Kingda Ka Breakdown... Sound Familiar?

Yep, because Intamin's going to want that PR nightmare on their hands. While in theory Intamin could do that, the fact that Cedar Fair would sue them not only for the cost of the ride, but also for the damage it would cause to their image, Intamin would do this only as an absolute last resort. And by last resort, I mean that they are already in chapter 11 (or 7, or 22 or whatever chapter corp's file under) and have no assets to worry about anyway.
Considering CP has sunk 59 million into Intamin development on the point, I'd think they'd do anything to keep them happy so that maybe they'll spend another 59 mil at Intamart. I think we are a long way away from Intamin forcing the closing of TTD.

Do you really think Cedar Fair officials are laughing or concerning themselves in any significant manner with what is happening with this other ride?

You guys don't think very highly of Dick and the boys, do ya?

If there is a defect that could be traced to both rides, that is the only reason CF folks would spend any time at all on this. Sort of like, if your Ford Explorer has a flat tire I need not worry about it unless there is something inherently wrong with Fords that causes them all to get flat tires.

And, Ford haters, before you go crazy it was just an example.
*** Edited 6/13/2005 7:36:38 PM UTC by Chief Wahoo***

Or have a Ford Explorer tip over due to the tires?

Heh.

Cough! Cough! firestone, Cough! Cough!

cptroublemaker said:
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Even if the fins did pop up would that really cause a problem. I know alot of you think that if the fins popped up during a launch the train would be going so fast it could cause a problem. Well during a launch the train would be traveling no faster over the fins than if there was a rollback or even the normal break fins. Something else would have had to happen to a fin before the train got there to knock it out of alignment or bend it potentially causing a problem.
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"cptroublemaker", I agree with you, and here is my take on the situation. I've seen from the many videos floating around that the rear of the train shakes violently as it is launched. Over and over, this MUST have an ill effect on the wheel assemblies and/or the alignment of the brake fins passing thru the slots in the train.

My theory is YES, the train launched while the brakes were UP, and disaster struck because of the violent side to side motion of the train as it is being launched, causing the brake fins to come in contact with the slots in the train. On a normal launch, the violent shaking is not a problem (except for rider discomfort) when the brakes are DOWN, but in this case when they were (supposedly) UP, disaster occured....

FlyinPhil (from GADV.com)

Someone on one of the Great Adventure boards said that KK is very rough in the back seat when launched and he was amazed at how smooth TTD was when he rode it recently.

I wonder if this was a malfunction where the brakes stayed up, and a large amount of side to side shuffling of the train caused the brake fins to come into contact with the magnets under the train.

I can't see any other reason, outside of a horizontal guide wheel falling off, for the train to be misaligned enough to come into contact with the brake fins.

Well if the back of KK is shaking maybe there was something wrong with it before hand.

I've heard this is because KK has a long launch area instead of TTD sudden launch. The back shakes more because of the increase of speed instead of the constant speed on TTD.

But it shouldn't shake nevertheless. By the way the wheels are designed, they shouldn’t cause any type of unnecessary turbulence(right?) except, of course, for the normal type of turbulence that is experienced when going at really high speeds……like on Dragster.

Basically what I'm trying to get at is that there would have to be some space between the wheels and the track to cause the train to shake badly. And if the supports are fitted tight enough, then the track should barley shake(like Dragster again).

So if this accident does have something to do with the wheels, then maybe GADV just missed something when/if they were checking the wheels. *** Edited 6/14/2005 1:47:24 AM UTC by TTD 120mph***

I have to do it...
Thepoint4life23, Congrats! You made absolutelyreliable.com! This is the first time I've ever seen this site featured.

From personal experience KK is a different ride than Dragster. KK seems to launch similar to a Honda Civic. When I rode it at the end of may it wasn't a intense ride. The ride initially leaves at a slower rate than TTD, then it seems to let out, then accelerate, let out, accelerate, let out and accelerate as it travels down the launch. KK almost seems like it's shifting gears like a car while it goes down the track even though it obviously isn't. I believe that this feeling of accelerating and letting out is a result of a longer launch and the position of the launch building being further from the end of the launch track. I believe that the increase in the length of the cable causes it to have more stretch in it, thus during the launch the cable is streching then relaxing and stretching and relaxing causing the shifting like sensation. I also belive that this type of stress on the cable may cause it to break more easily and this may also explain the reports people had about the cable jumping out of the track during testing before the ride opened. I remember discussion on some forum about the fact the cable on KK was occasionally jumping out of the track and rubbing on pieces outside of where it should be.

Sounds like they needed to "shorten the cable!" :)

Well it looks like KK is going to be down for awhile. Here is the lastest report from the Six Flags website:
Dear Valued Guest:

Six Flags Great Adventure's Kingda Ka roller coaster is not currently in operation. We are working diligently to bring the ride back in operation as soon as possible. However, we do expect it will to be closed for several weeks.

We realize that our guests' expectations for this record breaking coaster are especially high. We apologize for any disappointment or inconvenience this temporary closure may cause.

Please check here for updates on Kingda Ka. As soon as we have determined the specific date it will reopen, we will post details.

Until then, we hope you will enjoy all of the other great entertainment our park has to offer, with over 60 rides and attractions, including our new Golden Kingdom section featuring Balin's Jungleland for youngsters and a one-of-a-kind tiger show, 6 other new shows, the world's largest drive-through safari outside of Africa, and one of America's best water parks at Six Flags Hurricane Harbor. Six Flags Great Adventure offers an enormous entertainment experience for our guests.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Rick McCurley
Vice President and General Manager,
Six Flags Great Adventure, Wild Safari and Hurricane Harbor

Someone on one of the Great Adventure boards posted the KK has a gap between the track and the side guide wheel. On Dragster the side wheel has no gap and is tight against the track, correct?

The gap would explain the severe roughness. If the gap misaligned the train enough, the magnet would strike the brake fin if the train was launced with the fins up.

My theory is a bug in the software caused the train to launch with the fins up, and the gap in the guide wheels caused the magnet to hit the fins. Why this never happened on the brake run at the end of the ride, or during a rollback, is probably because the sideways shuffle is aggravated by the launch process.

If my theory is correct, the next question is why is there a gap between the side wheels and the track. New, flawed, Intamin design? Bad adjustment of the wheels?

I'll probably be yelled at but SF itself could have caused the issue with the gap also (Maint).

I won't yell at you Kyle, I think many people have been saying that SF shouldn't have gotten a ride like this. Look at how much work TTD is for the CP maint. crew to keep running, and I think it is widely known that the CP maint. crew is far better than most SF crews.

Grady said:
I think it is widely known that the CP maint. crew is far better than all SF crews.

All SF parks are poorly ran. All SF rides look and are poorly ran. Sure, Golden Kingdom look nice now, but give it a year or two, and it will look like the rest of the park. Gadv has already said that Kingda Ka will now be down for several weeks, so we know that it was a bad idea to build one at a SF park.

Ben, I was just trying to cut them a little slack ;}. But I pretty much have to agree with you. It's like letting a regular mechanic work on a Porshe.

*** Edited 6/14/2005 7:21:36 PM UTC by Grady***

Sounds like someone either got screwed over when they worked for Six Flags or has a serious case of Fanboy-itis.

I think GAdv should put in a Huss Top-spin with the water spray. They could call it the Golden Shower.

Jugg, I have never worked at any park, just what I have observed, CP seems to get there rides back on line faster than most other parks, with the exception of the Mouse House.