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Type of amusement ride From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A drop tower is a type of amusement park ride incorporating a central tower structure with one or more gondolas attached. In a typical modern configuration, each gondola carrying riders is lifted to the top of the tower and then released to free fall back down to ground level. This produces a feeling of weightlessness followed by rapid deceleration. A magnetic braking system, or a variation that relies on pistons and air pressure, is used to safely bring the gondola to a complete stop.[1] One of the earliest drop towers configured as an amusement ride was a parachute ride that debuted at the 1939 New York World's Fair, which was inspired by paratrooper training devices used by the Soviet Union in the 1920s.[1][2]
Swiss manufacturer Intamin renewed interest decades later when it pioneered the modern drop tower with an early iteration released in the 1980s, which was later refined to use magnetic braking systems in the 1990s. This led to larger models, such as the Giant Drop and Gyro Drop. S&S Sansei modified the concept and released their own variation that employs pneumatics, which involves pistons, air pressure, and steel cables to control the speed of the gondola at all times. This variation can move the gondola at speeds faster than free fall and can alternatively be configured to accelerate gondolas in the opposite direction, moving at fast speeds up the tower as well as down.[2]
Drop towers can vary in height and capacity, and some models are either mass-produced or custom. Newer features include gondolas that rotate along the vertical plane, tilting riders so they are facing the ground prior to the gondola's release. Falcon's Fury at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, for example, is a 335-foot (102 m) tower that rotates riders to face the ground, and then returns riders to an upright position as the gondola nears the end of the drop.
Mass-produced tower rides include:
| bold | Denotes drop tower is or was once the tallest in the world |
| italic | Denotes drop tower is either no longer operating or removed |
| Rank | Name | Park | Location | Drop height | Structural height | Manufacturer | Record holder |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zumanjaro: Drop of Doom | Six Flags Great Adventure | Jackson Township, New Jersey, United States | 126 metres (415 ft) | 139 metres (456 ft) | Intamin | July 2014 – Present |
| — | Orlando FreeFall | ICON Park | Orlando, Florida, United States | 120 metres (400 ft) | 130 metres (430 ft) | Funtime | — |
| 2 | Lex Luthor: Drop of Doom | Six Flags Magic Mountain | Valencia, California, United States | 120 metres (400 ft) | 126 metres (415 ft) | Intamin | July 2012 – July 2014 |
| 3 | The Giant Drop | Dreamworld | Coomera, Queensland, Australia | 115 metres (377 ft) | 120 metres (390 ft) | Intamin | December 1998 – July 2012 |
| 4 | Highlander | Hansa-Park | Sierksdorf, Germany | 103 metres (338 ft) | 120 metres (390 ft) | Funtime | — |
| 5 | La Venganza del Enigma | Parque Warner Madrid | Madrid, Spain | 100 metres (328 ft) | 115 metres (377 ft) | S&S Worldwide | — |
| — | Blue Fall | Sea Paradise | Yokohama, Japan | 100 metres (328 ft) | 107 metres (351 ft) | Intamin | — |
| 6 | Donjon de l'Extrême | Nigloland | Dolancourt, France | 95 metres (312 ft) | 105 metres (344 ft) | Funtime | — |
| 7 | Falcon's Fury | Busch Gardens Tampa Bay | Tampa Bay, Florida, United States | 94 metres (310 ft) | 102 metres (335 ft) | Intamin | — |
| 8 | Voltrum | Bayern-Park | Reisbach, Germany | 93 metres (305 ft) | 109 metres (358 ft) | Funtime | — |
| 9 | Sky Screamer | Marineland of Canada | Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada | 91 metres (300 ft) | 140 metres (450 ft) | S&S – Sansei Technologies | — |
| 10 | AtmosFear | Liseberg | Gothenburg, Sweden | 90 metres (295 ft) | 116 metres (381 ft) | Intamin | — |
| 11 | Hurakan Condor | PortAventura Park | Salou, Spain | 87 metres (285 ft) | 115 metres (377 ft) | Intamin | — |
| 12 | UFO Gyro Drop | Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village | Yuchr Shiang, Nantou County, Taiwan | 85 metres (280 ft) | 110 metres
(360 ft) |
Intamin | |
| 13 | Global Burj | Global Village | Dubai, United Arab Emirates | 85 metres (279 ft) | Unknown | Unknown | — |
| 14 | Drop Tower | Kings Dominion | Doswell, Virginia, United States | 83 metres (272 ft) | 93 metres (305 ft) | Intamin | — |
| 15 | Big Tower | Beto Carrero World | Penha, Santa Catarina, Brazil | 80 metres (264 ft) | 100 metres (328 ft) | Intamin | — |
| 16 | Drop Tower | Kings Island | Mason, Ohio, United States | 80 metres (264 ft) | 96 metres (315 ft) | Intamin | — |
| The Plunge | Kongeparken | Ålgård, Rogaland, Norway | 80 metres (264 ft) | Unknown | Funtime | — |
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