As my trip to Great Adventure approached, I was very pumped of course to ride El Toro, the new beast on the block. But right behind lurked Kingda Ka, the current reigning champion in regards to height and speed. I am, as many of you are aware, a big fan of the coaster that Ka dethroned, Top Thrill Dragster. I will be drawing comparisons between them in this review, as the 2 coasters are almost identical, but I will try to limit them to my conclusions towards the end. That being said, let’s get down to business!
As you enter Great Adventure, and drive through the trees towards the parking lots, you suddenly emerge and the first thing you see is this massive beast. It simply towers over the park! I had made the decision that I would wait it out for however long I needed to so I could ride KK on my first day at the park. I headed off through Golden Kingdom, which I must admit looks really nice, albeit a bit cramped in the walkways. The jungle-like theming is evident in this area and for KK itself, and it is successful. I walked around the ride area a bit before hopping in line, and the one thing I will comment on is that the ride is not too accessible for onlookers/family members to watch the ride launch and get a great up close look at the tower. I could tell almost instantly that I was gonna be in for a LONG wait! While in line, I noticed the constructed split in the queue that was blocked and not being used. Finally I made it to the ticket taker and was allowed up the ramp towards the station, where I was greeted with yet another slow-moving line. It was at this point I finally was able to see what was going on. It was bad enough that they were only using one side of the station, but then they were essentially making almost everyone who waited in line use only the front train. Occasionally, a few were allowed to trickle into the second train area in the station, but this was mostly reserved for people coming up a special ramp for Q-Bots. Also, I must comment that the crews themselves on this coaster were honestly not that good at all. They very lazily strolled around to check restraints, and they seemed more interested in personal conversations as opposed to doing their job. This, as a result, greatly affected dispatch times. After 2 trains would launch, it would then be a good 10-15 minutes before they would send out the trains again. I’m sorry, but for a ride this popular that is unacceptable. I know that this is not the fault of the coaster itself, but I feel it must be stated in my review. Six Flags needs to take a look at this and get a more efficient crew for Ka. Facts are facts – if Cedar Point can cycle 5 trains on TTD and still launch about every 45 seconds – 2 minutes or so, then there is no excuse that Kingda Ka can’t at least run 4 trains. Or, at least efficiently run 2 trains when that is all that’s available. Bottom line – just prepare yourself for a long wait in line for this coaster, unless you pony up the dough for a rip-off Q-Bot! Anyway, after a 3 hour and 45 minute wait (yikes!), I finally boarded the train, in the back row (which surprisingly did not have a long wait). It was now my turn to conquer the new world’s tallest and fastest coaster! Here we go!!
As the train headed out of the station, I wondered to myself just how noticeable 36 feet and 8 mph would really be. Would I feel a big difference? Well, in a word, YES!! It is very eerily quiet once the train reaches the launch position. My heart started to beat faster and faster, particularly once I felt the catchcar attach to the train and then heard the horn wail. Thump, thump, thump! You know, no matter how many times I have ridden TTD, the ticker really gets moving right before a launch!! A slight drift back and we all know what’s next – Wooooooossshhhhhh!! Like a bullet out of a gun, our train was fired down the launch track, which seemed pretty long. The train just kept getting faster and faster until hitting 128 mph, which is just plai
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