The Freefall is an amusement ride developed by Giovanola

Giovanola

Giovanola Freres SA was one of the prominent thrill ride manufacturers in the world. It was well-known for thrill rides and also built electrical power stations, water storage tanks, pipelines, highway bridges, and many other steel products. The company started out as a small metal forging shop,...

 and marketed throughout the world by Swiss company, Intamin AG

Intamin AG

Intamin Worldwide is a designing and manufacturing company in Wollerau, Switzerland. It is best known for creating thrill rides and roller coasters worldwide. The U.S. division of the company is located in Glen Burnie, Maryland, and is headed by Sandor Kernacs. The Intamin brand name is an...

. Two generations of this ride were developed. First generation Freefall rides can be identified by the angled supports at the base of the lift tower. Second generation Freefall rides had a more streamlined tower structure. It was a common ride at major amusement parks until the 1990s, when the Drop Tower was developed. Since then, Freefalls have been disappearing from the midways

Midway (fair)

A midway at a fair is the location where amusement rides, entertainment and fast food booths are concentrated....

, to be replaced by newer-technology rides. Riders are required to be 42 inches (107 cm) tall or more.

Description

On an original 1st generation Freefall, the car carries 4 people. The car loads in the station. Once it does, the cars move backwards to the rear of the ride. Then, the car is carried to the top of the lift structure. Once there, the car slides forward and hangs over the drop track. The car is released after a few seconds. At the bottom of the tower, the car pulls out of the dive - it is now horizontal, and riders are facing the sky. The car slows as it rolls through the brake run, and then stops near the end. Following this, the car moves backwards, and a mechanism swings the car down. At this point, the ride car is at a 45 degree angle, and the riders are traveling in reverse. Then, the car slides to the station (below the brake run) and stops for loading.

The above picture of a Freefall shows it part-way down the drop tower.

Illinois

In 1984, an accident occurred on "The Edge", a Freefall ride at Six Flags Great America

Six Flags Great America

Six Flags Great America is a Six Flags theme park in the Chicago metropolitan area, located in Gurnee, Illinois. It first opened in 1976 as Marriott's Great America. Six Flags purchased the park from the Marriott Corporation in 1984, making it the seventh park in the chain...

 in Gurnee, Illinois

Gurnee, Illinois

Gurnee is a village in Lake County, Illinois, United States. The population was 28,834 at the 2000 census, and estimated to be 30,772 in 2005. The village borders the city of Waukegan and is considered a part of the Chicago metropolitan area. Gurnee is perhaps best known for being the location of...

. A supporting cable snapped, and the mechanism's anti-rollback devices failed to stop the car from plummeting to the bottom of the tower. Contrary to public belief and rumour, it did not crash down on top of another car and no one was killed in the accident. Four teens were treated at a local hospital and released. To prevent this type of accident from recurring, Intamin doubled the number of anti-rollbacks on the tower and the ride programming was changed so that a car did not enter the elevator shaft until the previous car has completed its descent from the tower. This change slightly lowered the ride's capacity.

The Edge re-opened after having been refitted, but the stigma associated with the accident caused ridership to be low. It closed after the following year and was relocated to Rocky Point Amusement Park

Rocky Point Amusement Park

The Rocky Point Amusement Park was a highly popular amusement park on the Narragansett Bay side of Warwick, Rhode Island. It operated from the late 1840s until its close in 1995. The following year, the park filed for bankruptcy.- History :...

, where it received the generic Freefall name, before going to Geauga Lake

Geauga Lake's Wildwater Kingdom

Wildwater Kingdom is a waterpark located in Aurora, Ohio, United States, originally founded in 1888 as Geauga Lake.Geauga Lake had operated primarily as an amusement park...

 under the name "Mr. Hyde's Nasty Fall" with a new control system. The ride was dismantled in 2006. Parts from it were then sent to Cedar Point and used to maintain Demon Drop.

Kentucky

In 1995, Kentucky Kingdom (now Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom) opened the very first Intamin 2nd generation freefall, called Hellevator. In 2007, the ride was re-named Superman: Tower Of Power

Superman: Tower of Power

Superman: Tower of Power is a thrill ride located at two Six Flags parks. The one at Six Flags St. Louis is an Intamin Giant Drop model, and the one at Six Flags Over Texas is an S&S Combo Tower model. The one at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom was demolished after an accident that maimed a teenage...

, but was dismantled in 2008 after a broken cable caused a girl's feet to be amputated the previous year.

Popularity loss

The Superman: Tower of Power at Six Flags St. Louis is not the ill-fated tower from Kentucky. It was relocated to St. Louis from Six Flags Astroworld in Houston after that park closed.

In 1996, Paramount's Great America

Paramount's Great America

California's Great America is an amusement park located in Santa Clara, California that is owned and operated by JMA Ventures. It is one of four major amusement parks that operate around the San Francisco Bay Area. The other three are Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, the Santa Cruz Beach...

 opened the Drop Zone Stunt Tower. It was about twice the size of the park's first generation Freefall (also named "The Edge", but not to be confused with the Edge not famous for the accident), which had been removed after the 1995 season. In 2008, Great America changed the name of Drop Zone to Drop Tower.

By the late 90's, the classic freefall rides were being substituted for larger, higher-capacity alternatives. These include the Intamin Giant Drop (2nd generation), Gyro Drop (3rd generation), and the S&S Power

S&S Power

S&S Worldwide is a company known for its pneumatically powered amusement rides and roller coaster designing.-History:S&S Worldwide was founded by Stan Checketts as S&S Sports, Inc. S&S Sports manufactures bungee jumping and trampoline equipment. S&S Sports was sold in 1996...

 series of compressed-air tower rides.

Currently, Demon Drop at Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom

Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom

Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom is an American amusement and water park located in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The park features nine roller coasters, other adult and children's rides, and a waterpark, Wildwater Kingdom....

, Torre do Terror, at Beto Carrero World, Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

, Hollywood Tower, at Movie Studios Park, Italy, and those at Toshimean and Central Park in Japan are the only remaining Intamin first generation Freefall rides in operation. In December 2006, Six Flags Great Adventure

Six Flags Great Adventure

Six Flags Great Adventure is a theme park in Jackson Township, New Jersey, owned by Six Flags Entertainment Corp., the world's largest amusement park corporation...

 and Six Flags Over Georgia

Six Flags Over Georgia

Six Flags Over Georgia is a theme park located west of Atlanta, in unincorporated Cobb County. Opened in 1967, it is the second park in the Six Flags chain, after the original opening in 1961 in Texas....

 dismantled their respective first generation Freefall rides. In September 2007, Six Flags Over Texas

Six Flags Over Texas

Six Flags Over Texas is a major amusement park located in Arlington, Texas , east of Fort Worth and about west of Dallas. It is the oldest park of the Six Flags chain. The park opened on August 5, 1961 following just a year of construction and an initial investment of US$10 million by real estate...

 announced and began dismantling their first generation Freefall, Wildcatter. February 2008 saw the dismantling of the original Freefall from Six Flags Magic Mountain

Six Flags Magic Mountain

Six Flags Magic Mountain is a theme park located in Valencia, California north of Los Angeles. It opened on Memorial Day weekend on May 30, 1971 as Magic Mountain, by the Newhall Land and Farming Company. In 1979, Six Flags purchased the park and added the name Six Flags to the park's title. In...

.

In 2004, Loudoun Castle

Loudoun Castle (theme park)

Loudoun Castle was a theme park set around the ruins of the 19th century Loudoun Castle near Galston, in the Loudoun area of Ayrshire, Scotland, United Kingdom. The park opened in 1995, and closed at the end of the 2010 season...

 theme park in Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 applied for planning permission to build an Intamin Freefall. The planning permission took too long to be granted, however, and the park sold the ride in order to have a new attraction open for the 2005 season. Ironically, Loudoun's new ride for 2007 was an S&S Power

S&S Power

S&S Worldwide is a company known for its pneumatically powered amusement rides and roller coaster designing.-History:S&S Worldwide was founded by Stan Checketts as S&S Sports, Inc. S&S Sports manufactures bungee jumping and trampoline equipment. S&S Sports was sold in 1996...

 Double Shot tower drop ride.

At the end of the 2009 season, Cedar Point

Cedar Point

Cedar Point is a 364 acre amusement park located in Sandusky, Ohio, United States on a narrow peninsula jutting into Lake Erie. Cedar Point is the only amusement park with four roller coasters that are taller than...

 removed their first generation freefall ride, Demon Drop. The ride was originally supposed to be moved to Knott's Berry Farm

Knott's Berry Farm

Knott's Berry Farm is a theme park in Buena Park, California, now owned by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, and a line of jams, jellies, preserves, and other specialty food, now part of The J. M. Smucker Company based in Placentia, California....

for the 2010 season, but the ride ended up at Dorney Park instead with the same name.