Pennsylvania: Dorney Park Discloses Plan For Dinosaur Park

From South Whitehall Patch: Dorney Park Discloses Plan For Dinosaur Park

Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom is planning to step back into the Jurassic Age, literally, with the addition of a different type of attraction for the 2012 season: Dinosaurs Alive!

The attraction will include a series of stationary and automated dinosaur figures -- some 37 in all.

Most of the prehistoric figures will be less than 16 feet in height, but the plan also includes two 35- to 40-foot dinosaurs. They will be viewed by patrons traveling through a themed walking path approximately 2,100 feet long in a 3.3-acre wooded area behind and to the west of Steel Force.

The plan was disclosed Wednesday at a meeting of the South Whitehall commissioners, who earlier in the evening approved amendments to the township’s zoning ordinance that standardized zoning throughout the park. The amendment allows parent company Cedar Fair to replace amusements and add additional rides in excess of 85 feet in height without having to get approval from the township.

The commissioners also approved an amendment giving the park a go-ahead to expand its current parking area into a 6.75-acre parcel of land west of Lincoln Avenue. The plot was purchased from Lehigh County earlier this year for $2.75 million.

“The area where Dinosaurs Alive! is planned lends itself very well to this type of attraction,” said Jason McClure, vice president and general manager of Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom.

“It’s a different kind of attraction for us,” he said. “Currently, schools don’t allow students to attend an amusement park on a school day unless there’s some educational value to the trip. With its educational component, Dinosaurs Alive! will give us a whole new dimension. It will give us another little niche as an attraction to schools and camps.”

Plans are to begin construction on the walkway this fall, with completion of the attraction before the park's re-opening next spring.

Kings Island in Ohio, which is also owned by Dorney's parent company Cedar Fair, is home to a Dinosaurs Alive! park. It features 60 life-sized dinosaurs in a 12.5-acre forest setting, according to its website.