originally posted on 4/15/2023
Flying Viking and Draken Falls construction at Adventureland. Photos: Tom Nickerson. View full-sized image.
View full-sized image.
One thing for certain is that 2023 will be a great year for theme parks and roller coasters. That certainly holds true in Iowa. All three parks in Iowa have major construction and improvements in progress.
Matugani is scheduled to operate on opening day. Photo: Tom Nickerson. View full-sized image.
Beginning at Lost Island Themepark (Waterloo), progress has been made on finishing projects the region’s newest park was unable to complete in its inaugural year. It has been confirmed that both the log flume (Yuta Falls) and the Intamin launch coaster (Matugani) will be open this season. The park also mentioned that both rides should be ready to go on opening day. Locals have reported that Matugani can be seen testing often. This ride was unable to open last year owing to supply chain issues. Yuta Falls was unable to open because of a construction fire before the start of the season.
The Legend. Photo: Courtesy Blink Marketing. View full-sized image.
Next, heading to the other side of the state, Arnolds Park (Arnolds Park) is finalizing the reconstruction of its ACE Roller Coaster Landmark, The Legend. After soliciting money from the community and donors, the park raised enough to contract with Great Coasters International to finish this round of a four-year restoration project. The original project started in 2013 and has been moving through phases, making this a labor of love and preservation.
Photos: Courtesy Blink Marketing. View full-sized image.
View full-sized image.
Part of this project is the complete rebuild of the lift hill, the turnaround and some of the bunny hops (approximately two-thirds of the coaster). This is a full rebuild from the ground up, not just a retracking. New concrete poured, new footers, new structure and, of course, new track. Arnolds Park expects the coaster to be ready mid-May for opening weekend.
Photo: Tom Nickerson. View full-sized image.
Finally, proceeding to the middle of the state for the biggest project, construction of the duo ride combo Flying Viking (Zamperla junior coaster) and Draken Falls (log flume) at Adventureland (Altoona) is coming along nicely. Draken Falls brings back a reimaged fan favorite ride. The park’s original log flume was popular from 1974 to 2015.
The Draken Falls building and blue track with Flying Viking track, showing some crossover points. Photo: Tom Nickerson. View full-sized image.
Earlier in the year, ACE was invited to visit the construction site. Draken Falls was about 80 percent complete. It will feature two drop zones — one with an airtime hill. This flume ride will interact with the roller coaster, sharing the same space nine times. The first lift hill was complete, along with a partial portion of the turnaround up top.
Draken Falls boats. Photo: Tom Nickerson. View full-sized image.
All the trough concrete work was done, and the second drop was completed. The storage bay/pump house for the flume ride was in the process of being built. There were some noticeable gaps in the construction of Draken Falls, because the coaster had to be built before the flume could be completed.
Flying Viking car. Photo: Tom Nickerson. View full-sized image.
Flying Viking will be Adventureland’s seventh roller coaster. At the time of ACE’s visit, the coaster was about 50 percent complete, with the lift hill being almost complete. The two helixes on this coaster — one on each side of the plot of land, north and south — are complete, and so is the zippy section featuring S curves and bunny hops in between. SkyHigh Coasters LLC and the team from Zamperla are working at a great pace to have both the coaster and flume ride ready by the anticipated opening date from Adventureland (June 1). Construction of the station, with the coaster loading on top and the flume ride on the bottom, was slated to start soon.
Construction showing Draken Falls (blue track), Monster (green track) and Flying Viking (yellow track). Photo: Tom Nickerson. View full-sized image.
The construction at Adventureland doesn’t stop there. The old hot dog stand next to the attractions will be converted to the Potato Patch with a Viking theme (named after the food stand with the same name at Adventureland’s sister park Kennywood in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania). This area will also feature a splash zone viewing area to see the 25-foot-tall waves from Draken Falls.
Overall, it is going to be a great year for all the parks in Iowa.
— Tom Nickerson, ACE North Central Regional Representative
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