Stratosphere Thrill Rides

Description:

• Atop the 1,149-foot Stratosphere Tower are three marvelous thrill rides. There used to be four, but they closed the roller coaster to make way for something even more stomach-churning. That's okay -- it was the least thrilling of the thrills. The Big Shot is a breathtaking free-fall ride that thrusts you 160 feet in the air along a 228-foot spire at the top of the tower, and then plummets back down again. Sitting in an open car, you seem to be dangling in space over Las Vegas. We have one relative, a thrill-ride enthusiast, who said he never felt more scared than when he rode the Big Shot. After surviving, he promptly put his kids on it; they loved it. Amping up the terror factor is X-Scream, a giant teeter-totter style device that propels you in an open car off the side of the 100-story tower and lets you dangle there weightlessly before returning you to relative safety. And now they have the aptly named Insanity, a spinning whirly-gig of a contraption that straps you into a seat and twirls you around 1,000 feet or so above terra firma. Insanity is right. Note: The rides are shut down in inclement weather and high winds.

• © Frommer's 2013

Awards:

Frommer's

•  Highly Recommended 2009
•  Highly Recommended 2010