SOUTH WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. — You may have been brave enough to ride Dorney Park’s Iron Menace once or twice.
But how about 1,000 times?
One young man from Schnecksville reached that incredible feat on Friday, solidifying his positions as the roller coaster’s No. 1 fan — and he did it all in less than a single year.
Iby Shaw was a mega-fan of Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom for years, frequenting all the rides — especially the roller coasters — since he was a kid.
“I think a big thing for me was, It was just motivation for myself, because as a young coaster enthusiast who's loved Dorney my whole entire life, I waited so long for a new coaster to come. So for this to finally be here, it's been very rewarding."Iby Shaw
Once he got word about Iron Menace, he was exuberant. Within a week of the coaster’s premier in early May, Shaw had hit at least 100 rides.
“I think a big thing for me was, it was just motivation for myself because as a young coaster enthusiast who's loved Dorney my whole entire life, I waited so long for a new coaster to come. So for this to finally be here, it's been very rewarding," Shaw said.
After he hit triple digits on what many consider to be the park’s most terrifying ride, Shaw “kind of joked” with Dorney Public Relations and Communications Manager Ryan Eldredge about the prospect of hitting 1,000 rides.
“So I just kept going. And you know, here we are, 1,000 rides,” Shaw said.
And to think, this enthusiastic roller coaster rider hit quadruple digits while a local mayor who has promised to ride Iron Menace has yet to take a single spin, at least according to those in the know.
From spring to summer to fall of 2024, Shaw racked up hundreds of rides, culminating in a few dozen final runs before hitting the milestone on Friday.
Throughout the past few months, he has kept track of his progress via LogRide, an app that allows users to “track your theme park experience,” in addition to keeping physical notes and a mental tally.
And while the first ride was a thrilling rush, Shaw said his passion for it has actually increased as he kept going back for more.
“It's grown on me a lot. I'd say it's still a very fun ride, I still love it a lot. But yeah, it's grown on me though, over time,” Shaw said.
Iron Menace has become a park staple with coaster fanatics, reaching a height of 160 feet with a first drop of 152 feet and a 95-degree angle. Reaching a top speed of 64 mph, there are four inversions across its 2,169-square-foot run, which lasts for about a minute-and-a-half.
The daunting ride has replaced Shaw’s previous favorite coaster, Talon: The Grip of Fear, as his top ride at Dorney, he said.
Eldredge said that while the park has plenty of dedicated fans, Shaw’s accomplishment is “next level” — some people have hit 100 runs on Steel Force this year, he said, and a few people manage to hit every special event and ride premier, but Shaw is in a league of his own.
“It's incredible, and it's amazing. We were doing kind of a tally to figure out how many times he had to ride it every day while we'd been open, and it comes out to somewhere around seven times every day that he's had to ride this now,” Eldredge said.
“Obviously he's been a part of our official photo shoot. He was here on some of our special events early in the season that weren't official calendar days. so he's got some extra work. But it really is incredible. It's a level of dedication that I don't think I have, and I don't think I have the stomach for it either, so it's really impressive.”
It was such a notable event, in fact, that Dorney gifted Shaw with some specialty swag to mark the occasion, including an Iron Menace sweatshirt.
After hitting 1,000 rides, Shaw said he was looking forward to spending the night on a few other rides, checking out the Halloween Haunt, and, yes, visiting Iron Menace “probably a few more times.”
Going forward, Shaw said he isn’t aiming for any new goals — “I’m just going to let the milestones come to me. I’ll still keep track of my ride count, but just for now, I’m just going to see where I go and let the milestones come to me instead of chasing after them.”
Just don’t be surprised when he hits 10,000 sometime in the near future — steel baron Hiram S. McTavish would expect no less.
