Q:
The picture of the Boardwalk from yesterday’s QOD brought back something I had wondered about - was the roller coaster on the roof ever functional, or just an ornate sign holder? Along those lines, you have a great list of current rides through the Vistor Guide, but have other rides come and gone from the area? The coasters at the top of the Stratosphere and at the Sahara are the only two I have ridden which are now gone. Thanks!
A:
There's an interesting question. This writer first visited Vegas in 1997, but below is the list I was able to come up, from memory and via some digging around. I may well have missed some*, so please feel free to chime in if you know of something else that should be on the list, and I'll add an "Update."
As to the Boardwalk, that roller coaster was part of an $80 million investment made back in 1977 to give the property a "Coney Island"-style carnival facade, but neither the roller coaster nor the Ferris-wheel ride were real, and the original 1906 parachute-jump ride was non-operational, which was probably just as well.
Stratosphere's High Roller debuted with the hotel and encapsulated Bob Stupak's love of hyperbole, with its claim to be the world's highest roller coaster. It lasted not quite 10 years, closing in late December 2005, and now resides (to the best of our knowledge) in the backyard of local eccentric Lonnie Hammargren, who collects such things (see QoD 10/9/06)
When Luxor opened in 1992, small barges navigated a river that encircled the casino floor and were intended to ferry guests to the "inclinators" (the specially designed elevators that were designed to accommodate the unique pyramidal shape). When guests complained about the wait, however, the ride was promoted purely for entertainment purposes as the Nile River Adventure and tickets were sold for first $4, and then $3, indicating a lack of popularity. The attraction remained in place for just three years.
While the official line has always been that the ride's demise was merely part of a major interior remodeling project, according to the unofficial but popular account, the Nile River was removed because guests kept seeing the ghosts of three workers, who were killed during Luxor's construction, whenever the river passed through dark tunnels.
At one time, there was a small roller coaster at the MGM Grand Adventures Theme Park, which opened on December 18, 1993 and closed to the public on September 4, 2000 after Las Vegas' much-vaunted failed attempt at "Disneyfying" itself as a family-oriented destination was finally abandoned. Called the Lightning Bolt, the space-themed roller coaster was initially housed indoors, but later on it was moved outside. Other original rides and experiences here included: the Backlot River Tour that took passengers on a boat ride past mock-ups of movie sets, with special effects such as gun fire, rain, and water cannons; Deep Earth Exploration, a "dark ride" with a motion-simulator deep-earth tunneling machines; and the Grand Canyon Rapids white-water-rapids-type ride.
Later, additional attractions were added, including Sky Screamer (this writer's personal favorite), which was a 250-foot-tall "skycoaster" where riders were strapped into harnesses and lifted up a 225-foot "launch tower." At the top, you had to pull a ripcord, which triggered a free fall at upwards of 70 mph. It was pretty cool.
In 1994 international bungy-jumping company A.J. Hackett opened a ride in Las Vegas, next to Circus Circus, where jumpers (including a reluctant Anthony Curtis) flung themselves off a 170-foot tower; they could opt for a little dip in the Circus Circus pool at the bottom. The bungy jump shut down at the end of July 2005 and although noises were made over the next year or two to reopen it, it never happened.
Speed: The Ride, the roller coaster at the Sahara that opened in 2000, employed "slingshot" technology, which accelerated riders from zero to 70 mph in just two seconds. It departed from the NASCAR Cafe wing of the Sahara, dived into a 25-foot-long tunnel under the Strip sidewalk, circle a 360-degree loop, shot under the Sahara marquee, then climbed straight up a 224-foot tower. At the top, riders experienced a split second of zero gravity, before plummeting down and backward along the entire track. The entire ride lasted just 48 seconds but it was hella fun!
*Wet 'n Wild Water Park has been written about so much, especially with the debut of the "next generation" W 'n' W on the west side, so we deliberately omitted that former attraction; and, speaking of the "next generation," we left out the Star Trek Experience that debuted at the former Las Vegas Hilton in 1997 because it was, well, more of an "experience" than ride.
Update 08 June 2013
Thanks to the readers who wrote in, as hoped, to fill in the gaps:
- "No question, but a comment about Las Vegas rides. There was a motion simulator (like Star Tours at Disneyland) at the Forum Shops; I believe it was called Race to Atlantis. You wore 3-D glasses and watched a movie while the floor moved with the show. Along those lines do they still have the motion simulators on the lower level at Excalibur? There were also a couple good rides upstairs at Luxor when it opened: One was a journey down to an ancient "dig," supposedly 50 or more floors down. Also a motion simulator."
- "Loved your 6/8/2013 QOD concerning the various rides on the Strip.
"Don't forget the Luxor ride, where you took an 'elevator' to the center of the Earth, where the elevator supposedly "broke" and you had a free fall only to land safely. Then you would 'fly' out in a most exciting ride pulled by some sort of 'space motor cycle.' The rider of the cycle would fight off the bad guys." [Ed: Are you pulling our leg?! That sounds awesome, if terrifying for a claustrophobe like me -- I would likely have died of fright in the elevator LOL.]
"Also, there was the theater where you witnessed a 'Johnny Carson'-type of show, but in the end it was all on a screen of some sort. Most interesting and entertaining."
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