PA: Dorney Park previews new dinosaurs exhibit and its latest roller coaster, the 55-mph Stinger

From the Morning Call: Dorney Park previews new dinosaurs exhibit and its latest roller coaster, the 55-mph Stinger 

After you enter Dinosaurs Alive!, a new attraction at Dorney Park, you head down a path marked with imprints of ferns and giant footprints. Animatronic dinosaurs loom among the trees in the distance. The sound of snapping tree branches — as if something huge is approaching — echoes through the woods. A 34-foot-tall meat-eater lets out a roar and turns its head. Nearby, an 80-foot-long plant-eater thrashes its tail. The 32 dinosaurs, which move continually, are fun to watch. And the exhibit is educational for families. For little ones, the beasts are realistic but not too scary because they stay safely behind fencing and don't jump out.

Reporters and photographers had a chance to experience Dinosaurs Alive! and a new coaster Tuesday before they open to the public Saturday at the South Whitehall Township park.

The new ride is Stinger, a scorpion-themed suspended boomerang steel roller coaster.

Stinger is the only coaster of its type with face¿to¿face seating on the East Coast, according to Dorney. Riders' legs dangle.

The train is pulled up a 138¿foot lift. Once at the top, the car is released and flies 55 mph down the hill and through a boomerang — a 180¿degree turn with double inversions — followed immediately by a 72¿foot¿high vertical loop. The train goes up the second lift and then the whole ride is repeated in reverse for a total of six inversions.

The ride is smooth, fast and breathtaking as you fly through the loops — and over in 90 seconds. If you like Dorney coasters Talon and Hydra, you'll like this ride.

Stinger is next to Possessed on the site of the old Laser looping coaster.

It's the eighth roller coaster for the park and the 12^th ride to earn Dorney's top thrill rating of 5 for "aggressive thrills." Other top thrill rides include Talon and Hydra as well as non-coaster rides such as Revolution and Hangtime.

"We are excited to be able to have two major new projects opening in the same season," said Jason McClure, Dorney Park's vice president and general manager.

Dorney is continuing to court the family audience with Dinosaurs Alive! Last year the park opened Planet Snoopy, a 31/2 -acre children's themed area with 16 children's rides.

"We hope to hit a family home run with Dinosaurs Alive!" McClure said.

The 3-acre dinosaur exhibit is behind the Steel Force coaster. It fills an area that Dorney had been unable to use for other rides, McClure said.

Dorney will charge $5 to tour Dinosaurs Alive!, in addition to regular park admission. McClure said the charge will ensure that only those who are interested in dinosaurs will visit, making it less crowded for families.

Families can easily spend 30 minutes or more in the exhibit.

The highlight is the world's largest animatronic dinosaur, the Ruyang Yellow River dinosaur, which measures 72 feet long and 30 feet high. It anchors the park's impressive opening scene, a re-creation ofChina'sDashanpu area. Also adding a huge presence is the 80-foot-long Mamenchisaurus.

Other features include Carnotaurus, a predator featured in the Dinosaur ride at Disney's Animal Kingdom; a Herrerasaurus, one of the oldest dinosaurs in the attraction at 231.4 million years old; and a final scene featuring familiar giants, a 30-foot-tall Triceratops and a 40-foot-tall Tyrannosaurus rex.

Visitors can use consoles to control three of the prehistoric giants, moving their arms, tails, necks, mouths and even make their sides rise and fall as if breathing.

Dorney's parent company, Cedar Fair LP, opened it first dinosaur park last year at King's Island near Cincinnati. With 60 dinosaurs, it is the world's largest animatronic dinosaur park. The venture was popular enough to prompt Cedar Fair to install the attraction at four other parks this year, including Dorney Park.

The dinosaurs are designed to be scientifically accurate. Signs explain what the dinosaurs ate, when and where they lived, how they protected themselves and how they adapted to their world.

Near the end of the exhibit, kids can take part in their own paleontological excavation and dig in the sand for dinosaur bones.

The park, off Hamilton Boulevard, is open weekends only through May 25, when Dorney and Wildwater Kingdom open daily for the season.

This weekend's hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Dinosaurs Alive! is open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Info: http://www.dorneypark.com.