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Reasonably comfortable thinking the newest giant footer is the tower base. If so, we can begin to judge the claim by the regional manager that the new ride would be longer and/or use more track than Ka.

Obviously it's not a full circuit so it won't literally have more track than Ka. But they can make the claim because on the ride you'll travel farther than on Ka. Just the distance from the station to the presumed tower is about 1350'. Even if there were no tower, the return trip alone brings the distance traveled up to 2700'. That's close to Ka's 3118'. Add-in the tower, which would only have to be about 210' tall for the ride to become "longer" than Ka, and it easily passes Ka in this way.

The regional manager also led everyone to believe the new ride will be "bigger than Ka." That could mean several things, but he made it independently of the "more track than" claim. So maybe it does refer to tower height. If so, Ka topped out on paper at 456'. Let's say the new tower will be 457' just so they can claim it's taller than Ka. That brings the new ride to 3614' traveled to/from the station, or 496' more than Ka. And maybe the track curling up around the tower adds another 100' or so.

I guess the real question then is, how bad were the $ numbers that they thought building an all-new spinning "Ka" with a different launch system that is just as tall, long, and probably fast was a better option than retrofitting Ka like Top Thrill?
 
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I guess the real question then is, how bad were the $ numbers that they thought building an all-new spinning "Ka" with a different launch system that is just as tall, long, and probably fast was a better option than retrofitting Ka like Top Thrill?
Huge difference of ride condition. Difficulties of building in the middle of CP vs. a parking lot. And contrary to recent claims, large difference of popularity. Ka was rough as hell in anything but the front row.
 
Huge difference of ride condition. Difficulties of building in the middle of CP vs. a parking lot. And contrary to recent claims, large difference of popularity. Ka was rough as hell in anything but the front row.
Some of my thoughts, too. Also, in Ka's case it had more going against it. We've heard semi-official rumors the state wouldn't certify the ride because of issues with Zumanjaro that required hundreds of thousands in modifications to address, and that that was the reason for the unscheduled closure a year ahead of the apparent plan. Ka's launch system breaking down was a near-daily problem. The lawsuit around Top Thrill Dragster that forced the retrofitting of that ride had to have had an effect on Ka's future and Intamin's liability if there were design flaws or increased risks due to age. Knowing the internal costs of everything involved in that prolonged situation must've informed Cedar Fair's influence on the decision on Ka after the merger. We'll never know the full story officially. It sucks for riders and fans, but I'll bet the costs for keeping Ka operational in the years to come were probably pretty ugly. Especially since it did see declining ridership, a big part of which was the chronic downtime, and the declining state of attendance at SFGAdv. The new coaster should be more reliable, and that may be a big part of why they went in this direction. From CF's perspective, I'd imagine they're thinking they're basically replicating Ka with a new twist (mack spinner). I'd almost prefer they just call it Son of Ka or something like that since that's kinda what they're doing. Just own it and make sure the new coaster is reliable. I'd still rather have Ka back, though.
 
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