Have you ever wanted to experience getting blasted like a rocket straight into the sky, escaping the bonds of earth and floating weightless in the air, then getting shot back at the ground? Well Dorney Park made that possible for thrill seekers in the Northeastern U.S. when they erected the 170-foot tower complex Dominator on the grounds of the Allentown, Pennsylvania thrill zone and opened the S&S Power-designed thrill ride on May 8th of 1999. The three-tower interconnected structure of Dominator consists of one 'Space Shot' tower and one 'Turbo Drop' ride (with the third being unused). What's the difference between these two towers, one may ask? It's all in which way you defy gravity. On the Space Shot side, riders are blasted into the sky and experience all the negative-g airtime that they could ask for before free-falling and being blasted skyward again, while Turbo Drop riders may prefer being hoisted slowly to the 170-foot pinnacle to be shot at the ground far faster than any pure-freefall experience could get you going. Both towers are powered using S&S's signature pneumatic propulsion technique so that cars of 12 passengers literally ride on a cushion of air, blasting upwards courtesy of compressed air and slowing downwards through increased air pressure.

Before entering the line for Dominator, Dorney guests of 52 inches or taller must choose their fate: to get blasted from ground level into the sky, or get hoisted up and blasted towards the ground. On the Space Shot side, the vehicle is loaded on the launch pad, with all twelve riders pulling down red shoulder restraints and latching the belts to them. Sitting comfortably in the seats, passengers wait for the all-clear signal, and then their feet leave the ground as the car rises up several feet to hover above the launch pad waiting for the inevitable thrust. Sitting, waiting, feet dangling... All of a sudden, whoosh! Riders rocket straight towards the heavens at 50 miles an hour, like a rocket lifting off into space. Dorney Park drops down below, people become specks. Nothing below but your feet, nothing above but the clear blue sky. Three seconds later - wham! Direction changes and riders are tossed out of their seats and against their harnesses as their feet head straight for the concrete 17 stories below. The ground rushes up, and riders are again hoisted into space. Airtime heaven again, then it's back down. One more time up, one more time down gradually a shorter distance each time, and it's over. Meanwhile, on the Turbo Drop side of things, riders climb off of the loading pad and ascend slowly towards the imperceptible top, watching the rides below shrink down lower and lower. Once at the top, Dominator pauses to let passengers take in the view one last time. Without warning - whoosh! Blasting down to defy gravity at 40 miles per hour and gaining speed, the ground grows closer and closer before another reassuring whoosh catapults the vehicle back up. Falling again with zero-gravity freefall, thrill seekers reach the bottom limits and are rocketed up into the sky. The ride finally descends one last time, and passengers unload.