Dragon Khan is a

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

sit-down

roller coaster A roller coaster is a type of list of amusement rides, amusement ride employing a form of elevated Railway track, railroad track that carries passengers on a roller coaster train, train through tight turns, steep slopes, and other elements, usua ...

in the

PortAventura Park PortAventura Park is a Amusement park, theme park located in the PortAventura World Resort, 85 km southwest of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, in the Municipalities of Spain, municipalities of Salou and Vila-seca, on the Costa Daurada. The park ...

theme park in

Salou Salou () is a municipality of the ''comarca'' of Tarragonès, in the province of Tarragona, in Catalonia, Spain. The city is approximately 10 km from Tarragona and Reus on the Costa Daurada and 112 km from Barcelona. Founded by the Gre ...

and Vilaseca (

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in Catalonia (Spain). It is the capital and largest town of Tarragonès county, the Camp de Tarragona region and the province of Tarragona. Geographically, it is located on the Costa Daurada ar ...

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. It has eight inversions, which was a world record until the opening of the ten-inversion

Colossus Colossus, Colossos, or the plural Colossi or Colossuses, may refer to: Statues * Any exceptionally large statue; colossal statues, are generally taken to mean a statue at least twice life-size ** List of tallest statues ** :Colossal statues * ...

Thorpe Park Thorpe Park, formerly also known as Thorpe Park Resort, is a theme park located in the village of Thorpe between the towns of Chertsey and Staines-upon-Thames in Surrey, England, southwest of Central London. It is operated by Merlin Entertai ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

in 2002. The ride, built by

Bolliger & Mabillard Bolliger & Mabillard, officially Bolliger & Mabillard Consulting Engineers, Inc. and often abbreviated B&M, is a roller coaster design consultancy based in Monthey, Switzerland. The company was founded in 1988 by engineers Walter Bolliger and Cl ...

(B&M), opened on May 2, 1995 and was one of the two roller coasters present on PortAventura's opening. The track is red with white and pastel blue supports; the trains are green, blue and purple (a third train is run at peak times only).

Ride experience

Inversions

The ride

After boarding the ride, riders climb to the top of the lift hill , crossing under one of

Shambhala Shambhala (, ),Śambhala m. (also written Sambhala): Name of a town (situated between the Rathaprā and Ganges, and identified by some with Sambhal in Moradabad; the town or district of Śambhala is fabled to be the place where Kalki, the last ...

's return airtime hills. At the crest of the lift hill, Dragon Khan's track crosses under Shambhala's lift hill and hits a pre-drop. The track makes a right hand turn, then immediately dives down the first drop, threading under Shambhala's first drop and over its splashdown, and entering a

vertical loop The generic roller coaster vertical loop, also known as a Loop-the-loop, or a Loop-de-loop, where a section of track causes the riders to complete a 360 degree turn, is the most basic of roller coaster inversions. At the top of the loop, rid ...

. This is immediately followed by a

dive loop Roller coasters are widely known for their drops, inversions, airtime (rides), airtime, and other intense ride elements that contribute to the ride. They are also made up of a variety of features and components responsible for the mechanical opera ...

. Right after this, the track goes through a

zero-g roll Roller coasters are widely known for their drops, inversions, airtime, and other intense ride elements that contribute to the ride. They are also made up of a variety of features and components responsible for the mechanical operation and safety ...

which threads through the second vertical loop, and a

cobra roll Roller coasters are widely known for their drops, inversions, airtime (rides), airtime, and other intense ride elements that contribute to the ride. They are also made up of a variety of features and components responsible for the mechanical opera ...

. The track then rises up into the midcourse brake run. Off the midcourse brake run, the track makes a near-miss with Shambhala's first drop as it drops to the right, crossing under the exit from the first loop, and into a second vertical loop which wraps around the zero g roll. Leaving the second loop, the track passes goes through a 270 degree counterclockwise upward helix, before entering a set of

interlocking corkscrews Roller coasters are widely known for their drops, inversions, airtime, and other intense ride elements that contribute to the ride. They are also made up of a variety of features and components responsible for the mechanical operation and safety o ...

. The ride then makes a left turn into the final brake run, passing under the center point in the cobra roll, before re-entering the

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

-themed station. The track is , and the ride's top speed is over . The ride's duration is 1 minute and 45 seconds. The ride, thus far, has more inversions than any other B&M coaster made before or after. Zero-g roll

The ride has a total of three trains, each containing seven cars. Riders are arranged four across in a single row for a total of 28 riders per train. The theme for this ride is based on Chinese

mythology Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

: the

dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...

Khan was the reincarnated spirit of the evil Prince Hu of

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. His fury was unleashed each time a human dared to climb atop his back. This links in with the fact that the ride is located at the very back of the park in the Chinese themed area. Due to this ride's placement, it can be seen from anywhere inside the park, as well as from nearby hotels and the Reus

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

External links

Dragon Khan at PortAventura Park

Dragon Khan at Factoría urbana
{{PortAventura World Roller coasters in Spain Roller coasters introduced in 1995 Roller coasters manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard