Slashdot Mirror
2005's Tallest Roller Coaster
MacBrave writes "MSNBC has a short story about a new roller coaster, named 'Kingda Ka' that is set to open at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey in the spring of 2005. This coaster will beat the current world record-holder, Top-thrill Dragster at Cedar Point."
It's sometimes great living in the Northern Ohio area. Cedar Point is the greatest park EVER. With great, world-record rides like the Magnum XL200 (puny by today's standards), Millenium Force, and the Top-Thrill Dragster, how can anyone really do better here in the U.S.?
I do have a concern though. With the Dragster, the ride uses a cable driven mechanism to pull the car at 120 MPH. There was an incident this past summer where the cable shredded and shards of cable covered in hot oil injured a many of the riders. The local news coverage showed people having first-degree burns and embedded wire pieces on their face and arms (yikes!). I agree that this is an isolated incident, but this ride has been closed a lot because of the high winds from Lake Erie. Being 420-something feet, I would not like to be stuck on top of the hill for any reason. So, I hope the designers are prepared for this new ride.
Coderz 4 Life
At cedar point i've seen the car not make it all the way up... it just rolls back and tries again... They have a sign in the line that says that it's normal and just happens sometimes. I believe they actually changed the cars to hold 4 less people than originally because it had problems making it up the hill at first. There are no hydroulics to aid it up the hill after the launch... it goes from 0-120 mph in like 2 seconds. You sit still, the car rolls back a little, and POW!!! You're 420 feet up in the air, and it's a smooooth ride. Doesn't last long enough, but it's wild. Going that fast is actually cooler than going up in the air. Now if they just used the same technology to build a flat ride around the perimeter of the park that let you go 200 mph around cedar point in a minute and a half... now THAT would be cool. No hills or anything, just a smooth, fast ride.