over the holidays barely two months ago, it just occurred to me that some of the theme and amusement park attractions that are available everywhere are just too boring for me.

there's the usual bump cars, the carousel, the ferris wheel, the roller coaster, etc. it's so "been there, than that"! isn't there anything exciting left for me to experience?

ever since, i've been mulling over what kind of theme park attractions i'd like to see. so with my "thinking cap" on, i imagined myself as an amusement ride designer.
one attraction i think i would like to experience (virtually of course) is falling from an elevator. not that i'd like to experience it FOR REAL, but just a virtual one. you'd see them in movies and television, when with the magic of special effects, a character riding inside an elevator plunges down to the ground from high above within the building. you see the rapid fall, you feel the cold beady sweats, you hold your breathe in suspense, and you'd think would it really feel that way falling from an elevator?
in comes amusement rides. maybe to satisfy a morbid curiosity, without the tragic results, there should be an amusement ride simulating this experience. of course, the dimensions of a regular elevator should be maintained, something which can simply accommodate a handful of people. the more enclosed it would be to contain up to 10 to 15 people only, to elicit a sense of claustrophobia, the better.

i'd design it to be made entirely of glass walls (thick ones), which can project a pre-programmed scenery of what you can see outside a building while riding in a glass elevator (like those in expensive hotels). as i'd like it to be ALL virtual, there is no actual ascent/descent, but just a simulation of it --- from an audio-visual point of view projected on the walls. the "elevator" will slowly make it's ascent, creaking noisily, and once it finally "reaches" the top-most floor already, the "cables" will break with a loud snap, THEN do a HIGH-VELOCITY FREEFALL.

this can be done with hydraulic manipulation along with the audio-visual stimulus. to heighten the illusion of danger imposed on a rider, this elevator will not have any handrails you can hold on to, so once you experience the fall, you will have nothing to hang on to, except the other occupants of the "elevator".
what do you think of it? would you like to ride in one?

i'd also like to hear your ideas on what theme park attractions you'd like to see. maybe somebody reading this will "adopt" it in the future in theme parks nearest you, who knows!