Dive Coaster Facts for Kids

Oblivion: The Black Hole first built in 2015, located at Gardaland, Italy.

The Dive Coaster (also known as "Vertical Drop Coaster"), first built in 1997. It is a steel roller coaster type made by Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M). The first drop coaster was made in 1998 at Alton Towers and is known as Oblivion, the latest Dive Coaster (at the time of writing this) is Emperor at SeaWorld San Diego in 2020.

Development
Installations
Recurring elements
Images for kids
See also

Development

Development on the coaster began in 1994/95. When theme park designer John Wardley designs the idea of a Dive Coaster as to be a successor to his 1994 coaster Nemesis. He realised that the coaster was too ambitious for its time. So Wardley waited until the 1997/98 to test out his new machine. The first design of the ride was Oblivion at Alton Towers, opened in 14 March 1998.

The coaster was only two years old when the next order for a dive coaster was made in the form of Diving Machine G5 in Janfusun Fancyworld in Taiwan. Which was just a mirror image of Oblivion.

In 2005, saw the release of not only the third Dive Coaster to be built, but the first to be built in America, first to be built over 200 ft and the first ever custom-layout Dive Coaster. Sheikra was opened on May 21, 2005 at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay.

In 2007, Busch Gardens Williamsburg announced Griffon on August 23, 2006. But officially opened on May 18, 2007. It was the first dive coaster to have floorless trains. Although, the same year. Busch Gardens reopened with floorless trains on June 16, 2007.

In 2011, Heide Park (a German theme park in Soltau, Germany) released Krake, a dive coaster opening on April 16, 2011. This was the first dive coaster to feature 6 seated trains, which coined the phrase "Mini-Dive Coaster"

In 2019, Yukon Striker was released on May 3, 2019. It was the first dive coaster to include a Vertical Loop. It opened at Canada's Wonderland in Vaughan, Ontario.

Installations

Bolliger & Mabillard has built fourteen Dive Coasters with one to be opened in 2020. The roller coasters are listed in order of opening dates.

Name	Park	Country	Opened	Status
Oblivion	Alton Towers	United Kingdom	March 14, 1998	Operating
Diving Machine G5	Janfusun Fancyworld	Taiwan	March 29, 2000	Operating
SheiKra	Busch Gardens Tampa Bay	United States	May 21, 2005	Operating
Griffon	Busch Gardens Williamsburg	United States	May 18, 2007	Operating
Dive Coaster	Chimelong Paradise	China	January 21, 2008	Operating
Diving Coaster	Happy Valley Shanghai	China	August 16, 2009	Operating
Krake	Heide Park	Germany	April 16, 2011	Operating
Oblivion: The Black Hole	Gardaland	Italy	March 28, 2015	Operating
Baron 1898	Efteling	Netherlands	June 30, 2015	Operating
Valravn	Cedar Point	United States	May 7, 2016	Operating
Draken	Gyeongju World	South Korea	May 1, 2018	Operating
Valkyria	Liseberg	Sweden	August 10, 2018	Operating
Western Regions Heaven	Happy Valley Chengdu	China	February 2, 2018	Operating
Yukon Striker	Canada's Wonderland	Canada	May 3, 2019	Operating
Emperor	SeaWorld San Diego	United States	2020	Under Construction

Recurring elements

Holding Brake: The holding brake is a machine placed at the end of the first (or second) drop. First found on Oblivion at Alton Towers
Illellmann Loop: A common first element after the first drop. First found on Sheikra on Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
Mid-course Brake Run: Unknown when found on a course. Could happen after the first two inversions. First found on Sheikra on Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
Splashdown: Found either after the first drop or after a second vertical drop. First found on Sheikra on Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
Second Vertical Drop: Found after the mid-course brake run. A vertical drop without a holding brake. Sheikra on Busch Gardens Tampa Bay