Skyline Scream is one of the weirdest and most frustrating drop towers out there.
Located indoors at the Nickelodeon Universe theme park at the American Dream Mall, this S&S creation
certainly has a notable location, but this ride is among the most unreliable drop towers.
Find out why this ride can be so difficult to experience in this review.
Skyline Scream stands 125 feet or 38 meters tall. It’s marketed as the world’s tallest indoor
drop tower, but I don’t quite know if that’s accurate. Phantasialand has Mystery Castle,
which is an enclosed 213 foot or 65 meter tall drop tower. Then stateside,
you have both Walt Disney World’s Tower of Terror and Disney California Adventure’s
Guardians of the Galaxy, which offer a 13 story drop tower in a nearly 20 story tall building.
I think the record is meant as the world’s tallest drop tower at a fully indoor theme park.
Skyline Scream narrowly beat Galaxyland’s Space Shot, which is also an S&S creation.
Skyline Scream is a different model though. This is a combo tower with a unique twist, literally.
This is a rotating drop tower, which means the vehicle rotates
at the top before the final descent. This grants everyone a full 360 degree view.
Whether you experience this rotation or this attraction altogether is a wild card. This
is a shockingly unreliable drop tower. It’s weird to say that about an S&S drop tower since they’re
typically reliable attractions, but not this one. Skyline Scream has been closed in half my visits.
And based on reports from this park over the past year,
the ride’s uptime still isn’t great. And on the days it is open,
you may get an abbreviated cycle. I’ve heard of this one only running in Space Shot mode. Then
I’ve had a ride where it e-stopped at the top and I was slowly lowered back down.
When this drop tower is running, you most certainly know though. This is a deafeningly loud
attraction. You can hear this ride’s compressed air throughout the park, particularly near the
attraction. Skyline Scream had a special section of the roof built to house this tall attraction,
so it’s a neat view looking upwards. It makes the ride feel even taller than it really is.
In general, I like the look of this attraction. You have a really cool photo opportunity out
front with Hey Arnold and some seats. Then the green and orange paint scheme differs
from the usual white on other S&S towers. This attraction seats 20 riders in a ring.
If you’ve ridden Hersheypark’s Hershey tower, it’s a similar set-up. The over-the-shoulder restraints
look similar to the other ones. They aren’t as free as some drop towers, but they’re fine.
These ones don’t have the seatbelts to accompany them since they’re the newer ratcheting style.
I’ve never had to wait for this attraction which is nice. The big issue always is if it’s open.
Once dispatched, you raise upwards and await for the launch.
There is a spiel alerting you to when you’ll launch, but I’ve ridden enough S&S towers that
I can tell based on the ride’s sounds anyway. This launch is pretty good for an S&S.
It has some oomph to it at the start, which is surprising since this is a smaller one.
You do slow down by the top, so you only get weak floater airtime up there.
The best S&S towers for airtime are either the early space shots or the smaller double shots.
You then stop halfway up the tower and slowly rise back to the top section.
You have glass windows up here, so on a clear day, the view up here is great. You slowly get
one full 360 degree rotation, so you can see New York City in the distance. You also can see all
the New Jersey highlights and the HVAC equipment for the mall, but let’s focus on the positives.
You also have these platforms with some familiar Nicktoons, which is a fun feature.
Once you pause, you drop. And this drop is odd. The initial descent is pretty slow and induces
just a small pop of airtime. Halfway down the drop, you get a second burst of acceleration
that causes a slight tingly sensation akin to a Moser junior drop tower.
I can’t think of any other drop tower with a two part drop like this.
It’s analogous to a pulsed launch on a coaster. While that second burst caught me off-guard,
the overall drop is still pretty weak, especially for a ride of this scale.
You then slowly lower back down, ending the experience.
So what would I rate Skyline Scream? I would give this S&S drop tower a 3 out of 10.
This ride is certainly different. It’s the first S&S tower with rotating seats
and getting a combo tower indoors is fun. And the view at the top can be good if it’s clear outside.
But this ride’s power left me wanting more. While the launch is fine, the airtime on the space shot
mode was lacking and the descent on the turbo drop mode was surprisingly slow. Add in how problematic
this attraction is and it’s a disappointment. It's not a must at this park, but ride it if you see it
open because it could go down at any point. So those are my thoughts on Skyline Scream,
the weird drop tower at the American Dream’s Nickelodeon Universe.
What are your thoughts on this ride? Do you have the same issues with this ride as me?
Let me know your thoughts down below. If you enjoyed this review, I’d appreciate it if you
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more roller coaster and amusement park videos here at Canobie Coaster. Thanks for watching!