Six Flags Over Georgia - Flat Rides
Acrophobia
Acrophobia is a very different type of drop ride with a very different
agenda. The park advertises it as a “stand-up drop tower,” but that really isn’t
terribly accurate. There are seats, and you do sit in them. That said, the seats
are really uncomfortable and you end up sitting on the front edge (which I guess
is maybe close to standing up. If you live on the planet Bizarro). The tower is
200 feet, but the drop itself is closer to 170 feet.
Riders are raised to the top while doing a complete 360 degree rotation on the
tower. The view is really quite nice. But when you get to the top of the tower,
Acrophobia plays its high card. Your seat, restraints, etc. all rotate forward
15 degrees, making it far more likely that riders are going to look straight
down. Then, after a few long moments of looking, the ring holding the riders is
released and gravity takes over. Magnetic brakes on the bottom kick in and stop
the plummeting riders, and it’s over.
Well, that's how it's supposed to work, but I've never ridden Acrophobia and had
that experience. Apparently there's two separate variations at work here. When
I've ridden, the seats have angled forward while they're still making the
rotation to the top. As a result, the forward motion isn't as obvious, which
really lessens the overall effect.
Making your ride down more frustrating is the idle chatter/song stylings of the
operator. There're speakers at the top of the tower, so it's standard practice
to have the operators warming you up for the drop. Commonly, they'll sing a song
(badly) that usually ends just as they're hitting the release button (though
usually it's a second or two before or after you're expecting it). Another
common trick is to do a count down, but release the rides around the time they
get to "4." Anything they can do to psyche out the rider is fair game, and most
of the operators are up to the task.
In the grand scheme of things, Acrophobia is a solid ride. It's not the tallest
tower out there, but there's enough little tricks at work to make it a fun ride.
Now if only we can do something about the crotch-destroying seats that are on
there...
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