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Kings Dominion (KD) Discussion Thread


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^Well, not exactly "exclusive." I noticed that KD Fansite toured sometime that day (they posted some Facebook pics). It was different approach than most "preview" days, and it was rather nice to take things at my own pace.

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I'm impressed with the Planet Snoopy upgrades across the chain and this one is probably the best I've seen so far! The fountain is pretty cool, something that is only at the Kings Dominion Planet Snoopy. Can't wait to see what it's going to look like with the water running!

 

I have a feeling Kings Island is going to finally have some decent competition in the GTA Best Kids Area this year!

 

Dominator looks great too. This must be one of the B&M coasters where they're not allowed to paint the rails, or are painted grey?

 

Excited to finally head over there this summer, along with a stop to Hershey! The Cedar Fair parks are looking great and can't wait to see all of the changes this year in person!

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Thanks for the update - this new area looks great! It is just me or have Zamperla done pretty well out of this redevelopment?

 

In the past, the Kidsville rides were all "independent" of each other. But for Planet Snoopy, all the rides' control systems were networked together to improve operations.

 

Did they elaborate on what this means in practice? I'm curious as to how it will work. Does it mean that ride cycle times will be inversely proportional to queue lengths?

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I think it's more about keeping track of how everything's running and making sure that they can fix problems more quickly. I don't think it has anything to do with queue lengths. The old Kidsville rides had been there a long time, and I imagine the operating systems were pretty antiquated.

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^I believe the entrance to the queue is on the Driving School side of the attraction.

 

If that is the case, then I think the traffic flow will around that area won't be as congested than if the entrance was on the same side as the Great Pumpkin coaster.

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Well I'm in the hotel room and I can say I got quite a few rides in today to say the least! With it 1) being Easter and 2) being drizzly/cold there were hardly any people in the park. Today was definitely a fantastic start to my 2013 season. I will do a full trip report after I go back tomorrow, but a few quick notes and ride count...

 

Notes:

+Planet Snoopy looks fantastic... on-par, if not better than the rest around the chain now.

+The International Street fountains got painted again (even though they did in 2012). They are a lighter, brighter blue... but not as light/bright as KI.

+Dominator's new paint looks better than it did in 2008 when it opened and is running smoother than it has lately.

+People still do Dinosaurs Alive in the pouring down rain.

+Intimidator 305 got brand new restraint straps and is still smooth as glass after 3 seasons/winters. There are new flags in the entrance plaza too!

+Brick pavers and landscaping have been added all over the park. I can't wait to see the park in several years.

+The two shows I saw are definitely an improvement over the past few seasons. I see lots of potential. I'm also glad to see a show in the southern end of the Grove.

+I got my first emergency evacuation on Volcano.

 

Ride Count (26 total laps in 6 hours ...noon-6PM):

Intimidator 305 - 7

Volcano - 4

Dominator - 4

Drop Tower - 2

Flight of Fear - 1

Backlot Stunt Coaster - 1

Rebel Yell - 1

Hurler - 1

Grizzly - 1

Boo Blasters - 1

Flying Ace - 1

Wave Swinger - 1

Scrambler - 1

20130331_143130.thumb.jpeg.c3fd84156d555bbcbf48a0052d6cca4c.jpeg

Favorite shot of the day... Flying Ace

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Back in Blacksburg after a long day and I must say I had another great time at the park today. It was a perfect day for coaster riding before heading home with 70 degree weather and a nice breeze. A few notes more notes and ride count...

 

Notes:

+I got to talk to Pat Jones, Vice President and General Manager of Kings Dominion.

+Windseeker's evacuation machine (same exact thing as the one at Knott's) is behind Hurler waiting assembly.

+Snoopy's Rocket Express might be the "Volcano" of Planet Snoopy with a full queue line.

+No more funky souvenir cups, but the standard ones found at CP, KI, BGW, ect. are here now with 99 cent refills.

+Volcano has awesome quick ride ops this season and the ride is running very very very smooth.

+The 2013 shows seem to be quite popular so far.

+Even though only Rebel Yell South is opened, it is by far one of the smoothest "old" wooden coasters I've ever been on. Lots of retracking with tons more to come by the looks of the wood behind Tidal Wave Bay. Rebel Yell has now moved up my wooden list.

+Only disappointment of the trip was one train ops on Intimidator 305, but it is totally acceptable with the amount of people there. A second train may have been added once we left since they were working on the red train all morning.

 

Ride Count (11 total laps in 3.5 hours ...10:30-2PM):

Intimidator 305 - 3

Volcano - 1

Flight of Fear - 1

Rebel Yell - 1

Shenandoah Lumber Company - 1

Eiffel Tower - 1

Drop Tower - 1

Wave Swinger - 1

Bezerker - 1

 

20130401_130719.jpeg.61ec14d7cd0de5d7229308ebaa406b7e.jpeg

Favorite shot of the day... the bigger, better Planet Snoopy

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Favorite shot of the day... southern end of the park

20130401_130628.thumb.jpeg.f3c321c72d6e759659656dcbcc487cf3.jpeg

Favorite shot of the day... my favorite coaster and flat ride, both 305' tall

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Okay, let's hope that this gets through because when I tried to send this on Monday, the net messed up and send it into untraceable limbo . . .

 

I finally took my friend to Kings Dominion on Saturday where it was sunny and warm unless you rode a fast coaster causing you to freeze your off. We managed to ride all the coasters except Stunt coaster which broke down by the time we were ready to ride it and we wanted to ride BOO BLASTERS but every time we were in line the lousy thing would break down (we were in line twice!!! ). But on the rides we did ride everything went well ( my friend even enjoyed the upcharge attraction Dinosaurs Alive! ).

 

I want to say what a great improvement Kings Dominion did by renovating ole Kidzville and transforming it into PLANET SNOOPY!!! Before the transformation, there were only four attractions in this area that I could ride: Woodstock Express ( aka Scooby Doo and Ghoster Coaster ), Flying Ace ( aka Space Surfer), Treasure Cave, and Boo Blasters. Although Treasure Cave is gone, the ride count moves up as I can add Woodstock Express, Charlie Brown's Wind-up, Snoopy's Junction, Snoopy's Space Buggies, Linus Launcher, Lucy's Tugboat, and Snoopy's Rocket Express. However, I'm still bummed because I cannot ride Lucy's Crabbie Cabbie and must go on Dodge 'Em to get my bumper car fix.

 

One thing I must say about Woodstock Express: what did they do to make that coaster go so fast? I'm not kidding on this one , folks - 35 years of going to Kings Dominion and I never have experienced that coaster going that fast before. I think they may need trim brakes on this one for the little kiddie's behalf.

 

I'll be returning to the park at the end of this month ( for Snoopy's Starlight Spectacular ) or the week after that and try to catch the rides I missed during my visit to mark my 35th year visiting Kings Dominion!!!

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Was at the park all Spring Break (New York's). I was VERY impressed by the park with the fact that it was clean, pretty well themed, and well balanced. I rode:

 

Dominator 8/10: Was good, a little more rattly than when I rode it at Geauga Lake but still pretty good.

 

Backlot Stunt Coaster 6/10: Same as all the other ones, surprised by how many effects worked.

 

Grizzly 10/10: This ride is seriously underrated, it has some AWESOME airtime in the front and is pretty smooth, amazing wooden coaster!

 

Rebel Yell 8/10: Nice coaster, could have had more airtime but still a nice out & back wooden coaster.

 

Hurler 0/10: This thing is AWFUL! In those turns you could really feel the PTC shuffle and the rest of the ride is boring. I can see why this company only built two coasters, I hope this dies before Anaconda or Shockwave.

 

Anaconda 1/10: Did hurt a little but wasn't too bad, the under water tunnel is cool.

 

Shockwave 1/10: Squished my nuts, still better than Hurler.

 

Woodstock Express 7/10: Good kids coaster, don't see how it ranks lower than some other abominations.

 

Ricochet 6/10: A standard Mack Wild Mouse, not bad but not great either.

 

Volcano, The Blast Coaster 9/10: Great launches along with the great shot out of the top of the ex-Smurf Mountain, could have had a better ending than turning into the breaks.

 

Flight of Fear 8/10: A great indoor launch coaster as long as you don't put your hands up (you get flung around otherwise).

 

Avalanche 7/10: Better than the Intamin Bobsleds due to it having a smoother transition into the brakes, less rattly as well.

 

Intimidator 305 10/10: AMAZING ride! Very forceful with nice negatives and positives. Great Ride, Intamin Really out did themselves with this one.

 

 

Congo, The Grove, and Planet Snoopy

 

 

Intimidator 305, my second favorite steel coaster

 

 

Looks like Dominator got a B&M Maintenance Ball

 

 

Whats with theses connecters floating in mid air? They look very odd, where theses there when Dominator was at Geauga Lake?

 

 

Good bye Kings Dominion, I hope to see you again very soon!

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Whats with theses connecters floating in mid air? They look very odd, where theses there when Dominator was at Geauga Lake?

 

There was a maintenance walkway suspended under that section of the ride. I believe that section was over water/swampland making it impossible to get a cherry picker into that area if they needed to inspect the track.

 

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Yes, I think the maintenance ball is new; at least I don't recall seeing one on Dominator before.

 

That was bought when Dominator was moved to Kings Dominion. I remember seeing it on a TV special I think the year after it was built. Don't remember what show it was, but I think it was on one of the DIY channels.

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