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For those riders who dare to keep their eyes open during this white-knuckler, the Coney Island-style ride offers spectacular views of the Strip. The coaster route writhes, dips, dives, and loops around the resort’s perimeter.

Located on the world’s tallest observation tower, the Big Shot shoots riders 160 ft (50 m) into the air. They then freefall back to the launch pad. It’s not a ride for the faint-hearted, or for kids – fortunately for them, though, there’s a child-size version of Big Shot at Stratosphere.

This innovative simulation plunges participants into the 24th century. Having assumed the identity of a Starfleet or alien crew member, they go speeding across the galaxies, encountering the enemy along the way. Hungry space travelers can dine on 24th-century cuisine at Quark’s Bar and Restaurant.

This is one of two Stratosphere thrill rides that are a dizzying 100 storys above the Strip.

At the Circus Circus theme park are some fun rides: try the water-flume ride through rushing water called the Rim Runner, and Twist and Shout, which involves riding rubber rafts through twisting tubes. The most exciting is Canyon Blaster billed as “the only double-loop, double-corkscrew indoor roller coaster.”

Surely the closest one gets to being launched into outer space without actually doing it. The “slingshot” electronic technology launches passengers on “Speed,” the aptly named roller coaster. A 360-degree loop and a vertical climb of a 225-ft (68-m) tower (both forward and backward) add to the excitement – and it’s all over in 48 seconds.

Billed as the only IMAX 3-D ride on earth, this simulation takes participants on a race to save the doomed mythical kingdom. Climb aboard a “chariot” for a wild ride through all manner of hair-raising environments.

A. J. Hackett Bunjy (the premises are next to Circus Circus) has been in business 12 years with a reassuring 100 percent safety record. Jumpers go by elevator to the top of a (very) high tower, get strapped into safety harnesses, take a numbing look at the Strip 175 ft (53 m) below, and – well, jump.

Flyaway Skydiving advises potential customers that skydiving is not without risk. The experience includes training and a simulated skydive in a wind tunnel.

After instruction, participants get into the driver’s seat of an authentic Winston Cup-style stock car, and go, go, go!