Dungeon Drop at Astroworld in Houston

One of the last attractions installed at Astroworld before its closure in 2005, the Dungeon Drop was one of the first thrills that guests would encounter at the park (if they made a left instead of a right, of course, which most people did. Most people do a theme park in a clockwise fashion).

Standing 230 feet tall and with a drop speed that was over 60 miles per hour, the ride was fancy not just for its thrilling drop but also for the terrific view of Houston and the theme park that it offered riders for that split second before the drop.

Dungeon Drop was added during an exciting time in the park's history, where new attractions were trying to compete with the more elaborately-themed Disney and Universal parks. Like the Mayan Mindbender, the attraction had themed queue area, a custom soundtrack, and even a backstory.

Nestled into the Nottingham Village area of the park, the general story was that you were entering a castle (the entrance to the ride was a large castle facade) and being transported magically by Merlin's magic. Something like that, anyway.

The soundtrack was for two speakers. One speaker was a synth drone, and the other various synth stabs and sound effects.

Before the Dungeon Drop was installed, the queue area (and some offices/machine areas behind it) were empty and were gutted a few times to make way for a really horrifying "house of horrors" that was so scary that it scarred many children for life.

After Astrworld closed, the ride was repainted orange, green, and white and was going to be called "Acrophobia" but before being reconstructed and relocated to Six Flags St. Louis, it was repainted and rethemed as "Superman's Tower of Power" and reopened soon after.

Please note, this is a similar ride but NOT the actual ride that was involved in a horrible accident that severed a girl's feet. That ride, also a "Superman's Tower of Power" and nearly identical in construction, was located in Kentucky and has since been dismantled. If you'd like to read more about that incident, please click here.