High atop the Terminal Velocity ride at Extreme World, only one thing separates a person from the ground below. A whole lot of air. Minus any attachments, screaming customers plummet 100 feet. Their bodies drop faster than most highway speed limits at a raging 70 mph. “That one takes a little more nerve,” laughs park president Bill Anderson. “You’re talking total freefall.” Extreme World, in Wisconsin Dells, Wisc., and a growing number of places like it offer a dish that some traditional parks don’t serve—rides worthy of jobs listed on Hollywood stuntmen’s resumes. For these kinds of attractions, the novice thrill seeker might want to look elsewhere for a day’s entertainment because these kinds of rides cater to the ultimate, super duper adrenaline junkie. Case in point: The Ejection Seat, another featured ride at Extreme World, works like a monstrous slingshot. Customers strap into a chair attached to a circular steel ball. The ball, temporarily fastened to the ground, is connected to two bungee cords tethered to steel cables that run up and over two 120-foot tall structures. But before you can say, “AAAAHHHHHH!!!” the ball gets hurled skyward. Within 1.5 seconds, riders travel 150 feet. To get on rides like Ejection Seat and brave the fear factor, customers may need a little motivation, Anderson says. “A lot of it is proving to their friends that they’ll do it, and a lot of dares.” Yet for some, it seems better to watch the thrills as an outsider with feet firmly planted on the pavement. “About five percent of the people who go up in the bungee cage chicken out and come back down,” he says. Some people never even make it on the ride, says Janice Witherow, public relations manager for Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio. Beyond Cedar Point’s impressive 16-coasters resume, the park has a separate section called Challenge Park dedicated to adrenaline junkies. The attractions inside Challenge Park include several of the gravity-defying rides that make for quality spectator entertainment, Witherow says. “People will say there’s no way I’m going to ride that, but they enjoy watching it.” Just a Number Most of the customers at Extreme World fit nicely in the 14- to 30-year-old demographic, Anderson says. Yet from time to time, they’ll have some seniors get strapped into the hot seat. From a financial standpoint, though, the slim age window of the usual suspects doesn’t hurt Extreme World’s pockets, Anderson says, because they’ve already anticipated their demographic. “There’s no expectation there for older people.” The Zero Gravity Thrill Amusement Park in Dallas, Texas, also typically attracts the high school/college/Generation X population, says general manager Johnny Kuczaj. Customers put their fears aside and try out Zero Gravity’s own version of Terminal Velocity and the Ejection Seat, colorfully named Nothin’ But Net and Texas Blastoff, respectively. The Dallas extreme park also features bungee jumping from seven stories up and the Skycoaster—a 110-foot-high hang gliding/skydiving simulator that reaches speeds up to 60 mph. The park frequently entertains bachelor and bachelorette parties, couples on their first dates, and youth groups, but Zero Gravity does get some brave folks from the middle-age demographic, Kuczaj says. Last summer, a group of 50 guys all 50 years and older paid them a visit. Seeing people with some gray in their hair going on rides isn’t an oddity at Cedar Point, Witherow says, as older thrill seekers make up a decent portion of the park’s business. “The age 50 is the new 30,” she says. “People who are 40, 50, 60 years old are participating in extreme roller coaster riding where traditionally you would not see that years ago.” Witherow attributes this age shift to baby boomers being more active. But even with this influx of older riders, she says the majority of thrill seekers and hardcore roller coaster riders still would probably have to show some ID to get into the local bars. Safety First Besides aging baby boomers, the improving technology has helped to bring in the thrill junkies, she says. Now, rides can do flips and flops, twists and turns that at one time were unthinkable. Taking it to the next level is what the Orlando, Fla.-based company Innovative Rock Climbing did with its recently launched product line called Hydrophobia, says Annie Buchanon, vice president of sales and marketing. Hydrophobia takes the traditional rock climbing wall and adds a water element to it. A running waterfall pours down the side as customers attempt to conquer the 25-foot wall. And while the ride adds a new twist to an old idea, she says the safety concerns remain the same as with a regular climbing wall. Hydrophobia uses an “auto-belay” system where the operator hooks the climber to a harness that connects to a cable. So when a person climbs the wall, he can let go at anytime and come down slowly. Not surprisingly, safety concerns top the list of priorities for most amusement parks, especially ones where people freefall several stories and get flung into the air. “You want to make sure you understand a ride and what are the things that can go wrong that can cause people problems,” Anderson says. “You identify potential problems, and then you focus on making sure those problems never occur.” Parks must build in redundancy—a backup to the backup to the backup, he says. “If one thing were to go wrong, the odds are one in a bazillion that two things will go wrong. If that were to happen, there’s a third thing that backs it up, like the cables attached to the Skycoaster. They are attached three times.” Kuczaj says multiple backup systems play an important safety role at Zero Gravity, as does having a reliable staff. Two employees work every ride, always checking each other. Anderson also sees the value of teaming up his staff. “We never allow just one person to operate something,” he says. “On the bungee jump, a person gets checked by three people. If something were to go wrong, I always say you would have to have the Three Stooges working.” His employees must take tests to qualify to work at the park, and once hired, he makes sure they never find themselves stuck in a rut. “If you are really busy, you can get into a routine and that is the danger,” Anderson says. “You have to move your staff around so they’re not sitting in the same spot too long. In the summertime, we rotate every three hours. “Most accidents at any park occur because someone didn’t do what they were supposed to do,” he continues. “It’s more human error than mechanical error.” Both Kuczaj and Anderson say their employees spend a lot of time fielding questions from visitors about safety. And basically, the best way to go about it is simple: Tell the truth. Kuczaj says they have many signs up around the park that explain how it’s a safe destination. Extreme World first opened in the summer of 1993, and it has never had a major incident, Anderson says. “Our safety record is phenomenal.” It’s just the little accidents and stumbles that make for the largest issues. “We’ve had a few fender benders at the go-kart track,” he says. “And I had an incident where somebody tripped over a bright yellow parking block and broke his arm. Those are the biggest headaches.” Insurance makes up a big part of extreme amusement parks’ budgets. Kuczaj says Zero Gravity spends more on insurance than anything else, and about seven percent of Extreme World’s budget goes toward it, Anderson notes. How About This Weather? With so much invested in insurance, having a strong summer season is key to survival. The peak time for Extreme World runs just six weeks—from July to mid-August, but the spring and fall months have picked up as of late, Anderson says. The Wisconsin Dells area has become a major Midwest tourist community, and Extreme World has shifted from an impulse drive to a destination attraction. Last year, Cedar Point had 3.25 million customers coming through its gates, and Witherow hopes to top that figure this year. “Our operating season is very intense,” she says. “We have 140 days to make or break us. We pray every day for 80 degrees and blue skies.” Fortunately, the Zero Gravity management doesn’t have to worry as much when it comes to weather. With an average winter temperature high of 60 degrees in Dallas, they have the luxury of staying open longer. In the colder months, they open up only on weekends, but they expand to a seven-day-a-week schedule from spring break to early October. Zero Gravity is also mainly a nighttime park. During the week, they don’t open until 7 p.m. and go until 11 p.m. or midnight. They stay open all day on Saturday and Sunday, though. Pay Per Ride Besides offering their customers more teeth-chattering excitement, extreme amusement parks differ from traditional parks for another reason—the pricing system. Instead of charging a flat rate when entering the park, both Zero Gravity and Extreme World have customers pay per ride (which works out well for those who chicken out). On the cheaper side at Extreme World, the Skycoaster will cost one single flyer $21.95. Bungee jumping and Terminal Velocity run about $39.95 for the first attempt and $15 for the second. Anderson says people often “progress up” with rides. First, they may try the Skycoaster—the park’s most popular ride. If they can handle that, they’ll move on and eventually make it to Terminal Velocity. At both places, customers will receive discounts if they buy tickets for more than one rider or if they get multiple people to do the same ride. Each ride for one person at Zero Gravity goes for $29.50. Doing all four rides costs $73.95, but if three people opt for the combo package its runs $194 for everyone. “We try to encourage the customers to come out and try a few rides,” Kuczaj says. “They’re very different and unique experiences.” Zero Gravity also plans to add a fifth ride to the park—the Skyscraper. “It’s similar to a Ferris wheel, but there are only two chairs on it and it’s a lot faster,” Kuczaj explains. “It pulls about 4 Gs and goes 70 mph and 160 feet in the air. It’s pretty wild.” But don’t be surprised if ride manufacturers will be working some extra hours to construct new and unconventional ways to make people lose their lunches. “With a lot of aspects of these rides, people are looking for bigger, better, faster, and higher,” Kuczaj says. “And that quest will continue.”
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