Dorney Park/Wildwater Kingdom - one day or two

[justintime]

We are planning to go to Dorney Park on either Aug 26 or 27. My original thought was that we would spend one day at Dorney and another day at Wildwater Kingdom. A few people have said that the parks are on the smaller side, so it got me wondering if I would actually need two days. I certainly don't want to pay for a 2 day ticket only to find that we breeze through both parks in a day. Has anyone gone that can offer your opinion? My children are 7 and 9. They are both thrill seekers so we would be doing most of the roller coasters. My daughter is just over 48 inches though, so there will be some we won't do since she won't be tall enough.

 

[Cindy B]

Wild Water Kingdom is SMALL! - very small- which is probably why it is included in the ticket.

We were Dorney AP holders a few years ago. My kids did the coasters and maybe a run through the water play structure (similar to a playground) and they were fine.

Now I know they have put some new things in, but it was small. Are you relatively local? We lived about an hour away and could do it all in one day- not even a open to close day either.

 

[justintime]

Wild Water Kingdom is SMALL! - very small- which is probably why it is included in the ticket.

We were Dorney AP holders a few years ago. My kids did the coasters and maybe a run through the water play structure (similar to a playground) and they were fine.

Now I know they have put some new things in, but it was small. Are you relatively local? We lived about an hour away and could do it all in one day- not even a open to close day either.

We are about 2 hours away. So if we can do it in a day, then there may not be a need to get a hotel room.

 

[java]

I live nearby and would say it's a one day park. That waterpark is not big at all.

I am pretty sure you can chose to stay you can upgrade your ticket at the end of the day to be a 2 day. There are lots of nearby hotels so I don't think you would have trouble finding a room. Plus we go back to school on the 23rd, so it should be lighter crowds. ( we are nj though dont know about PA schools)

 

[Mom3girls]

I just wanted to mention that Acme sells Dorney Park tickets. Over 48' (in shoes) price is $35 and under 48" (in shoes) price is $25. Park is relatively small and we did it all in one day. we got there close to opening and left near closing cause my girls are into rollercoasters and went on them multiple times.

 

[troane522]

I live nearby and would say it's a one day park. That waterpark is not big at all.

I am pretty sure you can chose to stay you can upgrade your ticket at the end of the day to be a 2 day. There are lots of nearby hotels so I don't think you would have trouble finding a room. Plus we go back to school on the 23rd, so it should be lighter crowds. ( we are nj though dont know about PA schools)

I'm in NJ as well and my kids return 9/5...school dates are such a ymmv type thing that they are hard to go by...

 

[java]

I'm in NJ as well and my kids return 9/5...school dates are such a ymmv type thing that they are hard to go by...

I agree- but it seems that the western part of the state is doing this earlier thing. Ours went this way last year to match up with the high school. What's really killing me is that my oldest moves to college AFTER the littles start school.

oh and sorry for being OT

 

[Yoshi]

I go to Dorney around 10 times a year, the park can easily be done in a day. I was there yesterday and was able to ride 6 coasters, the drop tower and go to the waterpark and go on 13 slides in 3 hours. The only concern is that if you are going the last week the waterpark is open, it is possible not all slides will be open. I usually go that one day week every year and the 2nd lazy river and 2nd wavepool are usually closed and on some slide towers like Patriot's Plunge, only 2 out of 3 slides were open because they didn't have enough lifeguards and Wildwater Rapids (a 4 slide tower) didn't open until later in the day.

The waterpark can get very crowded so I suggest going there right at opening or later in the day the last few hours the waterpark is open.

The nice thing about Dorney is that while the waterpark is open, the coasters either have no wait or a very short wait (except the Wild Mouse) which is one reason I like the park so much since I know that if I go on a weekday, I don't have to worry about lines on the ride side.

 

[HFred]

Combined, they are small enough to do in a day. If you want a more relaxing time, you could do 2-days. If you are a AAA member in PA you can get a really decent discount on 1-day tickets. We live about 30 minutes from the park, and while we don't go often, we've always had time to do all we wanted without killing ourselves!

 

[HFred]

Forgot to ad that most of the local school districts start back to school the 27th or 28th so you may get lucky with the local crowd level!

 

[TaraPA]

We're a local school district near Dorney & we go back Monday the 27th.

I also agree its a 1-day park.

 

[justintime]

We're a local school district near Dorney & we go back Monday the 27th.

I also agree its a 1-day park.

Thanks. If the local schools go back the 27th, then it sounds like we won't have much of a problem with lines, so even more reason that we can get it done in one day!

 

[Cindy B]

NJ School districts (an hour away or so) go back in September. While you will have less crowds, you will still have people there.

 

[ajw1117]

I live about an Hour away and just went 2 weeks ago my kids are 9 and 10 and we did everything in 1 day on a wed. Going during the week you should be able to get everything done in 1 day. We even went back to car and had lunch(cooler in trunk) Can bring snacks and water in park they really dont check bags just coolers but allow water. have Fun