SANDUSKY — Held up by an unforeseen tragedy last month, Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky will unveil its newest attraction for 2016 next week, and industry experts say it will be a “dive” roller coaster.

And there are indications that it will be the largest of its kind, that it could cost up to $30 million, and that it will be called Valravn, which in Danish folklore is a supernatural raven that consumes the bodies of the dead on a battlefield and can shapeshift into a knight or a half-wolf, half-raven creature.

An announcement about the ride is planned for 9 a.m. Sept. 9. It is expected to occupy the site of the park’s former Good Time Theater.

Cedar Point had planned to hold a special nighttime announcement on Aug. 18, with the expectation of creating a buzz among patrons at the park that night. But the event was postponed after the Aug. 13 death of an Akron man, James Young, who had jumped a fence to retrieve a personal item from a restricted area and was struck by the Raptor roller coaster.

Tony Clark, a Cedar Point spokesman, said the planned events surrounding the announcement definitely have changed.

“We still have big surprises planned, but not the same as we had originally planned,” he said.

“There will still be a presentation and also some unique opportunities that you wouldn’t normally get to do,” he said. “But it has changed.”

If the announcement is for a dive coaster — and all signs point to that — the ride would be unlike any of the park’s stable of 17 coasters.

Dive coasters, two of which are in the United States, feature a hill with nearly a 90-degree vertical drop. But their appeal is that riders are momentarily held in a face-down position before being dropped.

Cedar Point has not said what the ride will be, but experts with contacts in the amusement park industry all believe it will be a dive coaster.

Dennis Speigel, president of International Theme Park Services of Cincinnati, said his sources indicate it will be a dive coaster.

Gary Slade, publisher of industry news magazine Amusement Today, said, “I do know that it is a coaster.” While he could not confirm the ride is a dive coaster, all indications are that it is, he said.

Mr. Slade, who has ridden a dive coaster, said they are exciting. “When you come over the curvature to the point of being dropped and it reaches a point where it’s literally facing straight down, you are held in place by magnetic locks. Then it releases and it becomes a dive coaster with the vehicle diving straight down.”

Cedar Point’s new ride is expected to be built by Swiss coaster design company Bolliger & Mabillard, according to a memo between the amusement park and the design firm that was obtained by the Sandusky Register. The memo suggested that the Swiss company would build a dive coaster at Cedar Point that would be the tallest of its kind at 223 feet.

The current two U.S. dive coasters are 200 feet tall and 205 feet tall. They are at Busch Gardens parks in Tampa and Williamsburg, Va.

Mr. Slade said dive coasters are expensive, costing between $20 million and $30 million, depending on layout.

“They deliver a high-capacity ride, but because of the way they’re constructed, they’re not cheap. You spend a lot of money to put these in,” Mr. Slade said.

The coaster is expected to be called the Valravn because Cedar Point filed a trademark application for that name with the U.S. Patent Office on April 17.

Cedar Point is the flagship park of Cedar Fair LP in Sandusky, which owns and operates 11 amusement parks, three outdoor water parks, one indoor water park, and five hotels.

Contact Jon Chavez at: jchavez@theblade.com or 419-724-6128.

First Published September 1, 2015, 4:00 a.m.