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Kingda Ka v Top Thrill Dragster v Red Force

Which is your fave?


  • Total voters
    17

Howie

Donkey in a hat
Believe it or not, I don't think this poll has been done before. Couple of old TTD v KK threads here:

And here:

But they're like 10 years old and neither of them includes Red Force.

Been on all 3? Rank 'em in order. Been on 2 of 'em? Rank the 2 that you have ridden and put the other one where you think it might go. Been on 1 of 'em? Rank... I dunno, you get the idea. Haven't been on any of them? Rank them according to which order you'd like to ride them in.
Or just vote for your favourite, whatevs.

I'm predicting a win for TTD here, and I'm fairly certain that KK will come in last, but it could be interesting to hear some of y'alls explanations n stuff.
Personally, I'm struggling to split them. Not gonna lie, I love all 3 of them.. but for different reasons. Ka was the first one I went on and it remains one the scariest coasters I've ever ridden. In my adult goonhood, only 3 coasters have genuinely terrified me - Oblivion back in '98, X2 back in 2010 and KK in 2014. For that reason I'll always have a special place for it.

Top Thrill Dragster is arguably the best of the 3 - it was the first, it's still the smoothest, it has theming, music, vroom vroom sound effects, lights etc and it has lap bars instead of OTS's. It's just better all round but because I'd already ridden KK, that initial shock factor had gone.

Then there's Red Force, the smallest of the 3 but still pretty frickin enormous. Different launch - rolling start, less explosive but longer lasting acceleration. Not sure which kind of launch I prefer to be honest, hydraulic or LSM, they're both fab. Lap bars again, so that's good, great theming and sense of occasion and it definitely makes the best noise out of all 3 of them but oh my gosh, it shakes like a bastard in anything other than the front row.

Tricky. Like I said, I've loved all 3 them, they'd all feature in my top 10% if I could be bothered to compile one, but my final ranking of these 3 coasters looks like this.

1. Top Thrill Dragster
2. Red Force
3. Kingda Ka

Over to y'all.
 

Hixee

Flojector
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Social Media Team
Dragster is clearly the best. Not even any question.

Red Force is surprisingly excellent, especially when compared to the catastrophe that is Kingda Ka.
 

JoshC.

Strata Poster
As someone who's done none of them...

Kingda Ka is probably the lowest down the list. I only really want to get on it to say I've done the tallest coaster in the world tbh.

But between Top Thrill and Red Force it's a bit trickier. I'm curious about Red's different launch system, but then the idea of a taller and faster Stealth in Top Thrill is enticing too. I guess Top Thrill wins out because it's higher, faster and (presumably?) has a stronger acceleration. But there's not much in it really.
 

Bentleya

Mega Poster
I'm in the camp of not having done any of them, but based on Stealth - I think Red Force would be my favorite based on the fact I prefer gradually LSM launches over the Hydraulic launch system.

And secondly, I have no desire to ride Top Thrill Dragster or Kingda Ka.
 

Niles

Giga Poster
I have been lucky enough to ride all three, for me you have to ride them in the front to feel the acceleration and speed getting the best ride .

1: Top Thrill Dragster - This may be a one trick pony but the pony can do triple backflip, its pretty impressive. Great acceleration, speed & height all with just a lap bar make this a phenomenal coaster. This was one of the few coasters to give me and oh s#!t feeling and i love it.

2: Kingda Ka - A great coaster, in the front it was smooth but in the back it was not great, however the speed and height are ridiculous and make up for any bumps. while not as good as TTD this is a must ride that i think gets overshadowed by the wooden beast next to it.

3: Stealth - This is my 2nd favorite coaster in the UK and i never feel its gets enough love so i'm going to plop it in, this has a great forceful acceleration ( apparently this is the second fastest acceleration on an operating coaster ) and a nice pop of air at the end.

4: Red Force - Hummm...... rattly and a dull slow launch made me come off feeling disappointed, i love how free you feel but it just did not step up to the outer coasters here. The odd pop at the end was a nice touch to be fair.
 
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Edward M

Strata Poster
Only been on two: TTD and Kingda Ka. I definitely prefer TTD to KK, but not by as wide a margin as some people. I consider Kingda Ka a genuinely underrated experience. All of its detractors: restraints and roughness, do add a certain charm to it. A rattle at 128 mph can be seen as a negative, but, honestly, KK's launch has always felt much more intense than TTD's as a result of said rattle. It's still a bit intimidating to me, even after all these years of coaster enthusiast-ing. Plus, it's my home park, so there's gonna be a bit of bias. And, I dunno, maybe it's just that I haven't been on any coasters this year, but the thought of going really, really fast and maybe getting a headache on a coaster sounds amazing right now.
 

FarleyFlavors

Mega Poster
I consider Kingda Ka a genuinely underrated experience. All of its detractors: restraints and roughness, do add a certain charm to it. A rattle at 128 mph can be seen as a negative, but, honestly, KK's launch has always felt much more intense than TTD's as a result of said rattle.
Yeah, this - except I actually prefer Kingda Ka to Dragster. Not only does the launch seem more intense, I reckon the extra speed on KK is noticable too despite it only being - what - 8mph faster?

Plus, the rattle on KK isn't nearly as bad at the front of the train. And on a launched coaster that's where I prefer to be anyway.
 

Will

Strata Poster
Only ridden one (cheers Covid) so won't vote, but my head says Dragster every day of the week.
 
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