“Oh my…,” I finally got to ride Kingda Ka on the 9/23/05 Season Pass Day after seeing it closed on one occasion, and having a 5 or so hour line on the other. It’s an impressive and imposing structure up close, and in line you are treated with watching car loads of people being shuttled off to the exosphere. Seeing the flywheel in action was also pretty cool. Unfortunately this ride breaks down a lot, twice when I was in line actually (and both times were when I was in the seat queues!) It sort of killed the anticipation but after the ride, all that didn’t matter.

I jumped into the seat, pulled my harness down as far as it would go, buckled up, and I was ready to sail. The anticipation that was killed in line due to the breakdowns was replaced with “oh my…” as the train stopped at the launch area. Then came the voice over of the man with the annoyingly perfect voice saying: “head back, arms down, hold on.” I personally thought it would have been great if the voice over went: “AAAH! GET AWAY FROM ME,” immediately followed by the launch.

The train rolls back, engages, short pause, and then the train is thrusted up the track. I got an excruciating stomach dropping type of feeling during the launch which was 10x worse than what the Chiller offers. Next came the huge vertical trek up the tower. Over the top you get a view that is unmatched by any other SFGAdv coaster (and any coaster at many other parks as well.) The spiral downward was incredible; possibly the coolest scene you will ever see on a coaster with the track twisting around like it does. The camelback was more fun than scary or intense really. I liked how I was off the seat for the whole camelback until the train skidded into the brakes. “OH MY…,” was again thought at the end of the coaster which basically summed it up.

It’s big, it’s fast, it’s intense, it’s fun, and it was WELL worth the 40 minute wait plus two breakdowns. As a side note, I went on it a second time later that night and it also succumbed to a breakdown with a “rain delay” at the same time. Luckily the rain stopped quickly. It wasn’t much rain but I like to think that at 125mph that a raindrop would leave a crater in your face.

EDIT: El Toro now takes #1 on my list. My impulse thoughts on this coaster drove it up my top ten list almost as fast as its launch. KK now resides in the middle of my Top Ten list. I also dropped its rating from 10 to 9.

Some people will hate me for giving this a 7, but I have too. I was very impressed with the Golden Kingdoms themeing, but more could have gone into Kingda Ka. I would have liked a story to go along with the ride. As for the ride, to me it is a slightrly taller and slightly faster Top Thrill Dragster. The ride ops did pretty good, and the launch was different, but it is the same ride as TTD. The only difference is the bunny hop and that didnt do much. I dont like TTD as much as other people and the same goes with this. Dont get me wrong,it isnt a bad ride, its just a waste to wait an hour like I did for a 40 second ride. Oh yeah, the horn needs to go also. TTD was a lot better as far as the pre launch is concerned.

Love this ride absolutly the best ride of my life. The launch is just breathtaking, the speed is unbelivable, the view at the top is unheard of, and the camalback is a gifted ending to this unstoppable beast. There may be people out there who dont thing the same thing as me, and are out there thinking of radical things to say about this coaster, and if your one of those people please dont reply to this. I only want the people who understand what a good coaster ride is all about, and its about the experience that counts. Sure there may be rides in the future that will be bigger and better then Kingda Ka, but this is 2005, were in the present, so please comment if you had a great time on Kingda Ka.

I rode this on its first open day to the public. Yes it is very rare for me to give 10s but surprisingly this deserves it. From the moment you get in line a watch it fire up 456 feet in the air and spiral down at 126 mph you are stunned as if you are watching a rocket go firing into space. The ability to hold 4 trains is crazy. Not as crazy as Dragster which can hold 5 and sometimes even 6 but crazy enough. Once you get in your seat your hands tighten their grip and you pulse pumps rapidly. You move up in line behind a car and watch it launch verticly all the way to the top and then plummit down to the bottom and cruise over the camelback. You step up in line as nervous and ever and listen to the horn. 3 2 1 you stick your hands up and zoom. Your off racing straight until you soar up to the top. On my ride on Kingda Ka I was lucky enough for a roll back. We suddenly went down backwards landing back where we started. Only to hear the horn again and launch. This time we get to the top and get an amazing view of the park. We then plunge to the bottom and do a corkscrew. Then all you see is the parking lot. You then go up the camelback which surprisingly had air time. We then cruised in and got out in the station. I then looked at this huge beast in awe and kneeled down and bowed to it ( Sarcasm). I thought to myself how amazing it was and after that I got a total of 4 rides. I declare this the first ride I have ever given a 10.

Ya this was the best ride on earth of course i paid like 2 hundred something dollars to try and get on the ride quicker I did of course but i say it is way worth it it was the ride of my life and i got to go on it 5 times in a row thnkz Q Bot well ne way if you ever get a chance to ride this i say hell ya go ahead and ride it!!!

i rode kingda ka on Monday and it was intense but very bumpy. the only reason it was bumpy was because of the wind. the speed was amazing and i dont know what people mean when they say that they dont get airtime going down the first hill. i got at the park when it opened and only waited 20 minutes. this line moves so fast. i was sitting in the back seat and felt everything this ride did. good addition to six flags. alot of people kept asking me was kingda ka open then i showed them my photo and they went to the ride

I dont visit the site or rank rides often, but felt I oughta in light of the creation of Top Thrill Dragster and Kingda Ka.

Now, before you move to chop off my head for giving the ride an 8 rating, please do your best to read dispassionately (is that possible to do in considering such a raucous machine?). Heres my basic take on the ride: Yeah, its hardcore and unprecedented in the coaster world. However, this ride indicates only the beginning. Thats why I give it an 8.

I believe that there will come a day when this ride will seem dated, a fate which a true classic never meets. Itll remain important in its role as one of the first, but may not retain its unique fun factor in the way that the great ones do (Beast, Cyclone, probably Millenium Force). I remember when XL-200 was lauded as the greatest. Where does it rank today?

Essentially, the recent marriage of computer modeling and advanced steel construction has unleashed a whole new realm of possibilities. As I mentioned in my review of Millenium Force, speed and glass-like smoothness are on offer in previously unimaginable magnitude. It just plain rocks!

Anyway, while I dig 0 to 128 in 3.5 seconds and 455 feet, theres certainly room for much, much more. This is just scratching the surface.

I didnt find my first ride on Dragster to be overwhelming. I can understand where many people would, but I view this ride in the broad scope of human experiments with speed and height. At a personal level, Ive driven a car as fast as this coaster and know folks whove eclipsed 200mph on motorcycles. More objectively speaking, drag racing cars hit 350mph in short time and weve built steel towers which exceed 2,000 feet.

Granted, these towers arent load bearing, and 350mph is absurd to ask of a coaster...today. However, 200+mph at around 700 feet seems quite possible. This seems especially reasonable if designers keep in mind one of the most historically beneficial tenets in building better coasters: Use the surrounding topography to advantage. Can you imagine a coaster 700 feet tall whose support structure is affixed to a mountain face? I sure can. Sounds like fun, eh?

Still, mountains arent even necessary. They might just help alleviate some of the cost of free-standing structures. Maybe Las Vegas could build one up the side of a sky scraper...yeah, I know, Im letting my daydreams get the best of me. Still, I can somehow imagine it in a place like Vegas.

On another point related to Great Adventure and Kingda Ka, I cant help but feel really annoyed by the Kingda Ka t-shirts with "This Breaks All Records" printed on the back. What a bogus and ahistoric claim. The ride breaks 2, maybe 3 records (e.g. speed, height and, if you wish, acceleration). The coaster doesnt break ALL records. Its not the longest, doesnt flip (wouldnt THAT be fun...how bout a 30 degree incline, 60 wide by 160 long double corkscrew on the come down from, say, 760 feet?), etc. This rides a blast, but it doesnt break all records. I kind of hate that t-shirt, actually.

No doubt, this ride and the Top Thrill Dragster ROCK! Ill hold back on giving a 9 until they break 550 feet or so at 160+mph. The 10 will come when 200mph is broken. I feel the wind in my chest already. Well need protective goggles when this monster arrives.

One word... Power. No other ride experience can prepare you for the sensation of Kingda Kas launch - the first ride is something out of a dream, and subsequent rides are the stuff of pure adrenaline. I first rode Ka in the daylight, and, even with plenty of coasters under my belt, the launch defied all expectations, and was almost overwhelming. On top of the initial thrust, there is a moment of further acceleration along the runway that pushes you further - its almost indescribable, and you cant mistake it. You cant really scream, you cant really breathe, youre just sort of in limbo - it just defies words. Then you head up the tower, and regain your breath... the adrenaline really kicks in, and you find yourself rebel-yelling like a madman. Over the hill, and you come to realize just how darned high up you really are, and it seems like an eternity before you reach the spiral. Which, by the way, is a joy unto itself, clean and smooth. Down again into the dip and bunny hill, a great finale. The second ride: Later, in the darkness of night, I rode again, and with the intent of grasping onto the power of the launch. Doing so transformed the ride experience, and turned the borderline terror of the first ride into sheer, pumped, devil-take-the-hindmost THRILL. Well worth a second ride - if you dont mind the wait - as others before me have said, Ka is almost too much to take in on the first run - on the second, youll really come to acknowledge its capabilities, and fall in love with it. Finally, in my humble opinion, this is not what I would call a coaster in the traditional sense. Its a thrill machine, pure and simple. None of the standard aspects characteristic of coasters - thoughtful layout, multiple elements, extensive trackage, you get the idea. No, this is a full-throttle dynamo designed with one purpose in mind - to thrill you as deeply as possible, and do it quickly. And my God, does it ever deliver. For a down-to-the-bone, no kidding around, you aint whistling Dixie rush, you cant get much better than this.

Okay, you may want to take my review with a grain of salt. I love coasters, but Im not one to debate the intricacies of them. Discuss with me the number of inversions, type of inversions, type of restraints, and Ill stare at you like youve got a third eye in the middle of your face. All I ask myself afterwards is: Did I have fun? And to what extent did I have fun?

Given that...this ride is a blast. The launch is unreal. The first second, youre flying. The next, youre feeling like you cant go any faster. The next, you *are* going faster.

In fact, the speed disorients you so much, youll be 3/4 of the way to the summit without realizing it. The train just barely gets through the top hat when you get to my favorite part of the ride.

Thats the split-second where the train is looking straight down from 456 feet up. The launch was reason enough to go on the ride, but this was icing on the cake.

Ive heard reviews on this board from people who say their view was obstructed by the supports. I guess it all depends on what youre focusing on, because all I saw was the ground looking as if it were a million miles away. The view was thrilling, to put it mildly.

I was too busy pulling my spleen from my throat to even notice the bunny hop. When this ride was over, I knew only one thing: I had to go on again. I got right back in line.

I rode with Kowrip (see his review), so I can second the notion that the 2nd row in car 1 offers a great view with none of the negatives that come from sitting in row 1.

What can I say, except:

Its the Kingda-Ka!
There is no higher!
Sucker rollercoasters
Will call it Sire!

I finally got a chance to ride this thing twice this past Saturday. Both rides were in the second row. The overall scenery and appearance of the ride station is very good. I was very impressed by its appearance. The launch is absolutely unreal. Ive been on several LIM launched coasters and also on Storm Runner, but KKs launch blows the others away. The launch is arguably the best part of the ride. The ascent up the hill was so-so. Cresting the top of the hill and starting the descent is an awesome rush ! The view is great and the height is unreal. The spiral was also excellent. It adds a great touch to a very simple ride. The bunny hill, as expected, was so-so. At that point in the ride, it doesnt really add any significant excitement. Overall, the ride experience was excellent. The launch alone is worth going on this ride. Also, the restraints did NOT take away from the ride experience. These restraints that are used on KK and also Storm Runner are way different and much better than other OTSR restraints. I think a major factor in how riders rate this experience will be the wait time. I got to the park at 9:30 with my brother. Our main objective for the day was to only spend about 3 hours in the park and ride KK at least once .... twice if possible. We completed the first ride by 10:30 and the second one by 12:00. After our 2nd ride, the wait was well over 2 and 1/2 hours. In 2 hours we managed to get 2 rides on this record breaking coaster. We also got rides on Medusa and Nitro before leaving for the day. So, we both had a very favorable opinion of the ride. However, if we had arrived at 12:00 when the line was close to 3 hours long, I would not have had the same opinion. The ride experience is outstanding, but I would seriously consider planning out the rides like we did or use the Fast Lane. Another recommendation is to ride in the second row. The even rows are raised about 4-5 inches higher than the rows in front of them. So, by riding in the 2nd row, you get a clear view of the track just as if you were in the front car but without the extra wait time !