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Zombies Invade Dorney Park, Set Guinness Record

The park's first-ever zombie event drew 1000-plus participants.

They came from Philadelphia, New York, New Jersey, Delaware and maybe even beyond -- crouched over, limping and dragging their way -- as they descended upon Thursday night to attend the park’s first ever Zombie Invasion and to say “I was there” when a record was set for most costumed characters on an amusement ride.  

The park took on an eerie yet fun-loving atmosphere as well over 1,000 “corpses” in tattered clothing and make-up staggered their way along paths en route to the Steel Force coaster for a three-minute ride that would land them in the Guinness World Record book.

To be counted as part of the record and ride Steel Force, zombies had to meet two criteria: face make-up had to include at least three colors, and they had to be wearing themed garments such as torn shirts, pants and dresses.

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Artists were on hand in a picnic pavilion at 6 p.m. to provide make-up for anyone who needed it.

Among them was Doug Sakmann, a member of the New York Zombie Crawl, who steadily created masterpiece zombie faces and bodies using latex, theatrical make-up and “blood”-- red-dyed, thinned-out maple syrup.  He is one of three partners in Backseat Conceptions, a special effects company with locations in New York and Philadelphia.

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Jason Meehan, founder and director of the Asbury Park-based New Jersey Zombie Walk, attested to the zombie phenomena that seems to be outpacing any vampire craze, inspired in part by the movie “Zombieland,” video games, and TV shows such as “The Walking Dead.” 

His group sponsored an event last October that attracted 5,000-6,000 “corpses” and set a record for the “largest gathering of zombies” ---yes, there really is such a category -- with Guinness World Records. 

By 9 p.m. at Dorney Park, Danny Girton Jr., of Guinness World Records, had declared a new record had been set in the amusement ride category, with an unofficial count at that time of 330 costumed characters riding Steel Force.

“Just getting such a large number of people to participate in an event like this is a large task,” said Girton. “Dorney Park rose to the occasion. It’s great to see so many people get excited about an event that doesn’t involve a celebrity.”

The only question remaining now is, will the corpses rise again next year for a second annual Zombie Invasion at Dorney Park?  Guess we’ll have to wait and see. 

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