originally posted on 8/18/2023
All renderings courtesy of Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom. View full-sized image.
It’s almost hard to fathom that the first dive coaster from Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M) was a quarter century ago. When Oblivion (Alton Towers, Staffordshire, England) debuted in 1998, it was dramatically new, but that particular installation was extremely short. Some called it a one-trick pony.
A mirrored clone at Janfusun Fancyworld (Koo-Kung Hsiang, Taiwan) opened two years later and then the genre went dormant.
SheiKra (Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, Tampa, Florida) revived the product in B&M’s portfolio and enlarged it to bigger extremes, not to mention brought it to the United States. Since then, dive coasters filtered their way into new installations around the globe. Many have surpassed the 200-foot mark in North America, but the latest trend is finding a midrange size around 150 feet.
In 2024, Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom will debut Iron Menace on the site previously occupied by Stinger — a Vekoma Invertigo that originally operated at California’s Great America in Santa Clara, California.
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Dorney Park (Allentown, Pennsylvania) has announced the latest incarnation. Opting for seven-across seating, it bears some resemblance to what Six Flags Fiesta Texas installed last year. But before anyone can nickname it “Dr. Dorneybolical,” there are vast differences.
Dubbed Iron Menace, the new attraction capitalizes on the history of the steel industry in the region. As the story goes: “In the early 1900s, Scottish businessman Hiram S. McTavish opened McTavish Steel Mill, a direct competitor to Bethlehem Steel Company. Greed dictated McTavish’s every move, and he was well known to prioritize profits above people. With an eye on maximizing output, McTavish created a massive hauler he dubbed ‘Iron Menace,’ a device the steel industry had never seen. The rail transporter moved workers and ore at record volumes and dizzying speeds. Suddenly, the greedy steel baron mysteriously disappeared — no one knows how or where. Shortly after, McTavish Steel Mill closed. All that remains today are the mill’s decrepit shell, rusty relics and wild tales of the owner’s whereabouts.”
Iron Menace’s elaborate backstory will include theming not revealed in renderings initially supplied by the park.
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It’s easy to applaud a new theme and storyline, and one that fits a town’s history makes it even more favorable.
This will be the seventh installation of a B&M diver in North America and 17th in the world. Of the recent three, it too will be in the midsized range, but just a little taller than the aforementioned Dr. Diabolical’s Cliffhanger and Emperor, the other 2022 installation at SeaWorld San Diego (California).
Rising 160 feet into the air, Iron Menace’s height will match favorably with its coaster neighbor, Possessed — an Intamin Impulse relocated from the defunct Geauga Lake & Wildwater Kingdom in Aurora, Ohio, when the amusement park closed in 2007.
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Looking at the stats, Iron Menace will rise to 160 feet. It mimics Dr. Diabolical’s 95-degree first drop, but from there, the layout is customized to Dorney Park. Like Emperor, there is no midcourse brake and second dive. Iron Menace keeps the pace and drives momentum through four inversions, including the world’s first oblique loop on a diving coaster. The other three inversions are an Immelmann, zero-G roll and corkscrew.
Unlike other dive coasters, Iron Menace features a drop immediately following the lift hill.
At 2,169 feet in length, it is the shortest of the three attractions being discussed here, but it is the tallest and fastest (64 mph). Another distinction for Iron Menace is that it does not include a long curve to the hold brake as other installations do. The moment of pause is still there, but it happens just off the lift. How this adds or detracts (if at all) remains to be seen, but it gives each dive coaster in North America its own signature.
And if anyone is keeping track it will give North America two seven-across seating, one six-across, three eight-across and one 10-across.
Following other dive coaster installations, Iron Menace will feature a layout unique to Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom including a towering Immelmann inversion and a never-before-experienced oblique loop.
A Dorney Park spokesperson said thematic details are “in conversation.” Current renderings don’t show anything in that regard (other than the station building), so how much, how big and what the theming might be are yet to be revealed.
Iron Menace will give Dorney Park eight roller coasters. It is being erected on the site that formerly contained Stinger, a relocated Vekoma Invertigo, and Laser, a Schwarzkopf double loop.
— Tim Baldwin, ACE News
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