Pitt Fall was a drop tower ride located at

Kennywood Kennywood is an amusement park located in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, just southeast of Pittsburgh. The park opened on May 30, 1899, as a trolley park attraction at the end of the Mellon family's Monongahela Street Railway. It was purchased i ...

amusement park in the

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

suburb of

West Mifflin, Pennsylvania West Mifflin is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, located southeast of downtown Pittsburgh. The population was 20,313 at the 2010 census. It is named after Thomas Mifflin, 1st Governor of Pennsylvania, signer of the U ...

. The name of the ride was a pun on the word " pitfall", a type of

booby trap A booby trap is a device or setup that is intended to kill, harm or surprise a human or another animal. It is triggered by the presence or actions of the victim and sometimes has some form of bait designed to lure the victim towards it. The trap m ...

, but spelled with two "t"'s as in an abbreviation of "Pittsburgh". When it opened in 1997, it was the tallest drop tower in the world. The ride was manufactured by

Intamin Intamin Amusement Rides is a design and manufacturing company in Schaan, Liechtenstein. It is best known for creating thrill rides and roller coasters worldwide. The Intamin brand name is a syllabic abbreviation for "international amusement insta ...

and is known in the industry as a "Giant Drop".

History

Construction of Pitt Fall began in July 1996 at the former site of Phantom Flyers. Pitt Fall soft opened on April 17, 1997 during a special preview day. The ride then opened on April 20, 1997. In June 2011, Pitt Fall was listed for sale and bought in early September by an undisclosed buyer. After 14 years, Pitt Fall closed for good on September 18, 2011. It was replaced by

Black Widow Black widow may refer to: Spiders * Black widow spider, a common name for some species of spiders in the genus ''Latrodectus'' American species * ''Latrodectus apicalis'', the Galapagos black widow * ''Latrodectus curacaviensis'', the South Amer ...

in 2012.

Ride experience

A group of sixteen or less riders would be loaded into a group of four ride cars which seated four riders each. The riders were then secured with an over-the-shoulder harness and an interlocking seat belt. As the riders boarded, four yellow catch cars slowly descended from the top of the tower and coupled onto each ride car. After the "all-clear" was given, the catch cars pulled on the ride vehicles, lifting them off the ground and ascended to the top of the tower. After clearing the braking zone, the cars picked up speed, reaching 12 mph. They were held 229 feet in the air for several seconds, after which they were released from the couplings, allowing the cars to free fall nearly 150 feet at 65 mph. Upon reaching the braking zone, magnetic brakes slowed the speed of the ride cars. Once the cars came to a stop on the ground, the riders lifted their safety harnesses and exited the ride.

Records

References

*https://web.archive.org/web/20150907000821/http://coaster-net.com/ride-gallery/25-pitt-fall-defunct/ {{Pittsburgh Metro Area Kennywood Amusement rides manufactured by Intamin Drop tower rides Amusement rides introduced in 1997 Towers completed in 1997 Amusement rides that closed in 2011