Viva! Skydiving
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| Product | Time Fall | ||||||||||||
| Designer / calculations | Sega AM5, Mirai R&D (2000) | ||||||||||||
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| Capacity | 6 per cycle | ||||||||||||
| Height | 13 metres | ||||||||||||
Viva! Skydiving (Japanese: ビバ! スカイダイビング) is a Drop Tower designed by Sega AM5 formerly located at Tokyo Joypolis in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It was situated on Floor 3,[1] which is present-day Floor 1.
History
The attraction opened with Tokyo Joypolis on 12 July 1996[2][3] under the name Time Fall (Japanese: タイムフォール), being specifically designed for the park.
The ride's inclusion in the park followed Sega noticing the huge success of The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Disney-MGM Studios in Florida.
In September 2000, Tokyo Joypolis closed for remodelling, with its attractions being refurbished and rethemed. When the park reopened on 2 December 2000, Time Fall was rebranded as Viva! Skydiving with a theme change and the addition of a large monitor in front of the attraction.[4]
Incident and Removal
On 18 April 2005, a 30-year-old disabled man fell 6 metres from the ride to his death, although the other three riders on the ride at the time were not harmed. The death led to investigations from Sega about the incident in regards to safety and staff negligence, and the company closed Tokyo Joypolis temporarily on 20 April. Police investigated Sega's offices for information on the ride on the 28th,[5] revealing that the ride's manual had stated that people who need assistance walking aren't allowed to ride. Two employees were charged with negligence in July.[6] Following Joypolis' reopening, the attraction was permanently removed and the area covered over with theming.
Design
Viva! Skydiving is a 13 metre drop tower attraction with additions to fit in the Joypolis theme.
As Time Fall, was made to simulate a time machine adventure, but going wrong in the process. Due to the location of the attraction and limitations surrounding it, the freefall function would only go up to a maximum of 13 metres, so to increase the intensity guests wore headphones that played sound effects, while monitors and lighting would emulate the attraction's plotline into reality.
With its final name, the attraction's theming and plotline now simulated that of a virtual Skydiving simulator with the addition of projection screens and the seats being modified to give the slight jitter of movement.
References
- ↑ "Tokyo Joypolis floor plan". Sega. Archived from the original on 2004-08-13.
- ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine (PDF). p. 41. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-08-09.
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/19991114125938/http://www.sega.co.jp/sega/atp/atc/timefall.html
- ↑ "Viva! Skydiving". Sega. Archived from the original on 2001-08-02.
- ↑ "Police search Sega offices after amusement park death". GameSpot. 2005-04-28. Retrieved 2024-06-29.
- ↑ "Sega workers busted in Joypolis accident". GameSpot. 2005-07-06. Retrieved 2024-06-29.