Drop Tower (Six Flags)

Drop Tower, formerly known as Drop Zone: Stunt Tower, is the name of five drop tower amusement rides located at Six Flags amusement parks in the United States and Canada. Each installation varies in size and capacity.

History
Prior to their acquisition by Cedar Fair, the five parks owned by Paramount Parks featured a drop tower ride named Drop Zone: Stunt Tower, in reference to the Paramount film of the same name. All were built by Swiss ride manufacturer Intamin, which consist of either Gyro Drop or Giant Drop models. Martin & Vleminckx constructed the Intamin-built Drop Tower at California's Great America. With the exception of both Kings Dominion's and Canada's Wonderland's towers, they are located in their park's various backlot themed areas. When Paramount owned and operated the parks, stunt performers performed an action scene periodically near the attraction depicting a performer falling from a platform.

In 2006, Paramount Parks sold their amusement parks to Cedar Fair, which was followed by the removal of Paramount branding from each park. All five attractions were renamed Drop Tower: Scream Zone (commonly shortened to Drop Tower), and the swirl logos associated with each were removed from the rides' signage.

Giant Drop
The three original drop towers, opening in 1996 and 1997 at Carowinds, California's Great America, and Canada's Wonderland are Giant Drop models. They feature either four, five or six cars fitting four people on each one. Wonderland and Great America's models fall at a top speed of 62 mi/h and are 227 ft tall, while Carowinds' model falls at 56 mi/h and is 160 ft tall.

All three are painted in rainbow colors with race track decals. In 2019, Drop Tower at California's Great America was given a brown and green tree-like paint scheme, paying homage to Northern California forests.

Gyro Drop
The two latest drop towers, installed in 1999 at Kings Island and 2003 at Kings Dominion, are Gyro Drop models with one large circular car, reaching speeds of 67 and 72 mi/h, respectively. Both the Kings Island and Kings Dominion ride claim to be the tallest Gyro Drop towers in the world. Kings Island's tower is measured as the tallest in the world, while Kings Dominion's tower utilizes brakes positioned closer to the ground, producing a longer drop than the tower at Kings Island. The Kings Island variant also spins on the way up, giving riders a view of the whole park.

Locations

 * *''Drop height is only the space between the top of the tower and the braking, what is considered the "freefall" section.

Incidents

 * On May 17, 1996, one of the cars on Drop Tower in Carowinds failed to ascend to the top of the tower after the safety control system locked the brakes. Park maintenance was unable to manually release the braking system. Three riders were stranded 160 feet (49 m) in the air for nearly three hours before being rescued.
 * On August 22, 1999, Joshua Smurphat, a 12-year-old boy was killed after falling from the Drop Tower installation at California's Great America. His family claimed the harness was not locked properly and he had a mental disability. An investigation was inconclusive and no charges were filed. Following the incident, the rest of the Drop Tower locations were shut down for inspections.

Records
California Great America's installation was the tallest vertical drop amusement park ride when it opened in 1996.