My Exclusive Kingda ka tour

I got a chance to talk to Kristin Siebeneicher, PR Manager
and have an exclusive tour of Kingda ka

read it all here

http://xtremecoasters.com/forums/index.php?act=ST&t=1561

all the pics are here

http://www.xtremecoasters.com/photo_gallery/thumbnails.php?album=77

there will be a video up shortly

No air on the top of the hop... I know people are going to complain like crazy on here if that is true. :)

I like this

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Jeremy: So how many people can the line hold?
Kristin: It can hold up to a 3 hour line.

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So in Six Flags Translation, Its only a 6hr wait ;)

EVEN THOUGH I personally don't think there will be airtime on the camelback (there are brakes all down the back side of it), the way that line was quoted in the interview made it sound like the author just added it in to stir up controversy. I don't understand why an employee of the park would answer that kind of question really. There probably isn't going to be air at the top either due to the magnetic slowing brake.

3 hour capacity queue? Well when you're dispatching one train every 5 minutes, that's not unrealistic ;) *** Edited 5/14/2005 8:17:51 PM UTC by Peabody***

Wow, I never heard about the brakes on the top before. Does it bing the speed down a considerable amount, or just a bit? If it made it really slow, that would be an awesome experience. If it just kind of hinders the ride and doesn't give much more of a time slot to look out, I don't know if it'd be worth it.

Call me crazy, but I don't understand why Intamin would include that massive bunny hop in the design if it wasn't intended for it to produce some form of airtime. I understand that SFGAdv probably wanted something to distinguish it from TTD, but I just don't see Intamin throwing in such a mssive bunny hill that doesn't really add to the ride experience. On the other hand, maybe I am crazy...

^ 0G's at least would be nice!

It sounds like there are breaks at the top of the big hill. This will give you that Oblivion feel. The camel back will probably have some air. I think she was confused.

The brakes on the tophat barely affect the speed at all, so don't expect Oblivion.

And I'm not sure how she could be mistaken...she's one of the people who have ridden it.

Yea... the brakes just slow it down a little. In the testing video it is noticeable as it drags a tiny bit on the beginning of the descent but not much. As for the bunny hill.... if there is air it will be VERY short. As soon you hit the brakes (which start right after the top of the bunny hill) the train will slow and air will die.

I'm going to chime in here. Everybody, my immediate take on the bunny hop comes from a braking/decelaration standpoint and that's how I've always looked at it. There is not as much room for a straightaway as with dragster, I saw this in person already. By having the coaster go up an incline immediately after the drop will help its deceleration as compared to the coaster just leveling off at ground level. It doesn't have as much room as Dragster for a long straightaway at the end of the ride plus this ride is a tad faster going up and down. I realize the thrillseeker in all of us from the beginning wished it was some terrific element to the ride but I do not believe that was the intention of Intamin.

Nice pictures and description. Thanks. Picture #4 shows some cross bracing on the curved sections of track where the ride goes vertical to stop the constant swaying that we see on TTD. I am really surprised that this has not been done to TTD yet.

Yea... Mantis2 is probably right. The hill (while providing an impressive stature and a no-doubt awesome view on ride) is probably just a way to make the ride seem less like a LTHB. I do, however, disagree that the shorter straightaway is insufficient for the slowdown. I believe before Dragster opened 2/3 of the brake fins were removed because the train was stopping WAY short of the kicker wheels. I don't think with magnetic brakes that stopping these things is very difficult even at the speeds they reach.

There is plenty of room to stop the coaster, even if there was airtime. To produce airtime the hill could be a little steeper and lower in height, therefore making the overall length of the hill shorter, leaving more room for braking.

As it is now the brakes seem to do a fine job of stopping the train. The could even remove the first 1 or 2 sets of brakes at the top oh the camelback IMO.

I'm sure there will be a period of weightlessness as being advertised, I just don't get the whole "no air" thing.

Why build a bunny hill? They could have added overbanked turns and what not, instead a bunny hill with no air!

It's okay, the main part of the ride is the launch and height =]

Sadly.. I not only recognize the guys in photo #5. I'm pretty sure (about 98% chance) I can tell you what problem they're addressing right there.. :)

Honestly, after trying Rita, I'm afraid that the air on Kingda Ka may not be great. Those restraints are NOT made for the feelings of airtime. Rita had some ok air, but those restraints really cut down on the sensation.

What problem are they addressing rob?

Thanks Earnhardt2, Great pics the area looks amazing. About the airtime on the bunny hill, I don't think there will be a problem at all, I have seen KK test many times in person and this thing just absolutely fly's over the bunny hill. The breaks don't start stopping the train until its at about the bottom of the bunny hill.