All New Themed Area - Steel Yard - To Debut at Dorney Park in 2024

© Dorney Park

Dorney Park has said all along that the area surrounding their new B&M Dive Coaster - Iron Menace - would be dynamically themed, however I'm not sure most of us were on the same page with just what a massive change was coming to the lower part of the park.  Dorney has now explained all of the changes that are coming our way that will create a cohesively themed 'land' or 'section' at the park when the Steel Yard opens.

 

To be completely transparent, I am still in a bit of disbelief that I'm typing the works "cohesively themed land" in the same sentence as Dorney Park - after covering the park for so many years this is big, big news friends!

Lets 'dive' in (pun intended) and look at some of the changes that have been announced by the park.

© Dorney Park

© Dorney Park

Up first - a ride that has had a rather lonely existence to date will be totally transformed in 2024.  Formerly known as the Cedar Creek Flyers, the family flat ride will now be known as MT Buckets.  The "MT" comes from Iron Menace's backstory, with Hiram McTavish and his steel mill serving as the backstory for the area.  The infamous steel company utilized "MT" as an emblem on many of the now decrepit buildings.  Plus, the name sounds like "empty buckets" which is just smart.

Cedar Creek Flyers opened in 2015 and next year will be repainted and lightly themed to better be a part of the Steel Yard.  It's a set of Flying Scooters created by Larson International.  

© Dorney Park

© Dorney Park

Another addition just revealed is Steel Yard Gifts, a new retail location that will be centrally located across the midway from Possessed.  The building will be the home of plenty of Iron Menace merchandise along with other coaster and Dorney Park themed items.

© Dorney Park

© Dorney Park

These images of both the inside and the outside of Steel Yard Gifts shows just how well themed the addition will be.  The inside especially looks to have a lot of thematic elements like the faux factory style windows and industrial shelving.

The building that is transforming into Steel Yard Gifts originally housed an animatronic Care Bears show in the late 1980s... yes for real, and in later years also was an indoor laser maze and most recently an employee break area.  It's great to see the structure being renovated and reopened!  

 

This also means that the area's current gift shop, Possessions, will no longer be open as a retail location.  It sounds like its use next year is not totally decided by the park just yet.  The rest of the Possessions structure, which had some games in it years ago, will be opened up into a nice covered seating area next year offering a place to rest and sit by Cedar Creek.

© Dorney Park

© Dorney Park

© Dorney Park

Finally there will be major changes made to the Dorney Grille food location when it becomes Iron Mill Grill & Bar in 2024.  The serving area will become enclosed unlike the previous stand, and menu items slated to be featured include pierogies, flat breads, chicken sandwiches, pulled pork sandwiches and more.  The park is also building an outdoor bar on the side of the building that will feature local craft brews.

The park's Monster ride has been removed and its pad will be utilized as a large outdoor, shaded dining area for Iron Mill Grill & Bar.  The fate of the Monster has not been decided yet, so it is unclear if it will return at some point or not.

On top of all this the park is hinting at even more changes on the way that haven't been announced yet, but one of them will be in just a couple days.  Stay tuned!