SCREAM

In July 2015, Scream was back in the news for the wrong reason. Heide Park's 103-metre drop tower had only reopened in early June after earlier technical problems, but it had to close again. According to Looopings, the park was once more waiting for a separate part, which meant the ride would probably remain out of action until early October.

The repeated breakdown made the impact bigger than a routine temporary closure. Heide Park regarded Scream as one of its flagship attractions: an Intamin tower from 2003 with a 71-metre free fall, a top speed of 98.3 kilometres per hour and room for forty riders per cycle. When a ride like that disappears from the line-up in the middle of the season, thrill seekers notice immediately.

Heide Park said it was working with the manufacturer on a solution and asked visitors for understanding. The wording showed how keen the park was to get the tower running again, especially with the season continuing until 1 November. For Scream's history, the report matters because it captures the difficult 2015 period in which the attraction suffered several long closures.

In April 2015, Looopings reported that Scream, Heide Park's drop tower of more than 100 metres, could not operate for the time being. The park had just reopened after its winter break, but the ride was waiting for new parts. It was not yet clear how long the downtime would last; Heide Park hoped to have the tower running again before the high season.

For visitors, that was a noticeable setback. Scream is one of the German park's most visible thrill rides and was described in the report as one of Europe's tallest freefall towers. The experience is built around one simple, powerful moment: a vertical plunge at almost 100 kilometres per hour. That makes the tower a regular must-do for many thrill seekers.

The news underlined how vulnerable major headline attractions can be when technical parts are missing. A spokesperson called Scream one of Heide Park's most important rides and said the park was doing everything it could to bring the drop tower back as quickly as possible.