Date Ridden: Summer of 2007. Times Ridden: 1 As most people know, this giant green monster was built a few years after Top Thrill Dragster in order to elcipse (by very small margins) the world records for height, speed, and length of drop. While KK may be 4 mph faster and 20 feet taller, those are the only areas in which it ranks ahead of TTD. Let me explain. To begin with, the ride itself (and granted I only rode this coaster once in the 2nd seat from the front) seems much more &quot.loose&quot.. The train seems to shake and rattle a little on the launch (which is great by the way) much like Dragster does when riding in the back. The coaster itself is just not as smooth. Second, the view at the top is nowhere near the view that Dragster offers. The woods of New Jersey are not as beautiful from 400 feet as picturesqe Lake Erie. Although the stay at the top is very short, the view itself should be an important part of any ride that is this tall. Third, the theme and colors of the ride are inferior. Kingda Ka is big, green, and situated in a isolated location of the park. Dragster is located on the main midway of Cedar Point. Last, and most damaging, the ride has OTSR&#39.s. That keeps it from being as comfortable and even leads to some slight head-banging on the spiral drop from the top hat. Overall, while this is the tallest and fastest coaster on the planet, it offers a slightly inferior experience to Dragster and maybe even Xcelerator out at Knotts. I will still give it a 9, although it is probably more like an 8.5. Maybe with more laps I can get a better feel of what this coaster has to offer. I don&#39.t think so though.

Kingda Ka was the most anticipated ride I wanted to experience during my last visit to Great Adventure. I was not nervous at all about riding it, but I got the butterflies once we got up into the station. Kingda Ka has a very nice location in the park. Its queue is surrounded by tall grass like you&#39.d find near a tropical lake. There was a fan in the line which I think was supposed to spray water, but at that time it was not. The line didn&#39.t move very quickly, but it did go faster than I expected. I did enjoy watching the trains launch right beside us while in line! My friend and I decided to sit in the third or fourth row from the front of the train. The orange, plastic/foamy shoulder restraints were comfortable and spacious. The lap part is what kept our keisters on the seats. Once the OTSR were in place and locked I can hear lots of nervous giggles from the back of the train. We advanced to the launch track from right side of the station. After sitting there for a minute or so, the imminent launch is on us! I don&#39.t remember hearing the &#39.arms down, head back, hold on&#39. even though I was listening for it. I felt the cable car as it went under the train. I started to countdown (Five...) in my head as the brakes hissed (Four....) we rolled back slightly (Three...)the train stopped (Two....) not much time for anything else (One....) We take off like a rocket, going faster and faster and faster like there&#39.s no tomorrow...or we&#39.re going to end up in tomorrow! There really isn&#39.t an exact way to describe what the actual launch feels like! I&#39.m one of those crazy people who&#39.s got hands up against the wind that&#39.s so forceful I can feel the air being sliced by my arms and fingers! Halfway down launch track, the train is still speeding up and begins to shake so we don&#39.t know exactly when we&#39.re going to take off towards the sky. In the three seconds we have on the launch track, we probably wouldn&#39.t know it anyway. Next thing we see is blue, white and bright. The train turns, still going up and there&#39.s no time to hope for a rollback. We slow slightly, our weight now rests on the spacious shoulder restraints, I make a mental note of the tiny trees and parking lot below before all I can see is green steel and green ground. As the train whips around still plunging for earth, we come very close to the steel supports, but this does not feel like a head chopper to me. Back on the ground, we fly over the massive bunny hill, but feel the brakes kick in at its peak. We slow down very quickly, make a U-turn back into the station and Kingda Ka is over in the blink of an eye. While this is a one of a kind experience, the King loses points with no airtime, very short ride, and little desire for a reride. I also think that while the launch is a terrifying thrill, I wonder what the anticipation of a chain lift to 456 feet would be like! And a longer bird&#39.s eye view! I would still recommend riding this, the current record breaker for the tallest, fastest roller coaster in the world!

Arms down. Head back. Hold on!

This ride, in some ways, is almost too much, but it does not escape description. Nor criticism. My very first ride was about 25 minutes after opening in the front seat. I left my glasses on and as soon as we took off I put my hands over the side of my head the entire ride in fear they would fly off.

The sustained acceleration is startling. The trip up the tower is almost lost since you are still overwhelmed by the speed. During that first ride I did not notice airtime at the top. The descent is a bit surprising but then it is over. My third ride ride was in the back seat early on my second day at the park. It was nowhere near as good as the front. However, my last ride of the night was around closing at 10 PM in the front seat, and in the dark it was really disorienting. This time I noticed massive airtime at the top of the hill, and it was very hazy at the crest of the tophat, which was pretty cool. I could not see or anticipate the descent, which made it even more exciting. The night ride was great.

That last ride aside, Kingda Ka gets a 9 from me. I could argue it down to an 8 very easily, but that late-night thrill pushes my overall opinion just enough. The lack of overall elements and sustained fun prevent me from going any higher. It seems like such a waste of speed and height to end in 28 seconds. In comparison, I have not been on Storm Runner in 2 years, but I remember it (albeit short itself) to have a higher get-off, get-on rideability.

From the front row, this thing is absolutely amazing. A perfect 10. Yes, it breaks down a lot. Yes, the waits can get ridiculous. Yes, the entire coaster is a contrived record-breaker. But by golly, the sheer force in the front row is incredible. You feel like youre in some gigantic, out-of-control slingshot. You can feel your skin peeling off of your body. Your eyes water until theyre dry. It is without a doubt the most intense experience Ive ever had on a coaster. The airtime is nonexistent, even on the so-called airtime hill, but thats ok, because KK doesnt need it. Even though Ive been on the front several times, it still manages to scare me a little bit every time.

From any other row, I would give this ride a 7. Its still decent, but everything is significantly weaker than in the front. As long as youre waiting for KK anyway, you might as well just add an extra few minutes to your wait to get in the front row, because it really is that big of a difference. Hopefully the rest of your party is cooperative.

(I decided to go with a 9 because its a 10 in the front and a 7 anywhere else- the average of that is 8.5 so I decided to round up.)

This is certainly a ride that has quite a lot going for it, and also quite a lot going against it. To start with, the launch is very, very good. Im trying not to use any words like “incredible” or “amazing” in my description, because unlike the great mistake of Hypersonic XLC, there ARE words that can describe this launch. It just wasnt quite the rush, and certainly didnt have as much all-at-once acceleration. Kingda Kas launch started out fairly slow, but then just kept bringin it. I have to admit that the launch was quite good, but after riding HXLC a mere three times, Kas launch seems a bit more down-to-earth. Another "good" part of the ride was the simply amazing view to be had on top of the top-hat. The train may seem to crawl through that top-hat from below, but when I was actually up there, I almost wanted it to slow down a bit so I could enjoy it more! Now for the bad: The ride is rough. It has a type of roughness I have never quite felt before. Almost an unbearable level of intensity seems to just jar your whole body on the vertical drop back down and the straight away that follows. Perhaps it was because I sat in the back seat, but unfortunately I am going to have to be a wimp and whine about this part of the ride not being comfortable. Another bad factor: Airtime lacking. Yea, not much more to say about that, besides I got zero on the top hat and zero on the bunny hill. And of course: the ride is pitifully short. Really gave you a lot to love, speed more than anything, but all in all I just wanted a little more when it was over. It is certainly a crowd-pleaser, but it just lacks a little thing called a layout that would really get me loving this ride. This ride is certainly more bearable than HXLC, however I have to rank it lower than most coasters made by Intamin. It just seems a bit flawed. There is no way an Intamin ride in its 4th year should be that rough. If I complained about it, you know some head-strong, iron-willed GP will probably fuss about it one of these days. I sure hope that this ride doesnt launch its way to the grave as quickly as Hypersonic, but Im afraid it may be headed that way.

Holy sh*t. That basically sums up my ride. The launch is just pure insanity and very suspensful. The speed is sensational and the 456ft tall hill is terrifying and thrilling at the same time as it provided some sweet air-time. Also the bunny hill provides some incredible air-time too. Wish it were longer though.

Simply an amazing ride. I know a lot of people were down on it because it had a poor first and second season but this year it had a wonderful season and operated at levels that should be commended. The ride itself is simply unexplainable and even though it may seem like it would get boring it definitely makes you want to come back for more. The launch is intense and theres plenty of Airtime on both hills and the sensation fo speed and height are amazing. One of my top ten.

Great ride. My friend and i rode 6 times.3 in the front. I must say it would probably be my favorite ride if every seat delivered as much thrill as the front, but it doesnt. Still the most intense coaster ive been on. Good job Six Flags.

I was able to ride Kingda Ka in only a 15-min. wait since it just opened up to the public. I was excited, yet somewhat nervous since I didnt ride Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point two years ago, so I didnt know what to expect. The rides themings amazing as its surrounded by palm trees & the tiger exhibits around it are cool too. Anyway, as the two trains were approaching the launch pad (I was in the second train, so I had to watch the first train take off), I was extremely anxious about the whole thing because of the scaling 456 height & the 0-128 m.p.h. launch. After the first train hit the brakes came my turn. Unlike Storm Runner, the train makes you sit there for a long time, which builds up the anticipation. Before you know it, were pulled back & all I hear is: "Keep your head back, sit upright & hold on!" I had my hands up surprisingly & now it was time for the launch. It doesnt have as great a velocity as SR, but the launch was out of this world. During the second half of it, I could hardly see what was coming up as water was coming out of my eyes like it has been leaking for minutes. The top hat gives the best view ever & now came the 428 drop. Despite the drop being incredibly gargantuan, heres where the disappointment came into play as I got very little airtime & the so called "airtime hill" that followed it wasnt that important at all either. KKs fun & the launchs soem youll never experience anywhere else, other than at CP, but its way too short to be anywhere in my Top 10. I look for long layouts to make it, & this is just a one-trick pony & gimmicky. Im not saying I wouldnt ride this again because its amazing & all, but the lack of elements kill it. I did get a 6x8 photo & 4 wallet-sized photos to remember my extraterrestrial experience.

I had a tough time figuring out how to rate this ride. Its true that Ive never been on anything else like it. The rush given by that launch is unlike any other launch Ive been on. Nothing else that I have ridden has reached the height that Kingda Ka reached, especially in that very short amount of time. Then the drop back down to earth is really intense as well, but the ride leaves me wanting more...

The entire ride is really nothing more than just a launch, up, down, then up and down a small hill covered with brakes. The whole experience is over in less than 30 seconds, and it left me sort of disappointed. I mean, the train reaches a height of 456 feet. The amount of potential energy that the train has built up as it starts falling down from that height is enourmous. With that much energy, a huge and amazing ride could have been made. Imagine if after the top-hat, Kingda Ka went into a whole bunch of hills and had a layout similar to Nitro. Instead, all that energy that is in the roller coaster train all gets absorbed into brakes. Fun...

The experience is amazing that I had on Kingda Ka, but I cant give the ride too high of a rating, just for the fact of how short the ride is, and the potential that the ride had to be much more...