Last month, ScreamScape shared a rumor involving Rolling Thunder, a mega drop ride, and Kingda Ka.
Rolling Thunder’s Demise & An East Coast Mega Drop Tower?
Rolling Thunder is Great Adventure’s 1979 racing wooden roller coaster. It’s got to be in my top 20 roughest woodies. So, I’m not shocked to hear about it’s possible removal. Lance from ScreamScape has noted the ride’s proximity to strata coaster Kingda Ka. And, like the theme park news detective he is, he pieced this rumor with another about a 400+ foot tall drop tower ride like Lex Luthor: Drop of Doom at Six Flags Magic Mountain. That drop ride was mounted to the side of Superman: Escape from Krypton and there’s been talk of using Kingda Ka’s tower structure to build a similar drop tower ride.
Again, these are just rumors for now. Six Flags Great Adventure has not announced plans of either of these moves.
What’s Your Take?
What you think of both of these rumors? Would you like to see Rolling Thunder removed? Would you be excited for a drop tower ride at Great Adventure?
Coaster Critic 
26 responses to “Six Flags Great Adventure Coaster Removal & Drop Tower Rumors”
I was expecting this. I was surprised that Cedar Point or SFGA hasn't done this, yet. So if this is true, I know where I am heading in the next 1-3 years.
I can see the drop tower happening soon, but unless Rolling Thunder is a real maintanance nightmare, it doesn`t make sense to remove it. Like with Leviathan and Dragon Fire, El Toro was built over Rolling Thunder, and Kingda Ka was built beside it, and there`s plenty of space in between Kingda Ka and Rolling Thunder to accomodate an expansion.
I agree with Andrew. I wouldn't have a problem if it was removed but only if a new roller coaster was built on its spot. If that area is going to be empty for a long time then I would rather they keep it. Six Flags Great Adventure is my home park as I live in New York and I only ride Rolling Thunder for the short line and to say I rode it but I wouldn't be that upset if they remove it. Right now I think a drop tower is the perfect thing for the park. They have pretty much every type of roller coaster. I would like to see a 4th Dimension coaster but I think I need to go to Six Flags Magic Mountain to see before I make any decisions. Anyway Six Flags won't destroy Rolling Thunder just to make room for the drop tower. There is plenty of space to go around it.
Painful and noisy the last time I was there … and I haven't see them "race" the trains for a long time. I must be getting old because I'm all for tearing it down so that the walk between my highly favored El Toro and some of the other coasters would be a bit shorter. Sure, I would prefer a replacement coaster, but I won't be all that sad to see it go.
A drop tower is exactly what Great Adventure needs! Their coaster lineup is stellar yet their flat ride lineup is lacking. A maxair type ride or an S&S Screamin Swing would be good, but a drop tower fits in with the tall and thrilling theme of the park. I love drop towers, they are my favorite non roller coaster ride, and I would love to see a 400+ foot one show up at SFGAdv. As for rolling thunder's removal, it is an ok ride. I could see removing it for another coaster, but they won't need to remove it for a drop tower.
Rolling Thunder is a much-maligned coaster but it's not as awful as some would lead one to believe. I've ridden far rougher coasters; the ones that immediately spring to mind are Coney Island Cyclone and Wildcat at Hersheypark. (I actually give the Cyclone high marks despite the roughness.) I wouldn't really miss it if it were removed but I'm OK with it. It actually provides a diversion. I sometimes ride Rolling Thunder inbetween rides on El Toro and Kingda Ka just to take a break and do something different. Yes, it is a big rickety but in the back seat you can get some nice pops of airtime. I remember riding with some kid who said "This is old; you could die on it" and I said "Actually, someone did die on it," referring to a most unfortunate incident some years ago in which a park employee fell to his death from the coaster. I definitely would not want a drop tower to replace it – not my type of ride. As long as Rolling Thunder is properly maintained in accordance with accepted safety standards, I say let it stay there. Not everyone is up to El Toro, Kingda Ka or Nitro and RT is an alternative to those who don't feel comfortable with aggressive thrill rides.
CP should so this to TTD
I'd be interested to hear about a proposed drop tower on Kingda Ka (or TTD as hedcefhvdg suggested) from an engineering viewpoint. The structures are not at all like that of Escape from Krypton at Magic Mountain. Seems like it would be cost-prohibitive. I'd love it though.
With Six Flags Great Adventure being my home park, I've ridden Rolling Thunder many times and I don't find it to be that bad. It's by no means a great coaster but it's not horrible either. It's an alright ride to go on if the line isn't too bad. However, I wouldn't really mind if it ended up being removed for future park expansion. Great Adventure is severely lacking in the "non-coaster" department and a record setting drop tower would be a great addition to the park. The towers at Kings Island and Kings Dominion are among my favorite flat rides, and at 456 ft the view would be awesome!
I don't care about drop rides like this. It's no fun waiting for low capacity rides like Lex Luthor: Drop of Doom. They already have a dropping thrill ride with KA. The only way I would be excited is if they come up with a much higher capacity design. What they really need is to find a way to improve the capacity on KA. SOOO Slow! Great Adventure employees need to go ride top thrill to see how to load and launch KA faster.
It would be cool to have high capacity drop tower like at Kings Dominion but have it continue dropping underground into a hole an extra hundred feet or so. It would be crazy to fall at full speed to and through ground level. They could also put theming under ground like your dropping into hell. Also they should shoot you out of the hole with a fast launch like it's a volcano. Plus they could easily beat the drop height record.
As far as Rolling Thunder It should be refurbished at minimum. I would like to see her stay [only with a fix] just because she was my first woody.
As far as I'm concerned the only new rides any park needs would be a Maverick style coaster. EVEN Cedar Point could use a second to cut down on the long wait for Maverick.
As much as I dislike Rolling Thunder, I doubt they'd remove it. It serves as the parks ride for younger kids not quite big enough for the other rides. It is also a classic at the park and a lot of people would likely get mad if it were to be removed.
Why cant six flags take a page from cedar fair and do what carowinds and kings dominon have and will be doing rebuilding over a long time there classic racers i know the popularity wouldnt be great still but what else could they put there the drop tower would have a ridiculous walk or a really weird que like american eagle at six flags great america. It certainly would be fun however
I hate drop towers. I’ll ride them, but would much rather do coasters.
Rolling Thunder to me just seems at this point to be dull, lurchy, and noisy. If they rehabbed it, that would be so nice. I used to love it when I was younger.
Although they could get rid of Rolling Thunder and put a little Maverick style ride there…now THAT would be something.
I couldn’t agree more! Check out my post to Cedar Point’s Facebook page on my idea in utilizing the TTD tower structure. A 400’+ drop ride would be great, but wouldn’t you rather see them utilize that structure to build a taller coaster maybe coming from the opposite direction back by the Mean Streak? B&M is in the process of developing a launch coaster, and if there was a manufacturer that could make something taller than TTD/Kingda Ka its B&M. Proper bracing on the structure would be a factor, but that’s what engineers are for. The project would have to realistic in investment as well, but it can be done. All of that without removing any coasters tying them up with SFMM at 17. Also would bring out the island’s potential and poor utilization of space. A Nascar themed Intimidator 505! The Nascar themed trains would initially launch at a pace car speed (60 mph) on a gradual incline over the Gemini midway where it would come to a height of approx 200′, the white flag is out and we’re off with a speed burst launch to speeds of 90+ mph in seconds. The trains would climb vertically up the back left corner of the TTD tower structure (left corner standing behind TTD), exceeding TTD’s height by 85′ after making a slight twist. The trains would then make its descent toward the ground, hopefully with a more traditional drop (no twist) making a Nascar banked turn on the edge of the island (along Iron Dragon and Mantis) wrapping around the edge of the island. Eventually coming to the worlds tallest second hill (camel-hump) going over part over MF’s pretzel loop structure. The ride would then drop to a straight away through the checkered flag, and back to the station. The beauty of this is how it doesn’t take from TTD’s unique thrill/theme. Love to see the entrance over the railroad tracks by the Mean Streak entrance.
Removing Rolling Thunder and adding a Maverick style ride is a great idea. But I highly doubt it would be demolished. El Toro is in the vicinity.
Adding a drop on Kingda Ka is plain stupid or safety reasons. The whole area is a hard hat area because pieces were flying off the track during the 2005 malfunction. The base of the tower houses the hydraulic launch systems. Touching them would further deplete the unreliable ride.
GA should refurbish Movietown first with adding more flat rides, shows, games, and attractions. Once that’s taken care of, then deal with Rolling Thunder.
Remove rolling thunder i hate the idea of adding a drop tower to kingda ka!kingda ka should be the spot light if udo add a drop tower,make it at least 100 feet and in movie town.nitro and batman have been doing all of the work in movietown and i think they need help.bizarrois fine add a tiny wing coaster and that section is good.add a new section behind kingda ka not taking away eltoro,kingda ka,bizarro,andnitro’s spotlight
No maverick style ride
No one likes the maverick its ether u like cedar point or dispize it
No cedar point no cedar point theme rides!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Cedar point is evil i know what ur trying to do.ur trying to make great adventure terrible .evil,very evil
Put the drop tower…in movietown nowhere close to nitro or batman,but near skhull mountain
This is possibly a hoax but i heard king da ka may have more track added to it
If Six Flags Magic Mountain was able to add the giant drop/free fall ride Lex Luthor: Drop Of Doom to the tower base of the Superman: Escape From Krypton coaster… I could see Six Flags Great Adventure being able to add a new giant drop/free fall ride to the tower base of the Kingda Ka coaster.
SFGADV got Green Lantern coaster (B&M stand-up) in 2011… former Chang from Kentucky Kingdom. I really don’t see SFGADV wanting to do away with the Rolling Thunder wood coaster. If SFGADV is looking to add a new coaster, I could picture 1 of the following ideas…
– Premier Rides coaster, inspired by SFMM’s new Full Throttle
– X-Flight clone (B&M wing coaster)
– Pandemonium (Gerstlauer spinning coaster)
– Dare Devil Dive (Gerstlauer euro-fighter)
Additional thoughts. I could picture RMC (Rocky Mountain Construction) giving Rolling Thunder the hybrid transformation, in the form of the iron horse re-track. SFGADV will be celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2014 (next year). Not sure how long Rolling Thunder would have to remain closed for RMC to work its magic… or if Rolling Thunder would no longer be a twin racing coaster (like SFMM’s Colossus and SFGAM’s American Eagle).
RMC did an excellent job in transforming SFOT’s Texas Giant and SFFT’s Rattler/Iron Rattler wood coasters into hybrids. It’s rumored that SFMM’s Colossus and SFM’s Medusa could and might be next in line to get RMC’s hybrid transformation.
Not to mention that Ka’s entire support structure shakes every time a train goes over it, if a drop tower was added it would certainly need to be secured more than just against ka
Kindga Ka Colored supports are now on site…going to be used to build this rumored giga drop tower