Goodbye Kingda Ka?

BrettV - You make a good point. Thanx!

If Zamperla gets TT2 right this off-season and the ride proves reliable, I don't think it's out of the question at all that Z does KK2. In fact, it would make all the sense in the world to me for CF to let Ka remain SBNO for a year, save the maintenance costs and eliminate the opportunity for someone to get maimed by a failed launch cable, see how TT2 plays out, and then decide the ride's ultimate fate. Probably could get a good discount from Zamperla as compensation for Traingate, and avoid sleeping with the ex and calling Intamin or scrapping a multimillion dollar structure.

DA20Pilot:

eliminate the opportunity for someone to get maimed by a failed launch cable

That’s a bit extreme.

It's really not. It came close a couple of times. On TTD the cable broke and riders were sprayed with metal fragments. On Xcelerator the cable broke, a kid was seriously injured, and his father sustained back and neck injuries.

^ exactly. And did you see how the cable sliced through the train and track like butter when it ruptured on Xcelerator as well as the incident on Ka when it was new? If that Ka situation had been a train full of riders instead of an empty test train, it would have been a bloodbath like something out of a Tarantino movie. The structure has been proven unable to contain a cable failure.

It's official. Kingda Ka is done. Park announced today that a "record breaking launched roller coaster" will replace it in 2026. https://www.nj.com/entertai...nture.html

https://6abc.com/amp/post/f.../15545117/

I'm not shocked it's closing, but I'm a bit surprised by the lack of......well......anything. I'm not in the "they owe us" camp, but we managed to get a warning about Snake River Falls.

I can't believe they didn't announce Green Lantern's closing so we could get our last rides in.

Bastards.

BariMan:

I'm not shocked it's closing, but I'm a bit surprised by the lack of......well......anything. I'm not in the "they owe us" camp, but we managed to get a warning about Snake River Falls.

Maybe thats an indication that the ride is being "reimagined" rather than torn down? We didn't need to offer a "last ride" when the portions of the ride (tophat at least) will be re-opened as part of the record breaking launch coaster in 2026.

I had that thought at first, but this quote from the article threw me:

Then, in 2026, the park said it will open "an all-new, multi-record-breaking launch coaster." It has not yet been named.

I realize I'm nitpicking on "all-new".

The fact that they have announced a multi record breaking launch coaster and confirmed 2026 makes me wonder if they have already decided to retrofit Ka like TT2. Perhaps they have enough understanding of the problems with TT2 to have confidence in Zamperla's planned solution for 2025, such that they have already struck a deal with Z to redo Ka, perhaps at a discount given the TT2 fiasco.

Or, maybe they'll be sucking it up and going with Intamin.

There was a rumor going around a few months back that Intamin had submitted a proposal to reimagine Dragster that involved a significant extension of the layout instead of a rear spike. According to that rumor (FWIW), CP passed on it bc they didn't want to remove Iron Dragon. But maybe this time they're going to do something along the lines of that alleged Intamin proposal with Ka, which would be consistent with the removal of other adjacent coasters.

It will be interesting to see what happens, but my best guess is that they'll be re-using Ka's top hat as opposed to starting from scratch.

Originally, the drop ride was not included in the announcement as being removed, which would point to the structure remaining intact. SFGrAdv then issued an amended statement adding Zumanjaro to the list.

I'm neutral either way, as it's not a park I visit often. But in my mind I was picturing a TT2 style of ride, but with a large banked turn or a fan turn in the middle of the ride, as the area where Chang was is offset about 40 degrees.

Rumors sure can be imaginative.

DA20Pilot:

There was a rumor going around a few months back that Intamin had submitted a proposal to reimagine Dragster that involved a significant extension of the layout instead of a rear spike.

If I recall this was confirmed by the park at coastermania.

Tommytheduck:

SFGrAdv then issued an amended statement adding Zumanjaro to the list.

Well if that's the case, then I'm less convinced that the tophat will be recycled.

Jeff:
Rumors sure can be imaginative.

Speaking of which, there was also a recent rumor that there may have been some unexpected structural issues with TT2's old Intamin track, discovered during the Zamperla train fiasco investigation and testing. I realize that a lot of rumors are hogwash. But, if there is any truth to that one, then I could see SF deciding to scrap all of Ka, rather than risk a repeat of TT2.

There was some welding done on TT2 structure/track, but I believe this was mostly focused on the Zamperla steel as a matter of fact.

Those trains jerking all over the place on the track surely couldn’t have helped things.

Huh. I thought that would only make you go blind.