Remembering 10 of Great Adventure’s Best Retired Coasters

Great Adventure's decision to retire Kingda Ka and Green Lantern at the end of the 2024 season made many fans sad.

It made me nostalgic about some of the other coasters that came to the end of the line over the years at the park.

Remembering 10 of Great Adventure's Best Retired Coasters

Since Six Flags Great Adventure opened on July 4th, 1974, the park has had 53 operating roller coasters.

By the way, the oldest of them, the Runaway Mine Train, which opened the same day as Great Adventure, is still rolling today.

But many of Great Adventure's other coasters have gone on to the great amusement park in the sky. In other words, they were disassembled and hauled off to a junkyard somewhere.

This is a fond look back at a few of the favorites you can no longer ride, but which brought excitement to thousands of roller coaster fans in their prime.

Or, if you're like me, they just scared the crap out of you for a few minutes.

The Retired Coasters Remembered Here

The coasters chosen for this gallery span the decades of Great Adventure

You will see photos of the 1970s and '80s favorite Lightning Loops, and Rolling Thunder -- which opened in '79 and closed in 2013 -- right up to Green Lantern and Kingda Ka, which just ended their run.

A couple of my favorite coaters from years past are featured.

There's the 1980s Ultra Twister, which was so intimidating it offered a "chicken exit" in the line for guests who lost their nerve at the last moment.

And, The Great American Scream Machine, which I test-rode on the opening day, 1989, and I've always felt contributed to my vertigo issues afterward.

But, it was really fun at the time.