How Drop Tower Rides Work

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A look at the mechanics of electromagnetic and pneumatic drop tower rides.
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Video footage courtesy of:
Canada’s Wonderland
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Coaster Studios
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Theme Park Maniacs
/ themeparkmaniacs
Video Links:
Official POV - Drop Tower - Canada's Wonderland
• Official POV - Drop To...
Power Tower Off-Ride Cedar Point HD 60fps
• Power Tower Off-Ride C...
Zumanjaro Drop of Doom Off-Ride Six Flags Great Adventure Worlds Tallest Drop Tower
• Zumanjaro: Drop of Doo...
Canada's Wonderland: Scream Zone Drop Tower off Ride POV / August 26, 2014 / 1080p
• Canada's Wonderland: S...
Carowinds: Scream Zone Drop Tower off Ride POV / July 12, 2014
• Carowinds: Scream Zone...
Dorney Park Demon Drop off ride POV 1080p
• Dorney Park: Demon Dro...
Dorney Park Dominator Down off Ride POV 1080p
• Dorney Park: Dominator...
Dorney Park Dominator UP off Ride POV 1080p
• Dorney Park: Dominator...
Kings Dominion: Drop Tower / On Ride POV / June 19, 2015
• Kings Dominion: Drop T...
Kings Dominion: Drop Tower / On Ride POV / May 9, 2015
• Kings Dominion: Drop T...
Kings Island: Drop Tower / Off Ride POV / August 21, 2015
• Kings Island: Drop Tow...
Anubis Free Fall Tower Onride POV | Holiday Park
• Anubis Free Fall Tower...
Busch Gardens Tampa- Falcon's Fury on ride (2014)
• Busch Gardens Tampa- F...
Photo Links:
1939 New York World's Fair
www.flickr.com/photos/army_ar...
The Drop Zone at King's Dominion
www.flickr.com/photos/robwiss...
Coney Island Boardwalk
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
Parachute Tower at Chesterfield in Derbyshire
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
Leviathan Brake Run
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
Photographs of the Parachute Jump licensed from Glasshouse Images / Sueddeutsche Zeitung Photo / Alamy Stock Photo
Music from Epidemic Sound
www.epidemicsound.com/referra...
#DropTower #Themeparks #ArtofEngineering

[@ArtofEngineering]

Thanks for _dropping_ in!

[@irooki9857]

🗿

[@midievalcat7770]

Art of Engineering please no

[@ChadWSmith]

Happy Father's Day to that Dad Joke.

[@AmusementLabs]

*facepalm*

[@bobsagget823]

thanks for shoving 2 minutes of ads and reminders to subscribe and pay you on patreon i wont be doing that :) another toxic channel

[@lovelydolltime8006]

The drop tower: The ride where you get exited for in line, freak out once you get to the top, and then want to go on again when the ride is over.

[@megomi652]

Felt that

[@thesily]

exactly

[@moritzvh1702]

So true

[@sarahnade8663]

This actually makes drop rides far less scary when I know its practically impossible for them to not slow down at the bottom.

[@Kudown]

Yup science👌

[@tristramcoffin926]

I love roller coasters but I find drop towers much more frightening.

[@trevrah]

Me too! I can't ride drop towers but I could ride roller coasters for days.

[@randomvideosn0where]

I don't find either frightening, the only ride that really got me was the water slide with free fall at the top. When the floor dropped out there was definitely a moment.

[@abbymango3452]

I rode one too many drop towers and now I’m afraid of elevators

[@pypeapple]

Right? any coaster any day, but a 100 ft tower is a hard pass

[@irrelevance3859]

Same. This is why I have never been on one lmao. They're frightening. I'll stick to roller coasters

[@Maltanx]

Unpopular opinion: towers that shoots you up at high speed are much better than simple drop towers, expecially if the fast climb is immediately followed by a free fall. That way you basically experience two rides in one with also the brief but intense moment of absence of weight when you reach the top. BTW, amazing video as always! With your consistent and great production quality there shouldn't even be the need to say it anymore

[@flipclone]

hell yeah, i love the pneumatic ride better, shoot up, experience weightlessness for a second or two, then drop!

[@user-K8T]

I'm a big fan of the fear and intimidation factor. I want to reconsider all the choices in my life that lead me to getting on that godforsaken ride before it drops me.

[@hoshimaruhajime7933]

I really love 🍎

[@tsunghan_yu]

Is that unpopular? lol

[@sleet1650]

余宗翰 yeah this seems like a really popular opinion. “I like my rides to be more thrilling!”

[@ecoomber]

I was really excited when I saw the aerial views of Canada's Wonderland at the start!

[@samgu619]

Agreed.

[@dewitter323]

me too! what a feeling seeing some familiar views

[@aidanmanuel7254]

Me too! I live about an hour away and I visit frequently

[@bucci6344]

Would make sense, Art of Engineering is Canadian!!

[@DRockeh]

Same here. I once worked at Canada’s wonderland. Drop Zone was my first year ride group:)

[@midievalcat7770]

I remember seeing a drop tower in Celebration Center, Utah that instead of using brakes, had a tube that when the cabin dropped through, the air in it would be compressed, slowing it down

[@Lettuce2.]

Oh yeah that's a sonic boom made by S&S

[@indigotter]

Yup! One of the most unique drop towers ever made. Sadly it doesn't operate anymore.

[@Hunt3rr4455]

200iq

[@ryan_n05]

@Colorado Strong No, no, yes, no, no. The was basically like a cannon with a drop tower gondola going into it. The ride vehicle fit perfectly into the "cannon", so the compression of the air would make braking force.

[@ryan_n05]

Sadly, it closed. In its place is now an ATV dealership. Not many people think of Utah as a place that once had a 367 ft tall, 100 mph drop tower...

[@ragnarok9899]

Is the pneumatic tower really a better and safer design? I'm not not an expert by any means, but a ride that relies on pistons and cables literally running through compressed air containers, and you just have to hope the seal holds, just *feels* worse than a magnet which has no moving parts and just works, even if you need the extra hydraulics at the end to soften the fall.

[@JannikVogel]

I'd also be interested in more details about this. And maybe analogous situations to explain the forces / pressure that is involved. How strong are those cylinders? What do those seals look like? ... I'm impressed you can have such a long pressurized cylinder in this mode of operation (repeated changes of pressure, outdoors, very long, cables/seals which probably have a lot of friction, ..).

[@keco185]

It doesn’t seem safer. On a side note I remember an instance of a cable snapping on one of these and getting caught on a rider and severing their feet. I’m guessing this setup requires extra maintenance to make sure the cable traveling through the seal doesn’t wear and if that maintenance isn’t performed, the ride becomes less safe.

[@annelorraine9529]

keco185 What you’re talking about actually happened on one of the magnetic breaking Intamin models, Superman Tower of Power at Kentucky Kingdom. The lift cable was worn down and not properly maintained and snapped mid-lift, wrapping itself around her foot. The ride operator failed to notice this and stop the ride, allowing the “drop” to take place. The force of the free fall pulling on the snapped cable wrapped around her leg was what severed it, not the cable breaking itself

[@ma9c]

@@keco185 actually that accident happened on an electromagnetic brake tower from Intamin in Kentucky kingdom. The cables were from the catch car that lifts the vehicle, not from the dropping mechanism. It wasn't properly maintained.

[@VIctorAbicalil]

It probably has other safety features for the case of emergencies, just like regular elevators.

[@rcjd7834]

"Safety is the number one priority at amusement parks, and the same is true for..." My brain filled in Crazy Russian Hacker.

[@SonicSpeed-zg3tm]

"Safety is number one priority!"

[@SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

Tower of Terror is my favorite drop tower

[@pzindy7673]

I see you Everywhere bruh

[@fatha2092]

So, can this magnetic braking system can be used for an elevator emergency brake?

[@erwanrc8117]

Great question !

[@Maltanx]

Yes, they are already used in some elevators. The final brake is done by basically putting a giant spring or a piston at the end of the shaft

[@Stubwood_on_YT]

Tom Scott made a video which uses magnets, kzbin.info/www/bejne/oZW3pJV8iJmro6s

[@DomDoesCoasters]

Not really... This braking system is quite expensive, worth the investment if its intentionally being used every 30 seconds over and over again, but in an elevator where it will never be used unless there is a catastrophic failure its just not worth it, also elevators are already really safe as they are Another issue is that these brakes are so safe BECAUSE they are permanent, they can't ever be switched off, this is great for safety, but remember we do have to lift the dropcar up there in the first place, this means you will always have a braking force applied to the dropcar as it is pulled up, but remember, the faster the dropcar the greater the breaking force. basically the drop car starts off being lifted very slowly to minimise the braking force but speeds up once it clears the brakes if you built an elevator with this system it would be REALLY slow and inefficient and a lot more expensive without any actual benefit because they're already really safe and accidents are extremely rare.

[@FireCat_P]

Elevators already have more usefully braking safety systems

[@chaumas]

"Safety is the number one priority at any amusement park." Action Park has entered the chat.

[@StasherDragon]

Saw the docu on HBO Max. Wow! What a mess!!!

[@triple7marc]

Action Park wasn't an amusement park. It was a water park.

[@chaumas]

@@triple7marc First of all, waterparks are amusement parks. It's just a subset. Secondly, Action Park was not only a water park.

[@triple7marc]

@@chaumas I don't personally consider waterparks to be amusement parks. Amusement parks focus on mechanical dry rides, and while Action Park did have an S&S drop tower, it resembled a family entertainment center and water park way more than it did an amusement park.

[@chaumas]

@@triple7marc I guess you're free to personally define words however you want, but that's not the way other people use them. Waterparks are generally understood to be a subset of amusement parks, and Action Park had a number of land based attractions.

[@TacticalRenovations]

8:25 that aged well. Explain that to the 14yr old who just died in Orlando. RIP young man.

[@triple7marc]

Yes, it did age well. The Orlando FreeFall WAS designed with guest safety in mind. It was never an unsafe ride and it still isn’t. His seat had been altered to allow a greater clearance in the harness. Not the ride’s fault. Entirely human error.

[@hedgehog3180]

I have tried one drop tower and I'm never ever doing that again lmao.

[@Sp00kq]

Oh come on it's so fun

[@RetailThrone]

@@Sp00kq i tried a drop tower once, didnt enjoy it as it scared tf out of me

[@trevrah]

Drop rides are the only rides that legit scare me 😂

[@Sp00kq]

Yea same. I can handle 103 foot drops on roller coasters with no issue, but drop towers are the rides that scare me a little bit

[@Jonas95]

The best pneumatic free-fall I have ever done is probably Mystery castle at Phantasialand. There is a very impressive thematisation and a whole story told with 3 different fall-patterns that are randomly displayed during the day and it is completely in the dark. Very thrilling experience if you like free-fall rides

[@mirvha714]

Hands down my fav was the original Universal Studios Tower of Terror (when it was first released). It went up and down rougly 10 times and had 12 different patterns. You are fully enclosed only to see how high you really are when the elevator door opens to reveal the outside world. They changed how it operates now, so it's no longer as varbible.

[@dewitter323]

Canada's Wonderland in the beginning made me so happy! It;s cool to see a ride that you've been on before :)

[@aanshuk]

These are so interesting because these videos explain how things work. Things that most people don't usually think about. And in a way that's easy to understand. I love the videos!

[@nystaccs9219]

r.i.p Tyre Sampson🤞🏽

[@kasity]

I live in Gothenburg in Sweden where we have a 90 meter intamin droptower and I just love regretting my life choices when taking the long journey up and then screaming at the top of my lungs when it falls. The ride is called AtmosFear if you want to see a POV :)

[@Ayare4]

These are my favorites because it’s really the only thing making my adrenaline pumping.

[@benjaminarnold741]

It’s brilliant to finally see an explanation of my favourite amusement rides. You can keep your rollercoasters. Just give me an intamin gen 2 and I’m good

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

The Parachute Jump! Nicknamed the Eiffel Tower of Brooklyn. That was the tallest structure at the 1939 World’s Fair. Moved to Coney Island in 1941. It was abandoned for a while after it closed, several people even tried climbing it. Luckily there’s been a restoration and it was renovated with LED lights

[@husseinbayoun99]

Drop towers are my favorite rides. I've always had my guesses about how they work but this video was extremely informative !

[@CraftingCake]

Does the air get also shoved down back into your lungs when you were trying to scream or breath when falling? I found this to be so uncomfortable, I do not want to ride a free fall Tower again. Do you have a technique to deal with that?

[@husseinbayoun99]

@@CraftingCake I just clench my teeth and grunt as I'm free falling. I've also done the slingshot many times,but this one is on another level

[@TheAnky013]

thank you for teaching me the things

[@vinycius35]

Awesome content, congratulations! Drop Towers are my favorite kind of flat rides in a amusement park. It’s very interesting how it works.

[@masaharumorimoto4761]

Drop Zone is always my 1st hit at Wonderland!! Gets me every time!!

[@ReviewTyme]

Another spectacular video, the struggle to fight through After Effects definitely paid off! Drop Towers will forever be the most terrifying rides for me, no matter how many of them I go on!

[@FromtheWindowSeat]

I love drop towers. Great to understand how they work. Thanks! 👍

[@AmusementLabs]

I have some footage showing close ups of all the equipment on the double shot (SCBB). also I think the shot thanks you referred to are not exactly called shot tanks. Aren't the shot tanks the smaller side tanks used? Also, what about the relief valves, gates, etc? Those might have been fun to learn about too.

[@ThunderDashHub]

Love drop towers. They are intense but loads of fun. PS. With my perfect pitch, I've determined that the highest pitch produced by the magnetic fields and eddy currents when the gondola travels through the magnetic brakes is a G#3 on early intamin drop towers (the 4-gondola version). This pitch correlates with the speed of the car. It sounds like a synthesized descending glissando.

[@jodyjohnson265]

I got to ride my first drop Tower ride and it was awesome it was a traveling fair ground version of the ride it's always great to be educated on flat rides

[@paul-wieting]

Thank you for the theme park videos. Very nice animations.

[@ralfoide]

Thanks for the research and the clear presentation!

[@NewAgeServer]

Went to a park today with an S&S drop tower and while waiting in line we were trying to deduce how it works. We were really close. Amazingly simple system that works very well.

[@UKFunfairsTV]

Loved this! Very informative and helpful 👍🏻

[@AmusementInsiders]

Your videos are absolutely amazing!

[@MixTuBOGirlBoY]

Thanks for these amazing videos. Please make more 😃😃😃

[@pringlesthegoose1702]

I loved the Leviathan cameo! My favourite ride at Wonderland. Even better than the Yukon Striker in my opinion!

[@strenfoo7396]

Nice video. Reminds me of all the times I rode Freefall at Six Flags Great Adventure in NJ as a kid.

[@antoineosburn3435]

Loved the video. Please keep them coming.

[@imjustsomeguy]

I rode a drop tower once. I never been so terrified in my life! Would I ride it again? Possibly 😂

[@niki123489]

Cool, I always wonder how this tower works! Thanks!

[@viddork]

One of the first times I ever did a ride of this type was the Big Shot (who knows what it's called today) on top the the Stratosphere in Las Vegas. The one where the base of the tower is some 1000' above the ground! Midway through the ride, I looked down at the observation deck below me and all I could see were faces staring up, wondering what all the noise was about. It was me. But the best one I've done is in Silverwood in Idaho. Not the tallest by any means, but I've never been on another one that lets you drop as close to the ground before putting on the brakes.

[@tachibanacanada1978]

Yay, another vid!

[@Joypyf]

Very informational video! 👍🏼Thanks for explanation! ☺️

[@toxdazcubing]

the canadas wonderland drop tower u showed at the beginning is the only drop tower ive been on.

[@buttercup.1004]

I’ve been waiting for this

[@Benderboy121898]

When I was a kid I would go to my country's only proper Amusement/Theme Park, Oakwood. There's a ride there called 'Bounce'. It's a drop tower ride that uses pneumatics. But as you can probably deduce from it's name, it had a car that went all around the main tower, however was square-shaped. The ride would start by shooting you high into the sky, and I always remember the violent hissing and screeching of the ride that just added to the terror and anticipation. Then it would fall after reaching two thirds up, then come down and bounce a few times. Then it would fully lift you up slowly, and hold you for a few seconds and the ride operators would always fake a countdown and drop you without knowing. You would then plummet and bounce up and down a few times before coming to a gentle landing. That ride was probably the most (or joint-second) fun ride in the entire park! But as you can imagine, with H&S getting stricter and stricter as the years went on, it ended up transitioning to just a regular old drop tower, as it did tend to jar you and hurt your back a little. That park is dead now. They try to revitalise it and keep it going, but it's so run down and boring, it's just not worth the insanely expensive £30 entry. Plus there's like literally only one place to get a takeaway burger from and it's super expensive.

[@IainHendry]

Fantastic video - well done!

[@Sindollx666x]

1:46 looks like "The Edge " which was bright orange in California at Marriott's/Paramount's Great America for years. I loved that ride!

[@triple7marc]

Yep, same model!

[@zilchdevotegaming6710]

I always love seeing my local amusement park in these :)

[@gabrielhuke-jenner7030]

this channel is so underrated

[@natethegamer24]

Haha I knew it gotta love Canada's Wonderland

[@geomodelrailroader]

I have been on 4 drop towers in my time. I went on The Rocket at Lagoon 3 times and Tower of Terror at Disney World once.

[@StefanReich]

My God I was in one of these and it was a spiritual experience. Truly amazing

[@princesscadance197]

Yeah... Even if these things go through extensive research, testing and maintenance, still not riding one, ever.

[@amigman7199]

Ok, boomer

[@mozarteanchaos]

@@amigman7199 can people not be scared of things these days

[@stevefink6000]

That was awesome!

[@chefyirecetachina8386]

字幕翻译很不错，能看得懂！ 感谢分享

[@Zanezzzzzzzzz]

i cant wait to see one of these and try to paraphrase this video

[@MrMichelNL]

Best droptower I have been on is the one at phantasialand. Theming is top notch and the experience is something else. Also, kinda spoopy

[@viddork]

Is that the one where you're inside the tower?

[@gumerzambrano]

Drop of doom at six flags always gets me the chills

[@195511SM]

Back in the 1990s, I happened to be at Marriot's Great America in Santa Clara, CA....when there was a widespread power outage from Canada to Mexico. I wasn't on any rides at the time, but spent a couple of hours walking around, waiting for the park to come back online. I remember seeing riders still locked into their seats.....but it was at the very bottom of the tower. They just couldn't get the harnesses to raise, so that people could get out of the seats.

[@triple7marc]

That means that the restraints are locked in the event of a power failure, which is a safety feature. If the carriage was on the top of the tower, you wouldn’t want the restraints to open if the power goes out.

[@jtill683]

here after the 14 y/0 boy passed away 🙏🏾

[@justTomYT]

The Ad was so smooth xD

[@6speedguy845]

drop towers are one of my favorite types of amusement rides

[@wangxinghan9913]

I wasn't ready for the ad

[@FELiPES101]

nice transition

[@spencersloan4872]

The first drop tower that was shown at the start of the video at Canada’s wonderland, I got stuck on that exact one!😂😂😂

[@triple7marc]

I got stuck on the one at California’s Great America. It was probably just a fault in one of the sensors that caused the carriage to stop on its way up. Nothing to worry about. Remember, even if it started dropping halfway up the tower, it would still brake and come to a safe stop at the bottom.

[@TritoneTrickster]

Great video, still not going on them LMAO. I felt sick just watching them drop haha!

[@NickMagoteaux]

Great video!

[@sml2k186]

Living next to kings island it’s nice to understand how drop tower works

[@andreicampbell6299]

We have the same drop ride in New Zealand theme park called rainbows end. It's called the fear fall

[@AnasMations]

ok this was really cool

[@TrashBulldogProductions]

The Supreme Scream drop tower at Knott's Berry Farm is definetly an air system. You can hear the pressurized air being released from the street once the passenger car reaches the top. Nice video.

[@triple7marc]

That is correct!

[@hardcoreuproar2322]

I first went on that in 2000

[@antoineosburn3435]

Loved it.

[@MrPhasor]

Canada’s Wonderland!!

[@lakhan911]

That’s Canada’s wonderland!

[@tilgare]

I would have liked to know what sort of drop tower construction each of the more commonly known drop towers is - the only one I think I've got figured out is Dr. Doom - you can hear the compression and air exhaust, it must be pneumatic.

[@djaydeved]

alwase wondered how those things worked i remeber riding the one at an amusment park years back, back when thats something i did (it was basicly me and my family going out and having fun for the day) i know its a pnumatic one it would make theses wierd noises kinda a high pitch air release and then send you in the air before droping you, then going back upp then down and so on then it would stop

[@Roe54]

I really love you guys

[@ladygagasleftcoochie4007]

I was on a drop tower last year foe the first time amd whenever im going to a paek again i need to go on the drop towers cuz they are literally so fun...i am scared of them cuz the fall is really reallyyyyyyyyy intense but i still love it

[@NebulaShadow3280]

Can you do a video about the safety mechanism for these rides?

[@technicaltoaster3473]

Rode the tower at the top of the stratosphere in Vegas a couple years ago, I would have enjoyed it a whole lot more if I understood how it worked at the time.

[@ItsPhillip]

Please do 'How Disney's Rattatoiie Ride Works'! I love it so much and really want to know how the effects work!!!

[@eoinforkan1442]

leaving cert engineering how are ye doing

[@solidsumo1976]

who ever set the maximum dimension to 400mm was smoking crack. also don't forget to list your sources lads.

[@lukeflynn6301]

sources: Google@@solidsumo1976

[@marktalii]

0:47 that's Busch Gardens Tampa, my closest theme park :D

[@triple7marc]

Lucky.

[@DennisGr]

i love the drop tower. i can't really do roller coasters because i get really sick to my stomach from all the janky movements. the tower is perfect tho, it provides a thrill which does not make me sick to my stomach. i ride every one i see here in germany.

[@ajtopia]

Is it sad that I’m impressed by his smooth segway into the sponsor

[@----5247]

That's Canadas wonderland :D

[@excavateboy]

I'd like to see the design of those cable air seals on the compressed air system

[@hayleyb1981]

RIP to my local electromagnetic intamin drop tower, Drayton manor. It was called Apocalypse. I used to be able to see it from my window.

[@jasonsaville2262]

Of course I've been on the world's tallest Intamin giant drop ZUMANJARO drop of doom in New Jersey. The other tower, Superman Tower of power in Kentucky had a mishap in June 21 2007 when the last trip upwards, one of the cables snapped, due to failed inspection, that caused a guest to be maimed, losing both feet during the free fall. The guest's right foot reattached but the left was amputated. Kentucky Department of agriculture investigated the incident.

[@jasminejohnston6393]

Thanks for the info but I’m still not ready for Playland At The PNE’s Hellevator...

[@Project_EG2]

Supreme Scream at Knott’s Berry Farm is king.

[@angmak7321]

I drove an 85 meters tall drop tower at the oktoberfest in Germany this year and dude, it was fkin scary haha

[@colunhk]

impressive

[@oakraidergrl4lif]

My first and only drop tower was Supreme Scream at Knotts Berry Farm California...Over 300 feet in the air. Never again.

[@brady_06]

I'm a seasoned coaster enthusiast. Drop Towers are still terrifying

[@jaystarr6571]

Operating a drop tower can be a lot of fun too.

[@carolinegoossens1987]

I never operated one, but during the waiting time, I like to watch the reactions of other people.