GAdv.com features new aerial photos of Kingda Ka

Looks like progress is moving along quickly. Fantastic photos.

On another note, in the last photo, it looks like medusa was drawn into the photo. Amazing how bright that paint is.

Is it just me, or is KK being constructed much more quickly than TTD was two years ago? It might just be a perception due to the reduced amount of hype that KK has (relative to TTD), but it sure seems like the vertical construction took much less time. I'm sure the tighter space in CP and the snow that year played into it quite a bit as well, though.

Amazing photos, by the way. Props to the guys at GAS.

It's just you. Dragster was topped off in mid-December that year.

Great pics! I like how the park is surrounded by coasters: Medusa, Runaway Train, Viper, Rolling Thunder, Kingda Ka, GASM and Superman. SFGAdv's wilderness setting is really evident when you look at the place from above.

Two things stand out aftre looking at these pics: 1) Was Medusa repainted? She looks unusually vibrant. 2) What is that airtime hill on Kingda Ka for? Judging by the shape of the hill, it's not for airtime.

To me, the "airtime" hill looks a lot like the ones found on Goliath & Titan - very drawn out (and uncharacteristic of Intamin). Although, it's hard to tell how it will feel, the train will probably be going around 80mph at the *top* of that hill, which is still pretty darn fast...

To me, it also looks like the "down" part of the airtime hill is steeper than the "up" part... anyone else see that?

And is that a log flume in the background, above the lake? That thing is LONG!

Yeah, that's a flume in the background- the Arrow flume in Frontier Adventures. It's a really good one... one of the better ones that I've ridden.

I remember the airtime hill on Goliath giving a lot of airtime and I can only hope that the one on Kingda Ka will do the same. But no matter how fast the train is going, the hill looks to rampy to give any kind of thrill. Of course, it'd be nice if I was proven wrong when the thing finally opens (and runs somewhat reliably).

I have to wonder how much of the glory of that bunny hop is going to be taken away by the brakes? I'm thinking that they will probably start by the time you reach the top of the hill at the latest. There is no way there is enough room to stop the train with brakes just after the bunny hill. Or maybe it will be some sort of weird sensation that we've never had before on a coaster.

Also, in 2003, Dragster was topped off well before now, CP opens over a month later than Great Adventure, and the ride still wasn't ready for opening day. Good luck having this thing ready. In its second season, Dragster still had downtime probably in the 30-35% range. An improvement over the first season? Yes. But not what I would call a reliable ride.

The apex of the airtime hill looks really elongated so I would think the entire train would crest before the brakes start slowing the train. When I saw the rendering back when it was announced, I thought it would be more floaty than anything.

Medusa does seem brighter, but that could just be the sun playing tricks. Either way, I've always considered it to be bright yellow, not lime green, even when I saw it in person.

Best of luck to Great Adventure in keeping this ride up. My Penn/Jersey trip lies in Great Adventure's ability to operate it reliably.

This probably seems to be going up quicker because its all off season while TTD was being built during the end of the season. In which there were many days they couldnt actually erect due to guests in the park.

Don't forget... they haven't released an opening date yet. All We have is "Opening in Spring 2005", I believe I m ay have seen "May" Somewhere... but not sure...

I wouldn't bet on any predicted opening date for this one!

Where are the fotos?

Absolutely awesome photos! Although I am happy as heck that this is my home park, and will look forward to riding it often once the bugs are worked out, it still saddens me to see another parking lot coaster.....this is the 3rd one here over the years.......especially considering the amount of property SF owns here in NJ..........

Let's hope the downtime isn't too great!

i just wish this coaster was going in on the other side of rolling thunder and taking out that grey and red piece of garbage in the pics.

You'd rather SFGAdv lose a coaster than have KK built next to the parking lot? Wow. I understand that Viper isn't very popular with enthusiasts (myself excluded), but come on...

It's not very popular, period.

The last time I was there, I was looking at 45 minute waits for any other coaster that was open. Viper was literally walk on with half-full trains.

I honestly don't know why, other than for total coaster numbers, Six Flags doesn't tear it out and put something - anything - new in. Coaster or otherwise. Something that will be a little more popular.

I saw on Fox news its supposed to open in May.