The Giant Drop, Drop tower at Dreamworld theme park, Gold Coast, Australia.
The Giant Drop is a 119-metre drop tower attached to the Dreamworld Tower at Dreamworld on the Gold Coast, Queensland. Two vertical tracks flank the tower, each carrying an eight-seat floorless gondola. Catch cars lift the gondolas for about 90 seconds before releasing them into free fall at up to 135 km/h, stopped by rare-earth magnets.
The ride opened in December 1998 as the tallest drop tower in the world at that time. It held this record until July 2012 and was manufactured by the Swiss company Intamin.
The queue is themed as the control centre of an oil rig run by the fictional Giant Oil Company, and oil machinery stands around the base of the tower. The entrance carries a safety notice and a Guinness World Record plaque. The ride has appeared on television, including a 2010 The Amazing Race Asia task in which teams photographed mascot Kenny Koala at the top.
Riders must be between 120 and 195 centimeters tall and at least ten years old to board. The gondola descends at approximately 135 kilometers per hour (84 miles per hour), and guests should expect a brief but forceful braking moment at the end.
The Giant Drop's gondolas are slowed at the end of the fall by permanently mounted rare-earth magnets rather than friction brakes, and the on-ride photo is taken at that braking moment. When the ride opened in 1998, the eastern side paused briefly just after release to demonstrate the fail-safe magnetic brakes; the feature was later discontinued.
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