Katie and I made the trek to Six Flags Great Adventure today. We took lots and lots of photos, as one might expect. Here is a Flickr set containing all of mine, along with the trademark snappy comments.
We did manage to ride Kingda Ka, the new ridiculously overpowered coaster. While the fact sheet gives you the raw technical numbers – 0 to 128 mph in 3.5 seconds, then up 456 feet, then down the same amount – and this streaming video will give you a general idea of what the ride is like, let me present you my personal version of the experience to drive the point home:
– The line is long, *much* longer than the actual ride. We lucked out, by going on a weekday and finding our way over right after the ride had opened; our wait was only 65 minutes. I’ve been told by coaster fanatic friends that the lines can go up to 5 hours long.
– There is a sign near the front politely informing you that on occasion, the cars *don’t* make it over the 456 foot hill, but they were designed to gracefully come back down to the base and then re-launch. This will haunt you the entire time you’re in line.
– You are forced to watch these cars go from 0 to 128 mph over, and over, and over while you’re in line.
– As such, by the time you’re actually in the car, you – and everyone else – will be screaming the second it leaves the station, even though you probably have another minute before you’re screwed.
– Ride in one of the first two rows. Do not ride in the last row.
– There is a horn that blows shortly before you take off. This horn can be heard everywhere in the park. This horn will haunt you.
– The 0-to-128 acceleration is so quick that my eyelids were literally shaking in the wind.
The rest of the park is crap, but I’m certainly glad we got to ride what will be the most notorious coaster for at least the next few years.