Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom are two parks, side by side, owned by the same company. You pay one admission price and have access to both parks - once you walk through the main gates, you have an option to head right towards Wildwater Kingdom or stay in the "dry" section of Dorney Park itself. The price is VERY reasonable, especially considering you are paying for TWO parks and that most parks in the US cost between $30-60 dollars for admission. This year, the gate price is $39.99, but you can find discount coupons at several fast food chains and supermarkets that offer reduced admission prices. Also, new this year is something called "Joe Cool's BBQ", which is All-You-Can-Eat and admission for $41.99 when you buy your ticket and BBQ combo online. Dorney Park offers other ticket options, such as a two-day ticket, a starlight (after 5pm) ticket, and season passes. The park was very clean, and the staff was very friendly. I went in the middle of summer (The first week of August!), and the lines were not that long at all! The longest I had to wait to go on a ride was ten minutes, which is unheard of for a summer weekday. Dorney Park's newest roller coaster, Voodoo, also did not have a long wait! The rides are maintenanced throughout the day - when we got to the park, one of the coasters was closed, but before mid-afternoon, the ride was open and running full capacity.In addition to thrill rides and water rides, there are shows to watch, arts and crafts on specific days, games to play, paddleboating, and a beautifully landscaped park to just sit and enjoy. We spent the morning and the early afternoon in Dorney, and after lunch we headed towards the water park. Wildwater has a place for you to rent lockers for the day, and they also have cubbyholes scattered throughout the water park where you can stash your towel and sandals while you ride. The paths were clean, and the signs were easily noticable. What amazed me is how the park was able to integrate so many rides by having the rides "weave" through each other, saving both land and water. Allentown, Pennsylvania is less than a 2 hour drive from New York City. Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom offer a great deal for a "Daycation". Check it out!

I am pretty easy going on hotels after touring for a year or so. I stayed at some very questionable places…seriously! Cheaper equals better for the productions costs. Well this hotel threw me back a couple of years to the days of motel hopping from town to town. I have to say this looks like it was built in the 1960’s or 1970’s, nothing wrong with that. But it was a confusing set up. First off it took us five minutes to find the lobby. It isn’t marked at all. When we did find it, check in was pretty painless, but finding the room was crazy. The odd numbered rooms are on one side of the building and the even numbers are on the other side. Huh? We thought we had found our room, but the key wouldn’t work, why because it was the wrong room! Confusing! When we got inside, we were greeted by crazy red and blue psychedelic curtains and comforters that made me giggle like a madman! The smell was unique, but your nose soon becomes accustomed to it, which scares me a little. The other thing is that the sink is outside of the bathroom. I like to wash my hands after I use the facilities and would prefer that the sink stay in the bathroom so I don’t have to touch the doorknob with icky hands. But, that is just me… It does get a little noisy at night because the doors face outdoors since it is a motel, but after it quiets down, I have to say I had a great nights sleep. The room was a nice temperature and the bed was comfy! I had a great nights sleep Yeah, the décor is a little crazy and people hang out in the parking lot which is odd, but come on the price is 59.99 and up. You can’t beat that and we lived! All in all, it was very passable.

Last time I explored Allentown, Pennsylvania was February 2005 on my way to the airport to go to China.  It was freezing cold--the sidewalks were covered with ice and I almost crashed my rental car because it simply wouldn't stop while sliding down a hill.

Now the weather's much nicer--The trees are in bloom and white collar office workers and low income city folk mingle on Hamilton Ave, giving the city a friendly vibe...

Here are some things you might want to check out if you visit Allentown... Try some Salvadorean pupusas there on Hamilton (Allentown seems to have a big Latino influence)... a block or so down, there a quirky "Lost Art" store where you can buy anything from a shrunken skull to a 500,000$ extremely rare jade stork from China from a very talkative fellow (at least that's what he claimed)... A little farther down there's a little (free) museum with a replica of the Liberty bell (which actually made a visit to Allentown at one time)...  And then, if you're really lucky, like me, you'll see two women get into an all out catfight right there on Main Street... I thought it was cool to see bystanders try to pull the women apart until the police arrived (good neighborhood spirit)--and there were no guns involved!  (I guess they're just old fashioned here in Allentown...)

While I was playing my set a passerby hollered out "you should open up your guitar case--you could make a hundred dollars a day doing that!" 

I don't think so...

Meeting Tayler again, what a great idea, had to take one train and two airplanes to get there, but i had a good time, Tayler as always a good friend, received me at his home in Allentown, very good to see him again, ordered pizza that day, went to target and buy some stuff, also food at a supermarket, "Dont stop the Music" by Rihanna, was in the order of the day, my favorite song since being in Guatemala, was also Tayler's song, hehe, everytime i drive now, and listen to it, i remember of the great time i had at Allentown.

My cousin raved about this place for months. He even gave my girlfriend and I a gift card for Christmas. We decided to use it on Valentine's Day. What a mistake. We should have regifted it, the way we do Olive Garden gift cards. This place is nothing but the brutal mixture of an Olive Garden and a Fridays. The food was drowned in garlic and olive oil, and the decor was about as subtle as the bottom of a bus. For some reason, known only to the decorator, there were several penises on display in the men's room. Not from erstwhile users, mind you, but photographs. The penis's ranged in age from infant to adult. The adult one was gussied up with sunglasses and a beauty mark. I kid you not. So unenthralled with the entrees, we chose to skip the overpriced dessert and bounce. The service left as much to be desired as our meal did. Just stay home and make some Chef Boyardee, it's just as Italian as Bucca Di Beppo.