Currently closed for "renovations", according to the park.
Kingda Ka and Green Lantern's removal for new 2026 record-breaking coaster
- Thread starter JoshC.
- Start date
InvertsAreMyJam
Mega Poster
I know I’m late to the party, but this is extremely disappointing news. Kingda Ka has been on my bucket list basically ever since I became an enthusiast, but I’ve never been able to get out to SFGA. I just can’t believe Six Flags would close the world’s tallest roller coaster with basically no warning. It’s not like it was in extremely bad shape, either. Because of the merge, I guess I could kinda understand if TT2 was up and running. But that’s been a total nightmare. I genuinely don’t understand why they would do this. I’m quite upset right now
CaliAngel
Mega Poster
I was planning on getting to this as soon as the rumors started going around it would close (I typically trust ElToro Ryan), but the soonest I could plan was next weekend. Literally missed it by weeks.
Excuse my language, but this is f***ing bullsh*t from the park, the PR department, and the entire chain, in my opinion. However considering they're merged and the absolute horse**** job they did regarding TT2, it doesn't surprise me.
I don't even care about the records, the fact that this is one of the last hydraulic launches on the planet at this scope is all I cared about.
Talk about a big "F-U" to not only enthusiasts (who honestly I don't really differentiate them from the GP anymore) but also the GP in general who apparently, this was probably one of the most popular rides in the world to them.
Excuse my language, but this is f***ing bullsh*t from the park, the PR department, and the entire chain, in my opinion. However considering they're merged and the absolute horse**** job they did regarding TT2, it doesn't surprise me.
I don't even care about the records, the fact that this is one of the last hydraulic launches on the planet at this scope is all I cared about.
Talk about a big "F-U" to not only enthusiasts (who honestly I don't really differentiate them from the GP anymore) but also the GP in general who apparently, this was probably one of the most popular rides in the world to them.
I'm sort of at a loss as to how or why a chain would do this in such a secretive and costly way. There is no benefit to the park in closing Kingda Ka without any fanfare whatsoever. Things would be sad but at least it would have got the send off it deserved, there would be a more nostalgic goodbye to the ride, rather then an angrier response. Shout out to the vloggers who got the word out and shared as much information as they could so at least some people got a chance to get out there and ride before it closed. They got a lot of stick and criticism for sharing what they knew.
IMO the Strata coaster by intamin was a complete failure on a personal level. Neither have lasted two decades. When I rode Dragster in 2018 it was a nightmare to ride. The reliability, the fear that every train would rollback as it barely made it over. When it did roll back and that lengthy delay to get it back open. I hated it. Getting on it felt more like a 'thank god that's done' more then the exhilaration I should have felt. I managed one ride over two days, the second day it was closed the entire time.
And Kingda Ka was closed the entire two days I was there because of a maintenance issue last year.
So for me, having one of the tallest and fastest rollercoasters meant nothing when they were barely open and stressful to even attempt to get on.
IMO the Strata coaster by intamin was a complete failure on a personal level. Neither have lasted two decades. When I rode Dragster in 2018 it was a nightmare to ride. The reliability, the fear that every train would rollback as it barely made it over. When it did roll back and that lengthy delay to get it back open. I hated it. Getting on it felt more like a 'thank god that's done' more then the exhilaration I should have felt. I managed one ride over two days, the second day it was closed the entire time.
And Kingda Ka was closed the entire two days I was there because of a maintenance issue last year.
So for me, having one of the tallest and fastest rollercoasters meant nothing when they were barely open and stressful to even attempt to get on.
Crazycoaster
Giga Poster
They are hardly a failure, they drew in huge crowds for years and years and have more than likely earned their keep substantially over those years.
Again, before everyone jumps on the “This is such a bad move by the chain”, maybe wait until we know what the actual announcement will be regarding the areas future?? There is nothing to indicate the tower is being dismantled so far.
Again, before everyone jumps on the “This is such a bad move by the chain”, maybe wait until we know what the actual announcement will be regarding the areas future?? There is nothing to indicate the tower is being dismantled so far.
The only reason I can think of to keep quiet about a ride closure like this, is as part of a chain-wide policy not to make a big deal out of a coaster's closing.
Big coasters have a finite service life, after all, and Six Flags built *a lot* of them in very few years around the turn of the millennium. And then, partially because of the cost of that spending spree, they stopped building them for many years. That means that very many Six Flags parks have a ride lineup consisting of big thrill coasters that are beginning to show their age, with few replacements to take over the headliner roles. The current investment budget isn't coming close to affording to replace all the old big rides, especially with how much more expensive such big coasters have become in the past 25 years.
In other words, I expect lots of ride closures out of Six Flags parks in the years to come. Not all at once, of course, but a few big ones every year, while the few coasters built to replace them will be smaller in scale and far less spectacular. An Intamin Accelerator and a B&M Stand-up goes out, a Vekoma Super Boomerang goes in, that sort of thing sounds about par for the course going forward.
It's understandable from a park management perspective that the old greats will have to go, and that the current economy doesn't support like-for-like replacements, but PR-wise, it's a bit more difficult. I can understand that they wouldn't want to make an event out of their biggest and most well-known coasters being retired, especially if the retired ride is more spectacular than the one announced to replace it. Each ride closure could make the public think the parks are getting worse. So the chain would rather make big announcements about the exciting new coasters coming to their parks, and sort-of-hope that the public won't notice that the park is missing one of its most iconic coasters from one year to the next.
owenstreet7
Mega Poster
I can completely understand the policy to some degree however for Kingda Ka, going with such a policy isn't such a good idea and could be really damaging for the park.
If there was an announcement at the start of the year or even in September, more people would've come to the park to ride it and there were opportunities for merchandise etc.
Nobody saw this coming, even Alton Towers with Nemesis, we knew for months that there was a retrack going on.
roomraider
Best Topic Starter
I suspect something happened recently to force the issue. It was floating around some in the industry that the ride was due to run next year and close at the end of next season.
My theory is a recent inspection turned up something that would require a big fix next season (replacement cable perhaps) and the park decided it just wasn't worth the investment for just one more year and it got got the chop now.
Efteldingus
Mega Poster
Except Great Adventure has confirmed Kingda Ka will be completely removed on multiple occasions to different people. It's not going go be a reimagination, but a full removal and new addition. It's coming down.
Squrmyweesl
Roller Poster
This whole thing is such bad news. I was holding onto that 'retirement' in the statement, but no, looks like it's just getting binned completely.
The lack of any official announcement until it's too late is so disrespectful.
I got SO close to making a very long journey out there for its last weekend, but the stars didn't align. Now I'm really sad, and resentful! This will leave a massive hole in thousands of bucket lists all over the world. So iconic, so uniquely intimidating.
I'd settle for TT2 on the bucket list instead, but yeah. Doesn't seem wise to get too hopeful about that.
Peet
Giga Poster
Let's review the evidence here, having a quick look back here as well as what I've seen on social media, the only "confirmation" I can see that the structure will be removed are the two messages below:
This is not confirmation, they could put spinning trains and an LSM launch with track extension to accommodate the longer launch, and that could, at a push, be described as "completely new".
This is from the social media team who typically don't know any more than we do and could very likely be an error or misunderstanding on their part, since the official press releases (which include confirming removal of the parachute tower, topspin and cable cars) don't say anything about Zumanjaro closing. Zumanjaro would doubtless need to close for a time if the KK tower was going to be used for a new ride, so that could also cause some confusion here.
For me the most telling thing is the wording in the official press release that says that Green Lantern, the parachute tower, the topspin and the cable cars are being "removed" while Kingda Ka is being "retired".
Call me a wishful thinker, but I think the tower is staying and will be a key part of the new coaster. Or did I miss something?
This is not confirmation, they could put spinning trains and an LSM launch with track extension to accommodate the longer launch, and that could, at a push, be described as "completely new".
This is from the social media team who typically don't know any more than we do and could very likely be an error or misunderstanding on their part, since the official press releases (which include confirming removal of the parachute tower, topspin and cable cars) don't say anything about Zumanjaro closing. Zumanjaro would doubtless need to close for a time if the KK tower was going to be used for a new ride, so that could also cause some confusion here.
For me the most telling thing is the wording in the official press release that says that Green Lantern, the parachute tower, the topspin and the cable cars are being "removed" while Kingda Ka is being "retired".
Call me a wishful thinker, but I think the tower is staying and will be a key part of the new coaster. Or did I miss something?
JoshC.
Strata Poster
Whilst I think your theory is pretty good, I'd be surprised if it was a specifically a replacement cable.
I don't know how they do it with Ka, but Thorpe replace Stealth's launch cable a couple of times a year. Intamin give each cable a set number of launches before they require replacement. I'd be surprised if Ka has cables which lasts significantly longer than Stealth's, to the point that getting a new cable(s) would be the nail in the coffin for running it one final year.
Squrmyweesl
Roller Poster
InvertsAreMyJam
Mega Poster
What the heck are they building that requires so many attractions to be removed?
Once upon a time, we were saying the same thing about Top Thrill Dragster.
rideguy70
Mega Poster
It indeed has been closed for months, with no sign of anything happening to it. While it has operated sporadically over the last year or so, it's definitely been closed way more than it's been open (like maybe 80/20). While the app just lists it as "Closed" (not temporarily), it's status has been pretty uncertain, and there are definitely rumors that it may not return.
I think it makes sense to have a "send-off event" for the closure of a big coaster if that coaster is the only one to be closed within a moderately short time period. But suppose that Kingda Ka's retirement is followed up by, for instance, Superman Escape from Krypton next year, then SFOT Titan, SFNE Superman, Raging Bull, the various Mr. Freeze coasters, Xcelerator ... all well-loved coasters worthy of a send-off. But if the chain was to give attention to each closure with an event, fans would definitely start noticing how many big coasters were coming down, compared to how many were coming up. There would be memes about how the chain kept celebrating more ride closures than openings, how the only notable events at the parks are send-off parties for rides that are better than the ones that are being opened, and so on. The first send-off party could have been a nice event, the tenth would just be sad.
In other words, I think Six Flags will be laying off a lot of hardware in the time to come, and that they have decided not to make a big deal out of it, because it could badly affect their reputation.
owenstreet7
Mega Poster
The thing with Kingda Ka is that it's the world's tallest rollercoaster and one of the fastest coasters in the world. If there was one coaster they could've had a send off for, it was Kingda Ka.
A lot of the coasters that were mentioned are iconic coasters regionally however are not necessarily considered iconic on the same stage as Kingda Ka. People go to Kingda Ka from around the world and it's considered as a holy grail of rollercoasters. The same uproar would've happened if it was Nemesis.
It's crazy that it didn't run for it's 20th anniversary.
It doesn't look good for Six Flags/Cedar Fair either way and I think there will be more coasters that close quietly after the end of the season in the next few years.
It's also worrying at the other side of the pond as Merlin could easily decide to start close iconic aging coasters quietly which I wouldn't put it past them to do - they did it to flat rides and log flumes before, one time with the promise of refurbishment of a log flume which ended up going on a actual train in a shed instead.
JuliOverbank
Roller Poster
I see your point, however the fans will notice the closures anyway, because they are well informed. So in my opinion the fans could better make some "funny" memes about send-off events than making "angry/depressed" memes about the chain randomly closing rides every year which do not allow the fans to have a proper goodbye (which they deserve, it doesn't cost any money to share the information beforehand and the fans bring in a lot of money with annual passes, buying food every visit and with merch)