neil009 Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 I'm having a daydream of all the "big" parks replacing their Intamin/S&S towers with the same height ARM towers. But put 2 of em up for the capacity Seriously, those are serious thrill machines. They rival the old Intamin 1st gen freefalls, then up ante with the "no stop" at the top. The Intamin drops are great, but it's like eating an apple compared to an apple pie. I was talking about this with someone who told me something like as speed increases, drag increases exponentially. So at a certain point along the drop, drag would kick in and you'd lose that dead-weight feeling (the acceleration due to gravity), and it'll start to feel like parachuting like on the Intamin gyro drops. So if that's true then unless they had perfectly calibrated motors along the tower to accelerate the car downwards to compensate for drag, a large tower would just never have quite the same kick as the smaller towers, where you keep going faster and faster and faster and then BRAKES. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leviathandude306 Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 ^Agree that the smaller towers, and even coasters occasionally, tend to have more intense drops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcjp Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 So if that's true then unless they had perfectly calibrated motors along the tower to accelerate the car downwards to compensate for drag, a large tower would just never have quite the same kick as the smaller towers That's right. And then it couldn't be considered "pure freefall". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leviathandude306 Posted May 25, 2014 Share Posted May 25, 2014 Finally got to ride one of these today. It wasn't quite as intense as I expected, however, it was a great ride for it's relatively small height (ride the 80-90' portable version). The drop itself, at least to me, feels very similar to an Intamin second gen tower, with great floater air all the way down. The only major difference I found, is due to the shorter height of the ARM tower you didn't really get that sense of falling faster, and faster, like the Intamin 2nd gens, which are almost 3x taller. Finally, unlike the Intamin towers, the restraints seen more minimal, providing a more comfortable experience on the way up. You also, at least IMO, don't get that "ejector" air people talk about. Personally, I'd actually describe the air you get on S&S double shot towers to be more the sensation I was expecting. Instead, I found the ARM towers to feel like scaled down Intaminss. Finally, I'm not saying this is a bad ride, just bery different from what I expected. My friend was commenting that he "didn't have to drive four hours to ride the closest drop zone", and personally, that sums it up. The ride, (at least the portable version), is great at delivering this sort of an experience to people and places that can't have a large Intamin tower... Allowing people to spread the joy of pretty much everywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firewalk13 Posted May 25, 2014 Share Posted May 25, 2014 my only experience on one was at waldameer, but I LOVED it. really really f'ing good... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leviathandude306 Posted May 25, 2014 Share Posted May 25, 2014 Also sounds like people really enjoy the one at the new KK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canadianparkfan Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 Can agree with others who've said these are awsome. Like someone else said on here, it's like a mini intamin 2nd gen tower Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midgetman82 Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 ^^Oh yes, I'm a new fan of these types of drop towers after trying that one! It's "just" tall enough to freak people out on the way up, and enough for one to soak-in the falling sensation on the way down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markysharky17 Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 I'm suprised no one has mentioned the one at Old Town in Kissimie. It is only like 20-mins from Disney and is a bad ass drop tower. I wonder how Falcons Fury will compare.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejot Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Bringing this back because these awesome machines deserve more discussion. What manufacturer/model is DelGrosso's ride? It's very, very similar. Having ridden it, and then StratosFear (Knoebels) on back-to-back days, multiple times each, DelGrosso's somehow feels superior to me. It's the only ride I've ever experienced the inability to keep a straight face, even after many rerides. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJeXeL Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 X-Scream @ DelGrosso's is a Larson/ARM 140ft model. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonnyRCT3 Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 After visiting a traveling fair today, I was able to finally ride an ARM drop tower. It was only a 90' model, but the freefall was quite spectacular. I prefer this over power Tower @ CP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canadianparkfan Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 (edited) I've heard that the Fabri versions are even better. They've a very similar ride, but use a pneumatic system to launch the car downward, similar to the s&s turbo drops. Not sure if anybody here's done one. From what I know,Thorpe Park's Detonator's a a Fabri model, and the traveling models here in North America are known as the Mega Drop. Edited August 23, 2015 by canadianparkfan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firewalk13 Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 I've now been able to ride two of these wonderful towers, I found Fear Fall at Kentucky Kingdom just as good as Waldameer's except for the view (that view, at Waldameer facing the lake, is absolutely beautiful). I would love to see more of these (even at bigger parks that already have larger drop rides)! I'd be completely ok with even a Larson 90', say in Frontiertown at Cedar Point. It would be cool to pop out of the foliage before dropping. I would be sure to ride it every time I visited. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theredskull84 Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 One of my new favorites is Fearfall at KK. Ejector all the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoasterMateo Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 I rode one named Mega Drop in Comfama Rio Negro Colombia, and one in Salitre Magico in Bogota. Im Colombian but live in Ohio so Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuminousAphid Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 (edited) I LOVED Panic Plunge at Silverwood, and just looked it up- sure enough it's an A.R.M./Larson! It was definitely my favorite flat ride there, and I rode it at least 3 times each of the 3 days I was there. I rode it way more than SpinCycle. ++for never waiting more than 3 cycles for a seat, and once I got called from the back of the line to fill up the car It felt like a perfect freefall, not artificially accelerated like I hear other drop towers are. I have actually only ridden 1 other tower- Big Shot at the Stratosphere in Las Vegas, and that was another experience entirely; plus we paid at least $10 for one ride on that. Every time we dropped on Panic Plunge I (and most other riders) could not stop from yelling in fear and then laughing hysterically, especially if you hold your arms out or up. I give the edge to Panic Plunge easily, it is awesome! Here's a video I made of the ride, sorry about the low resolution, my camera was in high speed mode and can't do HD in slow-mo [youtu_be] [/youtu_be] Edited August 24, 2015 by LuminousAphid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jcoaster Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 Rode Stratosphere and Atmos-Fear recently. Some of the scairiest drop towers I've ever ridden. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaithPlus1 Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 I actually really love the S&S towers such as Superman at SFOT. However I love Drop Zone at both KI and KD. I've never rode a Larson drop ride but you guys have me wanting the experience. I'm a believer that when you are on a drop ride you don't notice much a difference of height. You just know your way off the ground! I guess I'm just a big fan of drop towers and now I really wanna try a Larson version. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuminousAphid Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 (edited) I'm a believer that when you are on a drop ride you don't notice much a difference of height. You just know your way off the ground! This might be true, but you made me wonder- what is the tallest installment of this model? edit: It looks like the 120ft drop version is standard according to their website- is this the only size they make, then? Edited August 24, 2015 by LuminousAphid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jcoaster Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 (edited) I actually really love the S&S towers such as Superman at SFOT. However I love Drop Zone at both KI and KD. I've never rode a Larson drop ride but you guys have me wanting the experience. I'm a believer that when you are on a drop ride you don't notice much a difference of height. You just know your way off the ground! I guess I'm just a big fan of drop towers and now I really wanna try a Larson version. You get awesome air on the Larson's. Shorter drop but abrupt and fast. Edited August 25, 2015 by Jcoaster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejot Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 ^^ They make standard portable SuperShots in 70', 90' and 105'. They've made a few 140' towers with seats arranged in a square which are slightly better than the 120' towers IMO. While they aren't technically in the SuperShot model line, the key characteristics are the same: no view above, immediate release at zenith, true freefall, late/quick brake. Not sure if the 140-footers are still offered new from Larson/ARM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canadianparkfan Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 ^^ They make standard portable SuperShots in 70', 90' and 105'. They've made a few 140' towers with seats arranged in a square which are slightly better than the 120' towers IMO. While they aren't technically in the SuperShot model line, the key characteristics are the same: no view above, immediate release at zenith, true freefall, late/quick brake. Not sure if the 140-footers are still offered new from Larson/ARM. Everyone raves on about how awesome these rides are... The portable versions must not be as spectacular. I rode a 90' portable version at my local fair, and while it was WAY better than I expected a travelling ride to be, and by far the best ride at the fair, it wasn't the best flat I've ever done. I personally find the Intamin towers provide the feeling that everyone raves about, while the ARM version I rode felt more like a "watered down version" of the Intamins. I'd imagine the larger 120' and 140' versions are a lot better, being nearly twice the height? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Schwartz Posted August 25, 2015 Author Share Posted August 25, 2015 They've made a few 140' towers with seats arranged in a square which are slightly better than the 120' towers IMO. While they aren't technically in the SuperShot model line, the key characteristics are the same: no view above, immediate release at zenith, true freefall, late/quick brake. Not sure if the 140-footers are still offered new from Larson/ARM. Where are the installations of the 140' model? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boldikus Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 Morey's is 140 feet. And its awesome. https://www.moreyspiers.com/play/surfside-pier/ride/atmosfear Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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