Saturday, January 29, 2011

Invertigo Moving To Dorney Park? Apparently.


Not the ride at California's Great America, but the same type from Vekoma's website

I don't really go after rumors much here on NewsPlusNotes, mostly because there are sites out there that do it better than I ever could.  Case in point, soon after the news broke that California's Great America was removing Invertigo, Screamscape posted a rumor that Dorney Park would be the 'lucky' recipient.

But since Dorney Park is my home park and just a few miles from where I type this, my ears naturally perked up at the rumor.

As for that rumor part, well, I'm here to spread it I guess.  I've been told that the ride is indeed coming to Dorney Park, and will reside in the former home of Laser.  Apparently the park is already making moves to get ready for its arrival, which will be sooner than later.

A spot is already cleared, how nice

How much sooner?  Well that's where things get really surprising - I was told that the plan is to open Invertigo at Dorney Park in summer 2011, not summer 2012.  Yes, the rumor is that a rush job of massive proportions will take place to have the ride up and running by June of this summer.

I can't speak as to why this is happening, that is if what I'm hearing is indeed true.  To move a ride so late in the off-season is just odd - and will this affect any plans the park had for 2012?

As for the ride's location, Laser sat on the edge of a 100 year flood plain, which made gaining approval for it back in 1986 tricky at best.  Quickly looking back at old newspaper articles Dorney had to have several planning meetings in order to build Laser as well as the nearby picnic groves and restrooms, and didn't get approval until March.

Also from Vekoma's website, but this is the ride at CGA

That ride was portable but Invertigo will require permanent foundations.  It is yet to be seen if a new debate will arise over the flood plain, or if those problems will not be repeated.  I do know that nothing has appeared on South Whitehall Township's planning commission agendas, but the one for February's meeting is not yet posted.

Invertigo opened at California's Great America in 1998.  It is one of three operating Vekoma inverted-boomerang designs; the others are at Kings Island in Ohio and Sommerland Syd in Denmark.  A fourth ride operated at Six Flags America but has since been removed and has not reopened elsewhere.

The coaster stands 132 feet tall, has 1,014 feet of track, and the trains hit 50 miles per hour.  The trains have riders sit face-to-face as they traverse the track both forwards and backwards through three inversions.

Invertigo would be Dorney Park's third recent transplanted attraction following Possessed from Geauga Lake in 2008 and Demon Drop in 2010 from Cedar Point.  The last new ride added to the park was Hydra in 2005.  Invertigo would also be the park's third inverted coaster along with Possessed and Talon, and the second shuttle ride as well.


6 comments:

Ryan said...

Yeah. Strange.

Someone better be making a call that little outfit in Sunbury in the next few years then, if they want to keep pulling this stuff.

eat me said...

zoning limits a ride in the proposed area to 70 feet in height, doubtful Dorney park is doing any such ride when they are spending 8 million on an entire new kids area called "Planet Snoopy"

milst1 said...

I know they're saying they want to make room for a new attraction...but is there any chance that CF will give up on fighting Santa Clara stadium...or maybe a deal is in the works? Just wild speculation, I admit.

BnM Lover said...

Correction for your post... SFA's Two Face was physically removed from the park's backstage area during the 2009-2010 off season.

The coaster is not anywhere on SFA's property.

Unknown said...

Height restrictions in lower Dorney were lifted several years ago. The ceiling is now 210-400ft depending on the exact spot. Those height limits were in place originally because Dorney sat right underneath an approach path to LVI. When LVI's runways were reconfigured in 2002, that ceiling was no longer necessary. It did take Dorney like 5 years to get that restriction changed though. Despite all this there was never a limit as low as 70ft...remember laser was 93ft tall.

NewsPlusNotes said...

Kevin is dead on with this one, reference this post from 2009: http://newsplusnotes.blogspot.com/2009/02/dorney-receives-new-zoning.html

The park agreed to be able to add 3 more rides taller than 85 feet, then they must replace tall ones in order to add more. Demon Drop would have been the first of those three. Inverigo would be the second.