The Experience
Introduction
Falken is a 2004 Wooden coaster made by S&S Worldwide and is the only "modern" wooden coaster in the country, or at least as moderns as a 20+ year old coaster by a manufacturer who no longer makes wooden coasters, can be. The experience varies wildly from the other two, older wooden coasters and thereby offers something different for the danish themepark goers.
Designed by Alan Schilke
Perhaps the most well-known fact about this coaster is that it's designed by renowned coaster-designer Alan Schilke and it can definitely be felt when you take into consideration that this is supposed to be a family coaster. Now while the stats very much reflects this, the rides layout and overall ride experience is way quirkier, rougher and more intense than you would expect and it often delivers quite polarizing rides that some will find to be rough and uncomfortable and some will come off thinking it's a bit of a hidden gem. Us, we're somewhere in the middle.
Not your average family woodie (for better or for worse)
First of all, this ride has a very interesting first drop as in it actually has a small drop, then turns and then a bigger drop down into a tunnel. This drop is a surprisingly energetic way of starting the ride as you come into the actual drop with significant speed and will most likely get some good airtime. In fact, airtime is not the hard to find on this ride, which offers some decent sized hills to begin with and a few pops here and there. Now while that is a very welcome addition to this family-thrill woodie, the same can't be said about the track-profiling. There are times, when sitting on the front row, where you will see the track ahead and be convinced that you're about to derail because there ain't no way any track is supposed to look like that and unfortunately, it does somewhat reflect the ride experience as you will jolt left and right several times throughout the ride. The final helix is especially bumpy and bleeds up any remaining speed, forcing the ride to pretty much end after it.
Conclusion
Falken is a very fun, surprising but uneven ride. It has a fun first drop and offers airtime on several occasions. Unfortunately the ride is fairly rough, especially considering that it's supposed to be a family woodie (we still did ride it 11 times on our first visit though). Overall a very interesting coaster that offers something different than most others in the country.
Gallery
Falken Gallery
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Strengths & Weaknesses
| First drop | |
| Energetic and chaotic | |
| Fairly forceful | |
| Rough (terrible track profiling) |
Information
NameFalken
Year2004
ParkLoading...
ManufacturerS&S Worldwide
ModelWooden Coaster
ScaleFamily-Thrill
Ride Count11
Technical Specs
Specifications
Sit DownCustomOut-and-Back
TypeWood
Length2040,7 ft
Height65,6 ft
Speed46,6 mph
Inversions0
G-Force3,3 G
Duration114 sec
Notes
Falken means "The Falcon" in danish