

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The Theater is also a massive staging area for the performers in Grand Carnivale, and there are a lot of them no question.  This rack is holding onto the fancy head pieces that just some of the performers wear, all bright, colorful and full of energy.

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All those performers need costumes to put on a good show, and the Theater is also the holding area for those.  There are racks and racks of outfits in this area, these photos only show some of them.  They looked like they were clustered by country, and all of them were even more elaborate than I expected.

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They are all specially made for Grand Carnivale, and not only match the theme of their country but also continue the bright and festive vibe the decorations have. 

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There is one major component of Grand Carnivale that we haven't covered yet, and that is the Spectacle of Color Parade.  Taking place each evening as the sun sets, the parade features extravagantly decorated floats, street performers, and a unique soundtrack created specially for it.

During my visit to the park the temporary staging area for the parade, located outside the gates beyond Good Time Theater, had a few of the floats already on property.  Above is a giant elephant made of drums that guests and performers can both enjoy.

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Here is the giant Jules Verne Airship, which will glow brilliantly in the dark (all the floats will, for that matter).  The lighting of the photo makes it hard to tell, but the airship is covered in lights.  There will be a total of 9 floats in the Spectacle of Color Parade and it will last in the neighborhood of 30 minutes.

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Here we have the parade's lead float, known as the King of Carnivale.  That's because this guy is the king, as if that wasn't obvious from the crown.  The main section of this float also contains a small trampoline that performers stay on during the route, bouncing and entertaining the crowd as they go.

While on the subject of the parade's route, it will begin at the Good Time Theater, travel through Planet Snoopy, head around the Wild Mouse and travel down the Main Midway and back.  There will be a few parade stops during the route where performers can interact with park guests, since all the floats have interactive elements built into them.

In the end each of the 5 featured countries will have their own dedicated float, plus the King in the lead, and three traditional Mardi Gras-styled floats in the back.  Each day some lucky park guests will be picked to ride these floats, and yes, there will be beads thrown!

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At the end of the parade several of the floats will remain on the midway to add to the environment as the Grand Carnivale Street Party begins.  The festivities go until the park closes, with even more special live entertainment, booming music, a dance party, special lighting and more.

An event of this level has never been done at Dorney Park before to my knowledge, and we think the crowds are going to be amazed at all it has to offer.  Grand Carnivale at Dorney Park starts this Saturday, July 20th, and will run each night through August 11th.  See you there!