SPLIT DECISION: WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE AMUSEMENT PARK RIDE?
Kingda Ka will move your stomach toward your mouth
you feel like you’re barely moving, the next moment your head is pinned back against the metal as you spin off the Earth’s axis.
Last time I was on one was two years ago at Point Pleasant. My middle child loved it. L-O-V-E-D it. Giggling the whole time. A regular chip off the old block. Tilt of the old whirl, if you will.
And so it appears the love for this ride will pass down a generation, which is a good thing, as this story may end in (amusement park) tragedy.
See, I developed vertigo early this year. It was horrible. It left. It came back. It waxes and wanes. I’m afraid a ride like this might trigger an episode. I’m going to risk it, to be sure, but there is a distinct possibility my next Tilt-AWhirl ride is my last TiltA-Whirl ride. One last tilt around the whirl. Or maybe it won’t be. The answer is unknown. Just like everything else in this world. Just like the motion of a Tilt-A-Whirl.
Jeff Edelstein is a columnist for The Trentonian. Cue the Ohio Players.
Roller coaster of love. Say what? Roller coaster. Ooooh, ooooh, ooooh. Love roller coasters, yeah.
Roller coasters deliver the most chilling rides whether one climbs aboard Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure, screams for mommy on Disney’s Space Mountain, a rolling ride in the dark, or takes a chance on one of those rickety wooden masterpieces that cause worry about whether those cable cars will reach wonderful zeniths before death-defying plunges toward Mother Earth.
Newly created steel roller coasters offer numerous options with some allowing riders to stand, lie down or even travel in carriages beneath the rails. Interesting options for thrill seekers exist in most amusement parks but more bang for bucks comes with Kingda Ka.
Six Flags Great Adventure allowed journalists opportunities for reporting two days before this ride opened to the public on May 21, 2005.
Kingda Ka stands as the tallest coaster in the world and fastest roller coaster in North America. Six Flags Great Adventure identifies it’s monster ride with this build up.
“This upside down U-shaped track bolts up 45 stories in the sky — that’s 456 feet high! This leaves all other coasters in the dust. And of course it’s going to take some mighty acceleration to get you to the top of it.
“You’ll leave the station going from 0 to 128 miles per hour in a jaw-dropping 3.5 seconds. Actually, there won’t even be time for your jaw to drop. You’ll be shooting up that impossible height so fast, you won’t even have time to think, so just hang on. It’s 90 degrees straight up. And once you get to the top you’ll be plummeting right back down in a 270-degree spiral that is not recommended for wimps. There is very little that can prepare you for a drop of this intensity. You’ll top it off with a 129-foot camel hump.”
And then, riders can limp off the ride and head straight to the bathroom for a change of undergarments or spend the rest of the visit going commando.
By the way, according to the Guinness World Book of Records, the most naked people on a theme park ride is 102, set on the Green Scream roller coaster at Adventure Island in Southend on Sea, Essex, UK, on Aug. 8, 2010. Can’t get that mental picture out of your mind now.
Whenever roller coasters discussions develop, there’s always mention of some person falling out of a ride or being stuck high above an amusement park for hours.
Millions of people take on these rides based on a human desire for fear without any real chance of injury or death.
According to the National Safety Council, you’ve got a 1 in 24 million chance of getting seriously injured on an amusement park ride. Dying after falling out of bed offers a 1 in 423,548 chance.
National Roller Coaster Day occurs on Thursday, August 16 which leaves you plenty of time to ratchet up the nerve for a ride on a swift moving ride that scares the living daylights out of your body.
Maybe it’s time to revisit Kingda Ka. I mean, it’s been almost 15 years since that first ride. It’s an uncomfortable feeling when your stomach ends up in your mouth.
L.A. Parker is a Trentonian columnist.