Theme parks love to boast that their newest attraction is bigger and better than the competition. Often, this means breaking some sort of world record – being able to proclaim that a ride is the fastest or longest of its type is a godsend for marketing departments.
Often, the metric that is used to make an attraction stand out is its extreme height. 2014 will see some new entrants to the super-tall category of thrill ride, carrying riders hundreds of feet into the skies.
If you suffer from vertigo, you may want to avoid these three towering beasts when the 2014 theme park season kicks off.
3. New England SkyScreamer
Park: Six Flags New England
Record broken: World’s tallest spinning tower ride
Spinning tower rides, which offer a high-altitude variation on the traditional “Chair-O-Plane” ride experience, have sprung up at Six Flags and Cedar Fair parks across the US in recent years. Guests are seated in chairs that dangle from a circular gondola, which spin as they rise to the top of the tower.
Six Flags New England will push the limits of this particular attraction type when it launches the New England SkyScreamer in 2014. It will stand at a huge 400-feet-tall – just two feet taller than the Funtime Star Flyer ride at Austria’s Prater Park, the current record holder.
2. Verrückt
Park: Schlitterbahn Kansas City
Record broken: World’s tallest water slide
Appropriately named (“Verrückt” is the German word for “insane”), Schlitterbahn Kansas City’s new water slide will be the tallest in the world at some 170 feet. Those brave enough to ride it will hit an estimated speed of 65 miles per hour on their way to the bottom, before being blasted to the top of a second, shorter hill that will stand at a still-quite-tall 50 feet.
1. Zumanjaro: Drop of Doom
Park: Six Flags Great Adventure
Record broken: World’s tallest drop tower
Six Flags installed the world’s tallest drop tower at its Magic Mountain park in California in 2012, with Lex Luthor: Drop of Doom reaching a height of 400 feet. Cleverly, the attraction was bolted on to the existing tower for the Superman: Escape from Krypton coaster.
Now, the firm plans to repeat the trick at Six Flags Great Adventure. The park is home to the world’s tallest roller coaster, Kingda Ka. So, naturally, Six Flags will bolt a drop tower on to that as well. The resulting attraction, Zumanjaro: Drop of Doom, will lift riders some 415 feet in the air, before sending them plummeting back towards the ground below at 90 miles per hour.
You can keep up to date with the latest confirmed and rumored opening dates for new attractions through Theme Park Tourist’s “New Attraction Watch” section, and by signing up for our weekly newsletter.
