Drop Rides

How are some drop rides compared to others? Are those trap door water slides as intense as lets say Demon Drop? What is the most ultimate drop experience?

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I think to this day one of the best drop towers has to be the ARM towers, such as the one at Waldameer.

The S&S towers do little to nothing for me, and the giant gyro-drop Intamin's do not have the same feeling as the smaller type towers.

I thought Lex Luther at SFMM was great as well, mainly for being the tallest in the country... Views were spectacular and the drop felt lengthy. PitFall at KW was another great tower.

The Waldameer tower never fails to make me think I'm going to die, if only for a split second. To me, that's as good a metric for the quality of a drop tower as anything.

Sonic Boom - everything else just "feels safe" to me...

While I've only ridden one "trap door waterslide" one time, it was easily the most intimidating drop style ride. Why? Probably because it's just *you* being dropped. You're not strapped into a vehicle, or even or a proper track. It's just your body being dropped down a slide.

Break Trims said:

The Waldameer tower never fails to make me think I'm going to die, if only for a split second. To me, that's as good a metric for the quality of a drop tower as anything.

Funny you say that... We took a good friend to Waldameer recently and after the third ride on it he just said he could not take another, that it was just that insane/crazy for him. Mind you, he also has no problem with Power Tower and other freefall rides... I suppose it has to do with the slightly "cheap" look construction, the lengthy fall for the size of the tower and the fact it just lets go and you have no idea when. It really is a fantastic ride. Glad to see Knoebels picked one up as well.

They almost remind me of the Intamin 1st Gen freefall towers, without the pullout and insane roughness that follow. Something about those have such a "pure" freefall feeling compared to many other modern ones. The ARM towers really are some of the best around now, regardless of height. It helps that Waldameer's has such a fantastic view if you face the lake, as well.

Nothing beats Drop Tower at KI for views. 300 feet up with rotation. You can see the Beast from there.

The best S&S tower i have ridden has to be Big Shot on the top of the stratosphere in vegas. I also like the ones that run in combo mode like Scream at SFNE.

Best towers for me are:

Lex Luthor
Beech Bend's
Waldameer's

The best drop towers are the ones I don't ride. Which is pretty much all of them. It's not that I'm afraid of heights, it's a personal control issue. Years ago I was a student skydiver (13 jumps), but I was always the one to let go of that Cessna wing strut. Which is why I don't mind skycoasters--as long as I'm the one who gets to pull the ripcord.

My favorite drop tower is Tower of Terror. While the freefall experience is nice, I really enjoy the quick transitions from up to down you experience on this ride. When you factor in that you are only held in by a seat belt, it is by far the most extreme airtime you can get on a ride.

So. Nobody likes Power Tower? I have been on a few drop rides. Power Tower at Cedar Point. (both sides) Giant Drop at Great America. Double Shot at Indiana Beach, Demon Drop, and That drop tower at Canada's Wonderland, though I can't think of the name of it...Is it Drop Zone?

I think Power Tower is the best of the ones I just mentioned. The blast side is in sanely fun. Though the drop side is pretty intense, as you go up and down a couple times, and get some decent pops of air. The others just drop you into the brakes. And the one at Indiana Beach, is tame in comparison to all of them.

I liked Demon Drop. Though, riding on your back to the end hurt at times, slamming into the brake run. I wonder if it runs better at it's new home. One thing it did was pick away yet another attraction from Cedar Points ride Line-up. In there march to bigger and better, their ride collection is getting fewer and fewer.

If we're going to include "turbo shots" - then I'd really like to give a shout-out to Holiday World for enhancing the launch on Liberty Launch. What was once a pretty tame ride has become an honest-to-goodness thrill ride. Surely others noticed the change a few years ago...really helped to round out the line-up as the park has/had a nice variety of family-friendly flats, but was somewhat lacking in thrill factor outside of the wooden coasters (something I suppose PPlunge was promised to deliver).

Dont forget its next door neighbor, Revolution. Its quite a thrill ride too.

Also, I dont think Im stretching things when I call Mammoth, Wildebeast, Zinga, Jungle Racers, Hynea Falls (well Laughs at least,) and Zoombabwye thrill rides.

Best shot tower is at the top of the strat but Liberty Launch and IB's are very close.

I don't like any of the S+S ones because the bouncing up and down makes me queasy. The exception I'll make is for the Stratosphere. The incredible view and more airtime than normal make this an exception worth getting a little uncomfortable for.

So, what you're saying, is that I need to get to the stratosphere next week?

Go early and get an all day pass, ride everything in daylight, do some shopping, leave, then come back at nite and do all the rides at nite after a few drinks at the AirBar. If the asian guy is still bartending there, you'll get very strong drinks, and he's great to talk to.

That expensive pass did me no good. I was so terrified on those rides I couldn't go more than once. I can vouch for the bar, though, trust and believe it was my very next stop.