The tallest roller coaster in the world, Kingda Ka opens at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson Township, New Jersey.
Kingda Ka is a launched roller coaster located at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey, United States. Designed by Werner Stengel, Kingda Ka is an Accelerator Coaster model from Intamin that opened as the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world on May 21, 2005. It is also the second-ever strata coaster, a full-circuit roller coaster taller than 400 feet (120 m); Top Thrill Dragster was the first and previously held both records.
The train is launched by a hydraulic launch mechanism, accelerating to 128 miles per hour (206 km/h) in 3.5 seconds. The train climbs the main top hat tower element at the end of the launch track, reaching a height of 456 feet (139 m), before dropping 418 feet (127 m) and completing the course in 28 seconds. While still the tallest, Kingda Ka's speed record was broken by Formula Rossa at Ferrari World in 2010, however it remains the fastest coaster in North America.
A roller coaster, or rollercoaster, is a type of amusement ride that employs a form of elevated railroad track designed with tight turns, steep slopes, and sometimes inversions. Passengers ride along the track in open cars, and the rides are often found in amusement parks and theme parks around the world. LaMarcus Adna Thompson obtained one of the first known patents for a roller coaster design in 1885, related to the Switchback Railway that opened a year earlier at Coney Island. The track in a coaster design does not necessarily have to be a complete circuit, as shuttle roller coasters demonstrate. Most roller coasters have multiple cars in which passengers sit and are restrained. Two or more cars hooked together are called a train. Some roller coasters, notably Wild Mouse roller coasters, run with single cars.