Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom is an amusement and water park located in Dorneyville, Pennsylvania, outside Allentown, in the United States. Owned and operated by Six Flags, the park features 64 rides, including eight roller coasters, several thrill rides and children's rides, and a water park, Wildwater Kingdom, with 26 water slides.
Dorney Park features some of the world's most prominent roller coasters, including Steel Force, the ninth-longest steel roller coaster in the world and the second-longest on the U.S. East Coast. Dorney Park is one of only fourteen trolley parks still operating in the United States.
Founded in 1884, Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom is the fifth-oldest amusement park in continuous operation in the nation."Oldest amusement parks in the United States as of May 2024, by year of first operation", Statista, accessed February 1, 2025
History
19th century Dorney Park traces its history to 1860, when Solomon Dorney built a trout hatchery and summer resort on his estate outside of Allentown. In 1870, Dorney decided to convert the estate into a public attraction. The facility initially featured games, playground-style rides, refreshment stands, picnic groves, a hotel, and a restaurant. By the 1880s, Dorney had added a small zoo and garden. The Allentown-Kutztown Traction Company completed its trolley line from Allentown to Kutztown in 1899, and the company added a stop at Dorney's park. Two years later, in 1901, the traction company purchased the park.
20th century
The Allentown-Kutztown Traction Company operated the park until 1923, when it was sold to Robert Plarr and two other partners. Plarr soon bought out his partners and ran Dorney Park independently until his death in 1966. Ownership then passed to Plarr's son, Stephen, who died within a year. Robert Ott, Plarr's son-in-law, took over as owner in 1967. In 1985, Ott sold Dorney Park to Harris Weinstein. Weinstein owned it until 1992, when he sold the park to Cedar Fair.
In 1932, the Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters (PTC) Grande Carousel debuted at Dorney Park. The Whip opened in 1918, and is still in operation today and is the park's oldest ride. Dorney Park also had a swimming pool from the early 1900s until 1963. The park's first roller coaster opened in 1923. It was originally known as "The Coaster" or "the yellow roller coaster" until 1989, when it was renamed Thunderhawk. It still operates today.
Near the lower entrance to the park was the Tunnel of Love, which later was rethemed as The Journey to the Center of the Earth. The ride was a Bill Tracy mill chute. It was razed following the 1992 season, after Cedar Fair acquired the park.
In the mid-1940s, PTC built a Cuddle-Up ride at the park, which was later enclosed and heavily air-conditioned in the late 1970s when it was rethemed as The Iceberg, featuring strobe lights and loud music. It was removed after the 1993 season. The Gold Mine was a dark walk-through located near The Iceberg until the former's closure in 1980. The Flying Dutchman was a Pinfari compact steel coaster located where the Ferris wheel is currently located. It was the largest of its kind, and was removed following the 1988 season due to mechanical problems.
In 1980, Dorney Park Road, a former two-lane state highway which cut through the park, was closed to traffic and converted to a midway. Dorney Park Road became a local street and the access road to the park. Prior to the road's closing, Dorney Park's narrow-gauge railroad crossed the road, which caused traffic stoppages every time the train crossed.
The road closing led to the enclosure of the park by fence and the introduction of a single-price admission fee, which eliminated individual ride tickets and free entrance to the park. The park previously maintained groves for family picnics. While the groves remained outside the park's fences, patrons were no longer allowed to bring outside food into the park.
In 1982, the park opened its log flume ride, Thunder Creek Mountain, which holds the record for the longest drop on a log flume ride at 210 feet.
In the fall of 1983, a major fire destroyed a large section of the park, including the Carousel, Bucket O' Blood dark ride, Flying Bobs, and several food stands. These rides were later replaced in 1984 for the 100th anniversary with the addition of Enterprise, Musik Express, Ranger, and Apollo. New skee-ball alleys, gift shops, and food stands were added.
In 1985, Dorney Park was sold to Harris Weinstein, who also bought a neighboring automobile racetrack, which was razed and replaced by a water park named Wildwater Kingdom. Its admission fee was separate from the amusement park, and its attractions included a wave pool, a family water raft ride, body slides, tube slides, and a children's water play area. Season passes were also introduced in the same year.
In 1986, a looping roller coaster designed by Anton Schwarzkopf called Laser, featuring two loops, was added to the park's lineup. It was originally designed as a portable ride for fairs, but Dorney Park used it as a permanent attraction. The coaster was named after a local Hot AC radio station known as Laser 104.1 at the time. In 1988, a kiddie coaster was added across from Laser and named Little Laser. Following Laser's removal in 2008, Little Laser was renamed Steel First, after Steel Force.
In 1989, the park further grew with debut of Hercules, a wooden terrain coaster, which was built on the top of the hill lining what was then the back of the park, near what was Wildwater Kingdom's parking lot. This coaster was the tallest wooden roller coaster in the world until Cedar Point's Mean Streak debuted in 1991. Hercules proved a big hit for Dorney Park in its first four seasons, but became known for its rough, often jarringly shaky ride, due in large part to significant modifications made to Hercules after the park was purchased by Cedar Fair in 1992. Hercules was removed in 2003 due to high maintenance costs and low ridership. A steel coaster, Hydra the Revenge, is located where Hercules once stood.
In 1992, Cedar Fair purchased the park for $48M.
In 1993, a new midway began construction, intending to connect Wildwater Kingdom directly to Dorney Park. Also in 1993, the park built White Water Landing, a shoot-the-chutes style ride that featured 20-passenger boats cascading down an drop.
In 1994, the midway was completed on the top of the hill near Hercules and White Water Landing. Several concession stands and a carousel were added to this new midway. The parking lot for Wildwater Kingdom was doubled in size and converted to serve both Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom. A new entrance was also built to Dorney Park. Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom were still separately gated until the end of the season.
In 1995, admission to both Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom was offered at a single price for the first time. That year also saw the addition of Thunder Canyon, a river rapids ride consisting of eight-passenger rafts that plunge and rock along a path through a canyon, propelled by approximately of water.
In 1996, construction began on a steel hypercoaster known as Steel Force. It was designed by D.H. Morgan, a former employee of Arrow Dynamics. Morgan previously was involved with designing Magnum XL-200 at Cedar Point in 1988. Steel Force follows a similar out-and-back layout, but features a smoother braking system. It opened in 1997 as "the tallest and longest roller coaster on the east coast." Several new attractions were added to Wildwater Kingdom, including several waterslides and a second lazy river.
In 1998, Dorney Park added a top spin ride called Hang Time. At the end of the season, the Monster ride was relocated within the park. This was also the last year for the Sky Ride, which was removed at the end of the season. During the off-season, Laser was repainted.
In 1999, a combined turbo drop and space shot tower called Dominator was added. One tower blasts riders straight up 15 stories before dropping them back down, while another tower slowly lifts riders to before dropping them.
21st century
In 2000, Dorney Park debuted Camp Snoopy, a themed children's play area. A junior coaster called Woodstock Express was added that year, bringing the park's coaster count to eight. A Wild Mouse coaster was also added this year. Additionally, a new upcharge attraction, Skyscraper, a Booster thrill ride by Gravity Works, Inc., was installed.
In 2001, a coaster designed by Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M) called Talon was added near the front entrance of park. The ride is a steel inverted looping coaster. In 2002, the park added Meteor, a flat ride built by Zamperla.
In 2003, Wildwater Kingdom was overhauled. Several older body slides were removed and replaced with four modern colored body slides, two of which were open and two of which were enclosed tube slides. Three inflated tube slides were also added. A new children's water play area was also added. In July, the park announced that Hercules would close after the end of the season, and be replaced in 2005 by Hydra the Revenge, a $13 million steel floorless B&M coaster.
In 2004, construction on Hydra the Revenge began soon after the razing of Hercules. Around the same time, Skyscraper was relocated to Valleyfair, and operated there for two years before again being relocated to Cedar Point.
On May 7, 2005, Hydra the Revenge, a coaster half a mile in length and featuring a drop, opened. It is the first and only floorless roller coaster in Pennsylvania.
On September 22, 2007, Dorney Park announced it would be opening a twisted impulse coaster from Intamin. The coaster, previously located at Geauga Lake in Aurora, Ohio, debuted in 2000 as Superman: Ultimate Escape, and was renamed Steel Venom when the park was purchased by Cedar Fair in 2004. Steel Venom was removed from Geauga Lake in 2006 and opened as Voodoo at Dorney Park on May 17, 2008. The ride was renamed Possessed after the 2008 season to resolve a conflict with Six Flags, which held the rights to the name Voodoo.
In 2008, Dorney Park announced that Laser would be removed after end of the season. It now operates in Germany as Teststrecke, where it travels to various German fairs. In 2009, Dorney Park added the Good Time Theatre. This theatre was announced in February 2009 and broke ground in April 2009.
In 2010, the park removed its bumper car ride to make room for the Demon Drop freefall ride from Cedar Point. Additionally, the park announced that Planet Snoopy would open for the 2011 season.Season pass information that reveals the Planet Snoopy opening . Retrieved 25 November 2010.
In 2011, Dorney Park completed an $8M overhaul to the former Camp Snoopy children's area. The new area was named Planet Snoopy, and included seven new rides and an amphitheater.
In 2012, Dorney Park added Stinger, a Vekoma inverted shuttle coaster formerly located at California's Great America as Invertigo. The park also added the new Fast Lane virtual queue system, and the Dinosaurs Alive! walkthrough attraction that guests paid an additional fee to access. Dinosaurs Alive! featured life-sized animatronic dinosaurs that moved and produced sound effects.
In 2013, Dorney Park introduced a new Fast Pay wristband, allowing guests to add money to an RFID prepaid wristband, allowing them to pay for food and merchandise without carrying cash.
On August 28, 2013, Dorney Park announced a new waterslide complex known as Snake Pit would be opened for the 2014 season. Snake Pit features six water slides. > Alt URL
Also new for 2014 was an in-park television channel called FUNtv. FUNtv is shown on television screens in the queue lines of many of the park's major attractions.
On November 17, 2014, Dorney Park announced a new attraction for 2015, Cedar Creek Flyers, manufactured by Larson International, Inc. In 2015, Hang Time was removed, and in 2016, Screamin' Swing was removed.