In May , lightning hit the main hill, damaging it. The hill had to be repaired after a two-month closure, and it was then reopened in August. Occasionally, the ride might suffer a rollback, which is when the cart doesn't fully go over the main hill, and instead, goes back down the hill. This is common, and it always happens on Intamin rollercoasters. The cart has been designed with magnetic brakes, so it can rollback safely, and be launched again.
In August , Hurricane Irene hit New Jersey and caused unspecific damage on the main hill and the other rollercoasters around it. The theme park was closed before the hurricane approached. The ride was repaired after a year of closure.
The ride was closed during its construction and later reopened on Memorial Day weekend. Kingda Ka is the tallest roller coaster in the world at feet, and is the second-fastest roller coaster in the world, just behind Formula Rossa. Kingda Ka took the title as the world's tallest and fastest rollercoaster from Top Thrill Dragster in It had the title of fastest rollercoaster in the world taken from it in by Formula Rossa.
Many riders look forward to a rollback as they are treated to another launch. Rollbacks are frequent during safety tests to ensure all brakes on the runway are in working condition.
One other issue that is even rarer than a rollback is for the train to "stall" or stop at the top of the lift. This is so rare because the train must be perfectly balanced for this to happen. If this happens, there is an elevator so workers can get up the support tower and push the train usually down the descent side. It is hard to know exactly when Kingda Ka's launch will occur. When the signal to launch is given, the train rolls back slightly to engage the catch car, then the brakes on the launch track retract.
Occasionally there will be a voice that says "arms down, head back, and hold on. Previously, Kingda Ka's horn sounded before every launch, but it has been turned off because of noise complaints from nearby residents. The horn now only sounds when Kingda Ka first launches after being idle for a certain period of time. Kingda Ka's launch mechanism is capable of launching a train every 45 seconds, resulting in a capacity of guests per hour.
Kingda Ka has a dual station - this is a station with two platforms. Each of the station's tracks accommodates two trains so that each of the four trains has its own station. Each train only loads and unloads at its station; it does not go to any others. The trains on one side are loaded during operation while the trains on the other side are launched.
This system works efficiently as long as all four trains are running and there are no significant delays in loading and checking the trains. This system was not used at all in because only two trains were working that year.
It also results in a very fast-moving line before the station, but a long wait inside the station, especially if waiting for the front row. An employee directs riders in line to go to a particular side of the station, but riders are then be allowed to choose the front or rear of the train. Two operators load, check, and dispatch each train, and one launches the trains. The other is the remix version of "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor.
Both of these records can be heard during the queue and station. Kingda Ka has four trains , painted green, dark blue, teal, and orange. Each train has five cars and seats 18 people. The first four cars seat four riders in two rows of two, while the last car has only one row of two riders. The rear row of each car is positioned higher than its front row for better visibility. Each of Kingda Ka's trains has a panel behind the last row of seats covering an extra row of seat mounts. These panels could be removed for the installation of additional seats in the future.
This modification would increase the capacity of each train from 18 to 20 guests and the hourly capacity of the coaster from to guests per hour. Kingda Ka's station is already set up for this modification; it has the entrance gates for the currently nonexistent row of seats. Kingda Ka's over-the-shoulder harness system consists of a thick, rigid lap bar and two thin, flexible over-the-shoulder restraints.
Because the over-the-shoulder portions of the restraint are not rigid, the hand grips are mounted to the lap bar. These restraints use a locking system rather than a ratchet which allows them to be pulled down to any position; when locked, they can move down to any position but not up.
In contrast, a ratchet-based restraint only locks at each notch and will often be too loose or uncomfortably tight. Kingda Ka's restraints are also held down by a belt in case the primary locking system fails. In order to speed up loading, riders are asked to secure their own restraints if they can.
On June 6, , less than a month after its grand opening, a bolt failure caused the liner inside the trough through which the launch cable travels to come loose and create friction against the cable. The friction caused the train not to accelerate to the correct speed.
The rubbing of the cable against the inside of the metal trough caused sparks and shards of metal to fly out from the bottom of the train.
The magnetic brake fins located within the launch section of the track, designed to slow the train on its return to the launch area should it not have enough speed to make it over the top hat element, rise up into the braking position in a sequential pattern after the train passes over them in the lowered position.
The fins are mounted in steel supports that are connected to actuators that raise and lower the fins into the desired position. The fins actually caught up to the launching train as the timing pattern of the rising fins was faster than the accelerating train.
The magnetic brakes began to slow the train in the launch area, and the engine tried to compensate even more and dragged the train through the brake zones. The catch car released, but the train was still in the brake zone and came to a complete stop at the bottom of the hill.
Many components were damaged in the incident and replacements had to be fabricated from Intamin. As the brake fins are retracting, a recording announces: "Arms down, head back, hold on! The hydraulic launch motor is capable of producing 20, peak horsepower At the end of the launch track, the train climbs the main tower top hat and rolls 90 degrees to the right before reaching a height of feet m. It then descends feet m straight down through a degree, clockwise spiral.
It climbs the second hill of feet 39 m , producing a moment of weightlessness before being smoothly brought to a stop by the magnetic brakes; it then makes a left-hand U-turn and enters the station.
The ride lasts 28 seconds from the start of the launch. Kingda Ka is themed as a mythical tiger, named for the Bengal tiger who lived in an adjacent exhibit before moving to Six Flags Wild Safari. The ride's sign and station have an Indian style. The queue line is surrounded by bamboo, which augments the jungle theme.
Jungle music is played in the queue and throughout the Golden Kingdom section of the park, which opened with the ride on May 21 , Formula Rossa. Six Flags Wiki Explore. List of Affiliates Apply for Affiliation. Explore Wikis Community Central.
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