From A to F
By Peyton Ebbeson, Webmaster, Great Adventure Source

5/16/2005 - I’d like to say that it seems like just yesterday when we received the joyful news that we would be the recipients of the world’s tallest and fastest roller coaster, Kingda Ka. I’d like to tell you that, but I just can’t. To be quite honest, it feels as though it was years ago when we heard this news. The truth is that this coaster should have opened by now…or we should at least know when it will open.

Months ago we applauded the staff at Great Adventure for their publicity and promotion of Kingda Ka. They seemed to finally get things right by gaining the interest of the general public, yet satisfying the needs of the coaster enthusiasts. They launched a website containing a plethora of videos and animations and 3-D renderings of the new ride, and even more, they gave us a construction photo gallery. For the first time ever, the park provided an up-to-date (well, for the most part) look at the progression of the new coaster.

Well this all made sense, considering it was one of the largest expansion projects in park history. The wait was unbearable, but finally the season opened and we all got a glimpse close-up at the work that had been going on all winter. Looking back on the winter, we all realized that the park had done a great job, worthy of an A grade. At that point, we all figured there had only a few more weeks to wait until we were riding sky-high. Suddenly, things got very sketchy and all of a sudden the park went from being the best thing ever to being the most frustrating thing ever.

The park gave us no word on when the ride would open; we just kept guessing and waiting and guessing and waiting. Then, it came. The word came that the new coaster and much of the new Golden Kingdom would open for Season Pass Night and Coasters After Dark on Friday, April 22. Cries of joy and excitement spread across the internet as everyone prepared for the day that Great Adventure would launch its first ever world record breaker, OUR first world record breaker. Then, yet again, something went wrong.

We got word that the park would not be able to meet its projected opening date and pushed back the opening indefinitely. That’s it, that’s where we stand today…waiting for this ride to open…indefinitely. There are rumors that spread, giving us false hope or perhaps thoughts of sheer terror as we hear possible opening dates ranging from this week to June to the end of the season. The truth is, however, that no one really knows for sure because the park won’t say.

The question is why. Why would the park not set a target opening date, even if it is farther away than most would like? It seems like a terrible marketing ploy to have customers so uninformed and unable to make plans to visit the park. Worse yet, you create many unhappy guests who complain when their visit to the park does not include a ride on the new Kingda Ka that the commercial they watched talked so much about.

The answer is not as easy. The park has been waiting for testing and approval from the state and township. The ride must be approved by the state in order to allow any person to ride. Additionally, all new buildings and structures must be approved by the township before anyone can occupy them. As it stands now, the ride itself has been approved for operation by the state. We’re still waiting on Jackson Township to allow people to occupy the station and queue areas. It’s because of this that the park has not set an opening date. But still, couldn’t they set the opening for, say, June 1. By then, they are more than likely to have township approval. Sure, the ride may sit, approved, waiting to operate, but they can then use the time to promote the coaster and let people know the exact day the new ride will open. Or, they could just open it whenever they feel like it. There is no question that we are all grateful for this new attraction, perhaps the park could have handled the misfortunate events that caused this delay in a much better way.

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