Cedar Point debuted Valravn -the world’s tallest, longest, and fastest dive coaster – to the public on Thursday night, May 5th in a big way. The Valravn First Rider Benefit helped raise over $75,000 for LeBron James Family Foundation. Unfortunately, Lebron himself was a bit busy with a little thing called the NBA playoffs or something like that, but his sister and son were in attendance to help accept the large check.
Cedar Point literally rolled out the red carpet for everyone in attendance.
The gates opened at 6pm and we were greeted by a photo opportunity and free food and drinks.
Cedar Point’s Tony Clark and Jason McClure took the stage to say a few words, followed by a video message from LeBron James. A pyrotechnics show concluded the opening fanfare, which you can see parts of in this video:
After the brief ceremony, it was time to enter the Valravn plaza. This former dead end path has been transformed into a place ideal for just hanging out. The lift towers over the marina entrance, meaning Cedar Point now has two in your face “gate coasters,” fitting for the roller coaster capital of the world. I fully expect Blue Streak to give a lot of rides this year since it is connected to the Valravn plaza.
Valravn is going to be a great spectating coaster. Guests will be able to watch the cars spiraling gracefully above the midways from every angle. Not a single element is hidden from view.
There are so many fun photo opportunities. I’m told Cedar Point will be trying out a new augmented reality technology this season. One example that was shared is the mystical Valravn bird will land on the throne while you are posing for a picture with your smart phone. There are going to be several places throughout the park where you’ll be able to find one of these cool picture interactions.
If you decide to brave this beast, you’ll negotiate a maze of switchbacks under the lift hill before climbing the stairs to the loading platform. Your seat will be assigned to you so it looks like you’re going to have to trust to luck in order to get a seat in the front row. In my three rides at the event I row middle once and back twice. A TV in the station contains a countdown clock of how long the train is sitting between dispatches. It also shows every seat on the coaster and they turn green when your restraint is closed and locked down. If you don’t fit, everyone will know which seat you’re trying to squeeze into.
Besides being known as a dive coaster for its vertical drop, Valravn could also be classified as a floorless coaster as there are no floors to the train. How do you board a vehicle with no floor? The coaster uses a retracting floor in the station that raises and lowers by way of a cool linkage system. You can read more about that patent here. In the picture above the floors are in the raised position.
In the station picture shown earlier, did you notice the black strip on the floor on the left hand side of the image? That is a safety device known as a light curtain. Safety Light Curtains are opto-electronic presence sensing safety devices that detect the presence of an object in the light curtain’s sensing field. They are most commonly used in machine guarding applications to detect the presence of a person’s finger, hand, limb or whole body. I assume the retracting floor will not lower if the light curtain is broken. I believe the ride attendants also have to be standing on a mat or pressing a button in order for the trains to enter or depart the station.
If you’ve been on GateKeeper then you’ll be familiar with Valravn’s restraints. The over-the-shoulder vests are comfy and do not tighten up at all while the coaster is plunging down humongous dives and wicked inversions. Word on the street is the new style restraints prevented the cars from sitting ten riders across (like Griffon) instead of eight.
The lift hill is steep and the ascent to the summit is quick. On big rides like Millennium Force and Top Thrill Dragster, there isn’t time to look around and enjoy the view when you’re at the top. Plus on the other coaster you’re usually facing the wrong way. Valravn is perfectly positioned in the park to see everything AND you actually have time to enjoy it.
Tip: For the best view, ride Valravn at dusk when the lights on all the rides are turning on but it’s still light enough to see a far distance. It’s simply incredible.
The highlight of Valravn is, of course, the turn out of the station.
Just kidding. It’s the giant first drop. The freefall sensation seemed to last longer than almost any other coaster I’ve been on. It’s probably the closest I will ever come to the feeling of jumping out of an airplane.
Before long you’ll be staring at the second vertical drop. It’s fun but a little anticlimactic after the first plunge. The 270 degree roll is unique and provides some zero gravity as you twist your way out of it – probably the second best element on the coaster. The camelback hill provides some nice floaty airtime before your flight on Valravn is over. It’s short but oh so sweet.
If you’ve been on a dive coaster then you’ve experienced it before, this is just on a bigger, grander scale. Enjoy this off ride footage of Valravn in all of its record breaking glory:
Valravn Record Breaking Stats
Length: 3,415 feet (Chimelong’s Dive Coaster: 3,218 feet)
Height: 223 feet (Happy Valley’s Diving Coaster: 213 feet)
Speed: 75 mph (Happy Valley’s Diving Coaster: 72mph. Busch Garden’s Griffon: 71 mph)
How does Valravn stack up to the competition?
How does Valravn compare to other dive coasters? The only other one I’ve been on is Sheikra at Busch Gardens Tampa, and I rode it ten years ago before it was converted to floorless trains, so it is difficult to accurately compare the two. Overall, I have to give the edge to Valravn – it’s taller, has a better view, a better drop, and more elements.
As for the best new ride of 2016, of the two new-for-2016 coasters I’ve ridden, I have to give the edge to Storm Chaser. I’ve been on a B&M dive coaster before but never on an RMC. Storm Chaser does more with less – you’ve got 11 elements crammed into 2,744 feet of track compared to 6 elements in 3,415. Storm Chaser is a much more dynamic ride with more powerful airtime. They’re both great rides though and I recommend you check them both out this summer if you can.
I hope you enjoyed reading my Valravn review. If you’ve been on Valravn, where do you think it ranks among Cedar Point’s impressive collection of coasters?
I just rode Valravn for the first time over the weekend and it’s my #3 coaster at Cedar Point, behind Millennium Force and Maverick. The experience from the front row, in particular, was great. I have not ridden too many dive coasters…closest to this one would be Griffin at Hershey Park, but this was much faster and smoother.
I am going tomorrow with my family. I. Am. Absolutely. Terrified. Help!
The staff working the valravn wouldn’t let me put my loose items in a cubby and $20 flew out of my pocket, I lost $20 on this ride.