2021 Coaster Speculation - Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom
While the 2020 theme park season has been paused due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, regional parks have submitted documents to their respective local municipalities for 2021 roller coaster projects. Below, I’ll break down what we think we know about a potential upcoming project at Dorney Park in Allentown, PA.
***The following post is SPECULATION based on local municipality filings. Nothing is considered official until it is announced by the park. :)***
Dorney Park - New for 2021 Wooden Coaster
Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom is a 100+ year old amusement park with a ton of history. Their last brand-new roller coaster was Hydra: The Revenge, built on the site of the demolished Hercules roller coaster in 2005. Two relocated coasters have been added (and one of those has been removed) since Hydra. It looks like all of that will change soon.
Recently, site plans were filed for a large amount of concrete for a brand new attraction, as well as the removal of an attraction. The official proposal and site plans are below. Included is an overhead area of the park from before 2018.
Request for Plan Review
Site Plan Overview
Dorney Park 2021 Site Overview
Stinger, a Vekoma Inverted Boomerang, was removed from the park following the 2017 season. This plot of land will be used for the new roller coaster. Possessed, an Intamin Impulse relocated from Geauga Lake when that park closed in 2008, is also not listed on the park’s plans. It is safe to assume this will be the removed attraction; hopefully, it can find new life (again) somewhere in the Cedar Fair chain.
The new site plan calls for a large amount of concrete poured in a very specific layout. This gives us a bird’s eye view of the ride layout and queue area, but it also provides a HUGE clue as to what type of roller coaster this will be. Below is another image of the site with my thoughts as to what the layout will be.
Dorney Park 2021 Layout
The train will leave the station (highlighted in green) and head up the lift hill before making a turn and head down the first drop. After a couple of straightaways (hopefully with some airtime hills) and some nice turns, the track appears to simply end. This is the major clue we were looking for! The train will then simply have to traverse the course in reverse until it gets back to the beginning. My friends, we are looking at the second-ever wooden shuttle coaster!
With a height of approximately 106 feet, this ride will be the much bigger brother to Switchback, a Gravity Group wooden shuttle coaster at ZDT’s Amusement Park in Seguin, TX. By placing a state-of-the-art wooden roller coaster across the creek from Thunderhawk, the park’s oldest wooden roller coaster, it will create a unique “welcome to the future while respecting the past” moment for parkgoers. And, in the rapidly competitive Pennsylvania parks race, it will provide an experience that can only be found an hour north of San Antonio.
To see Switchback in action, check out this review from Taylor at CoasterStudios:
Switchback put ZDT Amusement Park on the map for coaster enthusiasts. While I don’t think Dorney Park’s 2021 coaster will have as far-reaching effects for the park, it will be a wonderful addition to a park with a nice collection of really good (but not great) rides. I just wish it didn’t come at the expense of Possessed.
