Ravine Flyer II

Steve Gorman, general manager of Waldameer, announced in 1997 that the park would build a wooden roller coaster in the northern portion of the park, although the ride had already been in planning for several years at that point.^[4] The ride would be named Ravine Flyer II,^[5] after a defunct coaster that operated on the same plot of land from 1922 to 1938.^[6][7] At the time of its announcement, Ravine Flyer II was planned to be completed in 2000 at a cost of $3.5 million. The ride would cross over Pennsylvania Route 832, the main entrance to the nearby Presque Isle State Park.^[8] Waldameer had previously obtained an easement for 120 feet (37 m), allowing the park to build a roller coaster above PA 832.^[4]

In September 1998, Custom Coasters International (CCI) was hired to design the ride, whose debut had been pushed back to 2001. The ride was planned to be 3,000 feet (910 m) long, with a 65-foot-tall (20 m) lift hill and 110 feet (34 m) first drop.^[4]

By mid-2001, the ride's construction had been delayed due to several lawsuits. Brian and Antoinette Candela, who lived near the proposed coaster, claimed that the ride violated a Pennsylvania state law because it was within a "bluff recession hazard area".^[5] Brian Candela subsequently accused park owner Paul Nelson of bragging about his political connections, which Nelson had claimed would permit the ride's construction.^[9] Additionally, the local government planned to build a greenway and visitor center near where the ride's out-of-park turnaround would be located.^[5]

Local officials granted a zoning variance to Waldameer in April 2004, allowing the park to build the ride above PA 832. By then, the ride's cost had increased to $6 million, making it the most expensive ride in Waldameer's history.^[10] Its expected height and length had increased by this point as well. The last of the ride's opponents relented after a court ruled in Waldameer's favor in January 2006.^[11]

Meanwhile, The Gravity Group was hired to construct the ride following CCI's bankruptcy in 2002.^[12] Construction for the coaster began in 2006, and continued into 2007. The ride opened on May 17, 2008, 11 years after its first public announcement and 70 years after the closure of the first Ravine Flyer.^[13][7] Waldameer held an auction to select the first 24 riders, and donated a large portion of proceeds from the auction and from tickets sold on the ride's opening day to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International.^[7]

In 2012, Hurricane Sandy hit Erie and its strong winds caused a tree next to the ride's lift hill to fall onto the ride. The ride was repaired and opened alongside the rest of the park for 2013.^[14]

Each day before the park opens, a Waldameer mechanic spends two hours inspecting the ride.^[15] In the years since it opened it has been subject to extensive retracking each off-season, such that no original track from its opening year remains in place on the ride as of the 2026 season.^[16] In 2024, it received an on-ride photo camera. The ride's slogan is "Dare, fly, earn your wings!"^[17]

After leaving the station, the train enters a short drop and lefthand turn to the chain lift hill. After climbing the lift hill, the train immediately descends the first drop, turning sharply to the right, and travels over an airtime hill as it crosses PA 832. The track curves to the left, then right, while ascending the turnaround to the top of the second major drop. The train descends this drop into the second crossing of PA 832 over another airtime hill. This is immediately followed by a pair of tunnels enclosing two airtime hills, and an ascending turn to the left. The track travels over an airtime hill overtop of the lift hill, making a slight descending lefthand turn before traveling under the lift hill, where an on-ride photo is taken. It then traverses another airtime hill before entering a 90° banked right turn into the ravine. The track continues turning to the right, rising up out of the ravine and through the lift hill in another right-turning airtime hill. It traverses a final airtime hill and makes a righthand turn before entering the brake run and turning left to return to the station.^[21]

Ravine Flyer II won Best New Ride at the 2008 Golden Ticket Awards with 52% of the votes.^[19][22] It was voted the 11th best wooden roller coaster in the world at the same awards.^[23] It has remained in the top ten best wooden coasters every year since 2009, peaking at number five in 2016. In 2025, Ravine Flyer II was awarded the title of second-best wooden coaster and fourth-best coaster overall in the United States by the USA Today 10 Best Awards.^[24] In 2026, it was awarded the title of second-best wooden coaster and fifth-best coaster overall in the United States by the USA Today 10 Best Awards.^[25]