Forge your own fate on Iron Menace, the northeast’s first dive coaster. Firing up in 2024, this new ride at Dorney Park suspends riders 160 feet in the air before plummeting at a beyond-vertical, 95-degree drop. Four mind-twisting inversions and speeds up to 64 miles per hour leave riders of this drop coaster spellbound—and burning for more.
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Backstory: The Mystery Behind the Menace
In the early 1900s, Scottish businessman Hiram S. McTavish opened McTavish Steel Mill, a direct competitor to Bethlehem Steel Company. Greed dictated McTavish’s every move, and he was well known to prioritize profits above people.
With an eye on maximizing output, McTavish created a massive hauler he dubbed “Iron Menace,” a device the steel industry had never seen. The rail transporter moved workers and ore at record volumes and dizzying speeds.
Suddenly the greedy steel baron mysteriously disappeared—no one knows how or where. Shortly after, McTavish Steel Mill closed. All that remains today are the mill’s decrepit shell, rusty relics and wild tales of the owner’s whereabouts.
Guests must be at least 48" and no taller than 78" tall to ride.
Rider Safety Information
- Min Height
- 48"
- Max Height
- 78"
- A high-speed, floorless dive roller coaster which turns Riders upside down four times. Riders will experience changes in speed and direction, weightlessness, and rapid movements from side-to-side.
- A shoulder harness with a between-the-legs safety belt secures each Rider over the head and across the chest.
- Due to the nature of the restraint, this ride may not accommodate Guests of larger size. A test seat is located at the ride entrance which can be used to evaluate proper fit and comfort prior to waiting in line.
- Guests must have one functioning arm that includes a hand to ride. Guests must have sufficient lower extremities to ensure the ride restraint system adequately restrains them. Both legs must include the knee. Legs may be paralyzed.
- Two functioning arms including hands are sufficient if the guest has a normal center of gravity and lower extremities are sufficiently strong to maintain proper riding posture under the dynamic conditions of the ride. Amputation must be below the knee.
- Guests with a cervical collar, neck brace, or broken collar bone are not permitted to ride. Casts are not permitted on this ride.
- Guests who do not have appropriate center of gravity must have sufficient lower extremities to ensure the ride restraint system adequately restraints them.
- Alternatively, Guests with certain amputations may be able to ride with the use of a separate full body harness provided the Guest has remaining leg and arm remnants to be secured by the harness. Guests should check with Guest Services to determine if they are eligible to ride using the full body harness.
- Guests with any upper extremity prosthesis must ensure the device is properly secured or removed prior to riding. Leg prosthetics are not permitted.
- Alternate Access is available via the exit. Riders will have to take several steps, on their own or with the assistance of a companion, and be capable of elevating themselves up into the seat.
- Please do not use the ride restraints for support while entering and exiting, as they will shift.
- A wheelchair lift is available to transport guests from the exit to the ride platform. Manual wheelchair available if weight exceeds the max capacity of 750 lb. Limit one Guest in wheelchair and one companion in lift at a time.
- WARNING: This ride contains strobe lighting.
- Visit our Guest Assistance Guide for additional Accessibility information.
- Height Requirements: 48” minimum, 78” maximum
The Drop
Just as it did in the early 1900s, the Iron Menace hauls riders throughout the now-defunct steel mill. The hulking train elevates riders to a height of 160 feet and lets them dangle over the edge—face-down—for what seems forever. Suddenly the train releases, and riders dive down 95 degrees. (Remember from math class that a 90-degree drop is straight down, so this drop is BEYOND straight down.)
Four Inversions
Only the most twisted thrill rides offer numerous inversions, and Iron Menace boasts four. After the initial, beastly drop, the train pulls up sharply and flips 180 degrees in an Immelmann inversion. A zero g-roll dishes out a 360-degree inversion in wild weightlessness. A tilted loop (the world’s first on a dive coaster) and a mind-bending, 360-degree corkscrew spin leave you wondering which way is up—and counting the seconds until you can ride again.
Ride Stats
Designed by: Bolliger & Mabillard
Coaster type: Dive
Height of drop: 152 feet
Angle of first drop: 95 degrees (for reference, 90 degrees is vertical)
Top speed: 64 miles per hour
Inversions: 4 (Immelman 180-degree turn, zero g-roll 360-degree inversion in weightlessness, world’s first tilted loop on a dive coaster, 360-degree corkscrew spin)
Length: 2,169 feet
Duration: 90 seconds
Trains: 2
Riders per train: 21
