Kingda Ka Rocks Sadly

Went to six flags today, King da ka made it over the top everytime but 1. All 4 trains running, one after another. I never saw top thrill run so smoothly. I love Cedar Point and will always be the best park compared to any six flags. However, six flags nj is getting another wooden Itamin roller coaster for 06. The site is already marked in front of King da Ka. I can only hope cedar point build something taller or faster than six flags for next year. Matt

Within the first few months of TTD being open I remember it running that smoothly. Then the problems started. *** Edited 5/22/2005 4:19:11 AM UTC by x3ro***

Actually, Dragster was having problems on and after opening day. It had allot of problems when I went the 30th of that May. Sadly that was after the spoilers were token off so I never got to see them.:((off point I know)

And I think putting a "Kingda Ka rocks" topic in a Top Thrill Dragster forum might not be such a good idea. :p *** Edited 5/22/2005 4:44:04 AM UTC by TTD 120mph***

Every time I went in the first month it ran great. Of course it has its days.

Uh, guys. KK opened a month late, and you say it's running smoothly? Maybe if this was its real opening day (April 23rd), and not May 22nd...

And so it begins...

Being the first does come with its consequences.

KK was built with many updates that were learned off of TTD's numerous problems. I'd hope Intamin would be able to improve a coaster in 2 years.

Though Xcelerator was the true prototype, TTD was as close as to a prototype as you can get. The hydraulic system is much larger, bigger hill and speeds, the blocking system is a complex mess of sensors that are needed to run all 6 trains. TTD was a coaster that was rushed and developed on a budget of $25 million. It was far from perfect and many mistakes were found throughout its first year of operation and are still being found two years later.

Watching videos of KK, the ride's blocking system doesn't require more than 2 trains to run close to eachother. The dual loading in a dual station is a much more logical system than TTD's system. Less blocks mean less sensors, which means less chance of one misreading.

The launch has been modified in many ways too. KK launches trains from 0 to 128 mph in 3.5 seconds, but continues pulling that speed for an extra second until it begins the accent up the tower. TTD's launch ends after 4 seconds and then stops and the train loses a little speed until it starts its accent. The hydraulic building is much larger to allow the moter to be more spawled out instead of being confined to a tight spot.

The supports leading up to the tower and the way down are designed to get rid of the swaying TTD's track has after a train rolls over.

Those are some of the main features I've noticed after viewing the pictures and videos of the ride. I'm sure there are a lot more.
*** Edited 5/22/2005 8:05:31 AM UTC by Gomez***

Not only do the supports design prevent swaying but are also like they way they are because the hydraulics room is right behind them(under the tower). So it allows for the cables to get through easily. And the placement of the hydraulics room is a whole nother(not a word:)) improvement. Everything wrks out you could say.
So all these advances(if you could call them that) better make for a good ride when I decide to ride it in the near future. Again, I'm not saying it will be a bad ride. It'll just be like riding dragster only with a few sec of cruising and a non airtime hill.

Dragster's still one of the best!!!!!
KK doesn't make it any less of a ride. *** Edited 5/22/2005 9:30:28 AM UTC by TTD 120mph***

I read something that said during testing, KK's cable came off one of the guides and tore up a bunch of the launch track and proxy sensors. Sounds similar to Dragster. I also read it was down for an hour and a half or more on media day. I've also heard that Dragster ran beautifully the last few days, but we all know what happened about a week ago. So to judge the reliability of a ride on a couple rides or even a couple days is kind of premature. Even Dragster has run well for a few days, maybe even a week at a time.

Having said that, I do like some of the changes they've made with KK. I like how they went with four trains instead of six although I think the dual stations might still be overly complex. It will give them an eternity to load the trains. Dragster should have been done with 4 trains and flush loading (like Magnum, Blue Streak, Raptor, Mean Streak, etc) two trains at a time, rather than with the unload station. Load two, roll them out to launch while rolling the finished trains in, let people unload as the next group is getting in. The capacity would be nearly identical since unloading people hardly ever slows things down. Only drawback I see is that the people in the first launched train would have to wait a few seconds behind the station before getting back to unload. This would have gotten rid of at least two blocks and probably at least 25% of the proxy sensors. KK doesn't appear to have nearly as many sensors and drive wheels on the back curve (would be unload station at CP). The extra supports also seem to be a good idea knowing how Intamin rides have needed modification in the past. ;)

So it opened late, so what? The time it's been open, apparently its' been running smoothly. Why is it the CP fanboys just HAVE to find something to nit pick at?

Because we want to. The SixFlags fan boys do the same thing I would imagine.

Six Flags has fans? (sorry, I couldn't resist)

Oh there has to be some of them out there. There on the endangerd species list. lol

It has to run without major problems for a few months for me to be convinced that it is a major improvement over TTD. (I'm a CP fanboy and not ashamed of it!)

I have to agree with MillenniumMan1287's statement. I mean, it's one thing to have it tested and running smoothly for a few days, and it's a whole other thing for it to run smoothly all day, everyday for months on end.

I also remember Dragster running fine for the first few weeks and then the cable snapped prior to Memorial Day and then problem after problem came up. I doubt that KK will get the have the same internal system problems that CP had, but I suspect the first few times their cable snaps (and it will) that they will have it down for days fixing it.

Was this trip really necessary?