This passed Saturday, Dorney Park opened its gates for the 2012 season. Along with the park opening came the first public rides on Stinger, the relocated Vekoma “Invertigo” model previously located at California’s Great America. Our own Tori Finlay was kind enough to meet up with me at the park for a day of riding.

Unfortunately, after only fifteen minutes, Stinger experienced a bit of a hiccup, as a technical malfunction rendered the ride inoperable for the morning until about 12:30 in the afternoon, but from that point forward guests took numerous laps on the ride, generally to positive reviews. The weather in the mid-50’s meant a fairly light crowd that allowed for maximum riding in a minimal amount of time.

After the news of Stinger being down for the morning, we decided to head to Steel Force, the Morgan hyper coaster that is now accompanied by Dinosaurs Alive! at the bottom of the park. Although we did not elect to visit the exhibit this time around, many of the dinosaurs are visible from the path and it extends into the woods for what looks to be an exciting experience for only a five dollar up charge.

Steel Force provided some great floating airtime as it always does, with some great ejector air on the first drop in the back seat. Throughout the course of the day we made three trips on the ride including two in the back car and one in the very front seat. As always on Steel Force, ride in the front for floater air, back for ejector.

After Steel Force the first time we headed to Possessed, the ride I will be working on later this season, for a ride near the back of the train, which may not give you much twist on the front spike, but is an incredible seat for the back spike, seemingly going up forever until you finally stall out and plummet back to Earth.

Thunderhawk was next, and even though the front row was closed off due to a buzz-bar malfunction, one exciting thing to note was that the trim brake that has been affixed to the second to last bunny hill was deactivated, which meant bonus airtime on the final few hills that normally would not be given. For people who frequent the park, this will hopefully be a more permanent feature rather than just luck. Also of note is the structure of Thunderhawk continues to be replaced little by little each year and is riding as smooth as ever, making it in my opinion one of the most underrated wooden coasters around.

After one trip on each of the towers of Dominator, we made our way to the top of the park to visit Hydra: The Revenge. People like myself and Tori who visit the park often will tell you that Hydra has always seemed to have a bit of a rattle that B&M rides usually see dissipate once they break in, but for some reason Hydra’s has always stayed. I am very pleased to say that Hydra was running better than ever on this day, and while it may have been due to the cold weather (and consequently different wheels on the train), I had by far my best ride ever on Hydra this passed weekend.

Then it was on to Talon, in my opinion the best coaster in the park far and away. Talon, like Thunderhawk has always been underappreciated I think. It competes with the likes of Montu and Alpengeist in terms of best B&M inverted coasters. It was as smooth as glass, incredibly forceful, and not to mention, looking better than ever before with a brand new coat of orange and yellow paint. After working on the ride last season, it was great to see the parks’ best ride finally get an improved look.

We circled our way around the park a few times hitting each of the major rides at least one more time before I left the park in the afternoon. As far as Stinger goes, we received a few tips to make sure we sat on the end closest to the operator’s booth, as that was said to be the smoother end. The first time, we did just that, and the ride was very enjoyable. This end sees you going through the inversions backwards first, and gets you very dizzy (but a good dizzy). You have just enough time to catch your breath before you drop again, this time forwards, and absolutely fly through the inversions, giving an intense ride that rivals that of Talon.

On the other end of the train, the ride was indeed a bit rougher, but it was not nearly as bad as some other “Boomerang” models that have yet to receive new trains. It was still a fun ride and was tolerable, but I would suggest anyone who wants the best ride possible, ride on the end of the train closest to the booth. It should be noted I didn’t ride anywhere else on the train yet, so whether or not the ride varies among the train or has random “good” and “bad” seats remains to be seen. Perhaps Tori rode later after I left and could weigh in on that in the comments.

We ate lunch at the Coasters Café, where I downed a double bacon cheeseburger that comes from the new improvements of Cedar Fair’s food line, and I give it two thumbs up. The burger was great and the fries were good as well. Operations at the park were running pretty smoothly as well, especially considering there were numerous new employees getting their first real experience with guests.

Overall, I would have to say this was probably one of the most enjoyable trips to Dorney Park I have had. The lines were short, the rides were running and looking great, and as a guy who doesn’t love extreme heat, I was quite comfortable with the temperatures throughout the day. Hopefully everyone’s trip to the park this season will be just a good, if not even better. Hats off to the Dorney Park crew for a very solid opening day.