Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom history

Plarr soon bought out his partners and ran Dorney Park until his death in 1966.

Robert Ott, Plarr's son-in-law, took over as owner in 1967.

In 1980, Dorney Park Road, a former two-lane state highway which cut through the park, was closed to traffic and converted to a midway.

The park opened its log flume ride, Thunder Creek Mountain, in 1982, which still owns the record for longest drop on a log flume ride.

In 1985, Ott sold Dorney Park to Harris Weinstein.

A looping roller coaster designed by Anton Schwarzkopf called Laser was added to the park's lineup in 1986, which featured two loops.

The coaster was named after a local Hot AC radio station known as Laser 104.1 at the time, later rebranded as WAEB-FM. In 1988, a kiddie coaster was added across from Laser and named Little Laser.

The park further grew with debut of Hercules, a wooden terrain coaster in 1989.

In 1991, Dorney Park added a few more flat rides and improved landscaping, preparing to once again sell it.

Weinstein owned it until 1992, when he sold the park to Cedar Fair and is one of only fourteen trolley parks still operating in the United States.

Cedar Fair purchased the park in 1992 for $48M. In 1993, a new midway was being constructed to connect Wildwater Kingdom directly to Dorney Park. It opened mid season in 1993 while the Midway was still under construction.

In 1994, a new midway was completed on the top of the hill near Hercules and White Water Landing.

In 1995, admission to both Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom was offered at a single price for the first time.

In 1996, Dorney went "green" and transplanted 120 30-year-old trees in the new midwayto make shade.

In 2001, a Bolliger & Mabillard designed roller coaster called Talon was added near the now-front entrance of park.

In 2004, construction on Hydra began soon after razing Hercules and continued throughout the season.

Hydra the Revenge opened on opening day for the 2005 season on 7 May 2005.

On 22 September 2007, Dorney Park announced it would be opening its sixth adult roller coaster, a shuttle twisted impulse U-shaped coaster built by Intamin.

The ride was renamed Possessed after the 2008 season to resolve a conflict with Six Flags, which held the rights to the name Voodoo.

Meanwhile, the park announced that Planet Snoopy would open for the 2011 season.

In 2012, Dorney Park added Stinger, formerly Invertigo from California's Great America, to its roller coaster collection.

In 2013, Dorney Park featured no major new attractions, but rather small changes to the park, such as a new Fast Pay wristband, allowing guests to add money to an RFID prepaid wristband, allowing them to pay for food and merchandise without carrying cash.

The first slide pieces of Snake Pit began to arrive at Dorney Park on Wednesday, 22 January 2014.

On 18 August 2016, Dorney Park announced the return of their bumper car attractions, which will be named Dodgem, located in the location formerly occupied by Hang Time; and the addition of Kaleidoscope, a HUSS Troika, which will be located on the Main Midway, next to the Coasters Diner.

On June 26, 2020, the park announced that they would be reopening with new safety protocols due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On March 12, 2021, the park announced that they would have a delayed opening for the 2021 season.