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Lex Luthor: Drop of Doom

Alastair

Alastair

TS Team
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No thread on this yet, thought it was worthy. Tallest drop tower in the world (Intamin) at Six Flags Magic Mountain, with a 400ft drop. It started testing this week; the video below shows some of the first test drops right at the very end:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXXgpPJmTE4[/youtube]

Looks utterly insane! The drop is absolutely huge and it goes so incredibly fast - probably one of the most thrilling rides in the world.
 
Adding THIS to my Ride Bucket List!

Loving the look of this, looks utterly immense. Just watching the drop had me going...
"Dun, Dun, Dun!"
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhMvKv4GX5U[/youtube]

Here's some stats for you...

. Location: Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California
. Type of ride: freefall drop tower
. Tower height: 415 feet
. Ride height: 400 feet
. Top speed: 85 mph
. Angle of descent: 90 degrees
. Manufacturer: Intamin AG
. Height restriction: 48 inches
http://themeparks.about.com
 
This certainly looks crazy! Is it bad though that I'm just waiting for something to go badly wrong with it? I can't help but feel something will do at some point. Saying that, I would love to ride it just for the thrill. I'd expect it to be very good thanks to the small cars or whatever you want to call them, but you never know with drop towers until you ride them. The 300 foot drop towers at Kings Dominion looks fantastic but is actually very poor and underwhelming.

:)
 
Rob said:
This certainly looks crazy! Is it bad though that I'm just waiting for something to go badly wrong with it? I can't help but feel something will do at some point. Saying that, I would love to ride it just for the thrill. I'd expect it to be very good thanks to the small cars or whatever you want to call them, but you never know with drop towers until you ride them. The 300 foot drop towers at Kings Dominion looks fantastic but is actually very poor and underwhelming.

:)
Click to expand...
Each time I see a drop tower at a Six Flags park I just get reminded of the Kentucky Kingdom incident:

On June 21, 2007, a 13-year-old girl was severely injured on Superman: Tower of Power. Shortly after the start of the ride, a cable snapped which fell and entangled the girl. Though she was able to remove the cable from her neck before the ride reached the top, it was still looped past her feet during the "drop" and shattered her left femur while severing both feet on the way down.[3] The operator heard the cable snap and acknowledged unusual screaming as the car climbed, but failed to hit the emergency stop button before the ride reached the top (after the drop, the ride cannot be halted).[4] Doctors were able to reattach her right foot. The ride was closed for two weeks and later reopened; however, it was removed from the park not long after.
Click to expand...

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman:_Tower_of_Power

:eek:
 
Nothing's happened to the drop tower at Dreamworld which is the same style as this (to my knowledge)...

It's gonna be weird tbh, I find that the taller drop towers can be a bit boring once you reach the terminal velocity which will certainly happen on this, but the potential aspect of the swaying as the Superman ride launches along could make it one of the scariest rides in the world to some people...

I'd be on this thing though with little to no worry...
 
Jem8472 said:
OMG I want to ride this it looks awesome. Quick someone give me a big pile of cash so I can visit!
Click to expand...

2nsqb8h.png

"Welcome to Six Flags Magic Mountain, here's $1000!"

I love how it shares it's structure with Superman: The Escape! It seems more and more coasters are getting drop towers to accompany them. [Ahem Nemesis: Sub Terra] ;)
 
I would rather climb this structure by hand, then leap to my death from the top than ride this thing.

That is all.
 
I'd ride it just for the ridiculous size. Can't see it being all that good though, it'd get a bit boring dropping for that long.
 
Wouldn't say it'll be boring! The thrill will wear off and will be left with a nice floaty free fall sensation... Almost sky diving sensation I would imagine.

Will this be forced or freefall? Imagine the negetive G's on this from a forced drop!

Sounds incredible, add magic mountain to my someday list!


Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
 
Fredward said:
Wouldn't say it'll be boring! The thrill will wear off and will be left with a nice floaty free fall sensation... Almost sky diving sensation I would imagine.

Will this be forced or freefall? Imagine the negetive G's on this from a forced drop!

Sounds incredible, add magic mountain to my someday list!


Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...

It's freefall I think, aren't all Intamin towers of that type?
 
DiogoJ42 said:
So does this count as a fourth generation Intamin drop tower?
Click to expand...

Good question. At first I would have called this just a hybrid design as it has been developed just for this structure, However the restraints are new and possibly some of the mechanisms to. So I suppose it could be. We'll have to wait and see what their next built from new tower looks like.
 
The way that it is supported by an existing structure has a lot in common with the second gen tower(s) (was there more than one?)
It's probably officially classed as "custom" :p
 
Yeah I agree Diogo, I'd call this custom. If anything, it's more of an adaptation of the second gen than the third.

It seems they reached drop tower perfection with the third gen, I would imagine any future retail models will be minor tweaks on that. :)
 
Really interested in this. It's not the drop that really gets me on drop towers this size, it's the sheer height and anticipation of dropping that I love. The whole concept of it being built onto an existing ride is pretty interesting too, and the fact it's said the structure will sway anywhere between 1-2ft when it's all in operation is awesome :D.

Since I'm more or less a 100% definite to visit California next year, I absolutely can't wait to ride this one!
 
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