10 Things You Didn't Know About The Tower Of Terror

4. Faster Than Gravity

Tower of Terror
DisneyWorld

The drop to the ground is an alarmingly fast one, causing the rider to rise out of his/her seat, and that's very much the intention of the Imagineers. 

They wanted riders truly screaming and being moved up, so rather than having it as just a free-fall ride, the elevator is instead pulled-down at an accelerated force. This means that you're going down faster than you would be if it were just left to gravity. 

The motors used to propel the elevators up and down produce a torque equivalent to that of 275 Corvettes, reaching the top speed - just over 30mph - in around 1.5 seconds. 

Contributor
Contributor

NCTJ-qualified journalist. Most definitely not a racing driver. Drink too much tea; eat too much peanut butter; watch too much TV. Sadly only the latter paying off so far. A mix of wise-old man in a young man's body with a child-like wonder about him and a great otherworldly sensibility.