I don't 'get' TTD or Kingda Ka

[DBru]

Also, I haven't experienced the alleged rattle or roughness on KK.... I guess I haven't caught it on a bad day?

 

More likely, you just caught it on a very rare, good day.

[Dr. M]

What I don't understand is how Kingda Ka is so much more rough than Dragster. Of course Cedar Point has a top notch maintenance team (can't comment on Six Flags'), but if I'm not mistaken, Ka had a case of the shakes ever since it debuted. I also don't understand the (horrible) placement of the trim on the top hat...

 

Ka just knows... it KNOWS what park it's at, and it behaves accordingly. It's the only explanation.

 

Personally I haven't really decided if I like KK or TTD more... but if anything KK's roughness is actually to its credit. Makes it feel that much more intense.

[coastercoaster5]

Also, I haven't experienced the alleged rattle or roughness on KK.... I guess I haven't caught it on a bad day?

 

More likely, you just caught it on a very rare, good day.

 

When I went on Kingda Ka for the first time last summer i went on it four times and all of them were very smooth and enjoyable.

[ajfelice]

I don't find TTD to be glass smooth by any means, so I can only imagine what KK must be like if it's considered the more rough one of the two. Unfortunately KK was closed for my 2012 visit to SFGAdv to compare.

 

As for ride experience of TTD and likely KK, the more I judge them as coasters, the more I'm disappointed. Simply put, there isn't much to it for a complete coaster ride in my opinion. If I think of TTD as a thrill ride, it fits the bill perfectly. Just like a drop tower, TTD has that one "holy crap" moment that is more than enough for most GP to talk about for hours if not days afterwards. The regular gravity drop is fun and pretty interesting being all twisty, but it is a far cry from that moment of the launch which defines the ride. Nowadays, TTD doesn't feel nearly as intense for myself, but it is still an excellent GP people pleaser. Therefore, TTD is an elite thrill ride to me that is also a good but not great coaster.

[YoshiFan]

I never found Kingda Ka so rough that its unrideable but I generally try to go for the first 2 cars since it is smoother. I usually won't wait for the front unless the wait is only a few minutes extra (for some reason once in a while people don't go to the front row line making it not much of a longer wait), otherwise my preferred row is the 2nd row.

[GwaziBSRider1]

I've only ridden KK once and I didn't find it to be rough, but I was in the second seat. The only time I found TTD to be extremely unenjoyable was at night during the ERT on CoasterMania a few years ago. It was so shaky that I all I could see was a maroon and yellow blur. Never again will I ride it at night.

[coasterbear30]

I have not ridden KK because it was closed the 2 days we went back in 2011 but I will get a chance again this May. I absolutely love TTD though. It is in my top 5 steel and I have ridden over 300 coasters. I understand why people call them one trick ponies but I don't care. That one trick is sick and made me scream like a bitch on the launch and drop. I rode it 3 times on our trip to CP. I would rather have a short intense ride than a long boring one! (That's what he said.)

[cfc]

^For me, I think Top Thrill Dragster is just intense enough to work, whereas Kingda Ka is just too "over the top" (pun intended). Yeah, KK is a bigger ride, but the damn launch also plasters my eyelids shut and isn't very enjoyable.

[YoshiFan]

I have not ridden KK because it was closed the 2 days we went back in 2011 but I will get a chance again this May.

 

Hopefully you are not going to the park until the end of May since Kingda Ka is going to be closed for the beginning of the season until Zumanjaro opens (or at least until the ride construction is finished) which is probably Memorial Day weekend.

[cmullin]

Honestly, KK having OTSRs ruins it for me. If it weren't for those, it would be light years better.

[dylanreich]

Honestly, KK having OTSRs ruins it for me. If it weren't for those, it would be light years better.

Agreed. They had to have that little downward spiral down the other side, because Six Flags.

[netdvn]

^ Dragster has that same downward spiral. It's not a SF thing, it's a design thing

 

I don't 'get' how Intamin OTSRs are all that bad. Storm Runner and Fahrenheit were incredibly comfy, not very bulky (like B&M ones) and the shoulder pieces are far enough apart to keep your head from being boxed around.

 

The only harnesses I had trouble with were Cheetah Hunt's, and only because they like to clamp down on your legs more than anything. I'd say those are worse than Skyrush's harnesses.

[DBru]

^While I've never really had a problem with them, it's arguable that getting chopped in the neck by a thin bar hurts worse than hitting the entire side of your head against a larger harness.

[GwaziBSRider1]

The only ride I have a problem with them on is Maverick. I get the crap beat out of me almost every time I ride it. KK's didn't bother me, but I did think they were out of place.

[thrillseeker4552]

^ Yeah, Maverick's harnesses are quite uncomfortable on those s-curves. If it had I305 restraints, it would be my #1 coaster, but those thin bars on the harness are the only thing preventing that!

 

Back on topic, I've been on TTD but not KK. I found TTD pretty over-hyped for what it was. I felt it was too short, and it ended before you could even perceive that the ride started. I prefer Xcelerator to it because, even though the figure eight is pretty boring, it at least gives the ride some more length and more time to enjoy the ride.

[Aceattack52]

That's why I prefer Xcelerator at Knott's and Storm Runner at Hershey--they're more than just "launch," "high hat," and "brake."

Storm Runner and Xcelerator have some advantages over Kingda Ka and TTD because they have a launch and an actual course. But Kingda Ka and TTD have advantages over the other two because of the height and speed. You really can't compare the two because each type brings difference experiences to the table.

[cfc]

^I can compare them. KK-type rides bad. Xcelerator-type rides good.

[GwaziBSRider1]

^ This. Another reason to compare them is that they are all the same Accelerator Coaster model.

[Blue Turbo]

^^While the turn on Xcellerator might not be that thrilling, they do add to the overall experience because they give you a chance to calm down from the excitement of the launch and top hat. They make the brake run not seem as abrupt as with TTD or KK since on those you still have the rush from the launch that the brakes just kill the excitement and they ride feels unfinished as they is no cool down period.

[jzoole]

Also, I haven't experienced the alleged rattle or roughness on KK.... I guess I haven't caught it on a bad day?

 

More likely, you just caught it on a very rare, good day.

 

Interesting... I guess I've caught several of these "very rare" days?

[Wood Dragon 1988]

I've only been on Kingda Ka, but I would agree somewhat that I don't "get" it.

 

I will say there are two things about the ride that absolutely blew me away:

 

The Launch

The View from the top

 

It's certainly an adrenaline rush. But it doesn't compare to a great coaster with an actual layout like El Toro next door, or Bizarro at SFNE, etc.

 

Also, it is several notches below Storm Runner. Storm Runner is short, but it sure does a lot of "good stuff" in a short period of time. Launch, great airtime on the top-hat, boring (IMO) first inversion, absolutely insane laser snake horse on fire inversion, then an awesome funky twist at the end. So that ride has like four elements, but it is SOOO much more complete than Kinda Ka's one trick.

[rcjp]

I think that, as simple as Kinga Ka and TTD can get, the ride I don't really understand at all is Stealth at Thorpe Park. I mean, the first ones may only have a launch and a top hat so, yes, they are a one trick pony but provide (or provided) record breaking speed and height: that was their "job". Stealth (and Zaturn), on the other hand, do just the same but without the ridiculous speed or height which is sort of the point of this kind of ride. I know they aren't exactly slow or small but none of those figures is impressive in any way so they're almost a zero trick pony. (the only thing that stands out is the acceleration which still was never close to breaking any records)

Don't get me wrong, I've never been on either but that's what I think.

[cfc]

^As someone who has ridden all these coasters, I would call that a pretty fair assessment. I think Stealth and Zaturn are fun, but nothing I'd wait hours in line to experience again.

[rcjp]

^Oh, just to be clear, because I think I wasn't: when I said either I was taking Stealth and Zaturn. I have been on both KK and TTD and, yeah, I would wait for a bit because of the exceptional speed and height so that's why I assumed I wouldn't do the same for the other ones.

[coasterbill]

I would think Stealth and Zaturn work because they're in areas where they're the tallest and fastest coasters around, and they're assuming that most of the people riding those rides will be impressed with their stats despite the fact that there are much taller and faster rocket coasters overseas because they've probably never heard of or ridden those coasters.