Among the many dangers firefighters face at work each day, those high-powered water hoses have enough pressure to cause some serious damage if they ever got loose. But they also make for an entertaining makeshift carnival ride that looks far more aggressive than any sketchy mechanical bull you’ll find at a…
When the original Pirates of the Caribbean ride first opened at Disneyland in 1967, it represented the cutting-edge of amusement park technologies. Fifty years later, this video is our first glimpse at how far ride technologies have advanced, as Disney World’s new Avatar: Flight of Passage attraction is set to open…
If you get queasy even on a docile Ferris Wheel, you’ll want to avoid a ride called the Tagada at all costs next time you’re at a carnival in Myanmar looking for a cheap thrill. Safety concerns aside, it looks like it would make even Air Force test pilots lose their lunches as it spins and lurches, throwing riders in…
The Japanese city of Beppu is known for its countless hot springs and spas that pop up around them. So much so, that the city’s mayor, Yasuhiro Nagano, pledged to build an entire spa-themed amusement park—although it might not be quite as awesome as the one featured in this promotional video.
You’re already accepting some level of risk when you climb aboard any carnival ride, from the Ferris Wheel to the bumper cars, and for little payoff. So if you’re going endanger yourself for some cheap thrills, why not go big aboard a merry-go-round powered by real jet engines rocketing you around in circles.
Universal Studios is a bizarre theme park that welcomes over seven million people a year. Lately, the big draw is a sprawling replica of Harry Potter’s world, though it’s long been famous for making tourists feel like they’re characters in one of Universal’s many hit movies. The technology involved in these…
Virtual reality already makes some people woozy. For others, roller coasters are also a motion-sickness nightmare. What happens when you mix two stomach-turning activities? A theme park in the UK is going to find out.
There are lots of coaster parks in the world, but few have dedicated themselves to pushing the limits of thrill rides like Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, has. And when it opens next summer, its new Valravn Birdseye coaster will officially break ten world records in one fell swoop.
If Las Vegas has taught us anything, it’s that you can’t open a new casino without some kind of gimmick. Be it a fancy exclusive restaurant, an amazing waterworks show, or the world’s first ferris wheel shaped like a figure-8 that also happens to be perched 430 feet above the city of Cotai in Macau.
I don’t really like going on upside down rides, due to my mortal fear of vomiting. But you know what? It would be worth all the puke in the world to ride this massive Tourbillon amusement park ride in Switzerland. It’s called Starlight, probably because it looks like it could enable interstellar travel.
If you happen to be visiting the Universal Orlando’s Islands of Adventure in Summer 2016, you can take a trip to Skull Island. And the 1930s.
Before you start screaming in the comments that New Jersey's Action Park was actually the first amusement park to have a water slide with a vertical loop back in the '80s, you'll be happy to hear that's exactly where this one is headed come 2016. Except that this updated version will actually house riders in a…
Watching Olympic lugers racing down those ice-slicked tracks looks like a lot of fun. But learning to safely steer those tiny sleds while lying prone on your back takes years of training. If you don't have the time for that, the Skyline Luge in Queensland, New Zealand is the next best thing. It's a downhill race…
Hanging off a zipline while you soar through the air is a great experience, but it's often just a straight-line run, and can rarely compare to the thrills you get on a roller coaster. So a bunch of enterprising Aussies had the brilliant idea to combine the two, creating the world's longest zip line that has you…
Learning how to ride a two-wheeled bike is one of the biggest challenges a kid can face, and starting off on a tricycle doesn't make it any easier since it's a different riding experience—but why should it be? That's what brothers Steve and Rich Thrush asked before designing a new kind of pivoting tricycle that has…
Coming soon to the 'guaranteed to drive parents insane' section of your local toy store is the Teeter Popper. Embracing the odd satisfaction one gets from meticulously popping a sheet of bubble wrap, the Teeter Popper is a small balance board covered in suction cups on the underside. As a child rocks back and forth on…
This is the Skyhawk, a 10-story tall "Screamin' Swing" ride that flings its passengers round and round at up to 60 mph. It's the tallest of its kind, bringing its 40 passengers as high as 125 feet off the ground at the apex of a swing. It's scary enough on a normal day. Last night, one of its cables snapped.
The world's tallest waterslide, located in Schiltterbahn's Kansas City waterpark, opened to the public this Thursday. I had the honor/horror of being part of that public. This is my story.
This week marks the opening of the Thunderbolt, a modern roller coaster looping and corkscrewing through historic Coney Island in Brooklyn. The coaster is a towering orange lasso with 2200 feet of track, squeezed into an unbelievably narrow space. Here's our up close and personal look at NYC's latest thrill ride.
Amusement parks love those heart-stopping vertical drop rides because they don't take up much space. But when you've ridden one, you've ridden them all. At least until Busch Gardens' new 335-foot tall Falcon's Fury ride is open to the public.
