Valravn Media Preview - Cedar Point

[Invertalon]

EDIT: First Rider Benefit Photos Added! CLICKY!

 

Today we had been given the opportunity to attend the media preview for Valravn... The park staff, as always, put on a fantastic event for everyone to check out the new B&M steel towering above the park.

 

Throughout the day, I ended up riding it ten times... 4x front, 5x back and 1x middle. Riding each corner of the train, my favorite seat would be front right, followed by back right. Mainly for that awesome zero-g roll! Front for visuals, backseat for the more intense air down the drops. One notable "feature" of the ride is the sway of the structure at the top of the lift and at the MCBR... You can feel it rocking back and forth, a strange sensation, but definitely adds to the experience.

 

The drops of course, are amazing! But the best part of the ride aside from the initial drop is that zero-g-roll... You just float all awkwardly through the element, falling to the side before taking the rest of the following helix. The final airtime hill is fun, better than I expected (which should get even better when the temps are warmer!). Overall, the ride has a far more "complete" feel to the layout, in comparison to Sheikra for example. The ending sequence is fun and really adds to the main feature of the ride, the drops!

 

As expected, the views up top are unreal. Not only do you get that panoramic view of the entire park and surrounding area, you actually have time to enjoy that amazing view. Early AM the sun was rising over the lake straight ahead and it was just awesome. The location is absolutely perfect for this ride.

 

The ride plaza looks great... The visuals of the ride all around you is unlike any other ride at CP. Very interactive. Again, well thought out and really adds to that section of the park. Now you also get the fantastic visuals of the neighbor, Raptor (which looks AMAZING by this year! Looks like the ride is sporting a new LED lighting/strobe package under the cobra roll for this year too!). Still some work going on with the lighting around Valravn, but I have no doubt when complete the lighting will be unreal (especially in the queue line).

 

I have many more, high-res photos up at my Flickr page: HERE!

 

Enjoy!

Edited May 7, 2016 by Invertalon

[thrillseeker4552]

FANTASTIC photos! This ride looks amazing. It's nice to finally see a big dive coaster in the US once again. Hopefully more will start popping up, as they seem to be B&Ms best product.

[pianojohn]

Beautiful pics. Can't wait to ride it but also see the new marina entrance. I entered the park that way 100's of times when working at the Point and living in the Cedars in the 80's. And we thought it was loud when Wildcat was right outside our windows!

[DoinItForTheFame]

Awesome photos, and glad to hear how great of an addition this ride is to the park. (Not that I had any doubts) but reassurance is always a good thing!!! Can't wait to get up to the park this summer and try it out!!

[Invertalon]

Beautiful pics. Can't wait to ride it but also see the new marina entrance. I entered the park that way 100's of times when working at the Point and living in the Cedars in the 80's. And we thought it was loud when Wildcat was right outside our windows!

 

Valravn is actually surprisingly quiet! I really think that it is less noisy that WC was, so if anything an improvement on the noise pollution in that area of the park. Raptor is far louder next door!

[Geauga Dog]

Thank you for these fabulous shots of Valravn. That first one from Perimeter Road is stunning!! I'm thrilled that we finally have a dive coaster close to home.

[FeelTheFORCE]

Awesome pics! Gets me pumped for my visit on Sunday!

[BisonRugbyGuy]

Absolutely beautiful. I'm going to do anything I can to be able to cross train at this ride.

[coasterbill]

Great pictures. I can't wait to ride this summer.

[DorneyKid14]

Awesome pictures!!!! Cant wait for next weekend when im there!!!

[Superbatboy]

Awesome pics!!

[williamj2543]

Those pics are such good quality! So excited when we are going on wednesday may 18th!

[RyanTPM]

That was a really good read, fantastic photos and Valravn looks very good, certainly visually impressive!

[cfc]

The Valravn station certainly looks impressive during the nighttime--very nice lighting.

Edited May 5, 2016 by cfc

[michaellynn4]

^ Truth, and I'm a sucker for awesome lighting.

 

Great report!

[Santa07]

WOW

Those photos make it look really amazing!

 

Now to cry at the fact that it'll take me many years before I'll even be able to get in the same country as it

[Comeagain?]

Fantastic pictures as always Invertalon. And some amazing looking landscaping and buildings. I don't quite get the tiled look on the station, but it still all looks great (even if it is a standard Cedar Fair 'generic' theme).

[KICoasterkev]

Great pictures! They did a awesome job getting everything ready!

[Lightning Rod]

I can't wait to ride it.

[The Geek Mojo]

WOW! Can't wait to ride!

[coasterfreak101]

Holy crap, every one of those pictures is amazing. Can't wait to ride this summer!

[viking86]

Amazing photos, thanks for sharing! Looks like a great ride.

[Invertalon]

Thanks everyone!

 

There should be more photos up tomorrow or Saturday as I will be attending the first rider benefit at the park tonight, so I plan to take more photos (ceremony and other things going on)... Especially if lighting is better than it was yesterday, hope to grab more photos around the ride area. I will post an update in this topic if weather cooperates.

[VegasBaby]

I love Griffon (and its sister Sheikra), and this looks like a better version of it. I am really hoping to finally get to CP this summer and check this bad boy out (along with all of their other incredible coasters). There's rumors of SFMM getting one of these next year, so it would be awesome to finally have a dive machine on the West Coast. I doubt many of the SFMM crowd has ever been on one, so I think it would be a huge hit for the park.

[TBpony414]

Fantastical pictures, especially the station in the early morning hours. I'll be down there in a little under 2 months and can't wait to ride!