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Six Flags Case Study: Kingda Ka Roller Coaster Development

In a constantly changing business environment, new product and service development can invigorate a company, improve market share, and ensure desired financial performance. Six Flags knows it must regularly add new rides and upgrade existing ones in its theme parks to remain on top.

Located in Grand Prairie, Texas, Six Flags first opened in $1961$ and grew to become the largest regional theme park system in the world. Central to this growth was the constant development of new and record$-$setting theme park rides, following a well$-$defined process of product development. Consider the Kingda Ka roller coaster that opened in May $2005$ at the Six Flags Great Adventure & Wild Safari in Jackson, New Jersey. This is the largest of the Six Flags parks, and Kingda Ka is the tallest and fastest coaster in North America.

Getting to the May $2005$ ride opening required significant planning and a coordinated effort. Six Flags$$ new product development process ensures both. It guides and choreographs the hundreds of tasks involved in building a roller coaster, from preparing the foundation to erecting the steel frame to installing the hydraulic system that allows for speeds of $128$ mph to fitting out the cars. Six Flags relies on several key documents to control and monitor all resources, including raw materials, equipment, and the people involved in the construction of the ride.

The Statement of Work $($SOW$)$ is a written statement that describes the work to be done and includes a preliminary project schedule and completion dates. The SOW details project milestones, key completion events, and budget parameters. The Work Breakdown Structure $($WBS$)$ defines the hierarchy of tasks, subtasks, and work packages and is key to managing the logistics of the project. The project Gantt chart illustrates the project schedule and helps identify the critical path within the project. The critical path represents the longest chain of tasks in terms of time to complete. If there is a delay in any step in the critical path, the whole project can be delayed.

The Kingda Ka ride had a $15-$month project schedule, of which $9$ to $10$ months were actual construction time. The coaster took $16$ months to complete and came in $10\%$ over budget. Success in new product development requires careful planning, well$-$defined milestones, teamwork, and flexibility to respond to unforeseen changes. The successful Kingda Ka ride was no exception.

$1.$ What was the percent increase over the original scheduled completion time for the Kingda Ka project?

$($The original project schedule was $15$ months, but the project took $16$ months to complete.$)$

Round to the nearest percent.

$2.$ What percent of the actual total project time had elapsed by the time foundation construction began? By the time steel erection began?

Provide answers rounded to the nearest percent.

$3.$ What was the percentage of time needed for each of the three steps $($site preparation, foundation construction, and steel erection$),$ assuming $397$ days were needed in total?

Provide answers rounded to the nearest percent.

$4.$ The Kingda Ka is currently the tallest steel roller coaster at $456$ feet. The second tallest, the Top Thrill Dragster, is $420$ feet. How much taller is Kingda Ka$,$ in both feet and percentage?

Round your percentage to the nearest tenth percent.

$5.$ If Six Flags wanted to build a roller coaster that was $5\%$ taller than the Kingda Ka$,$ how tall would the new coaster need to be$?$

Round to the nearest foot.

$6.$ At Six Flags Great Adventure, there are $49$ rides in total, with $12$ rated as "max," $8$ rated as "moderate," and the remainder rated as "mild." Express each of these ride types as fractions and percentages.

Reduce fractions to the lowest terms and round percentages to the nearest percent.

$7.$ The Kingda Ka ride covers $3,118$ feet of track. The Green Lantern ride has $3/4$ mile of track. Which ride is longer and by what percentage?

Round to the nearest percent.

$8.$ The Kingda Ka reaches speeds of $128$ mph due to its hydraulic system. The Green Lantern reaches $63$ mph$.$ What percent increase is needed for the Green Lantern to match the speed of Kingda Ka$?$

Round your answer to the nearest tenth percent.