Dorney's New Snake Pit to Get Review from Planners

Dorney Park’s proposal to erect a new six-story tall complex of six water slides in one will be on the agenda Thursday night when the South Whitehall Township Planning Commission meets.

The “Snake Pit” will replace the existing water slide known as Rip Tide Run in time for next season, said park officials who announced the new $8 million investment in August.

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.

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

The application to the Planning Commission says the new slide will include a single 63-foot tall stair tower and a small mechanical building to support the ride.

The project also proposes to replace the existing plunge pool at the end of the Jumping Jack water slide with new slide "runouts" at the very end of the slide. However, the Jumping Jack water slide itself will remain.

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

The commission meeting is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the township municipal building.