This was by far the most terrifying ride I have ever been on in my life. Why in the world I trusted my life to the engineers that built this contraption I am not sure. But I can promise you that nobody ever walks away from this ride without a thrill. Let me begin by saying that I have done some crazy stuff like jumping out of planes as a soldier and doing the bunjee jump in front of Circus Circus in &#39.03.

The bunjee was scarier for about 10 seconds, but this ride filled me with pure and utter terror for a good several minutes. It seemed like the cowards way out after the bunjee, because once strapped in, the decision was made for me. I was nervous as we stepped out onto the outer deck to get seated. I do not like heights to begin with, so this was a doozy of a ride. As they strapped me in, a wave of fear rose within me and I started to question my sanity. I announced this to my seatmate, a jolly good Australian bloke. He echoed my sentiments and admitted that having told his parents he was going to ride it, could not back out.

The machine lifted us up and started drifting to my right, slowly but unstoppably swinging its giant claw to the edge of the deck. Within seconds I was nearly 1,000 feet above Las Vegas Boulevard, and I was seriously questioning my grip on reality and wondering whether I could keep myself from screaming, crying, or freaking out in some other way. I knew I did not want to die. Then the spinning started. Friends, when you are dangling in the sky by a steel arm and spun at many RPM&#39.s, I don&#39.t care how secure that strap is that holds you into the ride, it is pure adrenalin coarsing through your veins as you wonder exactly how much time and effort went into designing the safety features of the ride.

After what seemed like an eternity, during which my body and mind accepted the horrible sickening height and spinning, the machine finally brought us back to safety. I was so happy to be alive. It was a feeling much like getting back on the earth after the bunjee, and I would say it was definitely an experience I will never ever forget.

If you dare to sit on this ride and let them spin you crazily above the earth more than once, my hat is off to you. I don&#39.t know if I will do this ride again. It may simply be too good of a ride. On the other hand, I might have to go back just to test my nerve and see if I am man or mouse.

Whoa. That was the reaction I got after riding Insanity.

I have been to Vegas before, and always go up the Stratosphere Tower to ride Big Shot. For a while I was far too scared to do X Scream and Insanity. Then my sister convinced me to ride Insanity, and man am I glad she did. First, seeing it at the bottom of the tower made me think, "there is no way in heck I will ride that thing." Then I went up the tower. I saw the ride, and thought, "I cant believe Im about to do this." Finally, my sister and I were on the ride. I was nervous enough before boarding, but once the gates lowered and the ride slowly moved over the edge of the tower, I was freaked out. When it started to move over the edge, I was saying out loud, "Holy crap, what was I thinking?!," which is embarassing when you see that theres a couple dozen people watching you. But once it started spinning, I began to have fun. Even though the ride was tilting us downwards forcing us to look at the ground, I felt strangely safe behind the 12 inch thick lap bar (that was a hyperbole, I dont know how thick it really is). I looked down at the tower, and I kept getting dizzy seeing the tower from such a distorted angle (those who have ridden know what Im talking about). When the ride finished, and we began moving slowly back to the safety of the tower, I instantly wanted to ride again. I looked at my sister and said, "Now I know why they call it Insanity."

Insanity is by far the best ride on the Stratosphere, if not the best in Vegas. I highly recommend it for people who are looking for extreme thrills. You wont be disappointed. But if youre afraid of heights, what the heck are you doing 866 feet above the Las Vegas Strip?

This ride is plain stupid. OK let me explain... on the ground, this ride would get no more than a 3 or 4 but suspending it waaay up there brings more points. There really is no point to the ride but to scare the living s*** out of the riders, which is did so successfully for me. I was not a fan of the rides at the Stratosphere and consdering I will never ride these rides again, that says something for the re-ridability (one of my main critique elements).. therefore a 7 will have to do for now, unless I am stupid enough to go on it again.

Insanity is one heck of a thrill. The ride cycle is long, and the ride is very intense. Insanity may look boring, but trust me, Insanity is anything but boring. The cars on insanity tilt towards the pavement midway through the ride, giving you some strange views of the tower. The freakiest part is staring at the pavement hundreds of feet below you, hoping that your lap bar will hold you in. This would be boring on the ground, but its location makes it a much better ride.

After conquering X Scream last year, I decided to return to the Stratosphere and try my hand at Insanity. This is perhaps the most photogenic of the Stratosphere thrill rides, with the giant green arm twirling ten brave souls above hundreds of feet of nothingness. I think the scariest element of the ride was actually the slow, sort of lurching movement of the arm from atop the safety of the observation deck to the suspended position high, high above the Las Vegas ground below. Then the spinning started, with the seats being tilted outward so you have no choice but to look down. I was actually surprised by the forces produced by the spinning. It was reasonably intense, and each time you swung out to the outermost possible position, you got the most bizarre view of the entire length of the tower. It came to an end, only to slowly creep us back toward the load/unload platform. When all is said and done, I think I will still rank X Scream slighlty higher on the terrifying scale. Not that this wasnt terrifying, but for being flung out at almost 1000 feet, being strapped in by just a lap bar, my knees werent knocking as much as I thought they might. Dont get me wrong though--I was still clutching that lap bar for dear life.

I loved this ride! I actually didnt find it quite as scary as X-Scream, but close. I almost didnt make it on. I purchased the armband, which allows you to ride all the rides as much as you want for the day. Insanity was closed when I purchased the band because of high winds. I already knew that in advance. By the time I went up the tower, the Big Shot was closed as well. This was our last full day in Vegas, and we had other things to do that day so I couldnt afford to stay too long. I went back down the tower disappointed that I couldnt ride 2 of the coolest rides there. Once at the concourse area, I found out that Big Shot had reopened so I rushed back up to ride that. Then I saw that the staff was test running Insanity so I stuck around for awhile. Met some cool people also waiting to get on. We were the first to ride when they got it up and going. Great rush-wonderful view! Love when the seats tilt down as the arms spread open on the ride. They must not have ironed out all the bugs, though, because we got stuck once back over top the platform. At least we werent left dangling over the edge. I highly recommend this ride to anyone who has a chance to visit the Stratosphere in Las Vegas. Avoid it if you have a true fear of heights.

Insanity has forever changed the Stratosphere Tower. The ride itself makes you feel very voulnerable. As you spin 64 ft over the edge of the tower, you get an unparralled view of the tower all the way to the gound. Seeing people cheer you on is great and most people come off of Insanity clapping, because this is not your grandfathers merry-go-round. You should come out and try Insanity, It truly is a great ride. Well here are some facts. Insanity sits 866ft above the ground. The ride then swings you out about 30ft past the edge. You are facing inward and 9 other brave souls. You begin to spin to 45 mph at a 70 degree angle looking straight down some 900ft below. You feel the force of 3 Gs in your seat that only has a lap bar and shin restraint holding you in. And 3 minutes later you are back safe on the tower. This ride is pure Insanity!