Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom to Add $8M Water Slide Complex

Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom will add the Snake Pit, an $8 million complex of six water slides towering nearly seven stories, by next Memorial Day.

The new slide complex will be part of a $3.5 million overall upgrade to Wildwater Kingdom, Vice President and General Manager Michael Fehnel said Wednesday at a news conference at the amusement park in South Whitehall Township.

"We're going to touch every square foot of the water park," Fehnel said.

The Snake Pit features six different body and tube slide experiences, from the most daring of the slides, the 65-foot-high Python Plummet with its nearly vertical free-fall drop, to the slightly tamer Constrictor spirals and the twin Boa Blasters water slides.

"There will be something for everyone," Fehnel said.

The Snake Pit will encompass more than an acre in the middle of Wildwater Kingdom and will replace the Rip Tide Run, which was installed in 1985. The water park last added a water slide in 2007, the Aqua Racer.

The Python Plummet, which Fehnel described as a "high-adrenaline experience," gives riders a countdown to a nearly vertical free-fall drop before they navigate at a high speed through a series of flat loops and S-curves. 

Fehnel said riders often have a look of fear on their faces when the trap door drops out from underneath them on the Python Plummet. He said he has ridden similar water slide at Worlds of Fun in Kansas City, Mo., one of parks owned by Dorney Park's parent company, Cedar Fair. 

The addition of the six water slides in the Snake Pit brings the total number of water slides at Wildwater Kingdom to 26. 

Wildwater Kingdom will get 4,000 square feet of new electronic lockers that operate with a PIN code, a new sound system, more seating, cabanas and landscaping. The park has hired a new chef, Jan Giejea, who will be updating menus at the park's food stands and restaurants.

Construction on the Snake Pit is scheduled to begin this fall. Discounted season pass tickets of $109 for 2014 will go on sale Friday until Oct. 27.