It's official: the tallest roller coaster in the world has closed forever after 19 years

Roller coaster fans already saw it coming, but now it is official: Kingda Ka, the tallest roller coaster in the world, has closed forever and will be demolished.

This 456 ft (139 m) giant has dominated Six Flags Great Adventure's skyline (New Jersey) since 2005, but the park has decided it is time for something else to take its place, and has confirmed the closure of the iconic roller coaster after the park ended its season, perhaps to avoid unmanageable crowds in the final weeks.

The closure of the roller coaster is not entirely surprising, as it was very expensive to operate, prone to technical issues and closures, due to using old-fashioned technology.

Kingda Ka was designed by Swiss company Intamin, and it used a hydraulic launch to propel the trains to 128 miles per hour (206 km/h) in 3.5 seconds (it was also the second fastest in the world). Nowadays, most launch coasters today, including Intamins', use linear motors or LSM.

The park has confirmed that a new, record breaking coaster will be built in 2026.

Which is the tallest roller coaster in the world right now?

Last year, the second tallest roller coaster in the world, Top Thrill Dragster, opened in 2003 and very similar to Kingda Ka, closed for a big refurbishment. In 2024 it reopened as Top Thrill 2, but closed after just a week due to technical issues and will remain closed until 2025.

The now second roller coaster in the world, Superman: Escape from Krypton, is also SBNO (standing but not operating), meaning Red Force in PortAventura is currently the tallest and fastest roller coaster in operation in the world.

Next year, however, a new undisputed king of coasters will open (if everything goes according to plan) in Saudi Arabia: Falcons Flight will stand 639.8 ft (195 m) and 155.3 mph (250 km/h).