Negative-G - Marineland of Canada - 2014

To see a larger version of any of the photos in this trip report just click on the photo and a larger version will open up on top of the page for you.

The Dragon Mountain Rollercoaster at Marineland of Canada, Niagara Falls, Ontario

Even though it was once the worlds tallest coaster and is still one of the tallest looping coasters when you ride Dragon Mountain it does not feel that high as you're only a few feet above the ground for most of the ride.

Marineland's terrain is pretty flat but when the parks owner John Holer first came up with the idea for the ride in the mid 1970's (there was a mention of this ride in a newspaper article in 1976) he wanted a mountain for it.

He wanted a mountain so he built a mountain that rises well over 180 feet over the rest of the park for his dragon to dwell on. Building up a huge mountain that covers 30 acres is not inexpensive. I can't think of many parks that would go through all the trouble to actually build a mountain for a ride. Going through my mind there are two who would do that. Those two are Disney and Marineland.

With a custom terrain designed for a custom layout and custom trains to fit the dragon theme this has to be the most custom coaster that Arrow Dynamics had ever built.

When Dragon Mountain opened in 1983 there was little vegetation up there on the slopes. In the 31 years since the coaster has been covered up in foliage making the ride a bit more mysterious for those who don't know what to expect from a ride that begins inside a mountain and only shows a fraction of its track to guests.