25 Extreme Drop Tower Rides

Besides your roller coasters, carousels, and Ferris wheels, a staple attraction of any major amusement park is the drop tower ride. While common today, these freefall attractions don’t have a long, hundred-year history like the roller coaster or amusement park. The first tower rides didn’t appear until the 1980s and didn’t start catching on until the 1990s when the technology and ride experience improved enough to make them “can’t miss” attractions.

What are the tallest, fastest, and most extreme drop towers ever built? Find out all this and more by reading 25 Extreme Drop Tower Rides. You'll learn about the history of the drop tower as well as all the different seating configurations and where the most terrifying freefall rides can be found.

Download it for FREE to read on Kindle between April 14 through 16, 2017. Follow this link to get it on Amazon.com

Early contender for best new ride of 2016 is...

The early contender for best new ride of 2016 is Storm Chaser at Kentucky Kingdom, Rocky Mountain Construction’s first all-steel roller coaster. The ride has not been talked about much because it is overshadowed by larger RMC projects like Dollywood's Lightning Rod (still not open). Storm Chaser may not be very tall but it sure does pack a big punch.

In fact, Storm Chaser couldn't be any taller even if they wanted to because the lift hill is nearly aligned to be pointed right in the direction of the flight path of landing airplanes at the Louisville airport. How close do the airplanes get to the roller coaster? See here:



If you know of an airport close to a theme park then this, please let me know!

The camelback hill following the first drop might be one of the best hills on any roller coaster ever. The extreme airtime took me by surprise every time. I think I literally yelled “holy crap!” (or some form of that) all six times we rode it.

Check out our multi-angle off-ride video of Storm Chaser below and be on the look out for extreme “hairtime”:

Read a detailed Storm Chaser review here.

Top 50 Legendary Roller Coasters - Corkscrew

If you could resurrect any deceased roller coaster which one would it be? I'm starting a new series examining what I believe to be the top 50 legendary roller coasters that no longer exist. We start with number 50:

50. CORKSCREW

Known for: First double-inverting roller coaster in Europe

Location: Alton Towers, England

Type/Category: Steel, Sitdown Looping

Opened: 1980 / Closed: 2008 / Dismantled: 2008

Age when closed: 28

Replaced by: Thirteen

Designer/Manufacturer: Arrow Dynamics/Vekoma

Height: 75ft (22.86m) / Drop: 68ft (20.73m)

Speed: 44mph (13.41kph)

Length: 2,400ft (731.52m)

Inversions: 2

Alton Towers, located in Staffordshire, England, is an amusement park with a unique history. It started out as a nobleman’s estate, and then became a garden and tourist attraction. Throughout the 1970’s, the park was built up into a modern theme park, and in 1980, Alton Towers got its first rollercoaster—the Corkscrew. The Corkscrew was exactly what Alton Towers needed to complete the transformation from quiet country estate to thrilling amusement park. A steel rollercoaster, featuring one of the first double-loop inversions in Europe, the Corkscrew reached speeds of 44 mph. There was nothing else like the Corkscrew anywhere in the UK, and it was an instant success. On its opening weekend, guests at the park waited up to nine hours for the chance to ride the Corkscrew, and months later park-goers were still waiting in line for hours to ride this new rollercoaster. Park attendance doubled from 1979 to 1980.

However, as the years passed, the Corkscrew’s appeal faded. While its inversions had once been new, now there were other rollercoasters with similar, or more extreme, elements. And while 44 mph had once seemed incredibly fast, compared to newer rollercoasters, it was tame. By 2008, the Corkscrew was an old rollercoaster with a rough, bumpy ride. Still, on the ride’s last day in November 2008, thousands turned out for one last ride on the Corkscrew. The ride was torn down, but parts of the track were saved and are now on display at the entrance to Alton Towers, reminding guests of the rollercoaster that launched the park into the successful theme park it is today.

50 Legendary Roller Coasters That No Longer Exist is the latest book by Nick Weisenberger and you can download the Kindle version for free between 4/21/16 - 4/25/16.

Top 50 Most Terrifying Roller Coasters - Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit

I'm starting a new series examining what I believe to be the top 50 most terrifying roller coasters ever built. We start with number 50:

50. HOLLYWOOD RIP RIDE ROCKIT

Known for: World’s first track elements

Park: Universal Studios Florida

Location: United States

Type: Steel

Opened: 2009

Designer/Manufacturer: Maurer Söhne

Height (ft.): 167

Speed (mph): 65

Video: http://youtu.be/JjI2a8wRe34

Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit is a radically innovative steel coaster that includes one-of-a-kind track elements, cutting-edge technology, and an interactive audio element. Sprawling across a large section of the park, the skyline of Universal Studios Florida was changed forever when the Rockit began thrilling in August of 2009. Riders board a train consisting of two six passenger cars before ascending the 167 foot tall vertical lift hill. After reaching a speed of 65 miles per hour the ride soars into a mammoth non-inverting loop (a loop that twists at the top so the vehicles never turn upside down). This crazy maneuver is followed by the Treble Clef, where guests burst through a building façade on track shaped like the music symbol; and later followed by the Jump Cut, a spiraling, negative-gravity move. If nothing else, Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit is surely one of the coolest looking coasters around, especially at night when the lights on the vehicles are lit up.

The most unique aspect of Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit is the ability to choose your own song to rock out to. That is if you can hear it over your own screaming. The music selection is broken up into 30 songs in five categories; Classic Rock/Heavy Metal, Club/Electronica, Country, Rap/Hip-Hop, and Pop Music/Disco. In addition to these 30 songs, Universal has also included a number of “hidden” tracks that are accessible via entering secret codes into the ride’s touchpads before your journey begins. A personalized take-home music video is also available for purchase for those wanting to remember and share their terrifying ordeal with their friends.

Observation Wheels Book Released

I've just released my latest book - Observation Wheels: Guide to the World's Largest Ferris Wheels. The race to build the largest observation wheel is on! Ferris wheels have been around for over one hundred years but have only just recently begun climbing to new heights. The classic Ferris wheel can be found towering over almost every amusement park and carnival midway. Today, these giant, high tech observation wheels are becoming status symbols for cities around the world. The race to build the biggest is heating up. Who invented the Ferris wheel? How do they work? Where are the most unique Ferris wheels found? Observation Wheels: Guide to the World’s Largest Ferris Wheels answers all of these questions and more, including details on more than 60 of the world's most unique giant wheels.

 

This is the "sort-of" sequel to Coasters 101: An Engineer's Guide to Roller Coaster Design (which will hopefully be getting updated this fall). I've compiled statistics on almost seventy of the world's biggest Ferris wheelsm including the most unique ones in the world. Did you know there are eccentric Ferris wheels that combine the classic Ferris wheel with a car that rolls on a track like a roller coaster? Learn about it and more in my new book.

 

You can learn more about observation wheels by visiting my latest website.

Observation Wheel Pictures Wanted

I recently launched a brand new website called Observation Wheel Directory, that features a comprehensive list of the world’s largest observation wheels. The site contains numerous information and statistics on Ferris wheels around the globe including an interactive map to find an observation wheel near you.

One thing the site is currently lacking is pictures, and that’s where you come in! If you have a picture of an observation (and it is a picture you took and hold the copyright for) please submit it to the site. We will of course give you credit for the picture and link back to your website or blog if you have one. At this time we are only accepting large Ferris wheels, those over 150 feet in diameter ( we may make exceptions in the future). Or we will also accept pictures of unique Ferris wheels, like the Big O centerless Ferris wheel or the eccentric wheels like the ones at Coney Island and Disney California Adventure.

 

Submit your pictures by emailing me here: nick@observationwheeldirectory.com

 

Thanks, and I can't wait to see your photos.

Roller Coaster Freakonomics

I wrote an article featured in the latest issue of Theme Park Geekly where I attempted to analyize some roller coaster data in a unique way. I compared the speed of wooden and steel roller coasters versus their height and found that they were pretty much the same. Then, I looked at height versus length and noticed a very interesting trend. Joel, the Coaster Critic, was able to take my data and create a pretty cool interactive chart that you can play around with. Check it out for yourself!

What is the average age of a roller coaster?

The average life of all 121 roller coasters that I've ridden is 17 years. This means a ride is erected and thrills riders for 17 years before being demolished. The average age of all 121 roller coasters I've ridden is 22 years. This means most are over 22 years old (the oldest being Jack Rabbit at Kennywood which has been standing for 91 years. Second oldest was Big Dipper at Geauga Lake).

Why is this? There were quite a few coasters (10?) I rode at Geauga Lake which were then demolished (or moved but the way I count my track record is essentially the same thing. Basically, when a coaster I rode ceases to exist at the park where I rode it then I list it as closed which then effects the average life of a coaster stat. Make sense?).