Dragon Khan is a steel sit-down roller coaster located in the

PortAventura Park PortAventura Park is a theme park located in the PortAventura World Resort, 85 km southwest of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, in the municipalities of Salou and Vila-seca, on the Costa Daurada. The park opened on 1 May 1995 under the manageme ...

theme park in

Salou Salou () is a municipality of the '' comarca'' of Tarragonès, in the province of Tarragona, in Catalonia, Spain. The city is approximately 10 km from Tarragona and Reus on the Costa Daurada and 112 km from Barcelona. Founded by the Gre ...

and Vilaseca (

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Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. Dragon Khan boasts eight inversions, which was a world record until the opening of the ten-inversion Colossus in

Thorpe Park Thorpe Park Resort, commonly known as Thorpe Park, is an amusement park located in the village of Thorpe between the towns of Chertsey and Staines-upon-Thames in Surrey, England, southwest of Central London. It is operated by Merlin Entertai ...

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in 2002. The ride, built by Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M), opened on May 2, 1995 and was one of the two roller coasters present upon PortAventura's opening. The track is red with white and pastel blue supports; the trains are green, blue and purple (a third train is run at peak times only).

Ride experience

Inversions

The ride

After boarding the ride, riders climb to the top of the lift hill , crossing under one of

Shambhala In Tibetan Buddhist tradition, Shambhala ( sa, शम्भल ',''Śambhala'', also ''Sambhala'', is the name of a town between the Rathaprā and Ganges rivers, identified by some with Sambhal in Uttar Pradesh. In the Puranas, it is named as ...

's return airtime hills. At the crest of the lift hill, Dragon Khan's track crosses under Shambhala's lift hill and hits a pre-drop. The track makes a right hand turn, then immediately dives down the first drop, threading under Shambhala's first drop and over its splashdown, and entering a

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 ...

. This is immediately followed by a dive loop. Right after this, the track goes through a zero-g roll which threads through the second vertical loop, and a cobra roll. The track then rises up into the midcourse brake run. Off the midcourse brake run, the track makes a near-miss with Shambhala's first drop as it drops to the right, crossing under the exit from the first loop, and into a second vertical loop which wraps around the zero g roll. Leaving the second loop, the track passes goes through a 270 degree counterclockwise upward helix, before entering a set of

interlocking corkscrews 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, hill, loop, or turn. ...

. The ride then makes a left turn into the final brake run, passing under the center point in the cobra roll, before re-entering the Chinese-themed station. The track is , and the ride's top speed is over . The ride's duration is 1 minute and 45 seconds. The ride, thus far, has more inversions than any other B&M coaster made before or after. Zero-g roll

The ride has a total of three trains, each containing seven cars. Riders are arranged four across in a single row for a total of 28 riders per train. The theme for this ride is based on Chinese

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narra ...

: the dragon Khan was the reincarnated spirit of the evil Prince Hu of

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. His fury was unleashed each time a human dared to climb atop his back. This links in with the fact that the ride is located at the very back of the park in the Chinese themed area. Due to this ride's placement, it can be seen from anywhere inside the park, as well as from nearby hotels and the Reus

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

External links

Dragon Khan at PortAventura Park

Dragon Khan at Factoría urbana
{{John Wardley Roller coasters in Spain Roller coasters introduced in 1995 Rides designed by John Wardley Roller coasters manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard