Iron Shark is the Gerstlauer Eurofighter at Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pier.
This is a super compact Gerstlauer Eurofighter packing in the usual beyond-vertical drop plus
a few inversions. This layout was so popular that it has been cloned twice-
first with Krater at Parque Del Café in Columbia and second with Tantrum at Six
Flags Darien Lake. This video will serve as the review for the 380 Eurofighter model.
Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pier opened in 2012 in eastern Texas.
This is a 1200 foot or 370 meter long pier extending over the Gulf of Mexico,
but it’s extremely narrow. It’s just 120 feet or 37 meters wide.
The park wanted a midway down the center with rides on both sides.
They also wanted a highly marketable coaster unlike anything in the region.
So they went to Gerstlauer for a custom Eurofighter with an extremely
narrow footprint. Iron Shark would be just 65 feet or 20 meters wide.
At the time, it was a custom layout. But it has understandably been cloned twice. It is now known
as the 380 model, with the 380 representing the ride’s length in meters. This ride’s
small footprint can fit into a lot of parks. Parque Del Cafe added Krater in late 2014. This
was South America’s first and only Eurofighter. Then Darien Lake added Tantrum in 2018.
This was notable because it was the park’s first coaster in a decade and it was the last addition
while owned by Premier Parks. Shortly after the coaster opened, Six Flags acquired the rights
to operate the park and renamed the property Six Flags Darien Lake. This ride would not have been
added by Six Flags since the manufacturer no longer adds new rides from Gerstlauer.
This goes back to a 2013 accident on New Texas Giant at Six Flags Over Texas.
A woman tragically fell to her death. While the coaster was manufactured by Rocky Mountain
Construction, the trains were supplied by Gerstlauer. Six Flags and Gerstlauer
filed cross claims blaming each other for the accident, leading to bad blood between the two.
I have ridden two of these 380 models- the original in Iron Shark and the latest
one in Tantrum. While I have not ridden Krater, I imagine the experience will be nearly identical.
The two I’ve experienced in the US lack theming, but both look really appealing in their respective
park’s skyline. Iron Shark can be seen from miles away. It has a bright blue paint scheme
and the beyond-vertical drop really catches your eye as you make your way towards the pier.
Then Tantrum has attention grabbing colors. It has bright green track and orange supports.
Not only that, it is located adjacent to the parking lot so it’s one of the
first rides you see as you enter Darien Lake.
All these coasters have short trains. Each seats a max of 8 riders in 2 rows of 4.
Tantrum the most efficient coaster at Darien Lake. It’s the one coaster at that park that operates
with multiple trains. The park owns three, but I’ve always seen two in use. The crew can check
the restraints very quickly, so it’s not uncommon for them to roll trains. I’ve never had to wait
more than 10-15 minutes for this ride, but I also haven’t visited the park on a super busy day.
I’ve had to wait longer for Iron Shark. This is for a few reasons. One, it’s the park’s lone
coaster and most popular ride by far. Two, it has run just one train in all my visits.
This even includes a weekend visit during Spring Break, which is one of the park’s busiest times.
Three, the operators would only seat 6 riders total in my most recent visit.
It didn’t matter which 6 seats those guests took, but it meant the ride’s already low capacity was
stymied even further. The park said this was a maintenance issue, so hopefully it won’t persist.
With one train ops, the full queue can take 1.5 hours. And I know people who have had to
wait that. The longest I’ve personally waited for this coaster is a half hour, but keep in mind that
was a day when every other ride at the pier was a walk-on. If you’re visiting during a busy period,
I would try to arrive at opening and do Iron Shark right away. Especially since the audio
spiel for Iron Shark will drive you crazy. Every few minutes, it will repeat itself.
The one saving grace with the queue is that you get some nice views of the ride.
In terms of seat selection, I don’t think it matters much on this ride. The forces
feel identical whether you’re in the front or back. But if you want that unobstructed view,
both parks will let you wait an extra cycle for the front if those rows are already taken.
Once seated, you are restrained by lap bar restraints. These are pushed down firmly,
but they leave your entire upper-body free to experience the ride’s forces. This is a
major upgrade over the older Eurofighters that had over-the-shoulder restraints.
These were less comfortable and could cause headbanging on the model’s quick transitions.
Once dispatched, you roll out of the station and ascend the 100 foot or 30 meter tall lift hill.
The view on Tantrum isn’t anything to shout about, but the view on Iron Shark is stunning
since you’re at the edge of the pier. It’s one of the best views of any ride. You can appreciate it
throughout the layout, but it’s at its best when you crest the top and are looking out over the
water. But you don’t have much time to take it in before you’re yanked down the 95 degree drop.
This is a fantastic drop and the best part of the ride by far. Like most Eurofighters,
it delivers strong ejector airtime. That is contrasted by the crushing
positive Gs on the pullout. And those forces are maintained as you rise into the Immelmann.
I usually start to greyout here. At the top, the train slows down mightily and
you get some lateral hangtime. This is the one inversion that everyone seems to agree upon.
I have seen this model listed with as few as one inversion and as many as four.
One of the controversial elements comes next. RCDB doesn’t classify it as an inversion, but it
sure looks and feels like a dive loop. You rotate right and sharply dive back down to the ground.
It feels like you twist beyond 135 degrees, so I count it as an inversion.
The flip itself is pretty mild, but the positive Gs return in full force on the pullout.
Without any delay, you rocket over this small s-hill. You can’t really see this element coming
off-ride and it’s the most underrated part of the ride. This gives everyone a good ejector pop.
You then have another controversial element. Some call it an overbank,
some call it a cutback. I lean towards the latter since it seems to go well beyond 135 degrees.
The maneuver is fluid, but sadly sterile element. Probably the weakest one on the ride.
Next is the last instance of is-it-an-inversion.
It’s either an inclined helix or an inclined loop. It feels more like a helix to me.
You get blasts of positive Gs entering and exiting the element, but they subside at the apex.
Last but not least, you jump into the final brakes. This delivers one last
pop of airtime. And a pretty good one too. And if you’re on Iron Shark, the track is actually
over the pier at this point so you get some sweet views of the water off to your right.
You then return to the station, ending the 1246 foot or 380 meter long experience.
One slight con with Iron Shark is that it has a shimmy in some valleys.
It’s not enough to spoil the ride, but you will definitely notice that.
Compare that to Tantrum which is extremely smooth. Not sure if it’s maintenance related
or because that ride is newer, but whatever it may be, it is worth pointing out.
So what would I rate the Eurofighter 380 model? I would give this coaster a 7.5 out of 10.
I have a slight preference for Iron Shark because of the better location and views, but Tantrum
earns the same score since it offers a smoother ride. I really like this layout. It has the
usually awesome beyond-vertical drop, a few extra airtime pops, and a smattering of positive Gs.
So those are my thoughts on the Eurofighter 380 model. This review covers my experiences on Iron
Shark and Tantrum, but I’d love to know if the version in Columba feels and rides similarly.
Let me know any of your thoughts down below. If you enjoyed this review, I’d appreciate it
if you gave this video a like and you considered subscribing since there will be a lot more roller
coaster and amusement park videos here at Canobie Coaster. Thanks for watching!