Kingda Ka Construction Update

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Lord Gonchar said: Want to be sickened even more? I have just as many laps on SFGAdv's Viper as I do Nitro.

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Gonch, you are a sick bastard! How you can survive that chiropractic nightmare is beyond me...is your back/neck/shoulders/head seriously that messed up? ;)

All I will say about Viper is that it wasn't hospitalizing the first season...

Now, as I've stated before elsewhere, I cringe when asked to go on as support and pray I haven't forgotten my advil.

As for Nitro? It's a great coaster. However, I still don't understand why a lot of people are so ga-ga over it. Maybe it's those funky huge-yellow-marshmallow restraints that are the only thing hanging you in. But in any rate, I guess I'd have to pledge my allegiance to the 'overengineered-not-much-to-it' camp. Doesn't make people who like it wrong.

Well, not that alone ;)

New pics are up on official six flags site... and it looks like it'll be topped off by New Years Eve Day...

Here's one of the cars:

http://www.sixflags.com/parks/greatadventure/images/golden_kingdom/56.jpg

...and here's the rest of the recent pics:

http://www.sixflags.com/parks/greatadventure/golden_kingdom/photos3.html

And here's a telling shot of the brakes that, yes folks, go ALL THE WAY DOWN THE BUNNY HOP:

http://www.sixflags.com/parks/greatadventure/images/golden_kingdom/57.jpg

*** Edited 12/31/2004 3:28:38 AM UTC by Mamoosh***

Moosh and Gonch...

I understand and respect your opinions about Nitro, but to get the best ride you really have to be in the front or the back. Gonch I noticed you said you sat somewhere in the middle. That's a big mistake. It appears as though the hills on Nitro are designed to give exactly 0G's for the middle rows. Just weak floater air. Nothing more, nothing less. Now in the front and back it's considerably higher. The front is good but you come back down in your seat a little too quick to get the full effect. Now the back, on a good day when it's crusing, is pretty intense. You get absolutely whipped down those hills. Sure it's not insane Magnum air, but it's not "Nyquil". If you leave yourself a little room in the restraints it can get pretty crazy.

Again, not trying to change your opinion. I know you like it, but just feel it could be better/more forceful. Definitely ride in an outside seat in the back to really experience Nitro. Preferably at night when it's going a bit faster. It really is a great ride.

MrX - I rode Nitro in the front and back row numerous times. Apparently you missed my post on this page in which I said:

I have more than a dozen rides on my two visits. I've ridden in the front row, back row, and in various middle rows in outside and inside seats.

It was a fun ride and I would never fault someone for having Nitro as their personal favorite [just as I never fault someone for having Timbers as their favorite woodie despite my less-than-favorable feelings for it].

And just so that there is no confusion, in this photo, you can see that, yes, they did tear out the pavement under the ride and it won't end up being a parking lot coaster, unlike what some have said.

Yay Six Flags!

i rode by the park yesterday to check out the construction. i spent about 45 minutes getting lost around nearby roads (im not from the area) but i stumbled upon this great vista about 2 miles away. such a contrast to see that huge tower against all that flat new jersey countryside. you can also clearly see the top of the tower from the KFC now and about 2.5 miles away on 195 east. cant wait to ride this thing in the spring!

i don't think i'm liking where those brakes are starting on the bunny hill...

it's not too different from the hill at the end of Stormrunner's circuit. Also, I think they're designed to slow the train, but the incline/weight of train will prevent the train from outright stopping.

I am not the least surprised that the bunny hop has brakes on the down side. Actually, it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that understands where the placement of that hill is to the actual end of the ride.

Since the train is going to be doing over 100mph when entering that element, a very short braking area wouldn't work out well with the current layout, not to mention the massive slam into the restraints that riders may have felt.

Also, that picture should be shown to the folks that claim "magnetic braking can't be applied to a cuving section of track such as a hill."

dannerman,

Magnetic brakes can't stop a train unless there was a long, long, perfectly horizontal section of track where the train would not have enough energy to coast. By having a downward angle, the train will just come to a crawl, but it won't stop.

With TTD, the downward angle where the brakes are located is very gradual to prevent the train from slowing to a crawl almost instantly. It will be interesting to see how fast Kingda Ka slows down.

-Sean *** Edited 12/31/2004 7:15:20 AM UTC by Sean Flaharty***

I dont get the Apollos Chariot thing, thought it was pretty boring myself. I rode Nitro and AC within like 3 days of each other and my gf and I were really looking forward to it after riding Nitro.

To each their own or something. What was this thread about anyway?

They have pictures of the trains up for kingda ka at the six flags great adventure website. I think those are the best shoulder harness you can get without getting too restrictive. Also i feel the breaks opn the hill may actually add to the ride just think about hitting that hill at about 100 mph then hitting the breaks on the way down lol.

I think it was a big fat waste breaking TTD's record. ooh 28 ft higher and 8 mph faster. youll hit those brakes as soon as u cross the top of the hill. wont work.

Man, this is starting to look great, I only have one real question...

Where in the world do the brakes on the bunny hill start? It looks to me like they start on the very top, but its hard to tell from the pictures. I don't think we will be upset by the braking, you're going to be going at least high 90's at the top of the hill, thats fast enough for me.

Josh

Brakes on the hill.....Boo!!

Tearing up the parking lot.....Yay!!

Still excited though!

it looks like they start just after the apex of the bunny hill - maybe a small pop of air before you hit them?

If there weren't brakes on the hill, just where do you expect they would stop the train? Dragster, which is frankly close enough in speed to compare, has brakes starting at the bottom of the pull-out, all the way to the stand-by area.

We noticed early on the better supports for the pull-up after the launch to help deal with the "wiggle" that we assume is caused by the bleeding energy of the stopping catch car, but given the location of the hydraulic building, I'm wondering if the launch sled won't actually go through the track and have an extra 100 feet or so to stop.

Jeff - I guess I was hoping that there would be a break run *after* the bunny hop, not *on* the bunny hop. But to be honest I'm not drooling over this ride just like I wasn't drooling over Dragster.

After riding TTD I can say with some validity that you probably won't slow down enough going down the bunny hop to notice. How far down the stretch of breaks do you really start to feel TTD's train slow?

Oh, and to the CP fanboy up there that complains "oh, its only just higher, so what?" I say fine. Don't ride it. TTD wasn't the Bizzomb anywho, and this one, as much as I'll probably like it, still won't hold a candle to Gemini.

Wah! They're taking CP's record. As if Cedar Fair cares. *rolls eyes infinity*

Jeesh!