Less of a roller coaster and more of a thrill machine designed for bragging rights, Kingda Ka is a one-trick pony. Okay, it’s a heckuva stunt and a once-in-a-lifetime run. Bu once is probably enough. Throwing can scare you. But, in the end, despite its record tower of 456 feet, Kingda Ka will probably leave you feeling flat.
- TripSavvy Rating: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
- Excitement scale (0 = Wimpy!, 10 = Yikes!): 10
- It is difficult to imagine a more exciting journey. Crazy acceleration, speed, height and fall.
- Roller Coaster Type: Hydraulic Launch Coaster
- Height: 456 feet
- Top speed: 128 mph
- Location: Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey
- Elements of the Mountain: 456-foot tall top hat tower, with 90-degree rise and fall
- Second 129-foot hill designed to provide buoyant airtime.
- Driving time: 50.6 seconds.
- Minimum height required: 54 inches
“I go up and down … THAT?”
The anticipation is unnerving. As passengers board the Kingda Ka trains on their double-load platforms, and the trains pile up at one end of the horizontal launch track, the ominous 456-foot top hat tower rises up at the other end. The tower can be seen practically everywhere in the entire park, and it looks incredibly tall. But looking at it from the point of view of a blocked and loaded train, it looks beyond crazy. You’re probably thinking, “I’m going up and down … THAT?”
Every few minutes a train takes off, increasing pre-trip concerns. It hurtles down the launch pad at a speed of 128 mph and then heads straight up the tower. As it climbs 456 feet it slows down and it seems like it barely has enough thrust to get to the top. On rare occasions, Kingda Ka and other roller coasters do, in fact, fade and slide back up the tower. The rides are designed to handle the anomaly (and some fans consider it a badge of honor to experience a setback).
Kingda Ka then plummets to the other side and enters a 270-degree vertical spiral. Running back to the station, you climb a relatively small 129-foot hill for a period of air time. No matter how many times you see the train cycles during the journey, nothing will prepare you for the actual journey.
Yeeeee-ahhhhhh!
As with most launched roller coasters, the brakes are released just before Kingda takes off, leaving the train free-floating in neutral. So yeeeee-ahhhhhh !, it’s powered by an amazing burst of energy down the road. Traveling 128 mph in an open vehicle is an unearthly feeling.
Incidentally, experiencing 128 mph can seem like a supernatural sensation. But you may be wondering if Kingda Ka is the fastest roller coaster in the world. The Six Flags trip, in fact, broke records when it first opened in 2005. How does it stack up today? He’s still holding on to a record, but there’s a roller coaster that’s even crazier than Kingda Ka.
After zooming in on the tower, the few seconds of near hesitation, are we going to make it? It is unsettling. The view from the top of the tower, if the riders can open their eyes, is breathtaking. Until then, and we’re talking maybe 10 seconds, Kingda Ka is wild.
Anti-climatic
However, coming down from the tower, there may be some unexpected spots as the train shakes a bit. The vertical spiral is disorienting and decreases the great height and speed of the trip. And the 129-foot airtime ridge is anticlimactic and surprisingly lame. With so much energy piled up, you’d think there would be an explosive blast of airtime. (For airtime nirvana, head to the major roller coasters at Great Adventure, El Toro, and Nitro.)
Returning to the station, passengers are a bit shocked by the launch and the extreme height. But they can also be a bit disappointed. After all that anticipation, the journey ends in the blink of an eye.
Let’s incite our best hats to Intamin, the maker of the trip, and Six Flags for having the audacity to build the record-breaking Kingda Ka. But, breaking records doesn’t necessarily translate into a stunning travel experience. Rather than the symphony of emotions – the crescendos, the pitches, the spikes, the bridges – that a great roller coaster offers, Kingda Ka is more of a sustained, single-note, heavy metal roar.
For an idea of what makes a great coaster, check out our review of Superman the Ride at Six Flags New England.
