MiniMike Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 Lots of coasters get hit by lightning and close for a while but the're normally up and running in no time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterfreak101 Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 ^Not when their hydraulic engine (and entire system) gets fried and needs to be replaced by a company over in Switzerland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterdude5 Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 Kingda Ka has reopened! Coaster101 was there to experience it up and running again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traincrossin Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 ^Good to hear! Now lets see how long this will last Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atem122 Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 Quoted from Facebook: Six Flags Kingda Ka is ba ba ba back! Oh well, TTD had a good run as #1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfgadviperboi Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 After such long downtime this season I cannot imagine the park would even consider risking damaging the ride further and rush to reopen it without being sure it was fixed. They apparently had to invest a hefty penny this year to get it up and running today. With the way the budgets seem to have been I am fairly certain the SF would have had no problem closing the ride for the season if they needed to in order to fix it properly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FeelTheFORCE Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 Ka is an awesome coaster! Good to hear it's back! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterfreak101 Posted August 22, 2009 Share Posted August 22, 2009 I was there today (for Coaster101) when the ride reopened around 1215pm. Sooo thrilled (and SOOO lucky)! Here's what I posted there:  Kingda Ka, ever since the cable broke two years ago, has launched in three parts. The first got the train going a bit, the second kicked in after the first had already let up, and the third kicked in halfway down the launch track to get the train up to speed. It basically sucked. There was no feeling, and on a straightaway where you should be pressed into your seat you were constantly falling forwards and being pushed back again because of how the launch was staggered. Now with the new launch engine (which we were on the...12th train out I believe!) it all launches at once. It's one constant increase in speed, though still a bit too weak at the very start to produce the feeling that Dragster does. Regardless, it's much better than before.  As for that stupid 'airtime' hill after the drop, I learned today that it's only worth it in the front seat. It is SUCH a rush to see yourself barrelling over that thing at 100+ mph.  Unfortunately, Ka is still too rough to beat out Dragster. I don't know what went wrong -- Intamin had all its engineering done for it thanks to Dragster already being a proven design. It must've been something in construction (track pieces not being fabricated or constructed precisely enough?), because Ka rides too rough for something that's going that speed.  I still can't believe we managed to go on the first day it's been open in almost three months!  Good to have it back! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jer1188 Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 Rode Kingda Ka twice today, it was my first times so I can't say how it runs compared to how it used to. BUT with having the flash pass it warns when rides re open. And I can say that breakdowns were frequent, I counted 10 notices that I saw (there xould have been more that I didn't notice). One of these was for an hour and a half. In all fairness one closure was due to a nosebleed once returning to the station, so they had to clean up. It does appear tho that breakdowns are fairly frequent, most of these appearerd to be resolved within the 10-15 min time frame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrillrideseeker Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 ^10-15 minute down times on ka are cause by the same thing that causes dragster to have so many 10-15 minute downtimes. They are called "drift to hooks" and it's when the train does not engage on the catch car. Simply back the trains up and reset! Intamin needs to work that little kink out. Ka may not be a super amazing ride but it's good that it's finally reopened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bolliger&Mabillard Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 ^Xcelerator has the exact problem, but with it being the prototype, it takes much longer than 15 minutes to correct this (30-45 minutes) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AirtimeAddict17 Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 I rode it on Tuesday night. The line wasn't too bad except that it broke down 3 times total while I was in line. 2 of the breakdowns were 5-10 minutes long while one lasted about an hour. I got in line about 8:15 and finally got off at 10:20. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zack44 Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 ^I was there on Tuesday too, I only remember it breaking down constantly before noon. But still, long lines or not, I'm so glad it's back up & I was able to ride it. You can see my trip report of that day here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AirtimeAddict17 Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 I'm glad it's finally up too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retro_Gaga Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 Just rode it yesterday, very happy to have the launch back to one continuous motion and no longer a 3 stage process. Not as quick out of the gate like TTD, but still much, much better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiveForTheLaunch Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 I personally never really noticed the triple tug on Ka, but glad to hear it is running nicely now. I ALSO never noticed any roughness on Ka.. Okay, maybe a teensy bit more than you get on Dragster, but nothing to whine about. If people hear it's rough in the back, you know the solution to that? DON'T RIDE IN THE BACK, it's not that hard! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themeparkman25 Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 ^But you get wicked airtime in the back! The car pulls you off your seat and you float for so long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterfreak101 Posted August 29, 2009 Share Posted August 29, 2009 ^I've never gotten a bit of anything in the back seat thanks to that terrible trim at the top...(alliteration!) That thing ruins it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yankees15 Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 I was at the park this past day and I didn't see one problem with Ka at all. The ride only ran one side, but they were waiting for enough people to fill the trains to even launch them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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