ELYSBURG -- When Knoebels Amusement Resort in Northumberland County opens later this month, there will be a brand new ride...a very tall one! Crews just raised the 148 foot tower on "The Stratosfear".
"It's a drop tower, it will take you up 148 feet. 12 people at a time, 12 seats," Knoebels Spokesperson Joe Muscato said.
Knoebels Spokesperson Joe Muscato says the Stratosfear will be the tallest ride at the park. It goes up slowly and then drops riders at 47 miles per hour!
"It's been a couple of years since we've had an addition this big and exciting so we're pretty worked up about it," Muscato said.
The Knoebel family decided to buy the ride last summer while on vacation.
"The fifth generation Knoebel children had pulled the third generation to the side and said, 'hey, we have got to have one of these at Knoebels.' So the third generation all decided, 'alright, let's do this,'" Brian Knoebel said.
People were not allowed to watch the construction of the ride up close, but Knoebels fans still knew what was going on through Facebook
"I posted a couple of pictures this morning and I swear people are sitting at home watching the whole thing because every time I post one there are 10-12,000 people looking at it," Muscato said.
The Stratosfear must go through extensive testing before people are allowed to ride it. Dummies that are filled with water will be strapped into these seats for the first couple of trials.
"That will test that everything is stable and the restraints work and that sort of thing. As soon as that's all good we'll be ready to put people on it," Muscato said.
Knoebels expects to have the ride ready to go when the park opens on April 27.