News The King Is Dead: Kingda Ka (& Zumanjaro) Closure & Demolition Confirmed

[NKMM10893]

I don’t think Six Flags realizes how much of a legit competitor Hersheypark actually has become, and this has been the case since before the merger, with both merged companies being guilty of this. It feels like they still view Hersheypark as the charming but small park it was in 90’s when in reality it’s the most complete park in the region.

I used to go to Great Adventure every year for my birthday weekend (which usually falls on Columbus Day weekend). This year I chose to go to Hershey instead, which in hindsight I do regret as I didn’t know what was going on with Kingda Ka at the time, but that still proves my point about how much better Hersheypark is, as Hershey wouldn’t just close a park icon with no announcement. When Wildcat was closing, they announced it months in advance, and not only is Wildcat nowhere near as beloved as Kingda Ka, but it was also closing so it could get the RMC treatment, which gave Hersheypark yet another world class roller coaster in Wildcat’s Revenge, while all signs point to Kingda Ka being removed entirely, which strips Great Adventure of one of its star attractions.

I live in NYC, Staten Island to be more specific. I’ve been a Great Adventure diehard since my first visit in 2003. My username is based on roller coasters from the park (NKMM was NitroKaMedusaMachine back in the gadv.com days). The fact that I would now rather drive 3 hours to go to Hersheypark than drive 45 minutes to go to Great Adventure says a lot about how much Hersheypark has improved since my childhood, but it says a whole lot more about how bad Great Adventure has gotten as well. I bought a 2025 season pass, but I did that more for the all park passport add-on so I can visit other parks as well. I used to go to Great Adventure every other weekend, but it’s no longer a priority park for me, and that’s really sad.

 

[MrBradferd]

Watch them replace it with some small scale dive like iron menace

 

[The Master]

My feeling what the replacement for GL and KK will be is either an expansion for preferred parking or improved parking for the stupid savanna resort. The KK tower is right next to the current safari parking.

 

[CoasterRattler🐍]

I really hope that they announce Ka demise while 50% of the ride is already demo

 

[MrBradferd]

I really hope that they announce Ka demise while 50% of the ride is already demo

People are still gonna deny it haha

 

[twoyutes92]

My feeling what the replacement for GL and KK will be is either an expansion for preferred parking or improved parking for the stupid savanna resort. The KK tower is right next to the current safari parking.

the savannah resort has got to be one of the stupidest things this park has ever done i swear. there is no way in hell that it still exists even five years from now. nobody is paying multiple hundreds of dollars a night to sleep in a glorified tent overlooking a low budget safari in the middle of rural new jersey.

 

[caia]

the savannah resort has got to be one of the stupidest things this park has ever done i swear. there is no way in hell that it still exists even five years from now. nobody is paying multiple hundreds of dollars a night to sleep in a glorified tent overlooking a low budget safari in the middle of rural new jersey.

I stayed at Cedar Point's campsite and it was lovely. The folks with RV's were super nice, cabins were clean and homey, there were fishing piers all around the area, shuffleboards, pools, whatever - all with steel vengeance peeking over the horizon. I cannot imagine, in a thousand years, that area of New Jersey will sustain a resort the way they think it will.

 

[harry580]

if mrbradferd saying: I felt like six flags great adventure is getting screwed by nj like mexico did to six flags mexico (cancelling rides & sending them to other parks), I think they trying to pull a geauga lake/worlds of adventure again, I bet nj is like the Kentucky fair board on steroids

and please don't report this, I stress out about this

 

[twoyutes92]

I stayed at Cedar Point's campsite and it was lovely. The folks with RV's were super nice, cabins were clean and homey, there were fishing piers all around the area, shuffleboards, pools, whatever - all with steel vengeance peeking over the horizon. I cannot imagine, in a thousand years, that area of New Jersey will sustain a resort the way they think it will.

GAdv is just not a destination resort! To get it to that point would require a MASSIVE investment both into the park and surrounding area. It is and, on its trajectory, always will be a regional park. Its not even particularly accessible! Not to belabor the point, but Cedar Point is successful because there is not a lot to do for an affordable vacation near Sandusky Ohio. GAdv is thirty minutes from the jersey shore, and close enough to new york, philadelphia, delaware beaches.

Like, purely in terms of accommodations to price it out, four nights at Savannah Sunset over spring break in the family suite is $5100 dollars. You can stay in an on-property Disney hotel with a family of four for less than half of that price. I get that its a "luxury experience" but there's only so far that kind of an experience can get people in when the product is FAR inferior.

 

[horsesboy]

if mrbradferd saying: I felt like six flags great adventure is getting screwed by nj like mexico did to six flags mexico (cancelling rides & sending them to other parks), I think they trying to pull a geauga lake/worlds of adventure again, I bet nj is like the Kentucky fair board on steroids

and please don't report this, I stress out about this

I have seen zero evidence that the locality is responsible for the situation

I do believe that the Geauga Lake reference is a fair one in that I do believe that CF bought a cash strapped over leverage park when they aquired Geauga Lake and then proceeded to cut it to non existence hopefully the results are not the same.

 

[GAcoaster]

This is in no way a Geauga Lake scenario.

 

[Zachary]

Yeah, the doomerism around SFGAdv all the sudden is totally unwarranted. The way they are handling this year's attraction bloodbath is clearly unacceptable and the chain should be called on it relentlessly.

That said, I would bet money that, 5 years down the line, it will be crystal clear that Six Flags Great Adventure is one of the new Six Flags' flagship properties on track to the same level of notoriety/quality/reputation/etc as Kings Island or Carowinds at an absolute minimum.

Baring some insane turn of events, Great Adventure's future is, in my assessment, obviously very, very bright.

 

[horsesboy]

My previous post was a little poorly word I wasn't trying to say that I believe that they are on course to end the same way just trying to point out the similarities and why people might feel that way.

 

[Chiller]

If you look at El Toro Ryan’s comments under his YouTube video today, he said the latest is that the park doesn’t know what they are doing with Ka’s space and will probably be SBNO next year while they figure it out. That seems to make the most sense to me.

A New Jersey radio station today (it’s online, google it, 101.5 I think) indicated they have a source stating that the park is making an announcement later this week and that Ka is leaving and being replaced by a new coaster.

 

[MrBradferd]

Whats SBNO

 

[Coasternerd]

Standing But Not Operating (SBNO)

 

[netdvn]

I don’t think Six Flags realizes how much of a legit competitor Hersheypark actually has become, and this has been the case since before the merger, with both merged companies being guilty of this. It feels like they still view Hersheypark as the charming but small park it was in 90’s when in reality it’s the most complete park in the region.

Hersheypark has been a major player in the theme park world and a direct competitor to SFGAdv since the beginning. HP became a destination resort in the 70s when they gated off the park and they've been a regional draw since then.

Hershey has done a few unannounced closures in the past. I don't think Roller Soaker like Wildcat did. Hell did any of the other previous attractions like Canyon River, Giant Wheel or Chute Out get proper sendoffs like Wildcat did?

I've made a number of visits to both HP and GAdv in the past couple years and I find myself having a better time at GAdv between HP's insane crowds and the piss poor operations on half their coasters.

GAdv is just not a destination resort! To get it to that point would require a MASSIVE investment both into the park and surrounding area. It is and, on its trajectory, always will be a regional park. Its not even particularly accessible! Not to belabor the point, but Cedar Point is successful because there is not a lot to do for an affordable vacation near Sandusky Ohio. GAdv is thirty minutes from the jersey shore, and close enough to new york, philadelphia, delaware beaches.

Like, purely in terms of accommodations to price it out, four nights at Savannah Sunset over spring break in the family suite is $5100 dollars. You can stay in an on-property Disney hotel with a family of four for less than half of that price. I get that its a "luxury experience" but there's only so far that kind of an experience can get people in when the product is FAR inferior.

GAdv could very well be a full fledged resort if they kept pushing it. You could do a full day at the amusement park and then a second day doing the safari and water park. I think they're trying to push for that, but they need to drop the prices on their hotel if they wanna start. They should've learned their lesson from Starcruiser and not try to price out your own paying customers if you wanna sell rooms. The park is in an excellent location with a huge amount of growth potential, so pushing themselves to become a resort seems like the next step in expanding the park.

 

[Nitro230]

I mean it does make sense, clearly the original plan was for the ride to close next year after while they decide what to do with the ride, the new corporate management decided not to pay the offseason maintenance cost and now they have to put this project into overdrive. I did read something (and Idk how accurate this source is, claimed he knew someone from Intamin, could be completely false) that said Intamin officials recently booked a trip to NJ to look at Kingda Ka, this would line up with everything else if ETR is right. This also kinda explains why Ka and Zoomanjaro weren't in the demo plans, those plans were clearly decided prior to this season. Again I don't have any inside information here, just putting pieces together and trying to make sense of things, may be worth while to see if anyone comes to look at Ka during Holiday in the Park.

 

[Zachary]

Hershey has done a few unannounced closures in the past. I don't think Roller Soaker like Wildcat did. Hell did any of the other previous attractions like Canyon River, Giant Wheel or Chute Out get proper sendoffs like Wildcat did?

To be fair, it seems pretty silly to compare the unannounced closure of Kingda Ka to the likes of Roller Soaker or a Ferris Wheel. Obviously I would prefer the removal of any ride be announced beforehand, but the degree to which I'd be offended by a park not doing so is a sliding scale impacted by what the park knew, when the park knew it, how important the ride is to the park, how important the ride is to the industry, how beloved the attraction is to the park's fans, how unique the attraction is, what the attraction's history at the park is, etc, etc.

I'd argue that Kingda Ka is right up there with the likes of Space Mountain, Loch Ness Monster, The Beast, etc as the most offensive possible rides to do this to.

 

[horsesboy]

To be fair, it seems pretty silly to compare the unannounced closure of Kingda Ka to the likes of Roller Soaker or a Ferris Wheel. Obviously I would before the removal of any ride be announced beforehand, but the degree to which I'd be offended by a park not doing so is a sliding scale impacted by what the park knew, when the park knew it, how important the ride is to the park, how important the ride is to the industry, how beloved the attraction is to the park's fans, how unique the attraction is, what the attraction's history at the park is, etc, etc.

I'd argue that Kingda Ka is right up there with the likes of Space Mountain, Loch Ness Monster, The Beast, etc as the most offensive possible rides to do this to.

I mean we had a whole month to say goodbye to the temporary name project 305. But the world's tallest and fastest operating roller coasters gets a nothing as a goodby. Can't imagine why people are having a negative reaction to this.