Accelerating into April 2026 Exercise Thread

[clappyclaps]

Welcome to the April 2026 exercise thread, in which we'll be entertained by Disney rides that feature some form of acceleration, whether it be up, down, straight forward or any other direction.

Full disclosure, I head to Orlando on 30th April and I am in holiday countdown mode, so figured it only fitting that April looks at some of our favourite Disney rides. And acceleration fits in with my love of alliteration

If you’re returning, we’re excited to have you back! If you’re new, welcome to the team! Here’s how it works:

Each person chooses a time goal and posts minutes towards that goal as they exercise. You can post daily or just catch up when you can. You decide what movement counts towards your goal - which can be a nice round total for the month, a specific number that means something to you, or a calculation based on a target number of minutes per day. Since April has 30 days, here are some common conversions:

10 minutes/day = 300
15 minutes/day = 450
20 minutes/day = 600
30 minutes/day = 900
45 minutes/day = 1350
1 hour/day = 1800

One of the special motivations of our Disney challenge is color changing! Page one will be updated with individual and team color changes as we make more and more progress:

10% - Blue
25% - Orange
50% - Purple
75% - Pink
90% - Red
100% - Green

We’re officially starting this challenge on April 1st, but if you don’t find the thread until later in the month, you’re still welcome to join! There's no better time than the present to start toward your goals!! Just post your goal and I’ll add you to the list. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions and to check out old threads to see what’s been going on.


Participants:

PollyannaMom = 0/700
luvpoohandcompany = 0/700
clappyclaps = 0/1800
ShannyMcB = 0/350
sophy1996 = 0/1000

Total = 0/4550

 

[PollyannaMom]

Love the theme! In for my usual 700 minutes

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

I’m here too
Going to up my game and aim for 700 minutes this month.
Thank you for organising

 

[clappyclaps]

I'll throw myself in for another 1800 this month I think and hope for some decent walking weather

 

[ShannyMcB]

Fun theme! I’m in for 350

 

[sophy1996]

Awesome alliteration!

In for 1000.

 

[clappyclaps]

Morning all,

In keeping with the acceleration and ride topic, the posts this month will focus more on ride mechanics and experience. And I'm going to kick this month off with my favourite ride (how could I not?), which is the one and only Tower of Terror:


This isn't necessarily a ride that would come straight to mind when you think of quick acceleration, but this actually drops you at a top speed of 39mph (63km/h), which is faster than gravity and equates to 1.3Gs. They achieve this faster than gravity speed by the use of pulleys and cables, as a true free fall drop just wasn't fast enough. Two motors at the top of the tower are able to accelerate 10 short tons at 15 times the speed of a normal elevator, and they generate 275 times the torque of a Chevy Corvette engine, reaching top speed in 1.5 seconds.

The ride building itself stands 199 feet tall (below 200 to avoid needing a red light on top for warning aircraft) and the biggest drop is 130 feet (approximately 13 stories). When the original Tower of Terror first opened in 1994 it only had a single drop until 1996 when a second was added, with a third drop being added in 1999. In 2003, this triple drop was replaced by a multi-drop sequence that was randomised for each ride, giving you that great feeling of never quite knowing what the ride is going to do. Initially the ride had lap bars, but these were replaced with seat belt restraints in 2002. While I was initially sceptical and slightly worried about these belt restraints, I can't deny that it really adds to the fun of the ride. That seat in the middle of the back row especially fun!

There are/were 4 Tower of Terror rides in total: The original in MGM Studios; the Disney California Adventure version that opened in 2004, closed in 2017 reopening as Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout the same year; the Tokyo DisneySea version that opened in 2006 and the Paris version that opened in 2007. Only the WDW and Paris versions are based on The Twilight Zone anthology series narrated by Rod Serling, who features in the pre-show before the ride, despite dying two decades earlier.

Tower of Terror features in an episode of Behind the Magic (season 1 episode 4) and is well worth a watch for anyone who hasn't seen it as it's really interesting to see how the ride was built.

I'll leave you with the pre-show video, a front row POV for those of you that are missing it as much as I am and a rather quirky and unusual advert I found for the DLP version:

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

60 minutes of gardening done today before the rain came down
60/700

 

[PollyannaMom]

40 minutes of yoga today

40/700