- Zumanjaro: Drop of Doom will be attached to world’s largest roller coaster
- Will beat 400ft Lex Luthor: Drop of Doom at Six Flags Magic Mountain near Los Angeles
With a sheer drop of 415ft – higher than the Statue of Liberty – and travelling at speeds of 90mph, a new record-breaking ride will not be for the faint-hearted.
A New Jersey company is planning to build the 41-story drop ride, making it the world’s tallest.
Six Flags Great Adventure says Zumanjaro: Drop of Doom will hoist riders 415 feet in the air and drop them back to the ground at 90 mph.
The stomach-churning attraction will be attached to what is itself the world’s tallest roller coaster, Kingda Ka in Jackson, New Jersey.
Zumanjaro’s three towers, each 41 stories tall, will be nestled inside the green loop of the current ride.
Three gondolas will carry brave riders up the face of Kingda Ka. They will drop from just below the coaster’s 456-foot peak as Kingda Ka’s trains rocket toward them at 128 mph.
Each of the towers will feature a gondola for eight riders, which will help keep lines for the ride as short as possible.
At the top – far higher than the 305ft Statue of Liberty – riders will be able to see the skyline of Philadelphia, which lies 52 miles away.
At 415ft high, Zumanjaro will surpass 400ft Lex Luthor: Drop of Doom at Six Flags Magic Mountain near Los Angeles as the world’s tallest drop tower ride.
‘Zumanjaro solidifies Six Flags Great Adventure’s dominance as the Northeast’s thrill capital,’ said John Fitzgerald, park president.
He later told the Detroit Free Press: ‘You’re going to have folks dropping 90 mph.
‘You’re going to have the Kingda Ka cars racing around them at the same time. It’s really going to be fantastic. Fantastic views, but also terribly exciting.’
Park spokesperson Kristin Siebeneicher echoes her boss’s enthusiasm.
‘It’s definitely exciting that we are breaking a world record,’ Siebenecher told .
Meanwhile, the park says this is the last season for its wooden Rolling Thunder roller coaster after more than three decades.
‘There are definitely guests, especially roller coaster enthusiasts, who will miss Rolling Thunder,’ Siebeneicher said.
The park says technology has surpassed the dual track coaster, which opened in 1979 and has become a beloved classic.
Zumanjaro is scheduled to open in 2014.
DON’T EAT BEFOREHAND! FIVE OF THE WORLD’S SCARIEST RIDES
Saw – The Ride, Thorpe Park, UK
A favourite with bloodthirsty adrenaline seekers, Saw – The Ride opened at Thorpe Park in 2009.
The attraction is based on the horror film franchise which spawned four movies and claims to be ‘the world’s most terrifying horror rollercoaster’.
Riders are carried up to 100ft before being plummeted down towards sharp rotating blades below.
Takabisha, Fuji-Q Highland Amusement Park, Japan
Japan’s Fuji-Q Highland Amusement Park laid claim to the title of steepest vertical drop of any ride in the world when it opened in July 2011.
The stomach-flipping Takabisha ride – an attraction that includes seven major twists over 1000 metres of track and a nerve-jangling drop of 43 metres – features a 121° freefall.
The 112-second attraction – which means ‘dominant’ in English – also accelerates to speeds of 100kmph.
Riders experience weightlessness as they ‘nosedive’ down the sharp incline, before later being plunged into darkness.
The Smiler, Alton Towers, UK (pictured above)
It’s called The Smiler. But unless you’re very, very brave, the chances of smiling when you come off it seem remote.
Alton Towers’s latest rollercoaster cost £18million and has entered the Guinness Book of Records for being the ride with the most loops – 14.
It has drops of 98ft, reaches speeds of up to 52mph and was designed with the help of psychologists and scientists for maximum thrills.
Tower of Terror II, Dreamworld, Australia
Offers a fantastic view of the Gold Coast, if only you dare look down…riders of the recently re-launched Tower of Terror II are propelled backwards and up 100metres into the air.
In the nerve-jangling drop back down, there are several seconds of weightlessness.
Formula Rossa, Ferrari World, Abu Dhabi
When it comes to speed, Formula Rossa, at Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi, claims to be the world’s fastest rollercoaster.
The Formula One-themed attraction sees goggle-wearing riders reach 240kmph in 4.9 seconds over the course of a 2km track.
Turns can reach up to 70º, while heights peak at 52 metres. Thrill-seekers will experience a maximum acceleration G-Force of 1.7.
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