Travelogue New Jersey: If you build it, they will come. They just might not ride
by: Niki Kapsambelis
JACKSON, N.J. - If a roller coaster breaks the world height and speed record, but nobody's there to ride it, does it make a noise?
Like most amusement park junkies, I spent the off-season checking on the progress of Six Flags-Great
Adventure's Kingda Ka, the new Mack Daddy of the coaster world. The park's website fed the anticipation
with an online construction journal, virtual ride previews, and all the associated hoopla that we've
come to expect from the superpowers of the coaster arms race.
I booked my trip, made my travel arrangements, and counted down the days.
Then, with no warning, my plans fell apart faster than a hydraulically-propelled train going down a 456-foot tower at 128 mph (not that I would know; I'm speaking metaphorically, of course.) Kingda Ka closed just days before my trip, with no word on when it would re-open.
Since the trip was already booked and there was a chance the coaster might be operational by the time I got there, I forged on ahead. It's not like there aren't any other roller coasters at Six Flags, I reasoned, and besides, I was feeling lucky.
Unfortunately, like my botched exacta pick in the Belmont Stakes that same weekend, this wasn't one of those cases where a good hunch pays off. Arriving at the Six Flags entrance, I was greeted by plenty of paraphernalia hyping Kingda Ka, and a discreet sign placed off to the left of the gate informing me that the big ride would be closed that day. (At least they don't wait to tell you until after you pay for your admission.)
Sure, I could have gone home at that point. But after driving about six hours and spending the night in Levittown, Pennsylvania, that hardly seemed to make sense. So I went in and made do with the Six Flags signature thrill rides of past seasons - Superman, Nitro, Batman, Medusa and the like. At one point, I tried to get a little closer to the ride to at least take a picture of what I was missing, only to find that the path leading to its station was cordoned off and manned with security guards.
The problem here isn't that Kingda Ka was broken. According to park spokeswoman Kristin Siebeneicher,
the malfunction appeared during routine testing on June 8 in the liner of the coaster's track, which
damaged a number of parts. Because these parts must be specially fabricated, the ride was expected
to stay dark for at least a few weeks.
That means Kingda Ka has essentially been a no-show for the height of the 2005 season. Sure, people have ridden it in media previews and early-season visits, but school wasn't even out in many local districts when I went. Even when it is running, the coaster can be closed due to weather conditions, and if you don't pay for the park's virtual queue system (a minimum of $30.90 for one person), the line may close up to two hours before the rest of the park does.
So while the ride is certainly a draw for the park, with that much uncertainty, can it really continue to draw beyond the local region? I have my doubts.
Seasonal parks continue to search for ways to lure far-flung summer travelers, and building record-breaking coasters appears at first blush to be one surefire strategy. In announcing Kingda Ka's opening, Six Flags CEO Kieran Burke said, "Six Flags Great Adventure is already the world's largest regional theme park, and this record-breaking new capital marks the first step in transforming this park into a true family destination."
I guess the second step, then, is making sure the ride actually works.
Apart from the fact that you may drive a long way to be disappointed - and if you're coming from outside the immediate region, as I did, you probably won't be able to book a second trip in the same summer - you will also experience longer lines at the next-biggest coasters, where fellow discouraged thrill-seekers will flock to get their adrenaline fixes.
It's not just Six Flags that has this problem; two years ago, I left Paramount Kings Island in Cincinnati empty-handed after several aborted attempts to ride Tomb Raider. After listening to someone on the parking-lot tram talk about how great it was for what seemed like hours, I vowed to ride it when I went back the next year. Although I finally did get to ride, it still seems to be in a perpetual shutdown loop, and it never quite lived up to my expectations - probably because it took so much effort just to get on it.
Several fellow coaster buffs have also pointed out that Cedar Point's Top Thrill Dragster, the ride whose record Kingda Ka broke, also spent much of its first season out of commission.
Yet the point remains: Without reliability, a big coaster - even a record-breaker -- won't continue to draw. In fact, it may become a liability toward a park's long-term goal of becoming a vacation destination. If I have no way of knowing that a ride will be operational, am I going to build my summer trip around that park? Probably not.
So if you've ever wondered what will finally stop the coaster arms race, I think the answer may finally be this: When the rides simply don't work often enough to attract the people who pay for them.
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