There’s good news and bad news for thrill seekers mourning the closure of Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey.
Kingda Ka, a 456-foot-tall roller coaster that had held the title of world’s tallest since May 2005, stopped running in November 2024 and is scheduled to be demolished this week. The world-renowned coaster will be replaced by a new "multi-record breaking launched roller coaster,” set to open at Six Flags Great Adventure in 2026, though few details have been disclosed.
Those who want to ride what will soon be the world’s tallest, fastest, and longest steel coaster will need to head to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where Six Flags Qiddiya and its premier attraction, Falcons Flight, are currently under construction.
While the track for the coaster was finished in December 2024, the park’s opening date is still uncertain, though it was originally planned for 2025. When the park finally opens its doors, riders will be able to experience record-breaking thrills, reaching speeds of over 155 miles per hour (250 km/h). It will achieve a maximum height of 640 feet (195 m) over a natural cliff with a 519-foot (158-m) drop. The coaster’s total length is 13,944 feet (4,250 m), another world record.
Created by the famed roller coaster manufacturer Intamin, Falcons Flight was designed to withstand not only extreme speed and forces but also the harsh desert climate, winds, and sand, with modifications including lap bars and curved windshields.
The need for speed:
- When it opens, Falcons Flight will take the title of world’s fastest roller coaster from Formula Rossa at Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, which has a top speed of 149 mph (240 km/h). Formula Rossa, in turn, took the fastest coaster title from Kingda Da when it opened in 2010.
- Until Falcons Flight opens, the current recordholder for the tallest and longest roller coaster is Top Thrill 2 (formerly Top Thrill Dragster) at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, which formerly held the height record from 2003 to 2005, before Kingda Ka opened.
- Just like everything else about it, Kingda Ka’s scheduled demolition will be record-breaking, as it will be the tallest demolition of a freestanding steel structure with explosives.
