Dorney Park Trip Report

After Laser, we made our way down the midway and back across the bridge over the little stream. Thunderhawk was the only coaster, besides Hydra (which wasn't open yet) that we hadn't hit yet, so we decided to make our way over there and check it out. As we walked to the ride's entrance, we looked up at the ride's structure as the train roared though the course. Now, I had ridden Thunderhawk the season before in HalloWeekends, and knew how rough it was. I warned my friend as we walked to the entrance that this was going to be one rough ride, and indeed it was very, very rough. Finally we made our way to the entrance, which is actually pretty hidden with all of the plants and the Scrambler in the way. However, the ride's sign displays the entrance, and without it, I'd have a very hard time finding the entrance to the ride. We passed the sign and walked through the yet again empty queue line. This day was shaping up to be better than I ever thought it would be. The back end of the park was still literally dead. What I didn't know was if the front part of the park would be crowded, but we would find that out later on. Anyway, we made our way into the station, which was yet again, completely dead. I was really starting to think that this day was unreal. Since it was only a one train wait, we opted for a front row ride. The year before I had ridden towards the back in the middle, so I wanted to see how the front was compared to the back. However, on T-hawk, wherever you sit, you WILL be bumped around, and there's nothing you can do to prevent it. As we waited for our ride, we saw some of the other kids from our school waiting for a few rows behind us. We talked about what we had already ridden so far. It seemed like they hadn't encountered any lines either, considering they got on quite a lot so far, as did we. When they said they went on Dominator, I questioned if it was opened, mainly because I hadn't seen it go up all day. Then again, I really hadn't been paying attention, considering I was running ride-to-ride. My friend and I decided while waited to hit up Dominator next, considering it was very close to T-hawk and also that the ride can take a while for loading times. Finally, after only a one train wait (the ride was running one train only), it was our time to ride. As soon as the other passengers exited, our air gate opened and I put my bag across the station and in one of the bins. Then, I came back down and took a seat in our row. We buckled our seat belts, and the lap bar soon came down. We were all ready to go, and the operators soon quickly checked the train. The operators on this ride were excellent again. Operations at Dorney had been excellent all day, and I've been impressed by them from both my visit last year and this year. Anyway, we were soon rolling out of the station and on our way on probably the most rickety and bumpy coaster I've ever been on.

After departing the station, we entered a strong U-turn to the right, throwing us to the side. After this, we went down a small drop and over a small bunny hill under the ride's exit stairs. After this small hill, we encountered the lift hill. The lift on T-hawk is probably the only part of the ride that is actually smooth. Even though I love the bumpiness and wickedness of a classic woodie, this ride goes a little too far in my book. A nice rehab would be great for the ride. While it wouldn't make the ride as smooth as steel, it would even out the ride's major problem areas, which right now, are pretty bad. Anyway, we made our way quickly up the lift hill. The lift hill on this ride is always over before you know it. You get a nice view of the surrounding area, especially the stream, for a few seconds and then that's it. You're gone. This same exact thing happened to me while riding T-hawk this time. I was looking around, enjoying the views, and then BAM! You're out of there and down the the first drop. I seriously didn't know we were at the top until we finally crested it and made our way down. As we plummeted down the first drop, the arms went up. The first drop on T-hawk is nice, and I found a nice pop of floater air as we made our way down. The first drop on T-hawk twists to the left, which evens you out for our first little hill. The first hill of the ride is completely a surprise, as it is only about 10 feet tall and you usually don't see coasters go from a 80 foot ascent to around a 10 foot hill. Anyway, this little surprising hill offered a nice pop of floater air before we entered the violent part of this ride. The bumpiness on the drop and little hill is nice bumpiness and good classic woodie bumpiness, but the bumpiness coming up is just insane. After the nice surprising hill, we made our way into the Figure 8 part of the ride, which is where the bumpiness is at its best. We made our way up our next ascent, and as soon as we crested it...holy crap. I got SLAMMED into that lap bar at full force. This was Mr. Ejector Air saying hello. However, this wasn't regular ejector air, this was ejector air that HURT! You really slam into that lap bar at full force, which is what makes this ride so crazy. After the moment of insanity, we completed a nice U-turn, which threw us to the side again. After a nice U-turn, we fell back down to earth which happened to be a surprisingly rough drop. After this, we made our way back up another ascent, just like the last one. However, this one is just even more insane. As we finally crested it, wham! My knee went STRAIGHT into a metal piece of the lap bar, which hurt for a while but eventually would wear off as the day went on. The ejection on this hill, just like the last, is crazy. I'm putting out a firm warning that this ride can be very extreme at parts, such as these hills. Anyway, after the moment of insanity, We made our next U-turn above the ground. This part was again nice, until we continued our path down our next drop. The ride continued to be bumpy, but this kind of bumpy was normal, and definitely not as bad as the extreme moments we had just witnessed. We made our way to the next hill, which again wasn't as bad as the others. This one offered a nice pop of air before twisting us down into the ride's final bunny hills. This may be my favorite part of the ride actually. This part of the ride has some tame bumpiness to it, which is great, and also offers some good floater on the hills. We entered the first one after coming down from the curved hill. Ah, floater air. This type of air feels so tame after we have just encountered. One, two, three bunny hills each offer a nice pop of floater air, which was nice as always. After the third hill, we came inside the structure and encountered one last bunny hill with a pop of air before slamming into the brakes. And you slam HARD into those brakes. We came to a complete stop before re-entering the station. As we did, I told my friend, "I told you it was rough". He seemed to agree. Overall, Thunderhawk is a good ride, but I think parts of the ride could be re-done. Some of the ride has that classic woodie bumpiness, and some of it does not. Some of it is just insane. Even though I love ejector air, DP should consider a small rehab on the ride, because IMO, it is definitely needed in some areas.

Finally we re-entered the station. I came to the conclusion that every row on this ride was going to be quite a bumpy ride. We came to a halt, unbuckled our seat belts, and lifted up the lap bar to exit the ride. We picked up my bag from the bin and made our way down the exit stairs. Ah Thunderhawk, DP's sole woodie. Let's hope you get a nice re-track sometime in the near future. After we exited and came back on to the midway, we knew what our next destination was. It was stared us in the face as it dominates over all of the rest of the park. You know what it is, the park's signature drop tower, Dominator.