Cyclonic
Posts: 2636
Registered: 7/19/2002
Rank: Experiment 626
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 10/30/2005 6:46:58 PM
Dutch Wonderland
October 23, 2005
Weather - Perfect, lots of sun, high in the mid 60's
Full photo gallery can be found here:
http://cyclonic.smugmug.com/gallery/907774
"So, did you like riding the Princess?" my sister asked when I talked to her later that evening. "That can be taken all sorts of directions, huh?" She quickly corrected.
I did enjoy riding the Princess, the Sky Princess that is. A couple of weeks ago at PPP, I ran into Brian and Carol Watts. Brian had said they had planned on visiting Dutch Wonderland the night before, but due to the rain it was closed. He had a bunch of comp tickets from Hershey, and offered me one since I was planning on visiting on Sunday. As it turned out, I woke up on Sunday feeling like I had been hit by a truck, and decided to instead get a few last rides in, visit GCII for the tour, and head home.
So, it took me two weeks to finally get a chance to take a ride out to the land of the Amish and visit the park for the first time in 20 years. I got to the park at about quarter till four, for the four o'clock opening. You enter the park through the castle, which just as I remember it, was a large gift shop. On the other side of the castle was the main gate to the park, something that was not there when I last visited, since then it was a free admission park with ride tickets.
The ticket plaza itself is small, but nice looking, with colorful brick buildings making up the various gates. The park mascots, the Princess and Duke, the Dragon, were there greeting the kids.
After going through the gates you are confronted with the train station and a choice, to head right or head left. I headed to the right to make my way to the Sky Princess. On the way I cross the small pond via this neat pontoon bridge.
It did not take me long to get to the empty Sky Princess station (1), and I headed up to the platform.
I hopped into the back seat, and after a minute we were off. Sky Prince was CCI's first coaster, and is a small family coaster topping out at only 55 feet. It is a funky design, not overly thrilling, but great fun to ride none the less. Out of the station the coaster turns to the right and rolls to a quick lift hill. After cresting the lift, the ride does a small drop into banked right turn before dropping down the main drop. At the bottom of the main drop there is this funky little five foot bump, that is all that it really is, that gives a little spike of airtime before rising a larger hill. The train does an s-turn as it passes over the monorail and then drops down into the fan turn to head in the other direction. Out of the fan turn is a short tunnel as it passes below the monorail, which for Halloween they had decked out with a strobe light and a fog machine, making as really cool effect as it grew darker. It does another bunny hop, and then a flat left turn into a dive under the monorail yet again. This is the best part of the ride, with some nice laterals and a nice pop of air. The dip is followed by a quick upward helix into the brake run. I really liked the ride, it is nothing intense, but it seems to fit perfectly into the park, and actually delivered more then I expected. It was run very well to, a very friendly crew that had no problem letting me take any empty seats, so I got a ton of rides on it that night. I just wish I could have gotten some better photos of it.
Across the was from the Princess is the Joust, a decent sized Zamp
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adriahna
Posts: 4692
Registered: 6/4/2003
Rank: Site Moderator
Skooter Junkie
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10/31/2005 8:59:04 AM
Very cool, Cyclonic - the pics are great (as always), and it's a treat to see the park from the inside. I just missed checking out DW this summer - was at a greyhound event right next door (literally - it was at the Lancaster Host convention center), but we were booked solid through the weekend. Maybe next summer - it looks like a charming park.
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larrygator
Posts: 4654
Registered: 11/7/2002
Rank: Platinum Critic
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10/31/2005 4:17:16 PM
man I haven't been there in at least 30 years but I remember the castle anf the monorail.
Do you know if they had swan boats in the lagoon years ago? As a kid I remember swan boats at some amusement park and I think this was the park.
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Canobie Coaster
Posts: 2694
Registered: 7/26/2005
Rank: Platinum Critic
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10/31/2005 7:44:04 PM
Dutch Wonderland used to have Swan Boats. I think it was one of their original rides when Dutch Wonderland opened.
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Hercules
Posts: 4037
Registered: 10/13/2004
Rank: Platinum Critic
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10/31/2005 8:18:15 PM
Nathan, you never stop amazing me with these reports. I was just considering doing this park next year, but now I am definately going to make my way there. Thanks a lot for making my decision a lot easier. 
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Cyclonic
Posts: 2636
Registered: 7/19/2002
Rank: Experiment 626
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10/31/2005 10:11:02 PM
Hmmmm...I used the same photo twice. Oh well.
All I can say is the Lusse Skooters made the night, it was completely unexpected. It is a nice little park, I was really impressed by it, and intend to return.
BTW, I now need just one coaster, Vapor Trail, which is only ten minutes from my house, to have ridden every coaster that allows adults in Pennsylvania. Quite a feat considering there are a dozen parks with coasters.
Message updated 10/31/2005 10:12:31 PM by Cyclonic
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hpskibum
Posts: 1
Registered: 11/2/2005
Rank: Aspiring Critic
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 11/2/2005 5:13:50 PM
Glad you had a good time, we got rained out DW friday and sunday the park was closed because it was flooded. My mom ended up using 3 of the tickets this past weekend to my two of my cousins. Oh by the way, I only have the Rollersoaker which is about 15 mins from my house to have ridden every adult coaster in PA.
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mrceagle
Posts: 13804
Registered: 6/9/2001
Rank: TPC News Minister
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11/14/2005 1:12:59 PM
Nice trip report. one thing to mention is that the lance Coaster is actually a Chance Big Dipper not a Zamperla. nice pic of it though.
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Cyclonic
Posts: 2636
Registered: 7/19/2002
Rank: Experiment 626
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11/15/2005 11:52:17 AM
Yeah, I know. I didn't look it up when I wrote the report, and it looks very much like the Zamperla models. I wonder if there is a connection?
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mrceagle
Posts: 13804
Registered: 6/9/2001
Rank: TPC News Minister
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11/16/2005 12:27:54 AM
I doubt it. your talking an Italian Company witha terable family coaster compared to Chances farly well set up Diper. If you look around many family coaster work on the same track set up. Guestler, Ziere, etcalso have similar set ups.
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The Lado
Posts: 178
Registered: 5/24/2004
Rank: Bronze Critic
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11/19/2005 9:02:25 AM
Believe it or not, I worked at this park for a few months in 2002, the summer after, I believe, Hershey bought it. Looking at your pictures not much has changed.
Looks like they spruced up the Wonder House al little bit, btw I loved that ride...To add on to your thread this park is entirly different from Knoebels. First of all, almost every single ride thats there has a dead man pedal, while Knoebels has none. DW also has strict rules for workers. Knoebels is way more laid back. DW just seems like your locked in a cage with rides in it. Its nice to bring your kids, just aint my cup of tea. Anyone, sorry for ranting...
Btw, the ride I loved to operate was the Monorail. When about to leave, close doors, and say "Monorail leaving station", set dial to 9. Slow down in two spots and honk the horn in two spots, and just sit back. Loved it! The ride I hated, that small pirate ship. Same speech during the ride for 8 hours. "Prepare for impact!"
Thanks for the review and pictures and sorry for ranting!
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adriahna
Posts: 4692
Registered: 6/4/2003
Rank: Site Moderator
Skooter Junkie
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11/19/2005 11:27:05 AM
Lado - what's a "dead man pedal"? Probably an amateurish question, but as someone who's never run rides in a park (too busy doing caricatures instead), I'm curious...
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larrygator
Posts: 4654
Registered: 11/7/2002
Rank: Platinum Critic
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11/19/2005 8:00:42 PM
I don't know about park rides, but in generic terms a "dead man's pedal or grip is something that must have pressure constantly applied by the operator or the power will cut out. It is used in NYC subways to stop a train, in case the motorman has a heart attack at the wheel. A focal point of the escape plan in the original version of the movie "Taking of Pelham 1-2-3"
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adriahna
Posts: 4692
Registered: 6/4/2003
Rank: Site Moderator
Skooter Junkie
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11/20/2005 12:35:58 PM
Aha! That's right - thanks, larry. "Pelham" is a great movie - sorely underappreciated.
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The Lado
Posts: 178
Registered: 5/24/2004
Rank: Bronze Critic
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11/20/2005 2:31:50 PM
Quote:
larrygator said:
I don't know about park rides, but in generic terms a "dead man's pedal or grip is something that must have pressure constantly applied by the operator or the power will cut out. It is used in NYC subways to stop a train, in case the motorman has a heart attack at the wheel. A focal point of the escape plan in the original version of the movie "Taking of Pelham 1-2-3" |
Aww, my friend you are correct. Almost every ride had it there, with the exceptions being the coasters, log flume, wonder house, train, and the water tube ride.
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mrceagle
Posts: 13804
Registered: 6/9/2001
Rank: TPC News Minister
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11/22/2005 4:06:33 PM
I don't know about other PA parks. but most of the parks in NE have many rides with them. prity much any ride which requires the operater to stay at a safe distance. even Canobies Starblaster tower has one for the Ground Operater. if they leave the area the ride shuts down. and hopefully no one gets hurt.
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