Cedar Point announces record breaking dive roller coaster, Valravn
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From the press release:
Cedar Point will change the Lake Erie skyline once again with over 3,400 feet of thrill ride innovation when it introduces Valravn (val-rey-vuhn), the world’s tallest, fastest and longest dive coaster, in 2016. Valravn is the regal king of birds, swooping in to conquer all other dive coasters on the planet with its powerful and intense maneuvers, massive structure and immense ride vehicles. Valravn will become the 18th coaster to take reign at The Roller Coaster Capital of the World® and will claim its rightful place among other record-breaking roller coasters at Cedar Point.
Riders on Valravn are carried more than 20 stories up to the top of the coaster’s 223-foot-tall first hill. Once there, the train is held perilously over the edge of the first drop for approximately four seconds, giving anxious guests unparalleled views of the park before free-falling a record 214 feet at a completely vertical, 90-degree angle, reaching a top speed of 75 mph!
Valravn then flips its passengers upside-down through a 165-foot-tall Immelmann, a fighter jet-like maneuver that takes the train into a half loop, then a half roll before traveling in the opposite direction. The train then approaches another drop zone – but there’s no stopping this time as riders plunge 125 feet down at a near-90-degree angle once again, twisting and turning upside-down two more times, once through a dive loop and then through a 270-degree roll before completing its epic journey over 3,415 feet of tarnished copper and silver steel track.
Valravn will shatter an astonishing 10 WORLD RECORDS when it debuts next summer, including:
1.Tallest dive coaster (223 feet)
2.Fastest dive coaster (75 mph)
3.Longest dive coaster (3,415 feet)
4.Most inversions on a dive coaster (three)
5.Longest drop on a dive coaster (214 feet)
6.Highest inversion on a dive coaster (165 feet)
7.Most roller coasters taller than 200 feet at one amusement park (5)
8.Most rides at one amusement park (72)
9.Most steel roller coaster track at one amusement park (52,125 feet/9.9 miles)
10.Most roller coaster track at one amusement park (60,110 feet/11.4 miles)
Valravn is also the signature 100th roller coaster designed by the imaginative coaster minds at Bolliger & Mabillard in Monthey, Switzerland, and will feature ride vehicles never before seen on a dive coaster. Riders will sit eight-across on one of three, 24-passenger floorless trains, featuring tiered seating as well as comfortable over-the-shoulder restraints with interlocking seatbelts, much like those on the park’s GateKeeper wing coaster. Valravn can accommodate approximately 1,200 riders per hour and guests must be 54 inches or taller to ride.
Cedar Point is also making history as the first amusement park ever to utilize 3D virtual reality to introduce a new roller coaster. Guests can experience Valravn in 360-degree virtual reality by downloading the Cedar Point VR app onto their smart phones and inserting them into the Valravn VR Viewer. The app is now available in the App Store and Google Play store. To take full advantage of the virtual reality simulation, Valravn VR Viewers can be purchased by visiting cedarpoint.com/Valravn.
“The introduction of Valravn is a first for the amusement park industry on many fronts, including the exciting virtual reality experience,” stated Jason McClure, vice president and general manager of Cedar Point. “For the first time ever, guests are able to take an immersive ride on Valravn before it opens next summer – and the actual experience will be unmatched with the tallest lift hill, fastest speed, longest track and most inversions on a dive coaster, right here at Cedar Point, The Roller Coaster Capital of the World.”
See the official site from Cedar Point.
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Holiday World said it best, "Orange is the new track." They knew a year ago orange was the new go to color. Cedar Point was just catching up.
Resident Arrow Dynamics Whore
You need to watch the panoramic POV on a browser or device that supports it. I finally remembered that I can watch such a video on my iPod Touch via the YouTube App.
On to the coaster, I didn't expect tunnels or a splashdown pool. This is Cedar Point we're talking about. I did expect an awesome Dive coaster that people who live in the area may find to be a unique experience, and something that will dramatically add to the park's skyline. That's exactly what I see here.
I really like Griffon a lot. This looks awesome as well.
About the MCBR being so early in the ride, the Busch Gardens Dive Coasters are made the same way. They have the big drop, a big inversion, and then the MCBR. That's just how these coasters are designed, probably because they loose a lot of speed due to their size, I'd say.
I already knew what the coaster was going to look like, but who didn't? What I was most interested in with this announcement was the walking path design. I really love that the Blue Streak area is now not a dead end.
And whoever said that the ride will not have a good viewing area is crazy. A path goes directly under the ride, and the coaster is surrounded by walkways.
Anyone who whines about this new addition is spoiled and ungrateful at the entertainment options that are available to them, in my opinion.
Edited to add one more thing - 72 rides at one park is very impressive! I mean, that's a great stat!
-Travis
www.youtube.com/TSVisits
Yeah, I'm an idiot. I switched from the ancient version of IE on my work machine to Chrome and it looked normal. I watched it the first time thinking, "what's the point of this?"
I usually Like a post in reply to my own, but I disagree that you are an idiot, so I won't.
-Travis
www.youtube.com/TSVisits
The paths are good. I had hopes that the antique lamposts along the shady marina entrance might remain as well. Maybe they'll find a new home somewhere else in the park.
And it was me who expressed concern that the placement of the ride might preclude a good spectator area, but it was my hope that park planners would realize that one of the draws to a dive coaster is the view from the ground and do the right thing.
This ride won't dive into a hole three feet from the spectator's nose, but we all know why that is.
Looks like it's all good.
RyTroup said:
Head to busch gardens tampa for a much better dive coaster.
Is that based on all the laps you've had on the new ride?
I hate enthusiast culture. You guys want every coaster to cure cancer. You know what... the 95% of the local market that doesn't even know what a dive coaster is will absolutely eat this thing up. And it's trending along side Apple on the Twitter and such, so I suspect Cedar Point says, "suck it."
Jeff - Editor - CoasterBuzz.com - My Blog
Jeff said:
I hate enthusiast culture.
It took this long?
The reaction to this announcement is exactly why I try to exist on the fringe of the community.
Griffon is one of my favorite rides and this looks to be just as fun.
Things I'm most excited for:
More attention to Blue Streak
(Presumably) a new Marina Gate.
Something I'm hoping for:
Morning lift hill tours like they do at Busch.
884 Coasters, 34 States, 7 Countries
http://www.rollercoasterfreak.com My YouTube
Had this conversation with a family member;
"It's like the one we rode at Busch Gardens"
"Oh, the straight down one?"
"yeah"
"I liked that one, It was really fun"
..That reaction is literally all that matters
Curious to see how this type rides with the vest as opposed to the traditional OTSR- I don't think my head has ever met the restraints on either of the Busch Dive Machines over the years.
The trick was to surrender to the flow.
Jeff said:
I hate enthusiast culture.
There's two things you will always find in a thread of this nature on Coasterbuzz. Commenters either partaking in enthusiast culture or complaining about how annoying it is.
This looks like it will be a really great ride. It doesn't look like it's going to be anything to write home about, especially with some of the other coasters at Cedar Point. It's nice that Blue Streak's plaza won't be a dead end, but what they've shown in those renderings is a completely dead looking pathway, with nothing on it and no shade. And that huge patch of grass in the center of Valravn's layout is begging to be utilized.
I'm really impressed with the way Cedar Point remade the Wicked Twister midway these past few years. I wasn't even aware that calypso had been relocated there (or that dodgem wasn't simply removed) and I really like the symmetry of the ferris wheel, wicked twister, and the two rides flanking them. Hopefully cedar point can develop this new midway in the same way over the next decade.
"The term is 'amusement park.' An old Earth name for a place where people could go to see and do all sorts of fascinating things." -Spock, Stardate 3025
^That there. Valravn is a great addition to the park, and I'm sure the area around the ride will be developed in coming years.
Life is something that happens when you can't get to sleep.
--Fran Lebowitz
Jason Hammond said:
Morning lift hill tours like they do at Busch.
I'll second that. But looking at the video it shows evac stairs on both sides of the lift hill track. No sign of the cart that takes the tour up the hill at Busch. I don't see them letting you ride the coaster train up the lift and then exit out of it at the top.
Do they actually use that cart thingy at Busch?
At any rate I wouldn't expect them to render that in a marketing video, if there are plans for it.
I've never really had any interest in dive coasters, but since there is going to be one in my back yard, I'm pretty excited about it and will renew my season pass because of the addition plus my undying love for the park. My only gripe is not with Cedar Point's adding of this particular coaster, but with B&M. It just seems to me that they have lost the magic I used to get excited about. It just seems like the same coasters over and over and I want to see some innovation. Seems like everyone knew a dive coaster was going to end up at Cedar Point, I was just hoping that it was going to be different from the rest. I'm doubtful I will not be impressed with the coaster once I ride it, but on "paper", I was hoping for more.
Michael
The Blog
Walt S said:
...I'm also wondering about capacity. Is 1200 PPH really a people eater (or am I maybe skewed by what Gemini used to be able to do with 6 trains running.)
No. 1200 is what Millennium Force can do on a really good day. Compare some historical capacity numbers...
Blue Streak (pre-1994): 1,440
Gemini (6 trains): 3,400
Magnum XL-200 (pre-2014): 1,600
Raptor: 1,600
GateKeeper: 1,600
Iron Dragon (3 trains): 2,000
Disaster Transport: 1,200
Maverick: 750
Top Thrill Dragster: 500
Oh, and a comical favorite...
Scoot Doo's Ghoster Coaster (Paramount's Kings Island): 96, later upgraded to 160
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
/X\ _ *** Respect rides. They do not respect you. ***
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Ugh. I waited in line to take my (12 years younger than me) sister on that Ghoster Coaster. That was the last time I ever was willing to do that.
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