Hurakan Condor has a strong case as the world’s scariest drop tower.
Located at PortAventura, this hulking Intamin drop tower is not only one of the world’s
tallest drop towers, but it also offers a unique riding position.
Two sides offer stand-up, floorless, tilting vehicles.
These sides make Hurakan Condor special as I’ll explain in this review.
Intamin has built nearly 50 drop towers worldwide.
Roughly half of these have been giant drops, which has been their most popular drop tower
model.
Unveiled in the mid-1990s, a large majority of these rides were built between 1995 and
2000.
Hurakan Condor opened in 2005 and it was one of the latest giant drops built, which worked
to its advantage.
For one, it opened as the tallest drop tower in Europe.
The ride’s overall structure stands 377 feet or 115 meters tall.
The only taller drop tower when the ride opened was Giant Drop at Dreamworld in Australia.
Two, the ride features three seating options.
Cars 1 and 2 have standard sit-down seats.
Car 5 features sit-down seats that tilt at the top.
Cars 3 and 4 are the most extreme cars by far.
Those are the stand-up, floorless, tilting cars.
This configuration had previously been used on Apocalypse at Drayton Manor, Acrophobia
at Six Flags Over Georgia, and High Fall at Movie Park Germany, but Hurakan Condor was
nearly twice as tall as those rides.
Hurakan Condor is located in the Mexico section of PortAventura and it looks incredible.
It’s a prominent part of this Spanish park’s skyline.
It can be seen from anywhere within PortAventura and it can be seen from miles away.
And the ride looks just as impressive up close.
Not only does it have astounding heights, but it has some great theming.
The base of the tower is enveloped by a Mayan temple with some exquisite rockwork.
The queue line passes through some ancient ruins.
Then the top of the tower has a pyramid structure above it.
It gives this ride a unique look to differentiate it from other drop towers.
PortAventura uses staggered openings for their attractions and Hurakan Condor typically opens
an hour after the park.
If you head here early, you usually won’t find a wait.
This has two advantages.
One, you obviously don’t have to spend time in line.
This ride can get a 30-45 minute wait midday.
Two, the employees are more willing to accommodate seating requests.
And this is key.
The different sides of Hurakan Condor give vastly different experiences.
So it stinks you often have assigned seating here.
I’m honestly shocked the queue isn’t split into different lines for sitting versus stand-up.
I know some people that absolutely hate the stand-up side both from a fear and comfort
standpoint.
It stinks they could be forced to experience that side or instead choose not to ride.
Alternatively, you have thrill-seekers like me that would happily wait extra for the more
unique side.
The one exception I’ve seen is if you have a guest of larger size.
The stand-up side’s restraints are less accommodating, so these guests have a better
shot of riding on the sit-down side.
Another odd queuing choice is that this is the largest ride at PortAventura to not offer
Express.
Instead, there is a single rider line.
It’s accessible midway through the queue.
This is usually a walk-on most days so it’s the best way to marathon this attraction,
especially if you need to keep trying for the desired side.
At the end of the queue, you are assigned a side.
On a busy day, all 5 will be in use.
On a quiet day, a few sides may be out of commission.
Each car holds 4 guests.
So it can accommodate a max of 20 riders total.
PortAventura thankfully loads the ride fast and when combined with the attraction’s
short cycle time, the line at least moves at a brisk pace.
The sides can also operate independently.
PortAventura dispatches the stand-up ones together and then the sit-down ones together.
On the stand-up side, you straddle a nub and have a large over-the-shoulder harness.
Unless you’re crazy tall, you will have quite a bit of clearance between your shoulders
and the top of the restraint, which will allow for some fantastic airtime later in the ride.
I imagine taller guests have less room and if you’re over 195 cm or 6’5, you actually
can’t ride.
Hurakan Condor begins with a slow climb out of the temple.
You are pulled to the top by a coupler.
You rise quite slowly until you move past the magnetic brakes.
Then you swiftly complete the rest of the climb.
The stand-up sides offer great views of the mountains and front half of the park.
However, you don’t get too much time to take the view in.
Unlike most drop towers that hold you for several seconds at the top, you only stop
at the top for maybe a second.
But a lot happens in that second.
One, you get your photo taken.
Two and more importantly, the cars tilt 15 degrees.
I know that doesn’t sound like much, but it makes a major impact.
It forces you to stare directly at the ground and you will feel every bit of that ride’s
height.
It doesn’t feel right to be hanging that far above the ground in the stand-up position.
All of the sudden, you will drop like a rock.
And that plunge is exhilarating.
You get a great stomach-dropping sensation the whole way down.
It’s stronger than most towers because of the orientation.
And you get some fantastic airtime.
Remember that space between your shoulders, you noticeably lift several inches skyward.
It’s quite freaky.
You don’t get that much movement on most sit-down towers.
The drop is roughly 285 feet or 87 meters in size.
So while it is quite a bit shorter than the tower’s overall height, it’s still taller
than most drop towers and you really appreciate that added size.
You hit a max speed of 71 mph or 115 kph here.
The end of the drop is notable too.
One, the end of the drop heads back into the temple.
This creates a fantastic near-miss, especially since you’re forced to stare at it.
Two, you have the brakes.
It is a swift and smooth deceleration.
Now guys out there are probably dreading what will happen to their…uh hem…family jewels
at this point.
Will you be viciously slammed downwards and unable to have kids?
Thankfully no.
I always tense up instinctively, but you won’t come off in pain.
My most recent rides came just a few months after I tore my groin playing frisbee and
this ride didn’t aggravate that injury, which says a lot.
Another neat feature is that you tilt back to neutral before you hit the ground.
Compare that to Acrophobia where you tilt back after the cycle is complete.
It’s hard to tell off-ride, but I believe this occurs right around when you hit the
brakes.
This is when it happens on their newer Skyjump towers like Falcon’s Fury as well.
I’ll also talk about the sit-down sides.
You have familiar seating to other Intamin giant drops.
You have a fine seat and over-the-shoulder restraint.
The ride starts the same.
You have a climb that starts slow.
Then you pick up the pace once your clear the temple.
You’re at the top in no time.
These sides offer great views of the Mediterranean Sea and the back half of the park.
It’s a stunning vista.
As with the stand-up side, you don’t have too much time to take it in.
You also only pause at the top for a second or two.
During this time, all 3 sides get their photo taken.
Then car 5 also tilts 15 degrees towards the ground.
That visual makes this drop noticeably better than cars 1 or 2.
Being forced to stare at the ground accentuates the stomach drop sensation.
All 3 sides do give a wonderful freefall sensation and floater airtime.
The airtime is as sustained as the stand-up side, but you won’t levitate as high due
to the restraints.
So what would I rate Hurakan Condor?
I would easily give this drop tower a perfect 10 out of 10.
This is one of the scariest rides in the world.
It’s my favorite drop tower in the world purely off thrills.
The stand-up, floorless, tilting cars offer one of the craziest experiences out there.
You have an incredible view and anticipation, followed by a gut-wrenching drop that’s
plenty forceful.
This ride definitely delivers in the stomach-dropping and airtime department.
Few towers offer a stronger drop and that’s even more impressive in that rare orientation.
My only con with this ride is that you can’t always pick your side.
All 5 sides are incredible, but the stand-up sides are extra special.
So those are my thoughts on Hurakan Condor at PortAventura.
What are your thoughts on this incredible drop tower?
Which side do you like best?
Let me know down in the comments.
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