NEW COASTER!!!! - (Kingda Ka)

[Anonymous]

Today, I saw the firs supports of a new coaster at Six Flags Great Adventure. I have heard little about the coaster. What I know is true is that it is an Aqua-Type Color. Supposedly, it is a Launch-Coaster, much like the Top Thrill Dragster, at Cedar Point. This is not confirmed but has been said by a lot of co-workers(i'm an employee). I'll keep you posted and will try and get pictures.

[JerseyDevil]

I'm not sure how I feel about this coaster. I know someone who lives by cedar Point and they have had nothing but problems with the dragster. It's closed down last time I heard because cables broke or something and several people were hurt.

I was hoping for a twisting coaster, or an even higher coaster than Nitro. I didn't really want something that just went up and down like the dragster. I like loops and twists and turns and corkscrews.

But I guess we will see. Thanks for the information. Please come back and post any updates.

[Anonymous]

Lets not 4get, this is only what I have heard. It's wwwaaayyy too early to tell. There are only a few pieces. But my guess is, it's gonna be high, because the one support was very very thick. I could be wrong about the Launch Coaster, and if it is like the Top Thrill Dragster, i'm sure Six Flags will be extra careful due to the recent incedent with Dragster. SIx Flags has always been very careful and will continue to do so. More News To Come!!!

[JerseyDevil]

Lets not 4get, this is only what I have heard. It's wwwaaayyy too early to tell. There are only a few pieces. But my guess is, it's gonna be high, because the one support was very very thick. I could be wrong about the Launch Coaster, and if it is like the Top Thrill Dragster, i'm sure Six Flags will be extra careful due to the recent incedent with Dragster. SIx Flags has always been very careful and will continue to do so. More News To Come!!!

I understand - and I appreciate the information. Do you know when they finally announce the new coasters and what they will be? I can't remember when everyone knew what Nitro was going to be. From what I remember with Superman everyone knew before it was even started - they had the videos. I wonder why this one seems to be so underwraps. Maybe it's something COMPLETELY new that no one has seen before - that will be great.

[Anonymous]

Well I heard some promising imformation on what it is. We heard from one of the Heads at 6 flags and he said it will be 420 Ft tall and go about 135 and will be almost similiar to Top Thrill Dragster. ANd they also said it will be open season 2006. It could be open earlier but due to the TTD(Top Thrill Dragster) they are gonna make sure it is completely safe and have it up and running the first day of the season. REMEMBER it is still early, but this is the most solid info I have gotten yet. I'll keep ya posted.

[JerseyDevil]

It sounds pretty cool. I'm going to have to get down to GA so I can check out the building of it. It sort of sucks that it won't be ready until 2006 though. I was hoping for a new one in 2005.

[Anonymous]

here are some pics of the coaster
http://www.rcdb.com/metric/installationgallery2832.htm should be ready by 2005

[JerseyDevil]

here are some pics of the coaster
http://www.rcdb.com/metric/installationgallery2832.htm should be ready by 2005

You mean pieces of the coaster. At first I thought it was design plans. It's cool - thanks for supplying them.

I was at Great Adventure today - the best days are rainy, dreary days like today. No lines. Was even able to walk right onto Superman. It was great.

[Anonymous]

Will this roller coaster be replacing anything. If it is I hope it's not a roller coaster because I rid them all except superman cause it was a 2 hour wait and all of them are to good to get rid of. Keep rolling thunder cause all parks need to have at least 1 woody.

[nintendoom]

RCDB said it will open in 2005 and will still be clarified as Unknown until it gets a name. It will be built in the parking lot next to Rolling Thunder and I hope it'll go through Rolling Thunders supports because It'll be sweet to see the worlds highest rollercoaster to go through the parks second oldest coaster(I think runaway mine train is oldest).

[JerseyDevil]

I went to Great Adventure last week. I got to see where the roller coaster is being built. It looks pretty cool - from what I saw. It will be odd with it being built there though.

Also - I always thought that Rolling Thunder and Runaway Train were both original coasters to the park and the same age - but I'm not sure. They have the plaques that show when the old rides were opened.

[nintendoom]

Runaway Mine train was 5 years before Rolling thunder

[Anonymous]

You may think that Six Flags has a great reputation for ride safety, but it is really not as it seems. Cedar Point has NEVER had a ride attributed death (a death caused by a ride malfunction). This however is much more common at Six Flags parks. The accident that occured on Top Thrill Dragster (TTD) was not do to preventive maintenance and was very minor. So minor in fact that the state of Ohio ride inspection department (rated among the top 3 in the nation) did not even consider what happened an accident. There were no mechanical problems the led to the accident, the cable for some reason partially frayed causing the incident. To prevent this from happening again, the cables are now replaced regularly. As for the new ride at Six Flags Great Adventure, if it has problems anywhere near what TTD had, it will never be open to the public. Six Flags will easily close down rides for weeks at a time, because of a problem that they don't wish to spend the money on. Take Superman at Six Flags Magic Mountain for example. Expecially considering their current financial situations. You can't rate a six flags park until you have been to parks from another chain (ie: Cedar Fair or Paramount)

[JerseyDevil]

I have been to parks at other chains. I also find it funny though how you state that the Cedar Point problem was not mechanical - but that the a problem with the cable. That IS a mechnanical problem - why is the cables getting frayed so quickly.

There were no mechanical problems the led to the accident, the cable for some reason partially frayed causing the incident.

Talk about wanting to get a quick fix - "hey let's just replace the cables more often" I would like to know why the cable frayed so quickly - instead of just relying on them replacing them more often.

New Jersey has the toughest standards in the country concerning ride safetly because our summer economy runs so much on amusement parks. You can not just compare all of Six Flags - because different states have different laws and Six Flags operates within those state laws. I had a friend from Texas up last week who has been on roller coasters all over the place - and she was surprised to see the NJ state laws posted at all entrances to the rides. As another example - there had been a problem in one state with a ride which one of NJ amusement parks had - NJ shut the ride down so they could see if the ride had the same problem.

Six Flag's Great Adventure - which is the largest regional amusement park in the country has had no deaths since they took it over. They have replaced shoulder restraints on rides because of problems with them. As I said - just because Six Flags has problems in their other parks - you can't compare them to Great Adventure - because NJ has such tough laws.

[Anonymous]

Well yea, i havent posted here for a while because ive been lookin at the specs of similiar rides and such. As of now.... The probability of this being true is 95%... Its an Intamin Rocket Coaster. The reason i say it is this is because of the track and the supports. Each coaster manufatoring company has there own preferred track desing. B&M has theirs and so on. The tracks see in the lot, are that of Intamin. And the type of track there indicates a rocket. The reason i say its like TTD is because of the main supports. They are the same shape. Anyways... It will be a few hundred feet shorter in track length than TTD(as rumored). BUT can still be faster and taller, as the brake sections in TTD are widely spread and uses a dual station. If the station were taken away and the brakes built closer, it could be done. As for a name... Recently, SFGA has registered the name "Maxxx". So maybe this is a name? I also heard the Slogan being something like... "Take it to the maxxx" Still, i dont know if this is true or not, but yea. Its what i've heard. It will be open in 2005.

[JerseyDevil]

Okay - Stephani Plum showed me this off of a news site. The new ride at Great Adventure seems like it will be MUCH better than the Top Thrill Dragster. This one has a 129 ft hill and it spirals too.

Six Flags Unveils Plans For Fastest, Tallest Roller Coaster


JACKSON, N.J. -- Six Flags Great Adventure is opening the world's tallest and fastest roller coaster this spring -- a thrill ride that accelerates to 128 mph in 3.5 seconds and rises 456 feet off the ground.

Plans for Kingda Ka, which is expected to be the cornerstone of new development at the central New Jersey amusement park, were to be unveiled Wednesday.

The current speed and height record holder is "Top Thrill Dragster" at Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio. Made by Intamin -- the same company Six Flags hired to build Kingda Ka -- Dragster shoots riders to 120 mph in 4 seconds and takes them to a height of 420 feet.

An animated depiction of Kingda Ka shows the coaster creeping slowly, stopping and then launching forward horizontally at nearly 130 mph before climbing at a 90-degree angle more than 45 stories above the park.

The coaster then spirals 270 degrees as it plummets, flattens out and climbs again as it shoots over a 129-foot hill, which the company says will make riders feel weightless. It's over in about 50 seconds.

"This is the first step in a process of really transforming Six Flags Great Adventure from the largest regional theme park in the world to a true regional destination," Kieran Burke, chief executive officer of Oklahoma City-based Six Flags, told The Associated Press.

Six Flags last year had 35 million visitors at 31 parks. In July, it reported a 3.3 percent attendance drop compared with last year.

Duane Marden, 35, a Brookfield, Wis., computer programmer who runs the online Roller Coaster Data Base, has ridden the Ohio coaster twice and calls it "a very intense experience." He expects the one in New Jersey to quickly become popular with enthusiasts.

"Anybody on the East Coast who is into roller coasters is going to be on this ride very soon," he said.

[JerseyDevil]

I saw this on Great Adventure Source and thought others might be interested here. National Geographic Channel' Megastructures will be having an hour long look at the world's tallest, fastest roller coaster on earth - Kingda Ka. The show airs - October 25, 2005 at 8:00pm

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 17, 2005

“MEGASTRUCTURES: ULTIMATE ROLLER COASTER”
TO AIR ON NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL

SAN RAFAEL, CA – Kingda Ka is the tallest, fastest roller coaster in the world. Located in Jackson, New Jersey, at Six Flags Great Adventure the coaster stands at 456 feet -- soaring a staggering 45 stories in the air. It launches riders 128 miles per hour in less than four seconds, shooting them up a 90-degree incline and then down a corkscrew. All this jam-packed into a 50-second thrill ride like no other. In this episode of MegaStructures: ULTIMATE ROLLER COASTER, find out how workers overcome some of the most difficult engineering and weather challenges to design and construct the world record-breaking ride. Plus, just days before the launching of the coaster, engineers discover mechanical trouble. Will engineers be forced to alter the entire ride? Find out if Kingda Ka can be built in time for the busy summer season – or if the world-record megastructure will have to delay the grand opening.

Producers at Indigo Films were granted exclusive access during the entire construction process. Meet engineers Jeff Glinter, Larry Chickola and others who guided the project from start to finish in this episode of MegaStructures: ULTIMATE ROLLER COASTER, airing at 10 p.m. on Tuesday, October 25, 2005, on the NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL. For actual times, please check out www.nationalgeographic.com/channel/


WHAT: “MEGASTRUCTURES: ULTIMATE ROLLER COASTER”

WHERE: NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL

WHEN: Tuesday, OCTOBER 25, 2005, at 8p.m.


FAST FACTS “MegaStructures: Ultimate Roller Coaster:”

• Amusement parks in the U.S.A. will spend an estimated $750 million on new rides and upgrades in 2005
• Modern-day roller coasters cost in the ballpark of $25 million
• Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, NJ, is 51 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty
• Kingda Ka’s hydraulic launch system is the same type of system used to launch jet fighters off of aircraft carriers
• Jeremy DeLong, a Navy sailor from Newport News, VA, bid $1,691.66 in the eBay auction to be the first official rider” on opening day of Kingda Ka on May 19, 2005

-- MORE --


About MegaStructures Series on National Geographic Channel

The popular MegaStructures series on the NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL takes an eye-popping look at the greatest buildings and machines ever created. Get inside these superstructures and uncover the cogs, gears, bells, and whistles that make them work. And learn about all the stops and starts that went into creating these engineering triumphs. http://channel.nationalgeographic.co...egastructures/

About Indigo Films

Indigo Films is an independent television production company based in the San Francisco Bay Area with an award-winning reputation for developing and producing high-end documentary, investigative and reality programming to major cable television networks, including the NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL, History Channel, A&E, Discovery Channel, TLC, and Travel Channel. Emmy Award-winning producer David M. Frank is the executive producer and president of Indigo Films. For more information, please visit, www.indigofilms.com.

[131 Dukes St.]

That thing is the greatest coaster ever I realy enjoyed it.