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Zumanjaro: Drop of Doom, tallest thrill-seeking ride complete

Posted at 12:10 PM, Apr 11, 2014
and last updated 2014-04-11 12:13:54-04

JACKSON, New Jersey (PIX11)– Just days before Six Flags opens its doors to the public on April 12, workers put the final track piece into place to complete the world’s tallest drop ride – the terrifying 41-story Zumanjaro.

After months of building Zumanjaro: Drop of Doom, Six Flags announced they finished it on April 1.  The  drop ride is expected to open at Six Flags Great Adventure on Memorial Day Weekend, according to the amusement park.

The Six Flags website says the safari themed attraction will catapult riders 415 feet into the air in approximately 30 seconds and will pause to show an aerial view of the park before dropping down at 90 miles per hour.

If you need a measurement for how tall 415 feet is, well that’s the Statue of Liberty is 305 feet.

This is actually a ride within a ride.

Zumanjaro is within the ride Kingda Ka, which, is the world’s tallest roller coaster, the world’s second fastest roller coaster, and was the second strata coaster ever built.

As riders of Zumanjaro are going up 415 feet,  trains will launch directly toward them at speeds of up to 128 mph.

That’s not exactly clear, so we’ll translate: That means that this is actually a ride within a ride. The drop ride is actually in the middle of the Kingda Ka roller coaster, the world’s tallest.

In addition, patrons who wait in line can see the all-new animal area, where they can see native African Anubis baboons interact.

“Today is special because we not only broke the world record by topping off the world’s tallest drop ride, but also because we battled through some incredibly adverse weather conditions. We had the coldest and snowiest winter that any of us can remember,” John Fitzgerald, park president at Six Flags Great Adventure, said on April 1 in a press release.

“We appreciate the hard work by Shamrock Construction and the rest of the construction team in overcoming those conditions and getting the job done,” he added. “You would not believe how windy it can get up there in a snow storm.”