When was dorney park created

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. After the water park opened, Dorney began to sell all-day wristbands for both parks. Soon Dorney gated off its park and created a two-in-one attraction for one price.

In , Cedar Fair purchased Dorney Park and added attractions that shattered previous height records. The park has impacted the community by providing not only entertainment for many years, but also jobs. Dorney Park employs full time workers and about 3, seasonal employees. Weathering the storms. Neal Fehnel, owner of Bushkill Park in Forks Township, says today's amusement park owners face a number of challenges, chief of which is living up to client's perceptions.

Younger generations have demanded more. Fehnel owns the year-old Forks Township park that has been closed nearly a decade after flooding battered the park in , and Originally a simple fish hatchery, Dorney Park expanded to include a hotel, casino, bowling alley, Ferris wheel, carousel, roller coaster, roller-skating rink, railroad rides, and many traditional mechanized rides and modern amusements. The park is known today as Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom.

Dorney Park illustrates the development of one of America's greatest historic amusement parks. Among the vintage photographs and postcards one will find images of the Mill Chute, or the Tunnel of Love, as it was also known; the old wooden roller coaster under construction; the Zephyr train, a headliner in the park for many years; Castle Garden; the original Dentzel carousel; the racetrack; and the merry-go-rounds that were once a major attraction at the park.

Wally Ely grew up within walking distance of Dorney Park. He produced a segment featuring Bob Ott and the Dorney Park Zephyr for the RCN cable television magazine show Time Out Lehigh Valley, which was voted the viewers' choice for the most popular segment in the show's fifteen-year history. Glistening in the sun with its red and white color scheme, the Flying Dutchman opened in the spring of seventy-seven and once again sparked the interest of thrill-seekers in the Tri-State area.

Designed by the world-famous Anton Schwarzkopf, Colossus sported the same bright colors as the Flying Dutchman for two years, until in , after eleven years of operation, the Flying Dutchman was grounded and removed from the park.

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, In , Dorney Park would receive the park's first new flat ride in many years.

Named Meteor, the double-sided inverting ride was designed by Vekoma and resides in the Hercules now Hydra plaza. One year later, the legend of Hercules came to a sudden end. After closing due to uncomfortable rides and high maintenance costs, Hercules was torn down, leaving the place where its legend once lived empty for several months. For , Cedar Fair focused on Wildwater Kingdom.