The former tallest coaster in the world, which was unceremoniously closed back in November, is set to be demolished this February.
What’s Happening:
- Six Flags Great Adventure, located in Jackson, NJ, has officially filed demolition permits for Kingda Ka.
- Kingda Ka, an Intamin Accelerator coaster, opened back in 2005 as the tallest and fastest coaster on the planet.
- Reaching speeds of 128 miles per hour and launching guests up a 456 feet tall top hat, the coaster became one of the world’s most recognizable thrill rides.
- While the coaster was eventually beat out for the world’s fastest coaster by Formula Rossa at Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi, Kingda Ka held the record for tallest roller coaster during its nearly 2 decades of operation.
- Earlier this summer, rumors began swirling about the coaster's demise throughout the theme park community, with many major influencers urging fans to get their last rides of the king of coasters.
- While the park had not yet made an official announcement, Kingda Ka took its last riders on November 10th, with the park officially announcing the attraction’s retirement, alongside their Green Lantern coaster and a few flat rides, the week following.
- A screenshot of that filing was shared by X user JAXXNCREATED, which shows the recording breaking coaster is set to be imploded sometime between February 11th and February 16th, 2025.
- The demolition of the coaster began on December 22nd, with the project set to run the park over $1.7 million dollars.
- The project is expected to be completed by February 20th, 2025.
- In addition to Kingda Ka, Zoomanjaro, an Intamin drop tower attached to the record-breaker’s structure, is also set to come down during the demolition. Zoomanjaro held the record for tallest drop tower in the world at the time of its closure.
- While the loss of this piece of coaster history is incredibly sad, the park promised the addition of a new “multi-world-record-breaking” launch coaster for the 2026 season. The addition is expected to take up the land currently being cleared by the demolition of Kingda Ka and Green Lantern.
- While we don’t know what this new coaster will bring to the park, it’ll be hard to top the iconic Kingda Ka.
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