New Water Slide Complex at Dorney Gets Township Approval

South Whitehall Township Commissioners gave final approval Wednesday to Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom to build a new six-story, $8 million water slide complex that is expected to be in place for the upcoming summer season.

The “Snake Pit” will replace the existing water slide known as Rip Tide Run and another water attraction called the Lily Pads, said park officials who announced the new $8 million investment in August.

The Snake Pit will feature 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 South Whitehall Township Planning Commission recommended that the project be approved at its November meeting. Township commissioners approved the plan unanimously.

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 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 addition of the Snake Pit is the largest of the off-season improvements that Dorney Park has sought and had approved. In November, commissioners also approved a plan to rebuild two-thirds of an acre between the water park and the Talon rollercoaster.

Those plans call for a new 5,300-square-foot locker building with electronic lockers, a shaded market seating area, new landscaping and walkways. The existing locker building, the locker rental stand, two pavilions, a food stand and a shed would be removed to make way for the upgrades.