Even though the majority of 2016’s new rides have just opened or are opening soon, some parks have already begun to announce their 2017 attractions. One of those parks is a park in Stockholm, Sweden called Gröna Lund. The small park announced today a very big new ride for next year!
On their Facebook page, they posted a video about a new ride called “Ikaros.” Ikaros is going to be a drop tower with a unique twist. Riders will ascend 95 meters (312 feet) into the air and suddenly they will be tilted ninety degrees to face down at the ground. Next, they will plunge down at speeds of 90 km/hour (56mph).
The ride is an example of an Intamin Sky Jump. This installation will be the second of its kind, with the first being Falcon’s Fury at Busch Gardens Tampa. Although both this and Falcon’s Fury feature the face down drop, this one will have some slight differences. The biggest of these differences is that the tower will not be a circular tower. Instead of the circular tower, this tower will feature two cars with four riders per car on a square tower. This is a significant reduction in capacity compared to Busch Gardens Tampa’s version (although I do not think Gröna Lund has nearly as many visitors as Busch Gardens Tampa so I doubt they need the increased capacity).
A closeup shot of a tilted Falcon’s Fury at Busch Gardens Tampa. Image Courtesy of our friends over at WildGravity Travels
Gröna Lund already has two drop towers, one of which is an Intamin Giant Drop with some cars that tilt (only about 20 degrees) called Fritt Fall and the other is an S&S launched drop tower.
The ride’s opening date is currently set for April 29, 2017.
Thank you to our friends over at WildGravity Travels for allowing us to use their image in this article!
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