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Kingda Ka and Green Lantern's removal for new 2026 record-breaking coaster

owenstreet7 said:
one time with the promise of refurbishment of a log flume which ended up going on a actual train in a shed instead.
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This is rewriting history a fair bit.

Loggers Leap closed at the end of the 2015 season due to needing work done and there not being the maintenance budget for that year. The park certainly intended for it to reopen, with many plans in place, but the cost of doing the work and reopening it spiralled to a point where it wasn't viable.

Ghost Train opened in 2016 (so already had budget allocated to it prior to Loggers Leap's closure), and had additional money put in for 2017 because it needed it. The money was never taken away from Loggers Leap.

Whilst it's true that Thorpe, in particular, having a tick time bomb of rides in a similar way to some Six Flags parks, I'm in no way worried about Stealth.
 
JoshC. said:
This is rewriting history a fair bit.

Loggers Leap closed at the end of the 2015 season due to needing work done and there not being the maintenance budget for that year. The park certainly intended for it to reopen, with many plans in place, but the cost of doing the work and reopening it spiralled to a point where it wasn't viable.

Ghost Train opened in 2016 (so already had budget allocated to it prior to Loggers Leap's closure), and had additional money put in for 2017 because it needed it. The money was never taken away from Loggers Leap.

Whilst it's true that Thorpe, in particular, having a tick time bomb of rides in a similar way to some Six Flags parks, I'm in no way worried about Stealth.
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The point with Merlin was that rides closed after the end of the season without warning on multiple occasions including The Flume, Loggers Leap, Ripsaw, Submission and a previous attempt with Blade which is heavily rumoured for this year (I don't believe this one bit and think it's sparked as a wind up as a result of the speculation about Kingda Ka). This is very akin of what Six Flags have done. They did however warn us about the Nemesis retrack and Ramases Revenge.

I have heard a theory about Loggers Leap having it's money diverted as a result of the Ghost Train needing work to be done in 2017 for those Rise of the Demon upgrades.

I honestly am furious with the park for the way they left Loggers Leap (regardless of whether the theory was true or not) especially when the Ghost Train flopped really badly and is a white elephant at the park. Money (Operations, Maintenance, CAPEX) that could've been used for something else either way (Loggers Leap, other rides, infrastructure etc.)

Let's go back onto the Six Flags as we're now talking about rides that closed without warning like Six Flags did across the Atlantic with Merlin.
 
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If you look at the general track record for Six Flags and Cedar Fair practice alike on ride closures - all of this is highly atypical. Usually there is indeed some pomp and circumstance for last rides and closure. Cue CP's Snake River Falls announcement in September, for instance:

https://fb.watch/vVT0mcRrkt

So yes, shame on Six Flags for not giving either coaster a proper send-off. But no, this doesn't suddenly appear as a new trend of sudden closures. If the SFM diverted tilt coaster to CP is any indicator - there's just frank, fast business decisions being made this season and next as the new leadership gets a hang of a larger Six Flags park family.
 
Hixee said:
I like to dream that they'd do to Falcons Flight what they did to TTD. Just a little bit taller and a little bit faster. :D
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I know my post was a little bit of a joke. But removing such an iconic coaster and creating so much space to build a new record breaking launch coaster does kind of point towards something big. I would love it if they went and took Falcon Flights technology to go and steal back the height record, even it's just that huge hill/tophat.

SF would've realised that without the crown, Kingda Ka is a huge financial burden. Wouldn't it be incredible to see Intamin step in with a more reliable product, designed from all the learnings they've made over the past 20 years. I'm just being hopeful here though.
 
bob_3_ said:
I know my post was a little bit of a joke. But removing such an iconic coaster and creating so much space to build a new record breaking launch coaster does kind of point towards something big. I would love it if they went and took Falcon Flights technology to go and steal back the height record, even it's just that huge hill/tophat.

SF would've realised that without the crown, Kingda Ka is a huge financial burden. Wouldn't it be incredible to see Intamin step in with a more reliable product, designed from all the learnings they've made over the past 20 years. I'm just being hopeful here though.
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Because I said it before in the TTD construction thread, which bears 100% correlation and causation to TT2, and am the solely first person to throw out preposterous coaster ideas to only have come to reality:

*looks around room and bashfully looks at the ground*

… so, if they were to like, I dunno, build a launched roller coaster with an arch that's a little taller than Falcon's Flight…

*looks up at the ceiling, beating around the bush*

… like, what would that take?
 
I bet on a big Mack tower spinner, like the one they pitched in their survey this summer. 'Record-breaking height/speed/steepness for a spinning coaster', or something equally trivial, just to say it's record-breaking.

Hope that's wrong but not really too bothered. Can't foresee ever making the long journey there if not to face Ka
 
Squrmyweesl said:
I bet on a big Mack tower spinner, like the one they pitched in their survey this summer. 'Record-breaking height/speed/steepness for a spinning coaster', or something equally trivial, just to say it's record-breaking.
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if they do add a tower spinner, at least extend the layout so its actually a little decent as KA's replacement. give it a backwards spike or smth else.
 
Crazycoaster said:
They are hardly a failure, they drew in huge crowds for years and years and have more than likely earned their keep substantially over those years.

Again, before everyone jumps on the “This is such a bad move by the chain”, maybe wait until we know what the actual announcement will be regarding the areas future?? There is nothing to indicate the tower is being dismantled so far.
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That's why I said they were a complete failure on a personal level. Only being able to get a single ride over 4 park days on either of them isn't a success for me. I know others never had an issue, but I struggled to get a ride at all.
 
^ Since the closures were announced and they didn't immediately file demolition permits for Ka like they did for GL the coping "NO THEY WILL REOPEN IT!!!" has been insane. Hopefully this will put an end to that.
 
JoshC. said:
I'm genuinely curious how they'll knock down Ka.

The removal of a 450ft structure isn't exactly usual, even in the demolition industry I'd imagine?

I expect it'll be expensive too.
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If there is a safe direction for it to fall, I guess they might topple it using explosives. Otherwise, there'll be a lot of work with large cranes and cutting torches.
 
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