First off, I'm going to come flat out and say that Talon is by far the best inverted rollercoaster that I have ever ridden. So, be warned, this review may be just slightly biased. ;).

So... we're driving up to Dorneypark on a Monday morning. The sky is clear, the weather is warm, and I'm completely pysched about riding Talon. Maybe that's why, when I saw the first drop and loop from the highway, I nearly went overboard with excitement. The drive up to the parking lot only intensified my anticipation. By the time I was through the gate I was literally running towards Talon. Once I finally reached the front of the queue, I calmed down a bit. The queue wasn't opened yet, so I just stood there and marveled at this thing. The color scheme is just awesome.

The queue itself is quite nice. It goes underneath most of Talon's layout. This provides for a nearly unobstructed view of Talon no matter where you are in line. I commend Dorney for making the line so very, very nice to wait in. Luckily, I didn't have to spend hardly any time at all in it. Once the chain was lowered, I headed straight to the line for the front seat.

I ended up waiting just under twenty minutes for a front row seat. After getting settled, having my harness checked, and nearly boiling over with anticipation, the ride-ops gave the "all clear" sign. The floor dropped, the train headed out of the station, and I found myself staring up -- all the way to the top of the lift hill. After what seemed like an eternity, the train reached the top. Being in the front row, I got some "hang time" before entering B&M's signature dip. Right after the dip, the train banks hard to the right and.... we drop.

We drop all the way down, feet near the ground, before shooting back up into the loop. Right afterwards, we swoop down and then roll right back up into the zero-g roll. Immediately afterwards, we rocket back downwards through a, surprisingly cool, concrete trench before ascending into the immelman. All of this is smooth as glass. After the immelman, we enter the sharp turn (sort of the inverted equivalent of an overbanked turn) and the hop back upwards. We only get about a second to catch our breath before shooting downward underneath the lift hill and swooping immediately into a very, very sharp turn. Right after the turn, the train rolls into a corkscrew which then rolls into an intense final helix [pictured above]. Right after the helix, we take a small dip downward - where we catch some rare inverted airtime - before heading into the break run.

This ride is simply incredible. During the helix, your feet are no more than 6 feet off the ground, Diving into the concrete trench just never seems to get old, and the dip before the break run gives some decent airtime. All of those "extras" coupled with a solid layout and a smooth-as-glass ride makes Talon a simply incredible ride. If you're headed through Pennsylvania at all, I highly reccomend you make a stop a Dorneypark if only to ride this awesome coaster. Move over Raptor, Talon just moved into my #1 inverted position!

-Rollercoaster PA webmaster

Many thanks to Ridezone for the beautiful photos of Talon.
Talon and Talon: The Grip of Fear are registered trademarks of Cedar Fair L.P.