Steel Force is Sinking!!!!!

[modernphoenixv2]

Hahaha, it's been awhile, my friends. I figured that headline would draw some of my old DorneyOnline friends in here. I just wanted to say that I hope everyone enjoys the 2013 season, though I doubt I will make it over there myself due to some medical stuff.

Any word on when the yellow coaster is getting some love and rehab? Capital improvements for 2014? Were those two relocated death traps a replacement for the new coaster we were all hoping for or is there still a chance?

[djw44]

Every major steel coaster between the mid 80s and into the 90s has been rumored to be "sinking" lol. Vortex and Magnum were the other biggies.

[Yoshi]

Sorry to hear about the medical stuff

Hopefully we still get a new quality coaster soon. I'm still waiting for that GCI.

[dptalon135]

I haven't even been to the park since I finished working there in 2009. The year they finally build a GCI, I will buy a season pass. Honestly, the last big, attention-worthy project was Hydra... 8 years ago. For those of you who have been to the park in the past few years, do people even care about Demon Drop and Stinger?

[randydorney]

Since hearing of GCI coaster in 03 & 09, rumors been saying a 'possible' location of the ride would be behind 'Steel Force'. It's also could be 'semi-confirmed' of the new recent land purchase two months ago that's currently behind the new dinosaurs land.

The current refurb this season is: Coca-Cola changes from Pepsi, Entire Wild Mouse Repaint. Chickie & Pete's new restaurant in the former Red Garder Saloon / Game Day Grille building.

[Yoshi]

For those of you who have been to the park in the past few years, do people even care about Demon Drop and Stinger?

It doesn't seem like it. I went last year on Sunday of opening weekend. At any other park a new coaster relocated or not would have had a huge line. Stinger was 10 minutes. I didn't ride Demon Drop last year at all because I find it too painful and would rather ride Dominator but every time I walked by the ride, it had little to no wait. It appears people would rather ride Talon and Steel Force and the other better thrill rides instead. On a Sunday in September last year I had a solo ride on Stinger. Even with the park not crowded, for me to be able to get a ride on the parks new coaster that year with no one else on it is really bad for the park.

With Stinger, even ignoring the bad history the ride has that the GP probably doesn't know about, like Demon Drop it's a painful ride and the restraints are uncomfortable so maybe most people ride once and don't want to try it again.

[Hooky965]

I didn't get there last year either, so I can't really comment on Stinger. Don't think that I really need to, since I rode the same ride in two other parks last year. That's probably the reason why there's no fanfare...apart from a few uninitiated riders and/or younger riders, it's not anything that hasn't been done before. It's an also-ran the same way that other rides in the park are (pirate ship, enterprise, wave swinger, etc.). The fact that it's a coaster seems to do little to change that.

I must confess that I have a certain strange fondness for Demon Drop. It's probably because I never got to GA back in the day when this thing was "freefall" and a new ride. Furthermore, I was morbidly curious as to how this strange creation went about it's noisy business. I guess that my tempered attraction to this thing is more based upon the fact that I acknowledge that it's a relic and somewhat out of place here versus being happily enshrined in a park which is more known for an affection for old rides, like Knoebels. It's a reallly weird bird, and seems completely out of place in the park. As the park itself has become something more of a controlled corporate park rather than the eclectic conglomeration of rides that it featured when I was younger, I guess that side of it (the part that makes it harken back to that era) makes me appreciate it for the way that it goes about it's strange, loud, bangy business.

[djw44]

I had not been to the park in a few years, but I was able to get some free tickets so I went in the fall last year. Very fun. Stinger is a fun ride and Demon Drop has probably the best feeling of weightlessness on any ride. The release is very quick and not held back whatsoever. That second at the top is true freefall, a cool feeling. It is rough otherwise but worth it for that one second. The mainstays of Steel Force and Talon were fantastic as well.

[modernphoenixv2]

I wasn't there last year either... sad state of affairs when park enthusiasts like all of us aren't even bothering to go. I really don't care for the way they are turning Dorney Park into a place to draw the troublemakers they don't want at Cedar Park.

They even pay to bus them in now. It's not like in the past, where buses were given parking areas and a discount for everyone on them. They actually pay to bus people in to the park... ridiculous. Then there is the situations with ride after ride being relocated to Dorney. Look at Stinger and Possessed. Both rides experienced major breakdowns with Possessed sustaining a crash that would have killed passengers if it had not occurred in an early morning warm-up run and Stinger repeatedly trapping guests due to a flaw in the design.

Instead of scrapping them both like any other park would do, they painted them all pretty and moved them to Dorney. It shows a lack of concern for Dorney's customer base and gives an insight into their opinions about the value of the park. People quote the attendance numbers, but those numbers are inflated by all the buses. Let the park stand alone like the others in the Cedar Park chain and see what happens.

Meanwhile, at Cedar Point, they added yet another new, record-breaking coaster... bringing the total up to 16. http://www.usatoday.com/story/dispatches/2013/05/09/new-theme-park-coasters-cedar-point-gatekeeper/2145331/

[Christina87]

sorry to bump another old thread, but I've been curious. Can someone tell me what GCI is or stands for?

[Yoshi]

Great Coasters International, they are a wooden coaster manufacturer and were the ones who built Wildcat and Lightning Racer at Hershey.

[Christina87]

Great Coasters International, they are a wooden coaster manufacturer and were the ones who built Wildcat and Lightning Racer at Hershey.

ah ok. Thanks again.