Superman: Tower of Power at Six Flags St. Louis is a second generation Intamin drop tower. This
ride started at the former Six Flags Astroworld before coming to Six Flags St. Louis in 2006,
but it may have given its final ride in 2020. In this video, I will discuss why Superman:
Tower of Power may be removed and share my review on this drop tower.
Last October, Six Flags shared that they were removing 15 rides from the chain
to reduce maintenance costs and free up significant capex resources. A few rides
have been confirmed thus far such as Tumbleweed at Frontier City, but the biggest and best attraction
that is currently rumored to be on the way out is Superman: Tower of Power at Six Flags St. Louis.
Two rides were recently removed from the St. Louis park’s website-
the Moon Antique Cars and Superman: Tower of Power. While this alone does not confirm these
rides are being removed- rides have disappeared from Six Flags websites in the past by mistake-
the timing is quite suspicious. This is especially true since Superman was rumored to be one of the
most likely ride removal candidates. This drop tower originally opened at
Six Flags Astroworld in Houston, Texas in 1997. Named Dungeon Drop, this was one of the final
attractions added to Astroworld. Placed in the Nottingham Village section of the park, this drop
tower had a medieval theme and the queue line took you through- you guessed it- a dungeon.
The ride stood 230 feet or 70 meters tall and operated at Astroworld until the park
closed after the 2005 season. At that point, the ride was relocated to Six Flags St. Louis.
This park in Eureka, Missouri was one of the few in the Six Flags chain without a drop tower,
so it was a perfect fit. Originally, the ride was to be named Acrophobia
at its new home- just like the drop tower at the Georgia park. The ride was going to have an
orange, green, and teal paint scheme. However, then CEO Mark Shapiro ordered the attraction to
be themed to Superman to utilize the company’s DC license. The ride received some cardboard
cutouts in the queue line and was painted red, blue, and yellow to match the Man of Steel.
Superman is a second generation Intamin drop tower. The first generation drop towers debuted
in 1982. These drop towers had an L-shape. Carriages were lifted up a 131 foot or 40 meter
tall elevator shaft, moved forwards into a drop shaft, and plummeted, ending up on their back.
The carriages were then moved backwards into the station. Fifteen in total were built. Today, only
one remains in America in Demon Drop at Dorney Park, but three remain in Japan and one in Italy.
Intamin later debuted the second generation drop tower. This would consist of a single tower that
would lift multiple carriages atop a tower and drop them, smoothly slowing down the vehicles at
the last moment with magnetic brakes. Many parks added these towers in the mid to late 1990s.
This model, and the ones offered by S&S, often replaced the first generation towers.
They were smoother, more compact, and could be built taller.
In recent years, many of the second generation towers have operated at less than full capacity.
Each carriage can operate independently and it’s exceedingly rare to find a park with every side
operable. Maintenance issues are ultimately why Kennywood removed their popular Pitt Fall
drop tower after the 2011 season. In both my 2018 and 2020 visits,
Six Flags St. Louis’s Superman was only operating at half capacity.
Only 3 of the 6 carriages were available. I think this ride’s maintenance issues-
and subsequent low capacity- are the primary reason why it likely is being removed. The
ride could then become a part donor for the two other Intamin second generation drop towers in the
chain such as Voodoo Drop at Six Flags America and Giant Drop at Six Flags Great America.
And while this one has operated with a perfect safety record, a ride with the same name and
same ride model had a tragic accident at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom in 2007. This accident occurred
14 years ago, so I doubt this is a main reason why St. Louis is removing their drop tower, but it
could have been a contributing factor considering the history of the model in the chain.
Six Flags St. Louis placed Superman: Tower of Power in the very back of the park atop a hill.
And I loved this placement. The elevation change from the front of the park to the
top of this hill was roughly 92 feet or 28 meters according to Google Earth.
So when you added the 230 foot or 70 meter height of this attraction, Superman looked colossal. It
stood roughly 322 feet or 98 meters above the main entrance. This made it one of the park’s icons.
The only possible downside with this ride’s placement is that I suspect it
caused Screamin’ Eagle’s entrance to be moved. Screamin’ Eagle’s entrance is currently in a
bizarre and convoluted location at the end of a midway of games. I haven’t been able to confirm
if this is true in photos, but I’d love if a local could confirm if this theory is true.
Six Flags St. Louis has never been busy in the days I’ve visited, so the ride’s queue usually
isn’t more than 15 minutes. But the ride still had a putrid capacity of just 12 riders per cycle
since it was often running at half capacity. The carriages not in use sat idle atop the tower.
With this drop tower, it was critical to get the side overlooking the hill for several reasons.
Not only did you get the added height, but you also were overlooking the entire park. If you were
placed on the opposite side of the attraction, you’d only get a view of Screamin’ Eagle and a
bunch of trees- along with the reduced height. The park often assigned you to a specific carriage,
but they would allow you to wait an extra cycle for a specific side. And it was well-worth it.
Superman had the standard 2nd generation Intamin restraints.
It was a snug over-the-shoulder harness with a redundant seatbelt. The seats aren’t very
comfortable since they aren’t molded, but it wasn’t a major issue for such a short ride.
Superman began by lifting the operating carriages atop the 230 foot tower. The initial
ascent is slow, but it becomes quite brisk once you clear the magnetic brakes. You ascend at
speeds approaching 12 mph or 19 kph. You slowed down as you reached the top and then stopped
for a few seconds to take in the view. And this view was one of my favorites on any drop tower
if you were on the side overlooking the hill. After a few seconds, you would drop. Each carriage
would drop in a random order. So there was no warning for the first carriage to fall,
but the other sides would have a split-second to realize their drop was imminent. The best ride
was when your side dropped first so you didn’t have that extra warning when you’d be released.
The drop packed a punch. I would float the whole way down
and get a nice stomach-dropping sensation. These second generation Intamin drop towers have some of
the best drops on the market. I prefer the power of the ARM/Larson towers, but the Intamin ones
are in the next tier. They are head-and-shoulders better than the S&S drop towers you often find.
So what would I rate Superman: Tower of Power? I would give this drop tower an 8.5 out of 10.
Superman just barely missed my list for my top 25 favorite drop towers. The impressive
view overlooking the hill combined with a solid drop made it one of the best of the genre. It was
easily my favorite non-coaster at Six Flags St. Louis and I preferred it over several of their
roller coasters as well. I would always make sure to ride this attraction several times each visit.
Superman will definitely be missed if it indeed is being removed,
but it seems likely based on the ride’s maintenance issues
and removal from the website. But those are my thoughts on this Intamin drop tower. Have you
ridden Superman? What are your thoughts about this ride- either the experience or the ride’s removal?
I would love to hear what you think down in the comments. If you enjoyed this video, I’d
appreciate it if you gave this video a like and you considered subscribing since there will be a
lot more roller coaster and amusement park videos here at Canobie Coaster. Thanks for watching!