Thanx, Buzzers!

I know this has little to do with anything, but I wanted to thank all the Coasterbuzzers for giving me some hot hints about the rides in my area. I would never, for instance, have gone on El Toro (thinking it to be a mere wooden coaster and thus not worth the headache), and I would never even be CONSIDERING Kingda Ka (I don't think I'm gonna do it, but who knows at this stage?). I would've never ridden Phoenix unless I was in the area, and Nitro would have been avoided as well. I can't believe I almost missed out on all the fun. Thank you for helping the newbie!

Kingda Ka? No Kingda Ka? Kingda Ka? No Kingda Ka? Is this ride too intense for me?

Oh bunky, toughen up and ride that big boy it will be the thrill of a lifetime. Its good to know that you saw the light and have ridden those other coasters and are now a coaster junkie like the rest of us.

Top Thrill Dragster (It should be like Kingda Ka) is over just like that, so don't worry about.

^I agree they are both kind of one-trick ponies, but that launch is the coolest feeling around.

Just expect a headache if you do ride it. There's a reason it's called Kingda Krap. Got to ride it once though, but don't let it scare you away from Dragster. TTD is infinitely better.

Ride everything once. If you like it, feel free to ride again. If not, at least you'll never sit there in a rocking chair in your 80s wondering "would KK really have been as bad as everyone said"....by then the 1k height mark will have been broken, LOL.

FWIW, I skipped Ka on my visit last weekend...but I had already ridden it, and waznted more time to devote to things I personally like better at that park.

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rollergator said:
Ride everything once. If you like it, feel free to ride again. If not, at least you'll never sit there in a rocking chair in your 80s wondering "would KK really have been as bad as everyone said?"

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Perfectly stated. It's this thought that gets me on stuff I really don't want to ride. And even on the rides I wound up not liking, I was always super proud of myself for riding them anyway. It's a great feeling.

Kingda ka is not as rough as people say it is. They are over reacting.

Rough is NYNY in vegas or Rolling Thunder at Great Adventure.

If you did El-Toro then you should do Kingda Ka.

If you ride Ka (and I haven't yet this year), stick towards the front. It's less likely to be as bumpy up there.

Last year I kept seeing people say that some of the trains on Ka are better than others, but I don't remember which ones.

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Jim S. said:
Last year I kept seeing people say that some of the trains on Ka are better than others, but I don't remember which ones.

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I can definitely confirm this....the green one is the WORST!! The teal one is also pretty bad, but for me, both the dark blue and orange trains were the best and most smooth.

Welp, I chickened out again. Actually, just as I was about to say screw it, I'm going to get on it, we saw that the line was nearly three hours long. We didn't want to waste precious El Toro time standing in a line for a 10 second freak show. Good thing too because Kingda Ka shut down just as we were going to watch a launch up close and personal. How salty would we have been after standing in line for that long and then not being able to ride?!

I'll hopefully re-decide to get on it by the end of the season. I didn't feel spectacular today for some reason, and I figured it was probably best I didn't push the limits. I almost chucked on Superman Ultimate Flight, for pete's sake.

Thanks again everyone! :)

I have not seen the line 3 hours long in ages. Are you sure? Anyway, I agree about the trains as far as roughness. I'm not sure why but I prefer the orange train to the others. I think it is the least rough.

Seriously, bunky, the funny thing is that once you ride KK you'll realize how NON-thrilling it is!!

The ride begins and ends in a matter of seconds and is so short there's no time to be "afraid"....only a few things barely give me any "thrill" anymore when riding...X2's first drop, Millennium Force's high lift, Deja Vu's first lift, Griffon's pre-drop "pause" in the 1st row, and Skyscraper at CP.

Once you ride KK you'll realize how similar is to Toro in terms of thrill.

I never got to ride Ka as they were still working the kinks out of it when I last visited SFGAdv. I have, however, ridden Top Thrill Dragster, and I am pretty sure the rides are pretty similar. I can tell you that your best ride on Ka will be your first one. You will be scared of it and then ride it and be on an adrenaline high after having "conquered" it. After that, each subsequent ride loses it's excitement. It's a one trick pony at best.

As for me, the only ride that intimidates me any more is Iron Wolf at SFGAm. I keep wondering if I will still have my family jewels after the ride. ;)

You know, I've heard from SO many people that if I can do El Toro, I can definitely do KK. It gives me hope. I just...well, I get to a certain point in drops and launches, and I feel just terrified and not amused. The launch on Storm Runner still gives me a moment of terror! Still, I think that my threshold is increasing and that I may end up riding Ka by the end of summer. I wish I could ride TTD first, as it is apparently the better coaster, but the likelihood of getting to Cedar Point is very small this year. I agree with rollergator, that I may really regret not riding this ride at least once just to be able to say that I rode the tallest, fastest coaster in the world. I already kind of do now. I'm heading out to GAdv at least once more this year, and likely twice, so I'm praying I'll grow a set and get that credit!!!