We've selected this week's Top 10 list from your ratings, submitted on Theme Park Insider's park guide pages. Any Theme Park Insider reader (including you!) can submit ratings for the rides, shows, restaurants, and hotels we've listed on the site. And if you register (it's free and only takes a moment), you can submit a written review of these locations, too. The more readers who rate, the better ratings we can offer to everyone looking for help in planning their next theme park vacation. So, please, go rate some rides!
So here are our Top 10 theme park drop rides, with selected comments from participating Theme Park Insider readers.
10. Power Tower
Cedar Point
"Power Tower is one of the best thrill rides on the planet. It can provide you with the thrill of plummeting down 240 feet or shooting you up 240 feet. (The Green one shoots you down. The Red one shoots you up.)"
9. Superman: Tower of Power
Six Flags St. Louis
"Superman provides a great view of the mountains before you drop which is an extra bonus."
8. Supreme Scream
Knott's Berry Farm
A trio of 312-foot Turbo Drop towers, with 254-foot drops with a top falling speed of 45 miles per hour.
7. Drop Tower
Kings Dominion
Still one of the larger freefall rides in North America — a 305-foot drop tower that provides a 272-foot descent at 72 mph.
6. Acrophobia
Six Flags Over Georgia
An Intamin Gyro Drop tower where guests ride up the tower slowly while spinning and then are forced to look down as the seats tilt out at the summit.
5. Zumanjaro Drop of Doom
Six Flags Great Adventure
Now the world's tallest drop ride, these three towers are attached to the Kingda Ka track, offering two rides on the same support structure.
4. Lex Luthor: Drop of Doom
Six Flags Magic Mountain
Six Flags' original drop-ride-on-a-coaster-tower, Lex Luthor delivers a 85-mph, 400-foot drop. "At first the height of the drop may come off as intimidating. But let me say the view from the top is amazing! And the drop is even better; especially with my hands up!"
3. Falcon's Fury
Busch Gardens Tampa
The world's tallest free-standing drop ride, Busch Gardens' newest attraction sends riders face-first down its 335-foot tower. "I had high expectations going into this ride but it still managed to blow me away!"
2. Tower of Terror
Tokyo DisneySea
With a different theme, preshow, and ride sequence than the Disney's original Tower of Terror in Florida, we're counting this as a separate attraction for this Top 10, so our usual "no clones" rule doesn't apply. While fans enjoy the multiple drop sequence here (pretty much the same as in California and Paris), the real attraction is the set-up, with what might be the greatest theme park preshow in the world.
1. Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
Disney's Hollywood Studios
"This Disney World icon is one of the best rides in Orlando. The theming is truly immersive and the story from the queue, to the cast members, and on to the ride itself is imperative to the ride's success and done right. A fun ride and the drops are just way cool. Even the view from the top, though quick, is spectacular. A true classic, and a definite must see."
What is your favorite theme park drop ride?
Tweet
Falcon's Fury, while new, is one of the most disappointing drop towers ever. The seated drop towers offer a much better freefall experience.
Oddly absent from this list is Drop Tower at Kings Island, which is the better of the similar one that's listed at Kings Dominion. Also, missing is the much superior Superman: Tower of Power at Six Flags Over Texas which combines the Space Shot experience with the Turbo Drop experience into one ride. The combo ride blows away the Turbo Drop only experience on Supreme Scream at Knott's Berry Farm. Cedar Point's Power Tower should also not outrank Supreme Scream.
And finally there isn't an S&S Tower out there that is better than any of the Intamin products. Even a 120-foot Intamin freefall blows away the 300+ foot S&S Towers.
James, I have seen a choice offered on three other towers in addition to Power Tower: Dominator at Dorney Park, Sasquatch at Great Escape, and Rocket at Lagoon. I have also found a couple parks (Six Flags New England and Marineland Theme Park) that have a combo tower where the ride starts with a launch, bounces a couple times, then stops midway and slowly climbs to the top before performing a traditional Turbo Drop cycle. Of the S&S towers, these are my favorite because you get both experiences in one.
I think it shows that special effects does not automatically make a ride great. DCA's problem is that it gives away the surprise a bit early to make it more "drop-y". The DHS version actually has the elevator car crawl out of the shaft (into the drop shaft). This usually scares the crap out of new riders, not expecting.
This article has been archived and is no longer accepting comments.
