Six Flags in California has a five-second free fall Accelerating to 59 mph, the seats return to upright positions about halfway down the tower. Perched precariously high in the sky, riders mull their fate for a few seconds until the attraction unleashes its fury. After slowly climbing the tower and stopping at the top, the seats tilt down 95 degrees so that passengers face the ground. Busch Gardens in Florida terrifies riders with tilting seatsĪs if climbing a 335-foot tower and free falling 310 feet isn't wacky enough, Falcon’s Fury at Busch Gardens Tampa in Florida adds a downright sadistic twist. Sky Screamer can be seen a few miles away by spectators on both the Canadian and American sides of Niagara Falls. Located high on a hill within the park, the ride seems all the more imposing. But its triple towers, which are capped by a long extension, measure a total of 450 feet. ![]() Moving up north to Niagara Falls in Canada, Sky Screamer at Marineland also drops a whopping 300 feet. View Gallery: Six Flags announces new roller coasters for 2019 Marineland at Niagara Falls has triple towers Kings Dominion in Virginia has a soaring 272-foot drop That tower is also 275 feet tall, but its drop is a bit shorter at 240 feet. There is a similar Power Tower at sister park Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. While the tower rises 275 feet into the sky, the actual length of the drop is 250 feet. The wham-bam experience is over in a brisk few seconds. As compared to roller coasters, on which passengers are in enclosed cars and proceed along a track, drop tower riders sit in stripped-down, outward-facing seats with their legs dangling and have unencumbered views. He adds that the attractions offer a unique rider perspective. When the rides do happen, passengers experience -1Gs of unsettling weightlessness on the Turbo Drop, while the Space Shot delivers up to 4Gs of crushing forces, according to Rehnborg. ![]() “Whether you are on the bottom waiting to be shot up or at the top waiting to drop, there is this overwhelming anticipation of not knowing when it’s going to happen.” “Our ride gives visitors the opportunity to try both experiences,” says Raul Rehnborg, vice president and general manager for Valleyfair. On the third tower, known as a Space Shot, passengers shoot from the bottom to the top of the tower and then drop and bounce a couple of times before the ride mercifully ends. Two of the towers are Turbo Drops, which slowly ascend the tower, momentarily hesitate at the top, and then drop. Built by ride manufacturer S&S, the three-tower attraction combines two of the company’s models, both of which use compressed air launch technology. We begin our tower tour at Valleyfair near Minneapolis where the Power Tower ominously looms 275 feet in the skyline. Valleyfair in Minnesota has a 250-foot drop If you are deathly afraid of heights, you’ll surely want to steer clear of these contraptions, all of which soar so high into the airspace the Federal Aviation Administration requires them to be outfitted with warning beacons. Let‘s run down the tallest drop tower rides at parks in North America. ![]() ![]() (A similar Twilight Zone attraction opened at Disney California Adventure in 2004, but Imagineers changed it a couple of years ago for a “Guardians of the Galaxy” theme.) Its faster-than-freefall drop, which, according to Disney lore, plunges 13 stories in its 199-foot tower, is plenty thrilling.īut there are attractions at other parks that tower above the Twilight Zone - way above. Perhaps the most famous drop tower ride is the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Walt Disney World, which has been wracking the nerves of visitors since 1994. The concept of a drop-tower ride is simple: Vehicles carrying nerve-wracked passengers rise high in the air, pause for a few anxious moments and then - cue the screams - plummet to the ground. View Gallery: The tallest drop tower rides in North America
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