Allentown, Pennsylvania - For the 2012 season, Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom will be continuing its roll of catering to the younger population with Dinosaurs Alive! This new upcharge attraction will include a themed walkway featuring realistic dinosaurs of both the robotic and stationary variety.

The 3.3 acre attraction includes 37 dinosaurs in all. Two of the dinosaurs will be between 35 feet and 40 feet tall, while the rest are expected to be under 16 feet – modest in comparison, but gigantic to children. The prehistoric pathway will take guests into the woods behind Steel Force, where they will have 2,100 feet before they are forced back into our century.

“It’s a different kind of attraction for us,” Jason McClure, general manager and vice president of Dorney Park told the South Whitehall Patch. “Currently, schools don’t allow students to attend an amusement park on a school day unless there’s some educational value to the trip. With its educational component, Dinosaurs Alive! will give us a whole new dimension. It will give us another little niche as an attraction to schools and camps.”

The plans for Dinosaurs Alive! were revealed at a South Whitehall commissioners meeting last Wednesday. In addition to the Jurassic attraction, the commissioners approved several amendments to various zoning ordinances. These approvals will allow Dorney to extend their current parking lots into the 6.75 acre piece of land they bought earlier this year. Dorney will also be able to add and replace rides and attractions that are over 85 feet tall without having to seek approval from South Whitehall.

Dorney Park will be one of three Cedar Fair parks receiving a Dinosaurs Alive! attraction for the 2012 season, alongside sister parks Kings Dominion and Cedar Point.

The park plans to begin construction on the walkway in the next few months. Just across the creek, the park has also been busy on construction of their other new attraction for the 2012 – the Stinger roller coaster. Both are intended to be completed by the park’s 2012 reopening.