Dorney Park announces new roller coaster for 2024: Iron Menace
Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom released CGI animations of what visitors can expect on Iron Menace in 2024.
ALLENTOWN, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom is building the first-ever dive roller coaster in the northeastern United States.
It's called Iron Menace, and it is set to open in spring 2024 at the amusement park just outside Allentown, Pennsylvania.
The new roller coaster will climb 160 feet, then a three-second pause at the top will allow you to look straight down.
Then, the park says riders will go "beyond vertical," plummeting down a 95-degree drop.
That's followed by twists and turns with speeds up to 64 miles per hour.
For the theme, the creators of the roller coaster took inspiration from the Lehigh Valley's steel industry history.
The backstory of Iron Menace centers on an evil steel baron.
"We took a lot of our leads, our inspiration, from the ruins in Bethlehem," said Dorney Park Public Relations Manager Ryan Eldredge. "It's going to look and feel more like a steel mill. As you get onto the ride, you're going to have all those dips and dives and inversions that will make you feel like you're on a car maneuvering your way through a steel mill."
Construction started this week.
Dorney Park plans to have the new thrill ride ready for opening day next year.
Iron Menace will be the park's eighth roller coaster, the first new coaster since Hydra opened in 2005, and the largest since Steel Force opened in 1997.
The park says this is one of the largest capital investments in its history.
Park visitors are promised a heart-pounding, high-speed experience:
"Riders of Iron Menace will start their exhilarating journey in the remains of an old steel mill and then climb 160 feet where they'll hang over the beyond-vertical first drop before diving into the first of four mind-bending inversions.
"With nearly 2,200 feet of steel track, this awe-inspiring roller coaster will feature a unique 'hold and dive' element, where riders will find themselves hanging on the edge of their seats, breathlessly awaiting the heart-pounding 95-degree, 152-foot drop.
"With speeds up to 64 miles per hour, Iron Menace will boast the first-ever tilted loop on a dive coaster. After the initial, beastly drop, the train will pull up sharply and flip 180 degrees in an Immelmann inversion. A zero g-roll will dish out a 360-degree inversion in wild weightlessness, while the tilted loop and a 360-degree corkscrew spin will leave riders wondering which way is up," Dorney Park's announcement reads.
