29yrswithaGApass Posted November 27, 2014 Report Share Posted November 27, 2014 Click here to see the wholeSpotlight! Comments and discussions are welcomed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdc12192 Posted November 27, 2014 Report Share Posted November 27, 2014 Awesome job on the spotlight. It brought back a lot of memories of when it was being constructed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gasmspiritblue Posted November 27, 2014 Report Share Posted November 27, 2014 Finally! Great job, ka was the first coaster i remember being constructed at the park, i can't believe it's almost 10! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RC98 Posted November 27, 2014 Report Share Posted November 27, 2014 Great spotlight, I was looking forward to this! This was cool to see since Ka was constructed before I started liking coasters. With all the speculation that goes on for parks' future new rides I can only imagine the chatter among enthusiasts when Intamin strata track started arriving at the park! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoshi Posted November 27, 2014 Report Share Posted November 27, 2014 (edited) Excellent spotlight, it was cool of the park to let pass holders sign a piece of the track. At the time (and even now with the height record still holding), it seemed amazing the park was adding the world's tallest and fastest coaster. Edited November 27, 2014 by Yoshi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pineracer Posted November 27, 2014 Report Share Posted November 27, 2014 I think I saw the whole special on YouTube once because Danny kept pestering us to go on it but as I have said before, it was not open till the end of the day... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gencx Posted November 28, 2014 Report Share Posted November 28, 2014 Finally! With the amount of great pictures in the spotlight, I can understand why it took so long. Awesome spotlight, can't wait for part II. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlumeOp1974 Posted November 28, 2014 Report Share Posted November 28, 2014 ANother great Spotlight! Now if it had only looked like its rendering wed have something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Justin Posted January 6, 2015 Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 When can we expect Part 2? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckR Posted January 6, 2015 Report Share Posted January 6, 2015 Man, this was such an awesome time to be a fan of the park. I miss it, I remember making weekly trips to check the construction and getting the opportunity to go to the commercial shoot for this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great Adventurer Posted January 12, 2015 Report Share Posted January 12, 2015 It's been a while since I've posted but I've been checking in every so often during my time away and keeping up with all the spotlights and opinions here on the forum. The quality level here has always been high and this spotlight is no exception- what an absolute monster! Excellent job as always. I really like the idea of splitting it into multiple parts. Having not attained my enthusiasm for roller coasters until 2008, I wasn't able to fully appreciate the way KK was assembled when it was first being built. The curiosity stemming from that combined with it being among my favorite rides made this spotlight a joy to read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Railer Posted May 16, 2015 Report Share Posted May 16, 2015 After all these year's at the park, i think "Kingda Ka" is still our most popular Coaster by far. This morning when the Park was filling up, almost all the kids from the School trip's were literally running to it. And while all the other rides were pretty much "walk on's", Ka' was already at an hr wait, 20min after the gates opened. For a Coaster being over a decade old, and still being the the "draw" it is, I think it's safe to say that Great Adventure definetly got their money's worth for the 25mil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitro1118 Posted May 16, 2015 Report Share Posted May 16, 2015 After all these year's at the park, i think "Kingda Ka" is still our most popular Coaster by far. This morning when the Park was filling up, almost all the kids from the School trip's were literally running to it. And while all the other rides were pretty much "walk on's", Ka' was already at an hr wait, 20min after the gates opened. For a Coaster being over a decade old, and still being the the "draw" it is, I think it's safe to say that Great Adventure definetly got their money's worth for the 25mil. I believe Nitro still gets the largest number of riders per year, and was the ride that put the park on the national map. I also feel it is just tame enough to appeal to a larger demographic than the ultra extreme Ka does. Also, besides the initial investment, KK has cost the park millions over the years in upkeep and repair, while Nitro is a stallion. Still, despite that I love KK and do give it credit for pushing the park to the upper echelon in terms of national publicity and overall thrills. I feel enthusiasts underrate its quality and popularity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KK456 Posted May 16, 2015 Report Share Posted May 16, 2015 (edited) I think Kingda Ka is viewed as the park's scariest coaster that one would have to conquer (as most Intamins tend to be), while Nitro is viewed as the parks funnest coaster that will have you laughing hysterically at the brake run wanting more (the reputation of most B&M's). Although Nitro and Kingda Ka were great investments, I think El Toro was ultimately the best decision the park ever made. It cost less than Nitro and Kingda Ka, I believe (the park doesn't reveal costs, so these are educated guesses) and it was the ride that put Gadv on the radar, especially the enthusiast radar. It gave the people exactly what they wanted and everyone was happy, plus it doesn't have as many maintenance issues as Kingda Ka. Edited May 16, 2015 by KK456 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitro1118 Posted May 16, 2015 Report Share Posted May 16, 2015 I think Kingda Ka is viewed as the park's scariest coaster that one would have to conquer (as most Intamins tend to be), while Nitro is viewed as the parks funnest coaster that will have you laughing hysterically at the brake run wanting more (the reputation of most B&M's). Although Nitro and Kingda Ka were great investments, I think El Toro was ultimately the best decision the park ever made. It cost less than Nitro and Kingda Ka, I believe (the park doesn't reveal costs, so these are educated guesses) and it was the ride that put Gadv on the radar, especially the enthusiast radar. It gave the people exactly what they wanted and everyone was happy, plus it doesn't have as many maintenance issues as Kingda Ka. I agree Toro was the best value investment, and is IMO the best coaster in thee world, but Nitro is the coaster that truly put the park on the map. It was the first top 10 worthy coaster in the park's history, by far its most massive coaster, made enthusiasts around the world flock here (remember, it was only B&M's 3rd hyoer, which was a huge deal back in 2001), and if I remember correctly 2001 was the most successful season in the park's history. Yearly it tops ridership rankings, basically never breaks down, and is a top steel coaster that appeals to all audiences. As I said, Toro is my favorite coaster in the world, and Ka took us to another level of coaster credibility, but Nitro was the coaster that really got the ball rolling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Railer Posted May 16, 2015 Report Share Posted May 16, 2015 All of your comment's are true. Nitro does have more riders a year, more than ANY in the entire chain of Six Flags park's to be exact. And that is saying something, since Magic Mountain is open all year. But if Ka had the capacity of Nitro, it would beat it for yearly riders easily. And El Toro is, well El Toro, the best woodie on the Planet (and my personal fav with Bizarro a close 2nd) But the bottom line is, while Nitro, El Toro, and every other ride in the Park were "walk on's" every Friday morning for the past few week's, Ka had over an hr wait within the 1st hr the park was open. Last Fri i was getting re-rides on El Toro, Ka wasn't open yet, and the line stacked almost to the restroom's in the Golden Kingdom before they opened the que. Ka finally opened on my 3rd re-ride on Toro without leaving my seat, and Ka had over an hr wait instantly when the que filled. The fact is that the general public and non enthusiast's go for Ka as their 1st ride of the day. And people don't come from other Countries to ride Nitro, they come for the tallest roller coaster in the World. They of course will ride Nitro and Toro while at the park, and some come for for El Toro (#1 rating) but the reason most book their trip to NJ, is for Kingda Ka. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KK456 Posted May 16, 2015 Report Share Posted May 16, 2015 ^That's definitely true. But that could also be because Nitro is a capacity MONSTER, so it almost never has long lines. I do agree, no matter how short the other lines are Kingda Ka is always a wait, it's become something you can't leave without riding (especially for people out of the state). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Railer Posted May 16, 2015 Report Share Posted May 16, 2015 (edited) It's kinda' funny that i haven't even rode Ka yet this season, and have never been on Zumanjaro at all. After all these years of going to the Park, i try to always keep something "new" to me, by purposely skipping, or "putting off" 1 ride for periods of time. Before that i kept Sky Screamer as my 1 ride i never went on until last season. After riding every ride in the park (even the kiddie rides with my Daughters when they were younger) countless times, it's gets hard to keep thing's "fresh" in the Park. And i just want to add that i agree that "Nitro" put the Park on the map originally. It has the 1st ever "hammerhead", 1st with magnetic brakes, and is still one of the best rides out there. It does show it's age alot now compared to the new generation of B&M Hyper's, Fury 325 just look's incredible, and is the Coaster i want to get a ride on more than any other now. But my point is though, that even though all these rides in their time, have now ended up being great investment's in the park, none of them now has the "drawing power" that "Kingda ka" still has. I put "El Toro" in 2 place, and "Nitro" in 3rd. Edited May 16, 2015 by Railer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KK456 Posted May 16, 2015 Report Share Posted May 16, 2015 Bizarro started it all though. Bizarro in 1999, Nitro in 2001, S:UF in 2003, Kingda Ka in 2005, and El Toro in 2006. In 7 year we got 5 coasters, which is unreal; Combined, I estimate a cost of over $100 million (I could be way off though) . We were really spoiled back then, and I don't feel bad about it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Railer Posted May 17, 2015 Report Share Posted May 17, 2015 Ahhhh, the glory days lol. Prob was around that amount. Ka was 25mil. It says it in the Discovery Documentry Mega Structures in the Spotlight. And it says the original plan for Ka had 2 camelback's on it, instead of the one. That design with 2, didn't look to have made it out the "idea" phase though, the image they show of it with 2 is a very crude sketch basically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KK456 Posted May 17, 2015 Report Share Posted May 17, 2015 ^There were actually multiple designs they had in mind for Kingda Ka, including the one in the documentary (I saw that one too!), and even a version with one or more inversions. Ultimately they never got past the idea phase and we got the one with a single airtime hill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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