Kingda Ka - Six Flags Great Adventure (NJ)

Date Ridden: Summer of 2007. Times Ridden: 1

As most people know, this giant green monster was built a few years after Top Thrill Dragster in order to eclipse (by very small margins) the world records for height, speed, and length of drop. While KK may be 4 mph faster and 20 feet taller, those are the only areas in which it ranks ahead of TTD. Let me explain.

To begin with, the ride itself (and granted I only rode this coaster once in the 2nd seat from the front) seems much more "loose". The train seems to shake and rattle a little on the launch (which is great by the way) much like Dragster does when riding in the back. The coaster itself is just not as smooth.

Second, the view at the top is nowhere near the view that Dragster offers. The woods of New Jersey are not as beautiful from 400 feet as picturesque Lake Erie. Although the stay at the top is very short, the view itself should be an important part of any ride that is this tall.

Third, the theme and colors of the ride are inferior. Kingda Ka is big, green, and situated in a isolated location of the park. Dragster is located on the main midway of Cedar Point.

Last, and most damaging, the ride has OTSR's. That keeps it from being as comfortable and even leads to some slight head-banging on the spiral drop from the top hat.

Overall, while this is the tallest and fastest coaster on the planet, it offers a slightly inferior experience to Dragster and maybe even Xcelerator out at Knotts. I will still give it a 9, although it is probably more like an 8.5. Maybe with more laps I can get a better feel of what this coaster has to offer.

Overall Score - 9 (Rounded up from 8.5)

Check out some off-ride and on-ride footage of Kingda Ka below,