The History of Iron Dragon

Iron Dragon does not sit on its track. It hangs beneath it. Since 1987 its cars have swung out over the lagoons and through the misty woods of Cedar Point, and it has quietly outlived nearly every ride like it.

Flight beneath the track

Iron Dragon is a suspended coaster, a design where the cars hang below the rail on a hinge and swing freely from side to side through the turns, so the ride feels less like a drop and more like flight. Designed by Arrow's Ron Toomer and opened in 1987, it was built low into wooded, water-crossed terrain, its track skimming over artificial lagoons and diving through the trees. There are no big drops and no inversions. The appeal is the swing.

The last of its kind

Suspended coasters were briefly popular in the 1980s and then fell out of fashion, and most of them have since closed. Iron Dragon kept running, and it is now regarded as the longest continuously operating suspended coaster in the world. Like the older Cedar Creek Mine Ride, it climbs two separate lift hills over the course of a lap, a layout almost no other coaster uses.

Sister coasters

Iron Dragon belongs to Arrow's family of suspended coasters, a short-lived but memorable group. Its relatives included The Bat at sister park Kings Island, the troubled 1981 ride that pioneered the type, along with Big Bad Wolf at Busch Gardens, Vortex at Canada's Wonderland, and Ninja at Six Flags Magic Mountain. As those rides closed one by one, Iron Dragon endured.

One thing to know

Iron Dragon climbs two chain lift hills running in opposite directions, an unusual layout it shares with only one other ride in the entire park, the Cedar Creek Mine Ride.

Iron Dragon is one chapter in the history of Cedar Point.

Iron Dragon at a glance