Talon is an

inverted roller coaster An inverted roller coaster is a roller coaster in which the train runs under the track with the seats directly attached to the wheel carriage. This latter attribute is what sets it apart from the older suspended coaster, which runs under the t ...

located at

Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom is an American amusement and water park located between Allentown and Emmaus, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The park features 64 rides, including six roller coasters, other ad ...

in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard and designed by

Werner Stengel Werner Stengel (born 22 August 1936, in Bochum) is a German roller coaster designer and engineer. Stengel is the founder of Stengel Engineering, also known as Ingenieurbüro Stengel GmbH (or Ingenieurbuero Stengel GmbH). Stengel first worked on a ...

at a cost of $13 million, Talon opened to the public in 2001 and was marketed as the tallest and longest inverted coaster in the Northeast. It stands tall, reaches a maximum speed of , and features four inversions.

History

On April 28, 2000, Dorney Park announced that a four inversion

would be built for the 2001 season. No further details were given until August 30, 2000 when Dorney Park announced the full details of the new $13 million roller coaster and its name, Talon. The ride would be the Northeast's longest inverted roller coaster and would be built on a portion of land set aside for a major attraction by

Cedar Fair Cedar Fair, L.P., formally Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, is a publicly traded master limited partnership headquartered at its Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio. The company owns and operates eleven amusement parks, nine included- ...

when they purchased the park in 1992. Construction began on September 5, 2000 and continued through the winter. The first parts of Talon to be put into place were the brake run and transfer track in October 2000. The roller coaster was topped off (the highest piece of the lift hill) on November 21, 2000 and the track was completed in early 2001. After testing was complete, Talon opened on May 5, 2001.

Experience

Having dispatched from the station, the train immediately begins to climb the lift hill. Once at the top, the train goes through a pre-drop before making a sharp downward right turn. The train then enters a tall

vertical loop The generic roller coaster vertical loop, where a section of track causes the riders to complete a 360 degree turn, is the most basic of roller coaster inversions. At the top of the loop, riders are completely inverted. History The vertical ...

. After exiting the loop, the train goes through a

zero-gravity roll This list of roller coaster elements contains the individual parts of roller coaster design and operation. Introduction Roller coaster elements are the individual parts of roller coaster design and operation, such as a Track (rail transport), tra ...

before dropping back to the ground and entering an Immelmann loop. The train then makes a full 360-degree upward right turn followed by a left turn leading into another drop. After the drop, the train makes a highly banked right turn into a flat spin. Next, the train makes a left turn (extremely close to the ground) before heading to a moment of airtime, and back up which leads into the brake run. After exiting the brake run, the train makes a right turn into a second, shorter, set of brakes before entering the station. One cycle of the ride lasts about 2 minutes.

Characteristics

Trains

Talon operates with two steel and fiberglass trains. Each train has eight cars that can seat four riders in a single row for a total of 32 riders per train. The train structure is coloured blue and turquoise, the seats are black, and the over-the-shoulder restraints are yellow.

Track

The steel track of Talon is approximately long, the height of the lift is approximately high, and the entire track weighs just under . It was manufactured by

Clermont Steel Fabricators Clermont Steel Fabricators (abbreviated as CSF) is a private steel products manufacturing company known for making Bolliger & Mabillard roller coasters. The plant is located in Batavia, Ohio. CSF was founded in 2004 after the closing of Southern O ...

located in Batavia, Ohio. Unlike other B&M coasters, the track is filled with sand to reduce the noise produced by the trains. The tracks are painted orange and yellow while the supports are blue.

Slogan & theme

The entrance sign has a mini-slogan as "The Grip Of Fear. The word "Talon" is named after a

claw A claw is a curved, pointed appendage found at the end of a toe or finger in most amniotes (mammals, reptiles, birds). Some invertebrates such as beetles and spiders have somewhat similar fine, hooked structures at the end of the leg or tarsus ...

, which is specifically found on

birds of prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and other smaller birds). In addition to speed and strength, these predat ...

and mythical creatures. The ride is themed as a bird of prey.

Awards

References

External links

Official page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Talon (Roller Coaster) Roller coasters introduced in 2001 Roller coasters operated by Cedar Fair Roller coasters in Pennsylvania Inverted roller coasters manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard