In 1994, Paramount Pictures brought a new high-speed, high-altitude flick to the big screen. Drop Zone took moviegoers on a sky-diving, criminal-fighting adventure putting Wesley Snipes and Gary Busey up against each other in a cinematic thrill ride to the end. That same year, Paramount became involved in thrill ride adventures of another sort following the purchase of Central Virginia's Kings Dominion and four other theme parks scattered about North America. Uniting theatrical thrills and mechanical madness was a proven hit, so Paramount set out to find the most jibing movies for new thrill rides. One of the new thrill rides just coming on the market around then was an experience that its inventors at Intamin AG aptly named the Giant Drop. Paramount was quick to snatch up one of them for their Californian and Carolina parks Great America and Carowinds, and now the dilemma was finding a suitable theme for this new vertical experience. And then, through some marvelous stretch of the imagination, some bright genius suggested that two-year-old sky-diving movie. It was a match made in heaven.

These new freefall devices were becoming nearly as commonplace as the roller coaster itself at the largest theme parks by the end of the nineties, partly due to Paramount's purchase of more Drop Zone towers for their other theme parks. The original concept called for individual cars to hoist several riders up the side of 174- and 224-foot towers and then freefall back down at fifty-six or sixty-two miles an hour, respectively. Then, with a new Giant Drop addition at Canada's Wonderland the next year, the Drop Zone adaptation grew to a 230-foot tower. Two years later, the ultimate tower arrived. The chain's flagship park, Kings Island, transmuted the other rides into junior towers for sky-divers-in-training with their dominating new 264-foot freefall utilizing the new Gyro-Drop design from Intamin AG taking some forty riders at a time rotating around the tower in a single ring before a sixty-seven-mile-per-hour freefall. It was the largest ride of its kind in North America, and Paramount was satisfied. But, wait, wasn't there one more park out there left to go?

Yes, for all of those years, a freefall tower was absent from the lineup of rides at Paramount's Kings Dominion, and with good reason. In the footsteps of tradition, Paramount's second-largest park was just about ready to one-up the others all at once. In the dead center of the park, on the historic plot of land home to such rides throughout the decades as the 1975 Monster model named Bad Apple and 1989's spinning aviation ride Sky Pilot, the existing Scrambler flat ride was removed, and a banner announced that its replacement would be anything but flat. "305 Feet... It's a Long Way Down," the cryptic signage read. However, for ride enthusiasts, the sign was anything but cryptic. It could mean only one thing: the wait was about to be vindicated. Over the off-season, a new sight to behold rose from that site into the Virginia sky. Eye-catching shades of orange and yellow became apparent as a giant cylindrical tower joined the Eiffel Tower replica that had solely dominated the region for the past thirty years. Now, it was a union of two towers that would define the skyline evermore.

Less than a decade after that summer flick had sent its competition's box office sales free-falling, this new thrill ride titan dropped in as the next big thing for Kings Dominion. Standing as the largest ride of its kind on the continent, it eclipsed the Mid-Atlantic's comparable rides at nearly twice the height of the second-largest competitor, and nearly twice the height of any other thrill-ride in the 400-acre park. In vital statistics, Drop Zone Stunt Tower crushed its rivalry, with a 272-foot freefall and speeds of some seventy-two miles per hour before a swift magnetic braking. In physical dimensions, Drop Zone also put the other Gyro-Drop towers to shame with the largest rider vehicle ever conceived: a custom fifty-six-passenger seating ring surrounding the tower. One ring to rule them all. What does this mean for riders? One of the biggest capacity machines in the world, equaling one of the fastest-moving lines, and seats as far from the tower as possible to give the illusion of uncontrolled freefall. When all aspects are added together, Drop Zone comes out on top as one of the most intense freefall experiences ever created.

When Cedar Fair purchased the Paramount parks, all of the rides that were themed to movies had to be renamed, including Drop Zone. The Italian Job Stunt Track was renamed to Backlot Stunt Coaster, Tomb Raider was renamed to the Crypt, and Drop Zone was renamed to Drop Tower.

Approaching Kings Dominion on I-95, future riders get their first glimpse of Drop Tower well before even entering the park, or parking lot for that matter. The tower hides behind the monstrous 332-foot Eiffel Tower as thrill-seekers storm into the park, walking past the water-fountain centerpiece of International Street, but in just a couple minutes, guests will get a totally different perspective on the tower. Entering the central Grove midway, Drop Tower towers well over all else at its 305-foot heights, with a loaded ring hoisted to the top making for a truly stunning sight for most. Its prevailing heights may scare some away, but the undaunted find themselves moving quickly through a U-shaped queue line weaving around the back and side of the tower. While queuing in the midst of summer, the gale force of a free-falling ring provides a brief escape from the heat if the covering overhead proves inadequate. Ultimately, an attendant splits groups of fourteen into separate queues surrounding the launch pad. Once the next ring-load falls back to earth, it's the moment of truth for the next batch of fifty-six.

Gates open and the next group of riders spills out onto the concrete pad, moving to the end of their assigned fourth of the ring color-coded in pink, blue, orange, or purple. Pulling the bright green restraints towards their seats, riders lock the safety belts in place on the harnesses as an attendant performs pre-flight checks. At last, with thumbs up all around, the hoisting platform descends to lock onto the seating ring. And then... It all begins. Dangling shoes and bare feet alike begin their trip skyward, dangling farther and farther from over the earth. Due to the stationary nature of Kings Dominion's ring, riders enjoy a view of one single area of the park on their way up, and watch a different group of rides sinking below all the while. Facing southwest, riders in the orange section get to watch the park's collection of wooden coasters, all under ninety feet, slip below. Just then, the ring's ascent speeds up slightly as the ring transcends the end of the braking zone. Meanwhile, out to the northeast, passengers in pink can watch an occasional show of pyrotechnics as Volcano: the Blast Coaster protests its shrinking 155-foot size and joins the neighboring 128-foot Anaconda as the next group of rides to succumb to Drop Zone's dominance.

The ring must be nearly at the top now, right? Wrong. Still over a third of the climb left. By now, humans have transformed into ants and a once-colossus expanse of rides into one giant kiddie playground. Facing northwest, riders in the pink and blue seating sections finally reach eye-level with the Eiffel Tower's lower observation deck and then the mechanical drone of winches hoisting the ring ceases. Riders can wave across the chasm of space to the tourists on the deck taking their pictures, because they won't be sticking around up at the top for too long. As seconds tick by, the anticipation builds, and the dead silence 272 feet in the air is broken by the occasional scream. Then, without warning, the inevitable befalls. The forces of freefall take over and the ring plummets mercilessly into the empty depths, taking three and a half seconds to reach the swift magnetic brakes at seventy-two miles per hour. Three-point-five g's press against riders as they finally stop and lower back to the ground. Restraints open, and riders exit back onto the brick midway after a minute-long ride.