Kingda Ka: A Thrilling Experience
Less a roller coaster and more a thrill machine designed for bragging rights, Kingda Ka is a one-trick pony. Granted, it’s an incredible trick and a once-in-a-lifetime rush. However, one ride is probably enough. The launch might scare you silly, but, in the end, despite its record-breaking 456-foot tower, Kingda Ka will likely leave you feeling flat.
- GoTravelDaily rating: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
- Thrill Scale (0=Wimpy!, 10=Yikes!): 10
- It’s hard to imagine a more thrilling ride. Insane acceleration, speed, height, and drop.
- Type of coaster: Hydraulic launch rocket coaster
- Height: 456 feet
- Top speed: 128 mph
- Location: Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey
- Coaster elements: 456-foot tall top hat tower, with 90-degree ascent and descent
- 129-foot second hill designed to provide free-floating airtime.
- Ride time: 50.6 seconds
- Minimum height requirement: 54 inches
Experiencing Kingda Ka
The anticipation is unnerving. As riders board Kingda Ka’s trains in its dual-loading platforms, and the trains stack up at one end of the horizontal launch track, the ominous 456-foot top hat tower looms at the other end. The tower is clearly visible throughout the park, and it looks incredibly tall. But staring at it head-on from the vantage point of a locked and loaded train makes it seem even more daunting. You’ll probably be thinking, “I’m going up and down…THAT?”
Every few minutes, a train takes off, adding to the pre-ride jitters. It barrels down the launch track at a brain-scrambling 128 mph, and then ascends straight up the tower. As it climbs 456 feet, it decelerates and appears to barely have enough oomph to make it over the top. In rare instances, Kingda Ka and other rocket coasters do, in fact, peter out and slide backwards down the tower. The rides are designed to handle this anomaly (and some enthusiasts consider it a badge of honor to experience a rollback).
Kingda Ka then plummets straight down the other side and enters into a 270-degree vertical spiral. Racing back to the station, it climbs a relatively small 129-foot hill for a brief moment of airtime. No matter how many times you watch the trains cycle through the ride, nothing prepares you for the actual experience.
Yeeeee-ahhhhhh!
As with most launched coasters, the brakes release just before Kingda takes off, leaving the train briefly free-floating in neutral. Then, yeeeee-ahhhhhh! It’s propelled with a staggering burst of energy down the track. Traveling at 128 mph in an open vehicle creates an unearthly sensation.
While experiencing 128 mph is exhilarating, you may wonder whether Kingda Ka is the fastest roller coaster in the world. The Six Flags ride did, in fact, break records when it first opened in 2005. How does it stack up today? It still clings to one record, but there is a coaster that is even wackier than Kingda Ka.
After zooming up the tower, the few seconds of quasi-hesitation — are we going to make it? — is unsettling. The view at the crest of the tower, if riders can manage to peel their eyes open, is impressive. Up to that point, and we’re discussing maybe 10 seconds, Kingda Ka is wild.
The Ride Experience: A Mixed Bag
Coming down the tower, however, there may be some unexpected rough spots as the train shudders a bit. The vertical spiral is disorienting and detracts from the ride’s sheer height and speed. Furthermore, the 129-foot airtime hill can feel anticlimactic and surprisingly underwhelming. With that much pent-up energy, you’d expect a more explosive burst of airtime. For exhilarating airtime, consider other rides at Six Flags.
Returning to the station, riders may feel a bit shell-shocked from the launch and extreme height. However, they might also be left feeling let down. After all that anticipation, the ride concludes in a blink.
Finally, we recognize Intamin, the ride’s manufacturer, and Six Flags for their audacity in constructing the record-breaking Kingda Ka. Yet, breaking records doesn’t necessarily translate into a mesmerizing ride experience. Instead of a symphony of thrills — the crescendos, the releases, the peaks, the bridges — that a great roller coaster delivers, Kingda Ka resonates more like a sustained, single-note, heavy-metal roar.
