Talon is the Bolliger & Mabillard inverted coaster at Dorney Park.
This orange bird of prey is most notable for when it was built.
B&M inverts after the year 2000 started to get a little less intense and Talon was the first to
open after this line of demarcation in 2001. So how does this impact the ride experience?
Find out in this review of Talon. B&M inverts built between 1992 and 2000
were revered for their strong positive Gs and very snappy inversions. Their later ones, particularly
the ones in the Cedar Fair chain, have received some criticism for providing less intense rides.
And Talon falls into this category. However, I don’t think that makes Talon a bad ride.
Talon is located to the right of Dorney’s main entrance. The bright orange track and sky blue
supports look fantastic and the vibrant colors really capture your eye as you enter the park.
And because of this location, Talon is the first coaster most people flock to
once they enter the park. Unless you’re at the front of the pack at opening, I find it’s prudent
to return to this ride later in the afternoon. Talon usually has a manageable wait after the
opening rush. Typically it’s just a station wait for me. I’ve always seen Talon run two
trains. Each seats up to 32 riders in 8 rows of 4. Dispatches aren’t the fastest on Talon. The ride
usually stacks, but because of the crowds Dorney sees it usually isn’t that big of an issue.
You will usually have to wait a few extra trains for the front.
While the view is the best up there, I think the best seat is the back.
That’s the whippiest and most forceful row on this coaster.
Talon features the familiar B&M over-the-shoulder restraints. These harnesses are pretty hard,
but thankfully Talon is very smooth so headbanging is not an issue. You can sometimes hit your
head on the super snappy inverts, but Talon isn’t quite as aggressive so that doesn’t happen here.
Once dispatched, you ascend the 135 foot or 41 meter tall lift. The ride originally had
some signs teasing you about the ride’s height on the catwalk, but I haven’t noticed those in
recent seasons. Once at the top, you twist 180 degrees to the right down the 120 foot
or 37 meter tall first drop. And if you’re in the back, you’ll get some whip here.
Talon then charges through a 98 foot or 30 meter tall vertical loop.
You get some solid positive Gs entering and exiting this element, and if you’re in the back,
you get some whip coming out of the element. This is probably my favorite inversion on the ride.
Usually that honor goes to zero-G rolls, but the one on Talon is the weakest of any B&M
invert. The old zero-G rolls are super snappy and viscously rotate you 360 degrees.
Their newer ones tend to be floatier and offer some hangtime.
Talon is somewhere in the middle, which isn’t necessarily a good thing in this case. It feels
graceful, but it doesn’t have the right speed and profiling to give hangtime.
That’s followed by an Immelmann. You get some mild positives entering this inversion up front
and if you’re in the back, you get some float on the twist back down to the ground.
This is pretty good for an Immelmann by B&M invert standards. Up to this point,
Talon has followed a conventional layout. From this point, Talon does its own unique thing.
The immelmann’s exit immediately transitions into a 360 degree upwards helix,
giving some decent positive Gs. This is followed by this elevated s-bend that lines you up for
Talon’s finale. You have this shocking drop under the lift hill that gives a little floater
airtime if you’re in the back. That’s a rare, but very welcome sensation, on a B&M invert.
That leads into the ride’s final inversion, a snappy corkscrew.
This is good in any row, but it has more whip in the back.
Talon then charges around a fast and forceful 90 degree upwards helix that
will get your legs tingling. The sudden force reminds me of the helix on Silver Bullet.
Talon finishes with an abrupt little dip and hop into the brake run, that occasionally can give a
pinch of floater airtime depending how well it’s running. That ends the 3110 foot or 948 meter
long coaster, which still holds the record as the longest inverted coaster in the northeast.
So what would I rate Talon? I would give this B&M invert a 7 out of 10. Talon is a good ride,
but it is towards the bottom of my invert list. This coaster has several solid elements.
The four inversions are pretty good- although weaker than most other inverts out there.
The helixes do mix in nice positive Gs and a few dips give a little airtime during
the ride’s unique second half. The ride is also super smooth and holds its speed well.
My score is more a testament to how good the other inverts out there are.
So those are my thoughts on Talon at Dorney Park. What are your thoughts on this B&M
invert? Do you think it’s an upper-tier invert or do you have it in the lower half like me?
Let me know what you think about this ride down in the comments. If you enjoyed this review, I’d
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lot more roller coaster and amusement park videos here at Canobie Coaster. Thanks for watching!