Today, Cedar Point announced plans for Valravn, the world’s “tallest, fastest and longest” Bolliger & Mabillard dive coaster, which is scheduled to debut in the summer of 2016.
According to Cedar Point, 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 Cedar Point’s 18th coaster when it opens next year.
Riders on Valravn will rise to the apex of the coaster’s 223-foot-tall first hill. Once there, the train will, pause, hanging riders over the edge of the first drop for approximately four seconds, giving 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.
The train will then invert passengers through a 165-foot-tall Immelmann inversion, as seen above.
The train then approaches another drop zone, plunging without pause 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.
Upon its opening, Valravn will break 10 world records:
- Tallest dive coaster (223 feet)
- Fastest dive coaster (75 mph)
- Longest dive coaster (3,415 feet)
- Most inversions on a dive coaster (three)
- Longest drop on a dive coaster (214 feet)
- Highest inversion on a dive coaster (165 feet)
- Most roller coasters taller than 200 feet at one amusement park (5)
- Most rides at one amusement park (72)
- Most steel roller coaster track at one amusement park (52,125 feet/9.9 miles)
- Most roller coaster track at one amusement park (60,110 feet/11.4 miles)
Valravn is also the signature 100th roller coaster designed by Bolliger & Mabillard. Valravn will feature trains 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.
See a 360-degree rotation of the new trains in the video below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLqVqX_Npeg
Valravn can accommodate approximately 1,200 riders per hour. 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.
“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.”
Watch an on-ride video of Valravn below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAjku9rTITs
Valravn overview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEWkK0WJZjc
Learn more about Valravn at Cedar Point’s website.
What do you think about Valravn? Share your thoughts about the coaster in the comments section below.
How do I get one of these “Valravn VR Viewers”?
I’ve been against this since the rumors began, Maverick has the dive coaster style drop and Rogarou is floorless, this doesn’t benefit the park in any way as I see it. I’m not impressed by the ride either, it looks like a whole lot of nothing to me and records don’t matter. This is the dumbest thing that I’ve seen a park announce since Mistake 360 in 2013, you one-upped Mount Olympus is mediocrity, and that’s a VERY BAD THING when you do something worse than the park that I say can’t do anything right. The only thing that Cedar Point has going for them right now is that it’s not replacing anything important or loved, is something uninspired, or a colossal mistake, so I’m not as mad as I could be about it.
Cedar Point has made an effort to have rides pay tribute in some way to others in the park’s history, and what Cedar Point really needs (apparently) is a standout wooden coaster, and that would have been the perfect spot for a GCI to pay tribute to Cedar Point’s first major roller coaster Cyclone which opened in 1929, plus that would have been WAY cheaper than this uninspired pile of trash and fixed a major hole that the park currently has as well. It’s also worth noting that GCI’s work was heavily inspired by the work of Harry G. Traver and Fredrick Church, and guess who is listed under the make for the CP Cyclone, Harry G. Traver, that’s right, the Cedar Point Cyclone was made by one of the two people who inspired GCI, how fitting is that.
This is a possible ride based on the footprint of Valravn (for the most part) based off of the 7th picture in detail.
1. The station would be placed in the same location general area (but just a bit north of where the lift starts), but large enough to fit a 12-car train of Millennium Flyers to maximize lift hill height with a one-hundred-eighty turn to the right into a small pre-lift before the lift hill that would be likely around one-hundred-forty feet tall or taller (at most maybe in the hundred-fifty feet tall ballpark). The station would end at about the staircase.
2. The drop would either spiral around past one-hundred-eighty degrees (I’d say about a two-hundred degree turn) to the right and level out at about where the drop off of the mid-course is.
3. This would lead into a twisting hill with a turn to the left and either go into a station dive-under the into a banked turn to the right in a tunnel similar to Boardwalk Bullet.
4. The banked turn would be followed into a GCI trademark sweeping turnaround to the right over the ride entrance path and dive down over the pre-lift into a hill that would go under the one that lead to the station dive-under with a turn to the left GCI style and over the brake run.
5. After that hill it would fly up into a sweeping turn to the right that would be similar to the turn over the ride entrance but not be a complete turnaround and exit in a turn similar to the exit of the first hill on Fury (a banked turn to the left on the way down) and fly up into the second sweeping GCI style turnaround that would push back the path a bit (so past Valravn a bit) that would be to the left.
5. After the second turnaround it would be a hill with a sweeping turn to the left on the way up (the incline of the hill) with a strait drop most of the way (the bottom would be a banked turn to the right) over the entry into the second turnaround and dive down over the path similar to the immelmen exit but not make such a drastic turn (and a bit closer as all of the circle paths would be removed except for the one in the middle of the ride) and perform a station fly-through with a spiraling turn to the right up (similar to the entry into the mid-course on Valravn but about where the storage sheds in the 7th picture down) into a sweeping drop to the right about parallel with the hill after the first turnaround.
6. After that hill it would fly up an incline into a turnaround like the one that’s being removed on Roar at Discovery Kingdom in the Joker transformation around the second turnaround in the vein of the Belle Vue Park Bobs and most of the P&C/H coasters at the area of the immelmen and exit about where the last invert exits (by the path) into a hill with a sweeping drop to the right over the entry to parallel with the lift hill.
7. Following the last part it would lead to an incline with a spiraling drop to the right around the main drop that would exit parallel to it and lead into an incline with a banked turn to the left into the brake run.
If you’re confused by it then this should help
My Modern CP Cyclone in 14 Elements;
1. turn to the right out of station into pre-lift (not sure about this part exactly)
2. lift hill
3. main drop spirals to the right and ducks under lift at about a 200ish-degree angle
4. GCI style banked hill to the left with station dive-under with right turn
5. sweeping GCI style turnaround to the right
6. GCI style hill with banking turn to the right under hill mentioned above and over brake run
7. hill loosely based off of Fury 325’s first hill (off of lift on Fury)
8. the second sweeping GCI style turnaround to the left
9. GCI style hill with incline having turn to left and dives over path with a banked turn to the right at the bottom
10. sweeping turnaround to the right with station fly-through and drop that ends up parallel to hill after first turnaround
11. Prior & Church style turnaround to the left around the second turnaround
12. hill with a strait incline on the way up over the bottom of main drop into a sweeping drop to the right that exits parallel to lift hill
13. hill into a spiraling drop to the right around the main drop that exits under previous hill
14. incline into brake run with a twisting turn to the left
I’m not able to use NoLimits 1 or 2 (still have no idea how to even use them) so I’m not able to create this vision myself. If anyone who reads this can, I’d appreciate it if someone would take up the task. But would you take this proposed ride (given all of the clearance and height problems are sorted out) or this thing?
The only positive thing that I have to say about this ride is that the vest restraints are making their way onto other train types and that unlike a certain other ride (Hades 360 cough) it’ll be a smooth one.
I think this is a brilliant investment for Cedar Point. It’s rare in the US, beautiful, and will be so striking for the observer, let alone the rider! The new midways and the layout with how it will tie into the existing park, will be absolutely fantastic. You will get amazing views from the new Blue Streak Midway or by Celebration plaza, and good views elsewhere. Also, the 165 foot immelmann, will be as tall as GateKeepers initial inversion. That’s pretty fricking big. Congrats to Cedar Point and all the future, happy riders!
CoDAce I like the coaster idea. I wish there was a better platform to share coaster/ park ideas. Maybe I’ll try to make a website for it. But anyways, This coaster is exactly what I expected and not in a totally good or bad way. I wish that cedar point could knock my socks of with a coaster announcement but I am very happy with Valravn. At the same time, this is no small coaster! (The third tallest in the park)This would trump the skyline at most amusement parks. An image I keep coming back to when I feel a little under-whelmed.
I hate the fact this coaster is Griffin/ Sheikra without the theming or the splash down or tunnel. A flying coaster or wooden coaster would be a better fit. But what the really need is a giid modern family coaster like Cheetah Hunt or Seirra Sidewinder.
*good
I’m actually quite envious of this coaster! My home park is Six Flags Great America and our tallest coaster is Raging Bull, just over 200ft. I would very much welcome this ride at OUR park!
wonderful job!!