The Whip, Dorney Park's oldest active ride, was built in The mechanical ride swings guests around sharp turns and can still be ridden today, according to the website. Dorney Park's oldest coaster, Thunderhawk, opened up in Originally named The Coaster, Thunderhawk had one of the longest drops of any roller coaster in the world when it debuted. The s and '70s sparked the "theme park boom," according to Basta, and brought a mascot named Alfundo the clown, a combination of Allentown, Fun, and Dorney.
A decade of developments. The s were marked by fire and water for the park. A major fire struck in '83 causing extensive damage to the area.
Two years later Wildwater Kingdom opened its doors on the site which would later merge with Dorney Park in as a two-in-one attraction. According to Basta, the introduction of Wild Water Kingdom in took guests farther up on Dorney's land and "set up guidelines to expanding the park in future years.
It was also at this time that Dorney Park ended what was previously a ticketed ride setup in favor of a one-time admission fee. The park was previously a drive-in attraction where guests could purchase tickets for each ride. Taking it to new heights. Cost of the years. Dorney Park used to be a drive-in amusement park. Guests could purchase tickets for attractions.
Basta shares that guests could ride the Zephyr for a nickel in the past. The park was enclosed by fence and an admission fee was charged. This also was the first time Dorney Park took on a loan to purchase the attraction Thunder Creek Mountain.
In , a fire destroyed the Philadelphia Toboggan Carousel, the Bucket of Blood and the Flying Bobs rides and several food stands.
The fire was caused by fryers, according to Fink. Harris Weinstein became the new owner and chief executive officer in Weinstein sold the Dentzel Carousel to help make money to expand the park. Wildwater Kingdom opened in Fire destroyed the Castle Garden ballroom the same year. The Laser attraction coaster was added in as well as an antique carousel. The park overlooked the Lehigh River in an area that became Hanover Township and, ultimately, Allentown.
Welcome, User Login. Advertise Customer Service Obituaries. Welcome, User Login Register. Amusement park enthusiasts learn history of Dorney Tweet. Published September That was altered when Mr. Harris Weinstein, a former park employee, bought the park in the summer of Just one month after buying the park from the Dorney family, he started construction on the largest expansion in park history to date.
After a year of production, Wildwater Kingdom opened to guests as one of the only seasonal water parks in the state. Complete with towering slides and a soon-famous wave pool, Wildwater Kingdom became one of the largest water attractions in the northeast. Now with a steady collection of two high-class roller coasters, a water park, and countless other attractions, Weinstein did what any other growing park would do: he added yet another roller coaster. With the help of the Dinn Corporation in , Dorney unveiled a new legend: Hercules.
Using the natural terrain to its advantage, Hercules incorporated an even more impressive drop of feet right over Lake Dorney. In , another huge project was undertaken as more than ten attractions were added and renovated, including Aquablast, Balloon Race, and Joker.
Colossus was painted a bright green and purple and renamed Laser, while the Coaster received a golden-yellow paintjob and was renamed Thunderhawk. Dorney Park was now a beautiful, natural park filled with state-of-the-art attractions, with much more land to expand onto: the perfect investment for an ever-growing company named Cedar Fair. Already managing several other world-class theme parks scattered throughout the nation, Cedar Fair found Dorney as the ideal new property to add to their chain of parks.
So in , Dorney Park had its second management swap as Cedar Fair bought the park from Harris Weinstein who had been running the park successfully for seven years. Construction started on the tallest freestanding structure that would ever reside in the park. Opening May 30, , Steel Force became the tallest roller coaster upon debut in the Northeast.
Towering over Thunderhawk, Steel Force spanned the entire back end of the park, thrilling riders through more than a mile of red track and gray supports at speeds of seventy-five miles per hour. For the new millennium, Dorney Park received Camp Snoopy, a two-acre child-friendly environment featuring the Woodstock Express family coaster. Also added was the Wild Mouse coaster along the main midway.
The problem, however, was that Dorney was running out of room to build, and a compact design was needed. Talon: the Grip of Fear opened as the tallest and fastest inverted coaster in the Northeast on May 5, 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. The park previously maintained groves for family picnics. While the groves remained outside the park a while longer, patrons were no longer allowed to bring food inside.
The park opened its log flume ride, Thunder Creek Mountain, in , which still owns the record for longest drop on a log flume ride. In the fall of the next year, a major fire destroyed a large section of the park, including the Carousel, Bucket O' Blood, Flying Bobs, Skeeball and several food stands. The park replaced the rides in , its th anniversary, with the addition of Enterprise, Musik Express, Ranger, and Apollo New skeeball alleys, gift shops, and food stands were added as well.
With the addition of rides as well as improvements to the park, the park became a more attractive asset. It was sold mid-season to Harris Weinstein in The racetrack was razed and replaced by a waterpark named Wildwater Kingdom in Its admission was separate from the amusement park and 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 the same year. A looping roller coaster designed by Anton Schwarzkopf called Laser was added to the park's lineup in , which featured two loops. It was originally designed as a portable ride for funfairs, but Dorney Park kept it permanently assembled. The coaster was named after a local Hot AC radio station known as Laser In , a kiddie coaster was added across from Laser and named Little Laser.
The coaster was a former junior coaster placed in storage in The park further grew with debut of Hercules, a wooden terrain coaster in It was built on the top of the hill lining what was then the back of the park, near what was at that time Wildwater Kingdom's parking lot.
This coaster was the tallest wooden roller coaster in the world until Cedar Point's Mean Streak debuted in , which boasted a first drop only taller than Hercules. Hercules proved a big hit for Dorney in the coaster's first four seasons, but was soon 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 Hercules was removed in due to high maintenance costs and low ridership.
In , Dorney Park added a few more flat rides and improved landscaping, preparing to once again sell it. In , the park added a flume ride that plunges riders in passenger boats down an drop, creating a giant wave that not only soaks riders, but onlookers as well.
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