Spiders. Giant ones. On your face. While you are 40 stories high. This is what the new ride at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey will bring to it’s visitors using the power of virtual reality (VR).
Six Flags are claiming that the new ride is the tallest and fastest virtual reality drop ride in the world. The ride, titled appropriately as the Drop of Doom will send visitors hurtling down 41 stories at speeds of up to 90 mph (145 kph), but if that isn’t enough to thoroughly terrify you, the riders will also be facing giant mutant spiders.
Riders begin by being strapped into the ride harness, where there is the option of donning a Samsung Gear VR headset. From there, visitors will be immersed in a 360-degree experience where they become pilots under attack by mutant spiders as the ride car zooms into the air. Following a fast-paced gun battle, virtual baby spiders will be ejected onto the riders as the ride plunges downwards for 10 seconds, sending the virtual skyscrapers all around into a blur.
“As the leader in innovation, Six Flags launched the very first VR coaster experiences. Now, we are taking virtual reality to the next level with the introduction of the first VR drop rides,” Six Flags Great Adventure President Neal Thurman said in a statement.
Drop of Doom joins other VR-enhanced coasters and rides, such as Galactica at Alton Towers, Derren Brown’s Ghost Train at Thorpe Park and Galactic Attack at Six Flags Magic Mountain, as well as several other VR rides that have been rolled out at various Six Flags parks.
VRFocus will continue to bring you news on VR rides and rollercoasters.