What Caused The Accident On THE EDGE At Six Flags Great America
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- Опубликовано: 27 сен 2021
- 1984 was the year of Six Flags Great America's worst accident. The incident occurred on their former Intamin drop tower, The Edge. Too many, this was an accident that was unheard of at Great America. But the locals who have been visiting the park for decades. They see The Edge as a ride of misery and despair. But what exactly happened in 84 that caused the ride to close three years after it opened. Well, let's take a journey to the past and see what transpired.
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These Intamin drop towers were great because the experience was essentially VENDING MACHINE - THE RIDE.
Facts . It was scary too
😂😂😂😂
Omg😂😂😂 I used to love the intamin drop tower at SFOT when I was little. You sir, have ruined my childhood with your accurate description of this ride. My sister and I used to put a penny on our knee when we rode it to watch it float during the drop.
So when a car gets stuck, the employees all start punching and kicking the coaster to get it down?
Or trash compactor lol
Your reporting is fairly accurate. I can give you a first hand account of the accident and the following repercussions. I was personally at the park that day, I was also in line, about 10-20 people back, directly on the top of the line ramp and could see everything. My account is that the car going up the shaft was odd and seemed out of place. Normally as a car came down, the car going up would load in the shaft and then as the dropped car returned to the station, the car going up would be moved into the up loading position. This was not the case, the car going up, wasn't present, and we all noticed that the car seemed to be moving oddly slow towards the shaft. This was noticeable because we had watched the ride operate for approximately two hours in line. Once the car got into the shaft it was silent, no clicking and the car halted going up about 30 feet up. It wasn't 60 feet. The tower had square support structures that were about 10 feet each and the car was just at the third one. Remind you I was 10 feet from the shaft looking at the ride, and could even see the operator booth. Then with a very loud screech the car started slowly to fall down the shaft, it seemed to be restrained fall until about 15 feet left, then it was a free fall. For some reason I'll never forget that on the bottom of the shaft there were two medium sized springs, almost looked like a joke, however the car did look to bottom out the springs and it bounced up a little, and then came to stop. I'm not saying it didn't hit hard, but It wasn't that bad really. The three teens were let out, and escorted through the exit to a employee area. They all were walking, talking and seemed ok. One was holding his shin and was limping a bit. There was then a pre-recorded message that the ride was down for maintenance and we were asked to leave the way we came in. It did not operate any more that day, and then for about two weeks. I was a season pass holder and practically lived there. I still think the accident was operator error. I saw an operator frantically hitting buttons before the fall car was even loaded in the shaft. Then the operator ran over to others by unloading, and then about 4 ride employees were at the booth when it got stuck. I could sort of hear them saying should we try something, and then it fell. Yes I was that close. After this happened no one in line really cared, we just wanted on. I rode this a few times after and it was always really fun. The rumors were just crazy. Lots of us liked that this made the wait time much more practical. Im sorry but there was no lack of riders, at the point in time the park needed this as it was generally way too busy. We saw engineers work on the ride for a few weeks, and never saw another problem, however the operator booth was gone and a computer of some type was in a shanty in its place. It didn't seem that there were a lack of riders, it was more that the ride was ALWAYS closed.
Thats cool that you were there to see it
I remember riding it a couple of times before it closed, in '89 I was an operator on the Power Dive, but I was also certified to operate several rides including Shock Wave, and American Eagle.
Thanks for clearing that up! I was 8 when this happened and I remember being told that the people died. Good to know this wasn't the case.
Lol 69 likes
I was little and in line as well. As a child I thought they died. My mom and stepdad immediately ushered us away. It traumatized me. I don't do rides because of it. Lol
The teens on the ride were there on their 8th grade school trip. They were from LaSalle Catholic School (LCS) and I was in 7th grade that year at that school. There was a lot of concern when the bus didn't show back up at the school for parent pickup at the scheduled time, and after it did show up this was all anyone could talk about.
That actually makes that ad much cooler knowing they weren't actors. They did a great job!
My mom knows the kids and she says that one still has back problems
@@Stuck_inspace that really sucks :(
@@kriscynical No, the kids in the ad were actors. The original poster was talking about the 3 kids that were injured on the ride.
I grew up in Illinois and remember hearing that 3 people died on the Edge. That's when I was 7 years old. I'm 44 now, and still believed this until today. Thanks for clearing this up!
Yep. I rode it several times. It held a mystique because three people were alleged to have died. I grew up hours away from the park- even we ‘knew’ this about the ride. This video really brings back memories.
This accident was on the Milwaukee TV newscasts, on the same stations that played this "Fear" ad you see on this video, and they didn't mention anything about fatalities.
I used to terrified to ride this at Magic Mountain. I finally got the courage to ride it. The following year, CLOSED! Glad I got a chance to ride it. I loved it!
I believed the same until today! I’m 47
I grew up riding the edge at California's Great America. Many many many times. The rumor that the car went off the track was the one we heard and believed it to happen at CA's GA, but it never deterred us. When it was retired, we were very sad. These other new drop towers don't hold a candle to it.
I saw a coin on the knee trick, which was fun, but we also tried timing a toss off the tower to try to catch it when on our back. I think the raining coins from that height may have been the biggest issue.
The Edge was definitely a short lived attraction at my home park no doubt. But the park has definitely not forgotten about it as the ride has a gravestone in the Six Saints Cemetery during Fright Fest. 1983-1986.
If you don’t know what Six Saints Cemetery is, it’s a walkthrough graveyard attraction that Great America sets up every Fright Fest that pays tribute to all of the parks defunct rides and attractions.
The cemetery even includes real parts and relics from some of these rides.
That is actually so cool...I wish all the park did it!
Cedar Point has a ride cemetery too.
I just walked through it yesterday. Saw the edge gravestone, which is why I am here.
@@bookapillar Some do, I remember seeing at King's Island a tombstone near The Banshee for the ride that was previously there, Son of Beast, with not only the years it was in service for (2000-2009) but also with an image on what it accomplished (being the first wooden coaster with a standing loop).
@@travelinman790 good thing you didn't go yesterday, park was at 54000 capacity by 3pm. Just crazy how pack it was.
I rode this ride in 1989 at Magic Mountain in California. It was definitely a short ride but fun. No waiting either. It was called Freefall.
They had/have Freefall at Six Flags Atlanta, too. I rode it many times in the 90 s.
Rode this at Magic Mountain also while I was stationed in Cali. I rode this in 1996. I remember getting off of it and was walking with my Girlfriend at the time and this Girl was like you look like Telly off the movie Kids. Lol I was like hell nah
Same! I found it terrifying though lol
I remember Freefall. I've worked at Six Flags and I've ridden every coaster at Magic Mountain and then later my new home park, Great America multiple times (and have since ridden drop towers all over the U.S.A.), but I never rode Freefall because I was terrified of the notion of a complete vertical drop when it first came out. I guess the marketing totally worked on me and made me scared for my life back then. And this was without ever hearing about The Edge incident of 1984.
Yeah. I rode the one at magic mountain a lot, because it never had a line. 👍
This is one ride I'd love to see a modern version of, I think the way the car is pushed out onto the edge is cool, and with modern technology the curve out onto your back would be a lot more thrilling/comfortable. I think with better cars, a more modern structure and it feeling less 'janky' it would be pretty thrilling
I could see both Mack or Intamin making a modernized version using their water coaster track.
They have tons pf these..called free fall at six flags ga
Cedar Point used to have a ride just like it and I got to ride it before it closed
Doesn't the jank make it more thrilling?
@@Jillousa the demon drop was moved to another park. We rode it at a cedar fair park 2 yrs ago, the park name escapes me now, but it was in NJ I believe.
You just blew my mind! I was a teenager in Rockford at the time of the Gurnee Edge accident and we ALL bought into the kids died on The Edge story, it was everywhere! Thanks for setting the record straight!
Just came to say the same thing! We had always heard kids died when the car flew off the track. Glad to know no one was actually killed.
My thoughts exactly. We always heard the brakes failed and the car shot off the end of the track. We were never allowed to go on it.
@@glamosaurus But we still don't know what happened to them. "They didn't die" leaves a pretty broad range of outcomes.
Someone commented that actually went to school with those kids. I’m sure he/she knows.
Rockford stand up 815!!!
This is the best drop design ever made. It's terrifying in all the right ways. A modern version would dominate. Change my mind.
Please change your mind. Pretty Please?
I love modern drop towers, but yeah, I gotta admit that these old models felt way cooler to ride. Transferring from one track to another always gave you that shadow of a doubt that, maybe this time, you won't have lined up properly, and are gonna die. Modern towers have a better free fall feel, but you know your safety is pretty much guaranteed, particularly on the donut carriages, which stand zero chance of coming off the tower, because even if they derail, they're still a donut on a tower with magnetic brakes lol.
@@ThatGuyYouArent2 yeah the lineup factor is scary. But some modern drop towers don't always feel like total freefall. These classics were definitely that.
I completely agree. It's the same reason why I prefer wooden coasters over steel most of the time.
I'm assuming you're talking about The Edge, they actually do have a modern version of this ride, it looks exactly like the one in the old commercial he showed, I went on it at Dorney Park, I believe it was called the Demon drop or something along those lines
One interesting fact about these rides is that when they were built in the early 80’s, the computers that were required to run them took up an entire building that was about 15x25 feet. Then toward the end of their useful life, the only computer that was required was a small tower PC from the mid 90’s era. When I worked at Cedar Point in ‘87, they were still using a very large computer system on Demon Drop. In later years, while in the queue, you could see through the window in the door of the control building, and the only thing in there was a small PC, which, ironically, still had less power than a smart phone today. These were great rides for their time though.
You're thinking of the 50's and 60's (And maybe early 70's). Computers from the 80's (I.e. Commodore, IBM, etc.) were small enough to fit on a desktop.
And still more powerful than the tech that took us to the moon. lol
@@feronar-warsongus221 I'm guessing in the 80s it would have probably still used an electromechanical control system rather than a computer, but I highly doubt it would take up an entire room. Realistically a ride of this kind can probably be operated with less than 20 actuators and 20-30 sensors. It'd all fit in one or two cabinets.
I grew up going to Great America in California, we had season passes when I was a kid and this was the very first drop ride I had ever gone on. By the late 80s, i was too little and too scared to ride it, but loved watching it drop. When I finally had the courage to ride it, in the very early 90s, I remember hearing about the rumors that people had died on this ride because the car flew off the track. That mystic always made it more scary to go on for us kids and it was exactly what pushed us to get each other on…to show we were not scared. After a few rides, it became one of our favorites and we would ALWAYS bring coins to watch it float in the air above our knees. I always thought the freak accident happened in California so it’s cool to hear the history behind that rumor and what actually happened and where. It only took 30 years to learn the truth!!! :)
They sold the land and Great America will be closing within the next 11 years. I have lots of great memories from that place 😁
Yep i heard the same story! I heard the car flew off the track and I remember picturing it flying into Fiddlers Fling....the yellow spinning ride. No internet, just urban legends passed down for generations. I remember waiting in line and saw all those coin divets on the wooden hand rails. Like they've been digging into the wood with a coin while they waited lol
We had the Texas Cliffhanger, it was fun and I hated that Six Flags got rid of it.
I was lucky to get to ride The Edge at Great America in Sunnyvale, California in 1985. It was scary enough for me! I had no idea there was another one that had an “accident” a year prior.
I rode it about that very same time. Maybe within a couple days of you. For the record, Great America is in Santa Clara not Sunnyvale. 🙂
@@pooryorick831 I didn’t realize that it was in Santa Clara! I think our hotel was in Sunnyvale and that’s what I remember. A bunch of crazy teenagers on a bus don’t pay attention to the details.😁
@@ZeroNilNada Totally understandable because you don't have to go very far to be in Sunnyvale. I used to live in Sunnyvale and my commute took me past Great America every day. I'm glad you enjoyed your visit. I live in Illinois now and there is a Great America j6st up the road. It is almost an exact copy of the Great America out there.
santa clara
Great video, only thing I noticed is that you drew the anti-rollback in the wrong direction so no wonder the cart didn't latch on 😂
Thats why I apologized in advanced for my drawing skills
@@GreatAmericanCoaster I think the car would look great if it were rotated 90 degrees counter clockwise and mirror imaged. Non the less great job.
@@GreatAmericanCoaster I liked your drawing
I worked on Demon Drop in the early 2000s. That ride was janky as hell and the pneumatic braking system was so loud. I never wanted to be the one to test ride it in the morning. Climbing up to the top of the tower was kind of cool though.
Indeed, the way the ride was programmed another car didn't enter the elevator shaft until the one at the top was clear.
What year did you work Demon Drop? I was on DD on 04!
@@Doctors_TARDIS very close, I was Zone 1 in 2005 🙂
PSHPSHPSHPSH..PSH..PSH..Psh...Psh.....psh.....psh......psh........psh
Coaster nerds!! 😝😜
I remember going on this ride with my brother I believe it was the mid 2000s fun ride.
I rode the original back at Six Flags Magic Mountain when it opened. I waited over 2 hrs but it was one heck of a ride. Very short but fun also. Thanks for posting this.
I grew up in San Jose, Ca. I remember when The Edge first opened. It was a HUGE deal! Funny to think how short it was compared to today’s drop tower rides! 😂
Me too!!!! The demon was a favorite tho!
@@tamilee9462 My all time favorite was The Wizard (gone now) but I love The Demon too! 😁
Hated Orlean’s Orbit though! 🤢🤮
It was bugs. Seriously, bugs and debris got into the rollback system, causing it to not properly engage during what was otherwise a standard technical issue with the lift. This is straight from the mouth of the park's Director of Operations when The Edge was there. IOW, it was a maintenance crew failure. The second rollback system was added for extra redundancy after the original system was redesigned (added 'holes' to it) to allow debris to more easily and naturally fall out.
What I had heard is that there was an issue with the lift tower and cars getting stuck on the way up. The work around was to override and re-engage the anti-rollbacks one at a time and ease the car back down.
My understanding is that the accident happened when the anti-rollback wasn't re-engaged, allowing the car to drop through.
When I was a kid we thought they got their legs cut off. Ever since this incident everybody was scared to ride it. The Z Force didn't last long either due to people getting whiplash.
I grew up in Chicago, and my older brother and one of his friends wrote on The Edge back in the day. They had a blast!
You are 100% right on the hearsay-like nature of the early 80s. In fact until I watched this video, I was convinced somebody was decapitated in the incident!
I grew up in San Jose and I remember going on the Edge when it was still at Great America. Thank you for this video. It was definitely a thrilling ride to go on!
All these years I thought there WERE casualties due to The Edge malfunction. Thank you for the clarification. I'm glad to know the teenagers made a full recovery.
I have to wonder if this falls under the Mandela effect. Because I remember it being told that the ride did make it up and to the over hang but when it dropped, it slipped its track, rode the rails down and rammed THROUGH the barriers that separated the ride from people waiting in line. It wasn't just the riders that died but, people in line, too. Obviously, this was an exaggerated story... because, I guess No One died. Thank Goodness!
Or did they??!!
Mandela??! 🥺
@@AnnieWarbux It probably does fall under the Mandela effect.
Illinois fake news even back in the 80s
I was a frequent visitor to Six Flags in the 80s and until I watched this video, was convinced that someone had died on the Edge. Wow.
Rocky Point Park was a Rhode Island legend. There’s a full-length doc about it called You Must Be This Tall, which can be found on RUclips.
I grew up in southeastern Massachusetts in the 70's and 80's, and went to Rocky Point a million times in my youth. Such great memories of the Manhattan style clam chowder and clam hushpuppies!
I grew up at Great America California and preferred the drop feeling on The Edge more than its replacement Drop Zone which feels to have a more of a controlled decent feeling (drag from a motor, cable or magnetics) versus pure free fall speed like the Edge.
I loved The Edge. I rode on it on its final day. I agree, Drop Zone just didn't have the same thrill.
I rode this in Gurnee several days before the accident when I was a kid. I remember the false rumors spreading and people not wanting to ride it afterwards.
I do remember the one at Six Flags Magic Mountain. My friends and I liked it a lot. The view at the top of the tower was pretty impressive with a vey “exposed” feeling. A “trick” to do on the ride was place a penny or two on our knees just before the drop. Those pennies would appear to float upward to about chest level like flying saucers. Then the car would hit the curve and they would zip out of sight. - It was the beginning, however, of a trend toward _very_ short rides and we started to wonder if the wait was worth it.
No one was worried where the pennies went when they "zipped out of sight?" Maybe they were getting lodged into the track or zipping into the side of someone's head.
No modern drop tower type ride can compare to the Edge experience. It was so much more than just a drop tower and ahead of its time...
Oh wow. So I rode this as Mr. Hydes Nasty Fall at Geauga Lake back in the day. Pretty cool. Never knew the history behind it!
Geauga Lake in Ohio?
I miss Geauga Lake
I can remember my sister and dad riding The Edge at the California Great America. They absolutely loved that ride and rode it several times every time we were at the park. In a strange turn of events I ended up working for a large company right around the corner from Great America years later and was able to ride it a few times during private parties with no lines. It was a hell of a ride!
We had a sister ride to this at Astroworld growing up called Sky Screamer. I remember the sirens going off before it dropped.
We had this ride. We called it the “Demon Drop” at Cedar Point, Sandusky OH. I never rode it but it was there for a long time, exact same design.
It still exists, it's at Dorney Park with the same name
The American Eagle & The Viper @ Six-Flags Great America will remain my most cherished roller-coaster experiences seeing as it was my 1st great hurdle as a coaster-junkie…. The Viper was my cherry-buster, but it was to gain the grit to take on the Eagle (I was 9 in ‘95)…. & although I’ve ridden WAY more advanced & intense coasters in my life…… them wooden behemoths @ Great America will *ALWAYS* stand out as the pinnacle coasters to me….. great video
Wow I absolutely LOVED that commercial
Grew up with California Great America version. It was the last ride in the park I hadn’t ridden before I finally got up enough courage to ride. Probably in 1992. I still remember all the times it would break down and strand people at the top for anywhere between a few minutes to what seemed like several hours. There was only 1 time it was stuck for the several hours, and it may have only been an hour or two, I was just a little kid, but it was the talk of the park that day. I do recall rumors that another version of the ride had either hurt or killed people, so this video lines up with those rumors. I think the most common was that a car flew off the track and landed in the bushes. I still rode it some time later! Made me all the cooler 😎
I recall a rumor that my friend told me about a girl that got her arm stuck while at the top of the tower and the ride was down for hours while they got her un-stuck. That was probably back around the same time. Early 90's.
So that was a real commercial?
@@onewayturtles lol yep. 15 seconds of 80s greatness
I remember The Edge. And it was replaced by Drop Zone, at least in the Bay Area. I was too scared to go on either of them, I don't like drop rides, bit I remember watching them go and being equally terrified and impressed.
They now have go karts where The Edge was. It's also where one of the train stations was for the park train. 2 rides that are sorely missed.
I loved Demon Drop at Cedar Point. Used to hit it first to start the day. Then hit it multiple times at the end of the night, while waiting for friends or family to get back to the front of the park or to take a piss before leaving.
Yas loved the demon drop
Well thanks for letting us know you pissed!
Man this brings me back. I remember going on this at Great America in Santa Clara as a pre-teen, before it was scrapped for Drop Zone. I don't really remember the drop but I remember laying on my back after it as we went back to the station
That drop seemed so high then. Compared to the Drop Zone, or the drop tower at magic mountain, it's a baby ride.
I just remember the "click" right before the drop.
Yep the click...and u knew the drop was coming. The drop is kinda weaksauce when u look at drop zone. But those were the attractions. Demon tidal wave grizzly revolution, edge, triple wheel, lobster lol, vortex, sky hawk. Oh and funnel cakes near the bumper cars🤣
I have a special place in my heart for the intimin free fall drop towers. I've ridden demon drop more then any other coaster/free fall tower and it's mostly because of it's unique design, the fact that your fall is never stopped, just redirected until you're just moving sideways and stopped from there. It's just a different experience then a drop tower I can see at any fair.
OMG!! I was there, in line, just before this happened. It was a HORRIBLY long line that took FOREVER! Many people skipped out of line and it was basically a game of russian roulette, at that point. My group of young teen friends went on the ride, got our "I survived The Edge" button pins afterwards and walked off to the next thing. Within minutes we saw an ambulance trying to make its way through and park employees running. That was when we found out that The Edge "crashed". I can see how people assumed the worst. It really was a crap ride. Only a few at a time, a VERY short, quick drop and an unimaginably long wait!
There was another accident on a gravity ride where the floor drops. Can't remember the name. Kids would try to creep their bodies down the wall when the floor dropped and then try and creep back up before the floor returned. Rumor had it that a girl got her foot jammed and it was amputated. IDK. The Eagle may have been a "Racing" roller coaster but, all TOO often, one of them would get STUCK!
I've had enough of
Roller Coasters!
The Cajun spinner ride!!
Cajun Cliffhanger
I remember riding it in Santa Clara. That was one ride that was always down for maintenance though.
I grew up on Cupertino and San Jose. My friends and I used to ride the edge all the time. The summer thing todo was have season passes and spend our summer st great America. It was so much fun.
Great America was my favorite theme park growing up. I'd love to go back and ride the Demon again, if it's still open
@@kharma7755 The Demon is still up and running, so too is the Grizzly. Goldstriker is definitely the best ride at the park currently though.
I'm from San Jose, California. I have been to Great American 11 times and have rode the Edge many times. It was awesome as a kid.
I rode it before the accident, and I think after as well. I heard the rumor it dropped on top of another car. Thanks for clearing it up.
I rode The Edge at Great America in the 80’s in San Jose. It was awesome!
As a long long time visitor glad to finally have the real info to what happened to this ride. Thank you for clarifying. Great info!
Got to ride it back in '85. I was twelve and just tall enough to ride it, I remember there was a bunch of hype about it and by time it finished you were like, "that's it?"
I'm in Santa Clara co. Still 10 minutes away from Great America. I was there when it was added to the park, had a couple rides throughout its time there. LOVED THE FEAR! I was just a kid then
I actually remember people saying that someone was paralyzed from the Edge's "accident". Another rumor said that a girl also was paralyzed and another girl died. There was all sorts of things that were said, claimed, or told by people. Which I thought was odd considering the ride wasn't shut down, but like you said, you only knew what you heard. So much of that was so sketchy that the truth never seemed to be told, it was as though the rumor started, was escalated, changed, and altered a few times. There was also something about a massive lawsuit?
Love ya man just love ya I watch 30 of your videos every day
I miss the Demon Drop at Cedar Point :(
I was wondering if anyone else could confirm this! I rode it almost 20 years ago, but haven't been back since, and as he was describing it, I looked at my husband and went, I rode one just like it!! Lol!!! It gave me whiplash because I was freaked out and was looking down when it dropped.
In the summer of 1999 at the Great America in Santa Clara, a disabled kid fell out of the Drop Zone ride and died. I remember this because it happened the day after me and some friends were there and rode that ride!
The one in CA scared the crap out of me when I was kid. I don’t even remember riding it but I know I stood in line for it a couple times. I was so grateful that it was down for maintenance all the time so I didn’t have to tell my friends I was afraid to get on it. I remember it made a sound at the bottom like two war ships colliding. Thank for the memories The Edge.
Do you remember when it would go out onto the "edge" then the anticipation and finally a "click". Then you were freefalling. I remember the sound at the bottom being like a jake brake on a semi-truck.
Stuntmans free fall was at six flags great adventure. I loved it we would hold a penny flat in our hand and watch it float for a second.
I took my two sons on this ride a few times in Gurnee, Illinois. I heard those rumors, but I did not know they were rumors. Thanks for setting us straight.
I was a fan of this ride in NJ Six Flags Great Adventure. There was a story about a girl and her hair caught on the decent leading to her getting the scalp ripped off 🥴 no one I went on with was ever afraid.. years later we have the epic zumanjaro drop of doom... & although it's high and falls at 90mph its the rickety sounds on Free Fall that made it cool.
I remember that. I have the best memories here. One time it was raining and most people left. We got to go on the tidal wave 13 times in a row. Saw so many concerts there.
I think the most times i went on Tidal Wave in a row was 8 or 9. It was near park closing and we just kept riding. Finally I had to get off. I think it permanently did some damage to my brain because I can't do high g or spinning rides anymore. That had to be back in 1991 or 1992.
Thank you for the clarification. I’ve been on The Edge maybe 2-4 times ever. I knew about the incident, but I could never recall the severity. Even up to my most recent visit I would look upon the ride’s former location with dread knowing something bad had happened there. I’m glad all the kids were ok. I still don’t have much trust in Great America though.
There is ALWAYS legend & lore about accidents. SF AstroWorld had Sky Screamer. Ours actually ran more reliably than the Texas cliffhanger (1st generation) SFT actually consulted with us about Y ours was more reliable. Fun fact (as a ride op) The brakes are water cooled. the ride will NOT run If the water supply is off. Look @ the backs of the cars where it says DO NOT TOUCH! If a guest inquired "Y" the loader person would throw a cup of water onto the brake fin. It would flash turn to steam....Enough said! LOL! Other rumor, one went off the rails. Also NOT true.
I remember when those rumors were flying around! Thanks for setting the record straight.
I remember riding the Freefall at Six Flags over Georgia as a kid when it first came out. I am terrified of heights and falling unless I’m strapped into a roller coaster. That little bit where you slide out onto the outside track seemed like an eternity. I got off shaking uncontrollably. That was the LAST time I ever rode anything like it, except for Tower of Terror at Disney World.
I too remember this from six flags, Georgia! People would put pennies on their lap, so when you dropped, the coins would float in front of your face until the bottom of the ride
Great recommended video & Subscribed 10/09/21👍🏼
I grew up riding the one at Six Flags Over Georgia. I think it was also retired in 05.
same!
The concept for the ride seems great. I would love to see what a modernized version of this would look like. It would be pretty epic
Intamin sub-contracted the freefall to Giovanola. After sub-contracting rides for Intamin, Giovanola started making their own rides before going bankrupt and out of business (they were the original home of Walter and Claude before they broke off and formed B and M). Since Giovanola is out of business and unable to sub-contract for Intamin anymore, Intamin would have to make a different drop shaft ride today done by someone else.
Cedar Point had an identical ride called the Demon Drop. I've always lived very close to CP and went there every single year. It was put in in the 1980's and was just taken down not a whole long time ago to make room for a new ride.
You should do a what happened to the Whizzer in 1980 Marriott's Great America Santa Clara CA
Or what about that little boy who fell from the drop tower after they took out the edge. I think that happened in '99
@@Steve-ty7jn yes it happened in the summer of 99 or the two boys who jumped out of loggers run back in 1989
@@nathanlopez5667 This is how rumors start. So was it the drop tower or Loggers Run? I can see it being fairly easy to climb out of Loggers Run or Yankee Clipper...no restraints.
@@jolietpinball7439 loggers run
I finally got my first ride on one of these Intamin drop towers at Dorney Park with Demon Drop this year. Of all the drop rides I have ridden, it had by far the best gut punch. I prefer it to zumanjaro or achrophobia.
I agree, I rode it in 2000 when it was still at Cedar Point, I'd prefer it over Power Tower, but Falcon's Fury at BGT outdoes it though.
@@markvolpe2305 i should get my first ride on FF in 2022 when I visit BGT to ride Iron Gwazi. I’m looking forward to it. I don’t think the gut punch will be much but the sensation of falling face first to the ground sounds amazing.
This looks exactly like the sky screamer from Houston’s Astro world
Because it's the same ride.
Okay I thought so
The Edge was one of my favorite rides at California Great America. It was a tall and tense rush, but over quickly. It was like having a ride snack between riding The Demon and going over to The Revolution.
The Revolution, I think i rode it twice. The last time i rode it the stupid shoulder harness cranked down so hard I couldn't breathe and I was basically riding only being able to take 20% of my normal oxygen intake. It sucked. They changed the name to Endeavor at one point and now it's gone. They also took out Logger's Run. I miss the log flumes.
Wow. I always heard kids died on that ride. Thank you for clarifying it.
That is crazy I have always heard it fell from the top onto another vehicle. Glad you cleared that up.
Great America in Santa Clara California was a staple of my childhood 💖
Makes me miss the Demon drop at cedar point
Come to Dorney, still operates great!
Free fall at magic mountain, (which i believe was the first intamin free fall model?)
Was an amazing ride for it's time. Even just watching that POV vid of it gave me butterflies.
That 2.5 second roll off the elevator's top platform was amazing.
Thanks for the cool video!
If I’m not mistaken the first one of these rides opened at Sox Flags Over Texas in maybe 1981 or 2? The ride was massively successful and was in operation until the early 2000s. Nothing was scarier than the transfer from the lift track to the fall track and hearing the loud “Ca-Chunk!” And then the wait to fall. Who else remembers putting a quarter on your knee and watching it “float” on the way down?
Yup! It was called The Cliffhanger, I think.
The Cliffhanger!!
Slightly unrelated, but it's too bad that American Eagle has only had 1 side open all season (most likely due to understaffing) hopefully next year they'll bring back the racing
Even before all of the covid shit they would only half both trains running like 30% of the time I would go. Would be frustrating when the line was over an hour long knowing the other train wasn’t running. Especially considering that line feels longer than any line I’ve ever been on
Ha! I can’t believe it’s still running. I rode it many times in the 80s and they would release both cars at the same time like it was a race. Some things never change.
The rumors of it going off the end of the track carried all the way over to Six Flags Over Texas when I was younger in the 80’s
I heard the same thing at Astroworld 😂
That Intamin Freefall Drop tower was the best...I have yet to see todays drop tower rides today duplicate the same sensationof insecurity, going up first shaft was part of the ride, because it did, indded feel like it could drop back down slamming on ground below any second, and then track switch at top felt same way, banging around like it was going to derail and fall off any second...I loved this ride, rode it MANY times at SFMM. I agree on the 2 minutes.and with a drop sensation that has yet to be matched
"people believed the rumors because the internet didn't exist yet, so there was no fact checking"
I feel like the internet didn't exactly improve that, since fact checking is deemed unnecessary by todays society, and we are taught to be sheep and believe every rumor we hear on social media...
Im from Libertyville and was there that day. So sad at the enormous loss of life ...not just those on the ride but the dozens taken too soon when the car went off the track and into the line of people waiting for Tidal Wave. Me and my friends never rode that ride again after that day.
None of the kids on the Edge died. I wasn't aware of any accidents at Tidal Wave. The ride that seemed to have the most issues was the old Yankee Clipper, one of the flume rides.
Yes!! That is what I remember hearing, too! Someone said the kids just got off, shrugged it off and walked off. But, we had to make way for one of the ambulances to get through!
Which ride are you talking about?
@@MakerBayfield The Edge. It's in the video.
HEY
DID YOU KNOW THAT SAMMY SOSA BACKWARDS IS YAMMAS OSAS
Worked at this Great America 3 year in the mid 90s and it was rumors galore what happened. Glad I finally found out. Lol. You got to do a story on the Demon being stuck upside down in one of its loops.
I’m 44 and born and raised in the Chicagoland area. I’m actually going to Great America in Gurnee this weekend for Fright Fest. Growing up the story I heard was that a girl’s hair got caught on part of the ride and pulled her scalp off. I always doubted that it happened but your video finally gives me proof that it didn’t.
We had one called The Sky Scrapper in Astroworld in Houston that had to be one of the first and was in service much longer than the one you mentioned. I had always heard the rumors but never knew which park it originated. Also, when the car got to the top and transferred tracks we would put coins on our knees and watch them float above our heads and then land in our hands when we got closer to the ground. Lastly, before the drop a siren would go off that you could across the whole park. It was a great ride!
May have been short- lived but very influential. I bet there would be no Tower of Terror/Guardians of the Galaxy Mission Breakout if it weren’t for rides like the Edge.
i loved this ride at cedar point. rode it many times with no line. so fun!😃
I remember riding the edge. I didn't think it was in 1984 though. Now I feel old
Omg my mom has told me stories about this coaster. She said it was insane but she could never remember the name but this is exactly what she described. I'm so glad I found it!
I remember Freefall at Magic Mountain. Not a bad ride by the standard of the time! Then again, I was only 7 or 8 when going on it lol
I have always wanted to go on one of these. They seem so cool!
When it opened in 1979, The Beast set several world records among roller coasters including height, speed, and track length. It still retains the record for length among wooden coasters at 7,361 feet (2,244 m), which continues to be recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records.
I am so relieved that no one was seriously hurt.
If you think about it, the original Intamin drop towers have basically the same layout as Superman or Dragster, just not as tall. Also having ridden Demon Drop (SFGAs Edge closed before I was born and I didn't get to CGA until 14 years after it closed there) it's a really great ride. I would love if more of them were around
I remember the rumors circulating about the Edge. I heard it flew off the track. Another was 3 or 4 people were killed. I was young so believed it lol
The one at Six Flags Over Texas operated from 1982 to 2007. Not sure if that one can be topped lol. I loved that ride. Great video.
The Cliffhanger, at SFOT in Arlington, Texas was a huge part of my childhood. RIP, Cliffhanger!
Rode the freefall at great America Northern California in the late 1980s. Scared me good!
I grew up going to California's Great America and vaguely remember hearing that some kids died another Edge ride when it flew off the track. Had good time riding the Edge when it first opened despite how short the ride experience was.
Great video! I love CA great America
Rode this thing in Jersey in the 80's, loved it!
He's absolutely right about rumors spreading.
I'm from Chicago.
I thought like 2 kids died and 2 were severely injured.
And I thought the ride was immediately discontinued.
The Eragle is a great coaster to ride. While you are ascending you get to hear the chain links move about while looking at the surrounding skyline. It is slow moving up so there is plenty of time for that. The feature I like is going around the circle looking down at the pool. Also coming back with those number of hill that whip you.
I miss the Free Fall at Six Flags over GA