Video: Demon Drop now open at Dorney Park

Dorney Park has opened the Demon Drop tower ride to the public, after relocating it from its previous home at Cedar Point.

The ride opened on Friday (July 2), although it has since suffered from technical problems which have led to some downtime. Demon Drop has retained its original name and logo from Cedar Point, but there is speculation that it has acquired a new magnetic braking system - resulting in what appears to be a smoother ending to the ride.

Although it is being billed as a "new" attraction by Dorney Park, Demon Drop was first opened at Cedar Point in 1983. A first-generation Intamin Freefall attraction, it sees riders carried up an 99-foot elevator shaft four at a time, before being dropped downwards on a track. It is the only ride of its model left operating in the United States.

A video of Demon Drop in action at Dorney Park is embedded below, courtesy of NewsPlusNotes (which also has an extensive photo update from the opening day):

Demon Drop was initially planned to move to Knott's Berry Farm for the 2010 season, but operator Cedar Fair subsequently switched its plans. The company faced severe criticism for its original plan, with Knott's Berry Farm already hosting the much more modern Supreme Scream compressed-air tower ride. Cedar Fair was also criticised for moving a 27-year-old attraction to the park at a time when its Southern California rivals are carrying out multi-million dollar upgrades.

However, on the surface Dorney Park would appear to be an equally illogical choice as the new location for Demon Drop. Like Knott's Berry Farm, the park already has a major tower ride - the 200-foot tall Dominator. This features a tower that drops riders further and faster than Demon Drop (riders drop 170 feet at faster-than-freefall speeds).

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