Top Thrill Dragster Gets Beat!!!!

[DiSGuiSe]

A new coaster called Kinga Ka beat Top Thrill Dragster in height and speed.
Here (http://www.sixflags.com/parks/greatadventure/index.asp) is a link.

[MINIggy03]

This is sooooooo old but I'll comment on this coaster...

I hate how they advertise this as a "Shattering records!" ride. When it's what, only an extra 20 feet taller?

EXTREMELY LAME.

[TwisterII]

Kingda Ka was announced about o... say..... almost 9 months ago. The ride is already built and testing.

[BoRJoYZeE]

it's an ok ride, only has an extra hill, I also like to add this ride is only for speed and height

[RCT2head]

big deal... something else's going to beat it later, if not next year the one after... show me a 525 ft chain lift and straight down drop... now that would be nice:D

[aoshi]

I think Cedar Point should just up Top Thrill Dragster a little more and then they'll be number one again. Maybe the two coasters will continue topping each other until something other than a stratocoaster comes in and wins it.

[RTCnoob384]

Originally posted by aoshi67
I think Cedar Point should just up Top Thrill Dragster a little more and then they'll be number one again. Maybe the two coasters will continue topping each other until something other than a stratocoaster comes in and wins it. or they keep getting taller and collapse because the supports cant handle the height:p

[coasterdude89]

Originally posted by RCT2head
big deal... something else's going to beat it later, if not next year the one after... show me a 525 ft chain lift and straight down drop... now that would be nice:D

That would be awesome! But instead of chain, have it a cable lift like MF!

[Duane]

As for the "Eats All Records" add. May I say...B.S. It only breaks two. 1. Height...By A whopping 36ft. 2. Speed...By an astonishing 8mph.

Leave it to Six Flags to nearly clone A Cedar Fair attraction. As if it's not bad enough that they clone their own rides. All of the die hard enthusiast (like myself) have experienced Dragster A number of times. So for us, Kinda Ka really isn't anything to get exited about. I personally think that Sheikra, Hades and Storm Runner (2004) are all smarter additions, mainly because they have or will provide A totally unique experience. (In the U.S.) Premier Parks (Six Flags) development team needs to get their head out of their :D :D :D.

[Coasternut68]

Leave it to Six Flags to nearly clone A Cedar Fair attraction

HA!!!!! Like Cedar Point has not done it. Hmmmm, lets see. Superman: Ultimate Escape (v2) , what Cedar Point ride does this remind me of....hmmmmmm, could it be............Wicked Twister? Yes, yes it is, but hey, lets just add a twist on both towers, and make it alittle higher, alittle faster and call it the tallest, and fastest impulse. Gimme a break. You can bash Six Flags parks all day, but lets not forget where some of the best designers, and coaster designs started out at. Yes, I now its hard for the bashers to say it, but it is Six Flags. Six Flags, not waiting on the sidelines ready jump on the bandwagon, took a gamble on the following list, and, atleast the first two, paved way for coaster history.

B&M's first coaster - Iron Wolf @ SIX FLAGS Great America
First inverted coaster - Batman @ SIX FLAGS Great America
First floorless - Medusa @ SIX FLAGS Great Adventure
Pretty sure but first inverted impulse - Superman:UE(V2) SIX FLAGS worlds of Adventure
First 4th Dimension coaster - X @ SIX FLAGS Magic Mountain

:up: to Six Flags for Kinda Ka, because not everybody has experienced TTD several times, and it will be a new experiance for them, or maybe can not even afford a trip out to Cedar Point . Lets say I lived in New Jersey. I am a coaster enthusiast myself, but with a wife, and two young kids, it is not easy just to hop in a car and take a cross country rollercoaster trip. Six Flags has now given me a chance to ride a near clone of TTD. Hats off Six Flags. Cedar Fair has cloned (or near clone) a ride of yours, and now they don't like it when it is done to them ;) . So its a bad move for a Six Flags park with Kinda Ka, but a smart move for Cedar Point and Wicked Twister. :rolleyes:

[Squid2]

You forgot Deja Vu... first Super Invertigo model, and Superman: Ultimate Flight, first pretzel loop.

I'm not sure this makes SFI an innovator, but at least they seem to be willing to take a risk on a new coaster.

Squid2

[Coasternut68]

You forgot Deja Vu... first Super Invertigo model, and Superman: Ultimate Flight, first pretzel loop.

Add Deja Vu to that list. As far as Superman:UF, Air at Alton Towers was B&M's first flying coaster, but your right, the pretzel loop was a first.

I'm not sure this makes SFI an innovator, but at least they seem to be willing to take a risk on a new coaster.

Thats exactly what I am saying. Six Flags seems to take more risks with innovating coaster designs than any other park.

[Duane]

Don't forget Raging Bull. (First Hyper Twister in North America)

I used to be A fan of Six Flags Parks. Premier Parks has done nothing but soil that good name for about 8 years now. Not only, is their Devopment Plan inadequate, the quality of service at the majority of their parks is laughable. Most of their employees seem to be poorly trained and rarely supervised.

I do like the theme of Kinda Ka. (Not nearly as well as TTD) At least it doesn't have A Superman or Batman name and theme. It's starting to get A little confusing.;)

[Coasternut68]

At least it doesn't have A Superman or Batman name and theme. It's starting to get A little confusing.

They could have called it Batman : Supermans ultimate flight. (Ok, they didn't make sense)



Not only, is their Devopment Plan inadequate, the quality of service at the majority of their parks is laughable

Its not like that at all of the Six Flags parks. I have been to 6 different Six Flags parks in my lifetime, and out of those six, only Magic Mountain, and Worlds of Adventure were bad trips. Before I continue, my homepark is Great America so I may be alittle biased, but, GA is a very well run Six Flags park 90% of the time. It is one of the better run SF parks in the chain, and on the good days of GA, I would take that over Cedar Point. As far as thier devopment plan in concerned, GA is getting a waterpark this summer, that is a plus, good decision there. Premier picks the parks that they really invest in, and pretty much leave the other parks alone (with the exception of a new ride here and there), hopeing they make a profit. That is the one thing I can't stand about Premier, and thank God that Great America is one of their flagship parks. They have stretched themselves to thin.

[Harpo]

Cedar Fair does tend to be conservative, largely because their biggest park is a seasonal park -- they can't afford significant delays in opening the rides due to the relatively short season.

They did take some chances with rides like Millennium Force, VertiGo, and Top Thrill Dragster. S&S's VertiGo is now VertiGone. TTD has gone through many growing pains, and that's after the prototype was built at Knott's Berry Farm with the intention of working out some of the problems that wound up plaguing TTD.

So, it's a business decision -- do you build a prototype ride that may flop? Or do you wait for the technology to be perfected and build one that's better? Cedar Point has been very successful with waiting for the technology to be better: 1976's Corkscrew -- first coaster to go upside down 3 times, and combine a vertical loop and corkscrew inversions in the same coaster; 1978's Gemini -- built using "mine ride" technology, it was the tallest and fastest coaster of its day; 1989's Magnum XL-200 -- still a top 10 coaster after all these years; 1994's Raptor -- another highly-rated coaster. And, of course, 2000's Millennium Force and 2003's Top Thrill Dragster, which were each using some new technology when they were built, with varying levels of success.

So, what is better? Building a prototype? Or building using older technology, but bigger, faster, and more exciting than the prototypes? Both options have benefits and drawbacks. While I enjoy riding prototypes, for the long haul, I think I'd prefer waiting for the technology to be proven and stretched to new limits.

Personally, I don't blame Six Flags for building a coaster like Kingda Ka. However, I definitely question the financial sense of it. For the price of that coaster, they could have built a rather decent (but smaller) coaster at many of their parks, rather than putting all the money into one park and putting mostly waterpark additions into the rest of their parks. With Six Flags' financial troubles, enormous debt, huge interest payments, and declining system-wide attendance, I don't think Kingda Ka was a good business decision. It would have been a far better decision IF the company was making a profit, but the losses keep getting bigger every year. They really need to create compelling draws to ALL of their parks, not just one of the parks, and I don't think they did that for 2005.

It would also help to improve operations, customer service, attentiveness, cleanliness -- Since 2000, I've been to all of the U.S. and Canadian Six Flags parks as part of the 143 parks I've visited in those times. I've had exactly one visit that I considered to be approximately "average," and that was a few years ago when I visited Six Flags St. Louis on a day when the crowds were VERY small but the weather was beautiful. Other than that one visit, every trip I've had to a Six Flags park has been below- to way below-average, when compared to all 143 parks I've visited.

I find it sad for multiple reasons. First, I love roller coasters, so I want every coaster experience to be a great one, no matter what park I visit. Second, I think that issue is causing Six Flags to head towards bankruptcy, which could result in the loss of many coasters, and that'd be very unfortunate. Third, I believe the inattentiveness issues lead to dangerous operations, and any accident at any park tends to make the entire industry look bad, including increasing the possibility of restrictive regulations that would prevent us from getting bigger, better rides in the future. (My opinion based on reviewing the accident reports: the 3 2004 Six Flags fatalities should never have happened -- all three were very preventable through improved training, discipline, and attentiveness.)

Anyway, my point is that I don't think Six Flags should be slammed for building a near-clone of TTD. They're trying to create a coaster that's building on a proven crowd-pleaser, and that makes sense. But, I do think Six Flags should be slammed for poor business sense as far as how they've spread (or failed to spread) the capital improvements throughout the company.

[Griffman]

I live in NYC and I can't wait to ride Kingda Ka!!

[Hyde244]

Well, as Duane said, 36 more ft. 8 more MPH, doesnt really make a difference. But i saw a testing video, and that airtime hill does look like it shall give some thrill, since the train doesnt really start slowing down till about 2/3 a way down the brake run.

[Hyde244]

sorry for the double post, but heres (http://www.gainsider.com/video/0426-kktestingsound.wmv ) a video of Kingda Ka testing. I, like many others, was pretty surprised that it could keep the momentum up pretty high going through the airtime hill. But right now the question is will you get good airtime, being that the trains have OTSR's (Over the Shoulder Restraints), unlike TTD, were it only has a lap bar.

[CoasterRider]

Originally posted by Hyde244
sorry for the double post, but heres (http://www.gainsider.com/video/0426-kktestingsound.wmv ) a video of Kingda Ka testing. I, like many others, was pretty surprised that it could keep the momentum up pretty high going through the airtime hill. But right now the question is will you get good airtime, being that the trains have OTSR's (Over the Shoulder Restraints), unlike TTD, were it only has a lap bar. Man I freaking hate how they say "Shattering world reacords, Blowing minds with it speed and fury" IT HATE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! when they added an extra 20.4 feet higher and 8 mph more then ttd

[Hyde244]

Well, its all marketing ploy, and its what brings in the money. Any other park would do the same in that situation.