Hellevator: Best drop ride period!

Ahhhh.......Inty drop rides. :-P One of my favorite topics. :-)

Actually, Great Am's 2nd Inty gem is the most "intense" I have experienced, followed by Pittfall at Kennywood. NOTHING is as *intense* as the 1st generation drops though. Nowadays they are few and far between. :-(

The S&S Towers are more "floaty" while the Intamins (all three generations) are MUCH more.....gasmatic. lol.

Still, Drop Zone (PKI) is the cream of the crop as far as I am concerned. The only one I am NOT crazy about is Acrophobia at SFOG, and that is only because it's not too comfortable on my back.

Hellevator is pretty good.

-Tina

*** Edited 4/6/2005 8:23:54 AM UTC by coasterqueenTRN***

Give me ToT anyday. :)

I love the Intamin towers, but nothing beats the pure "gigle-happy-fun-time" of either one of the ToT's on either coast.

-Josh

So your looking for excellent theming on a drop ride huh? Then look no further than The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Disney-MGM Studios. It features an amazing storying line, queue, special effect and the actual ride is pretty cool to and comparible to your average S&S ride. But for me the best drop ride is Acrophobia at Six Flags Over Georgia.

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Intamin Fan said:
If you want themeing for your Drop Ride look no further than Dungeon Drop at Astroworld

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DD is one of the better drops out there.

1. Theming is cool. ( and you get to get out of the sun).

2. It is an Intamin and not a boring S@S! (Obviously I think S@S drops are lame compared to Intamin)

3. The view is magnificent if you get on the correct side. ( You can have an awesome view of the Astrodome, Reliant Stadium, and Downtown. All on the same side. I should bring my camera one day! )

Hellevator is fantastic, certainly.

Since ToT has been brought up, I think its a great attraction, and the theming is as elaborate as any attraction I've seen, but taken as a drop ride, its about the least intense I've ridden. Maybe it was just the cycle I got on my one ride but it seemed to be pretty tame.

Back in the day when SFNE was called Riverside...they installed a Hellavator (I think in 1998?). When SF came in, they replaced the Hellavator with a three tower S&S. I can remember the drop being so much more intense on the Hellavator. The "brake" was so much closer tot he ground...when waiting in line you could see the look of horror on the riders faces as their feet came within two feet of the ground. I also remember "hanging' at the top for what seemed an eternity before dropping. I like the S&S towers too, but I do miss Hellavator at SFNE.

Hellavator is still there, you just usually don't get a chance to ride it....

;)

ROFL, I can remember (vaguely) when I thought, maybe just hoped, that "Hellevator" was the GENERIC term for drop rides....once I got to SFKK and saw that there was a ride actually NAMED Hellevator, I was impressed.

Regardless of what Tina says, those first-gen Intamin drops are pure PoSs...;)

ToT and PKI/PKD Drop Zones *are* the Gold-Standard IMO, with Acro taking a fairly distant silver. The second-gen drops take the bronze, and first-gens get the dreaded "booby prize"...;)

What do you expect? Hellevator, a ride that is named after the dark pits of the underworld, isn't exactly gonna look like a basket of fruit! ;)

I think it's a great name for a drop ride, better than anything with the words "tower", "power" and "scream" in the title.

Forget those drop rides - Pitt Fall rules!

There's somthing about Pittfall that makes me like it most of all drop rides I have rode, but I can't quite put my finger on what that is...Maybe the park it's in, location within the park, and/or intensity has something to do with that.

I've never been to KK, so I've never rode Hellevator, but I really do like it's name. "Run down" sounds like a good theme to me, if in fact that is a theme and not neglect.

Acrophobia looks way cool, and really scary. Maybe some day soon...

ToT is one of the best rides I have ever experienced, but I say that because of it's great story, special effects, and theme. The drops really seem to be toned down to me. When added to the anticipation, I think ToT tricks riders into being more scared than they need to be.

S&S towers (not SatS towers, lol) are really fun, but I just dont feel the fright on any of these. They are more family friendly, imho.

Hummph, I actually posted somewhat on topic this time. Can I get a cookie or something? :)

Agreed on Pitt Fall.

There's just some intangible quality that makes it one of the few freefall rides that still gives me the 'fear' - other rides like ToT might be more fun, but Pitt Fall still wigs me out a little after all these years.

Ditto on Pitt Fall. Great ride!

Hellevator is very nice. Big thumbs up for using the word "Hell" in a ride name too. Acrophobia truly did scare me. I had that horrible "We're dead" thought for a split second just as the brakes grabbed us.
Could someone please give me some examples of Intamin first generation and second generation drop towers? I'm assuming I know, but you know what they say about assuming.... ;)

I have only rode it once, which was during the last Halloween season. The smoke and lights really made it look damn good.

Drop Zone @ PKI takes the cake for me as far as drop rides are concerned. But I definately prefer any Intamin 2nd or 3rd generation to a S&S turbo drop.

I agree with gator on the first generation models. When they were all that existed I thought they ruled and they scared me to death. They really don't do anything for me anymore. If they were as tall as the newer generations I'd change my tune, but that brake run would just hurt way too much.

If things go according to plan, I will have a chance to try Hellevator out for myself. I'm sure I'll like it but I doubt it'll dethrone Drop Zone.

From my experience, the thing that makes Pitt Fall so good is that there is a noticible wobble to the cars on their way down, which I haven't noticed on any other Intamin drop tower. I don't know if it's due to the fact that the cars on Pitt Fall are spaced further apart, or if it's because of something else altogether, but I think it makes the drop itself far more frightening.

As for Hellevator, I think many people are dismissing it just because it's short. I will agree with the original poster; it is indeed one of the best of the Intamin drop rides. The braking seems far more forceful, which is probably only due to the fact that the brakes don't kick in until the very last minute. I like it far more than the taller rides, not including Pitt Fall. It just desperately needs some paint (and it also deserves to be in a better park).

-Nate
*** Edited 4/8/2005 6:54:13 AM UTC by coasterdude318***

While I love PKI's Drop Zone, the brakes on the PKD version start much slower for a more sudden stop. This really caught me off guard on my first couple of rides as I am so used to PKI's version.

Pitt Fall seems so much taller than what it really is due to placement fo the ride next to the ravine, kind of like the S&S towers at Marineland.

In 1998, SFAW had one of the most amazing coaster events I have ever gone to. They had ERT on most of the coasters for hours. I believe the morning ERT went from 5:00AM-9:00AM and included almost every coaster in the park as well as Dungeon Drop. I wasn't a big Thriller....or...um...Tornado fan so I decided to ride Dungeon Drop for most of the ERT. There was a small group of us riding. In just under 3 hours we were able to ride over 100 times. Needless to say I felt very strange after ERT was over, but it was worth it.

Every Giant Drop I have ridden has been great fun but there is one that still scares me to this day.

Acrophobia.

For some reason that thing still provides me with that butterfly-in-the-stomach feeling before we reach the top. A few years ago I took part in a video shoot with some other enthusiasts on the ride where we rode 20 times or so. Each and every ride was just as creepy as the first.

The Fabri drop towers do a really great job of stopping very sudden as well. The ERT on the one at Libertyland last year was one of my highlights of the year. Tina, remember that?

-Sean

being a brit ive never got to ride any of the ones mentioned so far. Unfortunatly I have a rather annoying fear of heights (which i guess makes the ride all the more adrenaline inducing) so i always end up gurgling like a little girl at the top of a drop tower.

By far the freakiest and the best for me was Apochalypse at Drayton Manor. Gives me the creeps every time im near it. *** Edited 4/8/2005 12:48:07 PM UTC by roomraider***