UPDATE: See the video of Kingda Ka being imploded
Kingda Ka, once the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world, will go out with a bang this week.
The gigantic ride located at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson will be imploded Friday morning between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m., according to a Facebook post by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office.
Officials warned locals that they would hear a series of rapid explosions as crews implode the structure.
The ride was unexpectedly closed at the end of the 2024 season and park officials previously confirmed to NJ Advance Media that Kingda Ka would not be repurposed, and would be demolished.
The park recently announced that a new roller coaster, The Flash: Vertical Velocity, will open this year and that a “multi-world-record-breaking launch roller coaster” is planned to take Kingda Ka’s place in 2026.
Kingda Ka debuted in 2005 as the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world but it was overtaken in the speed category five years later by Formula Rossa located at Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi.
Now that Kingda Ka is closed, Falcons Flight at Six Flags Qiddiya in Saudi Arabia, is the tallest.
Stories by Chris Sheldon
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Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com.