Adrenaline junkies and thrill seekers will soon flock to Orlando, FL, not to ride Walt Disney World's Tower of Terror or The Wizarding World of Harry Potter's Escape From Gringotts, but to take a spin on Skyscraper, the world's tallest roller coaster.
When completed, Skyscraper will tower 570 feet over America's city of theme parks, breaking records and terrorizing those who dare to ride it.
Skyscraper is part of a new entertainment complex, Skyplex, on Orlando's International Drive, just nine miles from Walt Disney World. Skyplex will feature restaurants and shopping, along with other businesses, but the highlight of the center will be the new roller coaster.
To get an idea of what Skyscraper is like, the coaster's builder, U.S. Thrill Rides, released a video of a virtual ride.
The simulated ride shows a full four-minute Skyscraper ride with the coaster's cars climbing up a track that surrounds a tower. But what goes up, must also go down, and the cars drop and hit speeds up to around 65 miles per hour as they race around the tower, throwing the rider into sudden drops and corkscrews. Eventually, the cars curl around the rest of the entertainment complex. For authenticity, the video also includes realistic screams of terror.
If that hasn't horrified you or made you lose your lunch, you can ride Skyscraper yourself in 2017.
"Skyscraper will not only take riders higher than ever before, but also introduce one thrill right after the next— there's no 'down time' on this four-minute coaster experience," says Michael Kitchen, president of US Thrill Rides. "It is an absolute cutting-edge engineering marvel that will deliver pure adrenaline unlike any roller coaster in the world today."
The tower itself will be the tallest building in central Florida, with the top accessible via a 55-story glass elevator ride. That, in and of itself, is quite a ride, and will take visitors 535 feet above the ground, where they can visit the structure's observation deck.
Skyscraper replaces Kinga Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure as the world's tallest roller coaster. However, Kinga Ka is still faster, with speeds up to 128 miles per hour.
[Photo Credit: HHCP/Skyplex]
