Detonator

A 100ft drop tower - you're lifted to the top, held briefly, then released without warning.

About Detonator

Detonator is Thorpe Park's drop tower, standing 100ft (30m) tall at the edge of the park's lake. Riders sit in a ring of outward-facing seats and are lifted slowly to the top of the tower. At the summit there's a brief, deliberate pause - then the brakes release and the carriage drops in freefall, decelerating sharply before reaching the ground.

The entire drop lasts only a couple of seconds, but the combination of height, anticipation, and sudden release makes Detonator one of the most genuinely surprising rides in the park. Unlike roller coasters where the fear builds through movement, a drop tower operates entirely on waiting - which many riders find more unsettling than the drop itself.

What to Expect

The ride cycle is slow - you spend most of the time either queuing, being loaded, or ascending. The experience itself is brief: a few seconds of ascent, a pause, then two seconds of freefall and a hard brake stop. Riders seated facing the lake get the most dramatic view during ascent.

The physical sensation is a short burst of weightlessness followed by strong deceleration - comparable to the drop on a roller coaster but isolated and amplified by the pause before release. It is not a sustained thrill but an acute one. Most riders are done before their body has time to process what happened.

Tips for Riding Detonator

• Queues build in the afternoon. Detonator has a low hourly capacity compared to the coasters. Ride it first thing or check the live queue page before walking over.
• Face the lake. Seats facing the water give the best view of the park and lake on the way up. Worth waiting for if the queue is split by row.
• The pause is the point. The deliberate hold at the top is designed to maximise anticipation. Don't look down during it.
• Short but intense. If you are nervous about coasters but want a thrill, Detonator is a good starting point - there are no inversions, no speed, just height and a single drop.

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