Taller! Faster! Scarier! Best new extreme attractions
If you're afraid of heights, you may want to stay indoors this summer. This is the year attractions are pushing and elbowing for the titles of world's tallest, fastest, steepest, wettest … you name it. Check out our 10 "most extreme" new attractions for 2014, and start planning a trip to get your adrenaline flowing.
Zumanjaro: Drop of Doom , Six Flags Great Adventure, Jackson, N.J.
New Jersey's Six Flags Great Adventure already has the world's tallest roller coaster — Kingda Ka topping 456 feet. So their engineers decided to strap another ride to the coaster's superstructure. Billed as the world's tallest drop tower that's part of a coaster, Zumanjaro: Drop of Doom takes riders to heights of 415 feet before dropping them back down at 90 mph. Scheduled to open this spring.
Falcon's Fury , Busch Gardens, Tampa.
Opening this spring, the tallest, free-standing drop tower in North America is Falcon's Fury — 335 feet tall and dropping riders at 60 mph. At the pinnacle of the tower, seats pivot 90° to point guests toward the ground face-down, just like the attack dive of its namesake bird of prey. USA TODAY Travel will have an exclusive look — including a video from the ride — April 25, so come back to this space!
High Roller Wheel , Las Vegas
The world's tallest observation wheel, which opened last month, has transformed the Las Vegas skyline. At 550 feet tall, the High Roller Wheel offers unprecedented views of the glitz and glamour of the Strip as well as the distant mountains. Don't care for the heights? Keep your feet firmly planted on the ground for the wheel's dazzling 2,000 LED light show.
Goliath roller coaster , Six Flags Great America, Gurnee, Ill.
Not one, not two, but three world records are set with Goliath, the tallest, steepest, and fastest wooden roller coaster in the world. If the 180-foot, near-vertical (85 degree), 72-mph drop isn't enough for you, this woody goes through two inversions as well. Scheduled to open May 24.
Banshee roller coaster , Kings Island, Mason, Ohio
Banshee, which opened April 18, is the world's longest inverted roller coaster at 4,124 feet. Kings Island's 15th scream machine flips riders upside down seven times including one loop that circles the lift hill. It also includes a zero-G roll, outside loop, curved drop, dive loop, spiral, in-line roll and carousel, and reaches a top speed of 68 mph from its 170-foot height. Whew!
Verrückt Meg-a-Blaster water slide, Schlitterbahn, Kansas City, Kansas
Daredevils used to challenge Niagara Falls going over in a barrel. That's so passé as Schlitterbahn Kansas City's Verrückt Meg-a-Blaster — the world's tallest, fastest, steepest water slide — is even taller than Niagara Falls. At 17 stories high, riders use a flimsy four-person rubber raft to brave the 65-mph drop before being blasted back uphill and down another drop. No wonder the name means "crazy" in German. USA TODAY Travel will have an exclusive look, including a video from the first public ride, on opening day, May 23, so come back to this space!
Tsunami Surge, Hurricane Harbor, Austell, Ga.
Hurricane Harbor is the largest expansion in the history of Six Flags Over Georgia, and Tsunami Surge is its centerpiece attraction. The world's first zero-gravity slide sends riders down an enclosed five-story drop tunnel, whirls them around a 40-foot-wide bowl, followed by a zero-gravity surge to the top before plunging out of the bottom. It opens Memorial Day Weekend.
Ihu's Breakaway Falls , Aquatica, SeaWorld's Waterpark, Orlando
Opening May 9, this eight-story free-fall body slide features three slides with breakaway trap doors plunging riders into 360-degree spirals. Suspense builds as riders wonder how long they will stand at the top as trap doors open in a "gotcha" random sequence beneath their feet.
Glacier Skywalk , Jasper National Park, Jasper, Alberta
Debuting May 1, a glass-floored circular observation platform in the Canadian Rockies juts out dramatically 918 feet above the valley floor. For a one-of-a-kind view, look out among the mountains and down upon glaciers that make up the landscape of the Columbia Icefield area between Jasper and Banff National Parks.
TILT , 360 Chicago
360 Chicago (formerly the John Hancock Observatory), the iconic skyscraper observatory, is adding a new attraction called TILT, a glass-enclosed viewing platform that leans eight tourists at a time 1,000 feet out over the city. Once you reach 94 stories, step inside, and tilt straight down for a heart-stopping view of the Magnificent Mile. Scheduled to open this spring.
Editor's note: An earlier version of this story erroneously stated that TILT in 360 Chicago was scheduled to open this month. It opens this spring.