Orlando StarFlyer, world's tallest swing ride, opens

ORLANDO, Fla. – The world's tallest swing ride, located in the tourist district of Orlando, is now open for business.

Crews on Thursday put the final touches on the area surrounding Orlando's newest thrill ride, StarFlyer. 

The $10 million attraction, located near the Orlando Eye on International Drive, will take riders more than 400 feet in the air -- the highest of its kind in the world -- and swing them around at speeds topping 60 mph.

"Disney and Universal have all their rides, but they don't have anything as big as we've got," Orlando-based developer Chuck Whittall said. "We wanted to have the best. We have the wheel next door, which is the tallest structure in Central Florida; now we have the tallest thrill ride in central Florida."

The ride costs $12 per person to experience the four-and-a-half minute thrill.

"Every time I drive around the area, I see this, and I just can't wait." Orlando resident Tommy Otero said.

The ride comes with all sorts of safety precautions. Riders are told to empty their pockets and remove keys, coins, cellphones, sunglasses, hats and even flip flops.

Riders need to be at least 44 inches tall and should not be under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or have high blood pressure or heart conditions. 

Whittall, president of Unicorp National Developments, said riders don't need to worry about the riders above them.

"For the StarFlyer rides that exist around the country, nobody has ever thrown up on one, so they don't have to worry about that," he said.

Whittall said there are other rides in the works that'll take riders even closer to the clouds. He hopes to unveil those in the near future.