Six Flags giveth–and taketh away
Farewell Kingda Ka, hello “multi-record-breaking launch coaster”
After weeks of persistent rumors and speculation, Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey made it official: Kingda Ka, the record-breaking hydraulic launch coaster that had been blasting intrepid passengers at 128 mph straight up and over a 456-foot top hat tower since 2005, gave its last ride on November 10. (Coincidentally, on the same day that the park announced the closure, I posted a review of the mighty Ka.) As if to soften the blow, Great Adventure also revealed that it would replace the retired ride with “an all-new, multi-record-breaking launch coaster, a must-ride attraction sure to capture fans’ imaginations,” according to Brian Bacica, park president.
The new coaster is set to debut in 2026. The revelation was part of a larger announcement that Six Flags would spend over $1 billion on new rides and other projects over the next two years across all of its locations. And by “Six Flags,” I mean the merged company that includes the legacy Six Flags parks as well as the parks that previously fell under the Cedar Fair umbrella. The sprawling theme park empire now includes 42 properties.
Take advantage of the special holidays offer and subscribe to About Theme Parks.
Details were sparse on the Ka replacement along with the chain’s other 2026 announcements. As far as breaking multiple records, it would be nice to think that the new coaster would be even taller and faster than Ka, but as I frequently point out (and often help deconstruct), nearly every new ride breaks records these days as parks’ breathless media releases invariably trumpet (even if the parks have to tie themselves up in pretzel logic to make the claims, and the “records” often strain credulity).
With Ka out of the picture and other ride developments, coaster records have been scrambled. When it debuted, the Great Adventure ride was the tallest and fastest coaster in the world. The 149-mph Formula Rossa at Ferrari World Abu Dhabi then took the speed crown, but that ride has not been operating for nearly a year. Like Ka, Formula Rossa is a hydraulically launched Accelerator Coaster from Intamin. The rides have been notoriously finicky and costly to maintain. That likely was a major factor in Six Flag’s decision to pull the plug on Ka (and is probably why the United Arab Emirates’ ride sits idle in the desert).
By the way, Ka was problem-prone from the start. Its opening was delayed multiple times as Intamin and Six Flags struggled to get the ride up and running. I planned a trek to the park when the coaster was first open for previews, but it was down for the count on the day that I visited. I returned a few weeks later only to find it closed again. The PR director summoned me to the ride when the coaster began cycling that afternoon. I stood in the loading station and watched empty trains make a few test runs. As a final test run commenced, I heard a violent boom and watched in horror as shards of metal flew in the air and rained down on an empty, disabled train. I was supposed to be aboard the next train.
Another coaster contender, Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point in Ohio, was also an Intamin Accelerator model. After the park shuttered the problem-plagued ride, Zamperla converted it into Top Thrill 2, but it too quickly exhibited issues that took it offline. I was one of the few lucky folks that got to experience the wild ride during the short window it was open earlier this year. That leaves the 112-mph, 367-foot-tall Red Force at Ferrari Land in Spain as the world’s fastest and tallest coaster that is currently operating. Intamin also built that European ride, but it uses a more reliable LSM launch system rather than hydraulics to get it up to speed. The record books will be rewritten when Intamin’s first Exa Coaster, Falcons Flight at Six Flags Qiddiya City in Saudi Arabia, opens, presumably in 2025. Now under construction, it will reportedly hit a top speed of 155 mph and feature a staggering 519-foot drop.
Without any details, it’s impossible to know what Six Flags Great Adventure has planned. Might it be another Exa Coaster (which, I infer is Intamin’s designation for coasters that exceed 500 feet in height)? Or will it be something more modest? Whatever Six Flags has in store, the new ride will apparently be taking up a large footprint. In addition to removing Ka and the Zumanjaro: Drop of Doom ride that shared its tower, the park is also tearing down the Green Lantern coaster and The Twister and Parachutes rides, essentially bulldozing an entire land. While it doesn’t have anything to do with making room for the new coaster, Great Adventure also announced that it would be permanently closing The Sky Way, one of the few remaining gondola sky rides at theme parks.
Other announcements for the 2026 season include a “jaw-dropping, record-breaking dive coaster” at the original Six Flags park, Six Flags Over Texas. To make way for the ride, the park is removing La Vibora, a bobsled-like coaster, and El Diablo, a Larson Giga Loop. The world’s tallest (245 feet), longest (3,625 feet), and fastest (80 mph) dive coaster is Yukon Striker at Canada’s Wonderland near Toronto. Presumably, the new ride in Texas will break at least one of those records. (Then again, the record could be just for U.S.-based dive coasters.) Speaking of the Canadian park, it will be getting a record-breaking water attraction. Carowinds in North Carolina is slated to get a record-breaking water ride.
Six Flags Magic Mountain in Southern California will welcome its 20th thrill machine, a ”first-of-its-kind coaster in North America.” A family thrill boomerang coaster is on its way to Six Flags Mexico, while Kings Island in Ohio will be debuting a new family thrill attraction. The water park, Knott’s Soak City, located adjacent to Knott’s Berry Farm in Southern California, will be getting a makeover. And in honor of Six Flags Great America’s 50th anniversary, the park near Chicago will welcome a new kids’ area and other enhancements. All told, the company will be allocating over $500 million in capital improvements in both 2025 and 2026.
It’s interesting to note which parks are conspicuously missing from the list of properties getting major investments over the next two years. They include chronically ignored locations such as Michigan’s Adventure and Frontier City in Oklahoma. Six Flags issued a quarterly earnings report earlier in November that indicated it was considering a “portfolio optimization,” corporate-speak for purging some of its parks. A company spokesperson subsequently said that it had no plans to close any locations. It would seem that the newly merged chain would eventually sell or close some of its underperforming parks, however.
What are your thoughts about what might be on the way to Six Flags Great Adventure? What is your reaction to some of the other announcements?