Each train seats 18 people two per row. The rear car has one row, while the rest have two. The rear row of each car is positioned higher than its front row for better visibility. Kingda Ka's over-the-shoulder restraint system consists of a thick, rigid lap bar and two thin, flexible over-the-shoulder restraints.
Because the over-the-shoulder portions of the restraint are not rigid, the hand grips are mounted to the lap bar. Kingda Ka's restraints are also held down by a belt , in case the main locking system fails. To speed loading, riders are asked to secure their own restraints if possible. Two operators load, check and dispatch each train; another launches the trains.
Survivor 's " Eye of the Tiger ", played by DJ Quicksilver, may also be heard in the queue and station. A train may occasionally experience a rollback following a launch. These panels could be removed for the installation of additional seats in the future. This modification would increase the capacity of each train from 18 to 20 guests and the hourly capacity of the coaster from to guests per hour.
Kingda Ka's station is already set up for this modification; it has the entrance gates for the currently nonexistent row of seats. Kingda Ka's over-the-shoulder harness system consists of a thick, rigid lap bar and two thin, flexible over-the-shoulder restraints. Because the over-the-shoulder portions of the restraint are not rigid, the hand grips are mounted to the lap bar. These restraints use a locking system rather than a ratchet which allows them to be pulled down to any position; when locked, they can move down to any position but not up.
In contrast, a ratchet-based restraint only locks at each notch and will often be too loose or uncomfortably tight. Kingda Ka's restraints are also held down by a belt in case the primary locking system fails.
In order to speed up loading, riders are asked to secure their own restraints if they can. On June 6, , less than a month after its grand opening, a bolt failure caused the liner inside the trough through which the launch cable travels to come loose and create friction against the cable.
The friction caused the train not to accelerate to the correct speed. The rubbing of the cable against the inside of the metal trough caused sparks and shards of metal to fly out from the bottom of the train.
The magnetic brake fins located within the launch section of the track, designed to slow the train on its return to the launch area should it not have enough speed to make it over the top hat element, rise up into the braking position in a sequential pattern after the train passes over them in the lowered position. The fins are mounted in steel supports that are connected to actuators that raise and lower the fins into the desired position. The fins actually caught up to the launching train as the timing pattern of the rising fins was faster than the accelerating train.
The magnetic brakes began to slow the train in the launch area, and the engine tried to compensate even more and dragged the train through the brake zones. The catch car released, but the train was still in the brake zone and came to a complete stop at the bottom of the hill. Many components were damaged in the incident and replacements had to be fabricated from Intamin.
The ride has used this makeshift replacement queue ever since. It had been the dark blue train that was launched when the malfunction occurred.
It was used for the rest of the season, but major problems requiring replacement parts were discovered when the train was inspected during the off-season. Consequently, this train remained disassembled throughout the season. Before 's major malfunction, Kingda Ka's queue area was much larger.
It started at the main entrance arch, went under the launch track, traveled through two large switchback areas and split into separate lines for each side of the station. Most of the entire line used to be set in the ride's infield.
The current main entrance to the station was previously the "Flash Pass" entrance. In May , Kingda Ka was struck by lightning and suffered serious damage and downtime following the strike.
The ride operated on May 9 and May 10 off and on with downtime more often than operating time. The park attempted to open the ride on May 16 but was unable to get it running properly. The park then announced that Kingda Ka was temporarily closed for maintenance. By May 20, it was announced that the ride would be down for an extended period of time.
Six Flags Great Adventure ordered new parts for the ride from Intamin, but the damage required complicated repairs to Kingda Ka. It was up and running as of May 31, , but with more frequent breakdowns than usual. When it opened in , Kingda Ka was the world's fastest at mph and tallest roller coaster. It doesn't come close to the record for the world's longest coaster ride. In fact, at It's since been topped in the speed category , but it's still incredibly fast. Does its height and speed make it a great ride?
Not necessarily. Read our review of Kingda Ka. It has since been eclipsed by the similar Kingda Ka, but it is still one heckuva tall, fast, and great ride. Before it takes off like a bullet, huge racing lights on its tower build anticipation by changing from red to yellow to green. At 17 seconds in duration, the coaster is even shorter than Kingda Ka. Read our review of Top Thrill Dragster. Unlike those rides, the Spanish coaster uses magnetic motors instead of hydraulic propulsion to launch it out of the loading station.
Red Force features a Ferrari theme and, appropriately enough, hits mph in five breathtaking seconds. Superman: Escape from Krypton holds the distinction of being the first coaster to drop more than feet and to feature a tower over feet. When it debuted in as Superman: The Escape , it was also the world's fastest coaster. Problem was, it often fell shy of its theoretical top speed of mph and far shy of the top of its foot tower. Even worse, the groundbreaking ride often ground to a halt and experienced a lot of downtime.
In , Six Flags gave Superman a makeover with new cars and a new lease on life that has it running with greater height and, likely, speed as well as with more regularity. It also reversed the shuttle trains so that they blast out of the station backwards and send passengers free-falling down the foot tower facing forwards. There was a similar coaster, Tower of Terror at Dreamworld in Australia, that also had a foot drop.
That ride closed in Known as a "Giga-Coaster" for surpassing feet in height , Fury debuted in It makes quite a splash at the front of Carowinds when it passes under the path leading to the front gate. The crazy-high coaster uses a traditional lift hill to climb its enormous lift hill. As with Fury , Steel Dragon uses a traditional lift hill rising an incredible feet and gravity to propel it to a face-melting speed of 95 mph.
At four minutes and with a length of ' feet, the coaster is the world's longest. The park boasts a total of 13 roller coasters. Another entrant in the relatively limited Giga-Coaster field, Leviathan was the first to meet the specifications from Bolliger and Mabillard, makers of super-smooth and sleek coasters.
While Kingda Ka clearly has been in operation for a long time, its height and speed may have prospective riders asking about how safe it is. In addition to its hydraulic lap bar system, Kingda Ka also features a very effective magnetic braking system, as per New Jersey Monthly.
Additionally, according to the New York Daily News , while one young boy was struck by a bird while riding Kingda Ka in , no one has suffered a critical injury since it began operation. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the Top Thrill Dragster. The Akron Beacon Journal reported that a brake bracket attached to the back of the last coaster car became dislodged while the roller coaster was in full operation. Flying off the train at high velocity, it struck year old Rachel Hewes in the head, leaving her with a critical brain injury.
No passengers were injured, but the Akron Beacon Journal noted that operators found several bent track beams after this accident, leading to the closure.
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