Power Tower to Open at Valleyfair for 2000

Shakopee, MN -- Look Up. Way Up. Beyond Up. Out of this world up! And you'll get a feeling for just how tall the new thrill ride at Valleyfair is going to be.

Valleyfair Family Amusement Park today announced its capital expansion plans for the 2000 operating season. The centerpiece of the expansion plans is Power Tower, a thrill ride that reaches an unbelievable height of 275 feet. That's a ride even Wild Thing - Valleyfair's 200-foot hyper coaster - can look up to!

Power Tower is a unique three-tower structure, with a pyramid top, that combines two thrill rides in one. Each tower carries up to 12 passengers at a time, in groups of four, sitting in outward-facing seats, with their backs to the massive steel tower. Riders sit in open-air seats with over-the-shoulder harnesses that leave legs dangling in space - and hearts dangling in anticipation.

"Power Tower represents a radical new concept in cutting-edge thrill ride technology," says Linnea Stromberg-Wise, Vice President of Marketing, Valleyfair. "This structure itself is astonishing. Topping out at 275 feet, it's taller by nearly 75 feet than Wild Thing. That's as high as a 27-story building and almost as tall as the Foshay Tower in downtown Minneapolis."

Two of the giant towers lift passengers from the loading position to the top of the ride in less than 25 seconds. After a brief stop at the top - where you can see for miles, but your friends down below can hardly see you - and without warning, the passenger cart is thrust downward reaching a heart-pounding 50 mph almost instantly after take-off. In three adrenaline-pumping seconds you are bounding on a cushion of air at the launch pad, only to rocket half-way up the powerful steel tower again before a final, merciful landing at the launch pad below. G-forces ranging from -1 to +4.0 translate into weightlessness much greater and faster than an actual free-fall.

The other tower, often referred to as the "Space Shot" - for good reason - literally blasts passengers from the bottom to the top - 27 stories high - in less than 3 seconds. With only air and their tennis shoes to separate them from the launch station 275 feet below - they're at the top of the world. How's the view from the top? Incredible. But there's no time to enjoy it.

Once riders reach the top they are immediately thrust back downward at a force of -1G. After a brief touch down on the launch pad, the cart rises again just above the middle of the tower structure, and from there begins a much slower descent to the bottom. This is a good time to catch a glimpse of the view because most certainly it was a blur on the way up.

"We're really excited about opening Power Tower in May 2000 because it is completely different from any ride Valleyfair has offered before," says General Manager Walt Wittmer. "Power Tower isn't for rookie thrill seekers. Both the downward plunge and the upward blast are more intense than any other experience in the park's arsenal of thrill rides. Only Supreme Scream, in our sister park Knott's Berry Farm, and Power Tower, in another sister park Cedar Point, can match it for height and intensity."

Facts at-a glance about Power Tower

Length of ride: 45 seconds
Speed: ride reaches speeds exceeding 50 mph in 3 seconds
G-Force: +4.0 to -1
Velocity: 50 mph
Seconds of weightlessness: More than three
Capacity: Approximately 1,300 rides per hour
Height requirement: At least 52"