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. 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.
6-602: Demon Drop is a drop tower amusement ride located at Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom in Allentown, Pennsylvania . Designed by Intamin , it is a Freefall model that was originally located at Cedar Point that opened in 1983. It was relocated to Dorney Park following the 2009 season, where it reopened in 2010. It is one of the oldest rides of its kind still in operation. Demon Drop debuted at Cedar Point in 1983. On October 21, 2009, Cedar Point officials announced that Demon Drop would be relocated to Knott's Berry Farm for
12-410: The 2010 season. In November of that year, ride pieces similar to Demon Drop were spotted at Dorney Park. On December 2, 2009, it was announced that Demon Drop would not be relocated to Knott's Berry Farm. Instead, it would be relocated to Dorney Park. It officially opened at Dorney Park on July 8, 2010. The ride can accommodate up to four riders, and consists of three main sections: the boarding station,
18-480: The car enters a pull-out curve which transitions the vertical fall into a horizontal brake run. Riders face upward toward the sky as the gondola rolls through the brake run. After stopping, a mechanism swings the top of the car down, and the gondola moves in reverse at down a 45-degree angle to another track, where it returns to an upright position and returns to the station. Drop tower Swiss manufacturer Intamin renewed interest decades later when it pioneered
24-405: 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. 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
30-486: The lift tower, and the brake run. Riders are loaded into a gondola near ground level at the station and secured with an over the shoulder harness. The gondola then moves backwards horizontally to the rear base of the lift tower and climbs vertically to the top of the tower. After reaching the top, it slides forward and hangs over the drop track for a few moments until the car is suddenly released, dropping riders 60 feet (18 m). Riders experience g-forces from deceleration as
36-489: 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
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