RIDE ON Creating thousands of jobs and drawing 1.5 million visitors a year, Dorney Park still going strong after 130 years.

At 77 years of age, Wally Ely still remembers the many childhood days he spent at Dorney Park in South Whitehall Township, growing up just a short walk from the park.

Now known as Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom, the park this year celebrates its 130th anniversary since Solomon Dorney in 1884 added the first rides to what once was a fish hatchery and picnic grove along Cedar Creek. Today, it is one of the largest and well-known amusement spots in the nation with more than 100 rides, games, restaurants and attractions – and is a significant economic driver for the Greater Lehigh Valley.

With a continuous stretch of sun-filled weekends this summer, Dorney Park is wrapping up another successful season. It supplies nearly 3,000 summer jobs annually to the region, along with an average yearly attendance of nearly 1.5 million. All told, the institution just west of Allentown annually takes in tens of millions of dollars in revenue and pumps much more than that into the Greater Lehigh Valley economy.

“Dorney Park brings in people primarily from out of the area, which is important for tourism, and is new dollars for the area,” said Mike Stershic, president of Discover Lehigh Valley. “And over the years, Dorney Park has been extremely dynamic and has invested in new attractions, creating even more jobs in the off-season, especially in construction.”

Ownership of the park changed hands several times through the years, and the 100-acre-park now is owned and operated by Ohio-based amusement park giant Cedar Fair LP, which works to keep the park’s rich history a part of its mission.

“Cedar Fair is very faithful in maintaining the park’s connection to the past,” Ely said.

Originally called Fish Weir and Summer Resort, 130 years ago is when Solomon Dorney added games and playground-style rides, refreshment stands, a hotel and a restaurant and changed the name of the park to Dorney’s Trout Ponds and Summer Resort.

Bob Ott, who worked at Dorney as a ride operator in 1937, became the owner of the park in 1966 and ran it until 1985, when he sold it to Harris Weinstein. Weinstein was CEO and chairman of the board for Dorney until 1992, when the park was sold to Cedar Fair.

Hailing from Sandusky, Ohio, Cedar Fair began in a similar way as Dorney Park, starting as a picnic grove on a beach, instead of a pond. When Cedar Fair acquired Dorney, it was only the third park in the company’s family; today it owns 10 other amusement parks, three outdoor water parks, one indoor water park and five hotels across the nation.

“I feel like the park may not have survived another 20 years without Cedar Fair coming in,” said Chris Stoltzfus, Dorney Park’s retail manager, who has worked at Dorney since the 1990s. “This is a highly competitive market, and they are a big company with more knowledge, resources and deeper pockets.”