While walking through Dorney Park,
you may notice this strange white tower over by Laser. This freak is called the
Skyscraper. It has an arm that reaches 160 feet into the heavens and is capable
of flinging riders at 60 miles per hour while putting 4.5 Gs on their bodies. To
put that into focus, that's the speed cars travel on some highways and that's 4
and a half times the amount of gravity you're feeling right now. Those are some
mighty impressive stats. What's even more impressive? The only things holding
you in are your seat and two straps across your shoulders. Terrified yet? Wait
until you learn how much you have to pay (just kidding).
Yes, this is a pay-as-you-go attraction, but it's well worth eating your
dollars. For the best ride, my riding partner and I chose to ride at night. We
rode during the day, but we knew a night ride would have to be done. We're told
to put all our loose articles in a bin before boarding and to take off our loose
fitting shoes. We sit down and the ride operators strap us in tightly, and
that's a good thing. We're about to be flipped four times backwards and four and
a half times forwards.
The loading platform lowers and you're on your way. The ride begins with a
slow ascent forwards, but gains speed very quickly near the top. At the top
you're still upright, but once you head back down, the seat rotates and you flip
head-over-heels in a 360 degree flip. You're upright again at the bottom of the
structure where you're pulling those 4.5 Gs. You can really feel it, too, but
it's only for a split second. Back up you go and you tilt back on the way up.
Your back is to the ground, your head is facing the heavens and you flip over on
the way down. We've got two more of those coming and the ride just seems to get
faster and faster.
After the fourth flip, we begin to slow and we make our way to the very top
of the ride. We're crouched 160 feet above the Earth and we get extraordinary
views of Dorney Park. They held us up there for a really long time, it must have
been at least three minutes so we could soak in the views of the park at night.
Before we know it, we're tumbling forwards. The first drop isn't too bad
since we stay level. We pull some great Gs at the bottom and head skyward. Right
before we hit the peak our vehicle flips forward so we're forced to look
straight down at the ground. We face forward for a long time and as the arm
swings us forward, we flip over and level out at the bottom so those sweet Gs
aren't being put on our heads. We go through three more of these flips that I
can only compare to the first drop of X at Six Flags Magic Mountain. Skyscraper
is definitely the best flat ride that I have ever ridden and it is well worth
the extra bucks. Heck, sitting at the top of the tower for a few minutes is a
thrill in itself knowing that you're going to be falling face first from that
height! What a rush!