JEAPUgrad

^I wanted to introduce myself but every time I saw you, you looked busy.

Robb and Cfc, Since you've both racked up a pretty good number of credits, where you would rank I305? Top 5? Top 10? Top 20?

'Intimidator' An Unbe'weavable' Experience For Reporter http://www2.starexponent.com/cse/lifestyles/columnists/article/intimidator_an_unbeweavable_experience_for_reporter/54968/ By Rhonda Simmons Published: April 1, 2010 » 0 Comments | Post a Comment DOSWELL – Safety harness, check. Flip-flops, check. Weave? Er, check? These are some of the minor details thrill seekers may want to secure before boarding any theme park ride. One fellow writer learned that the hard way Thursday during her first experience on “The Intimidator 305,” Kings Dominion’s biggest, baddest, newest roller coaster named after famous race car driver Dale Earnhart. Thursday was the 2010 Media Day event at the amusement park where hundreds of journalists, photographers, politicians and suits geared up to ride the park’s newest attraction. For the rest of the public, Friday is opening day. At the beginning of the ride, the young woman had a full, curly ponytail. But by the end of the three-minute death-defying, gut-wrenching ride, she was weaveless, yet unaware. Through my tears of laughter, I looked back and asked her if she was missing anything. As she felt the top of her head, a panicked expression replaced her smile. “Where’s my weave?” she shrieked. But the guy sitting next to her couldn’t see a thing without his glasses. I’m telling you it was like watching a live comedy skit. By that time, I was doubled over with laughter. All I’m saying is that I can kind of relate. I thought I had seen it all by then. The young woman was ready to search the park high and low for her valued removable hair. But the funniest thing was, the missing weave ended up at the feet of the woman behind her. That lady was like “Why is there a bunch of hair at my feet?” We couldn’t wait to see the pictures of us on the ride. All I could think about was if the photo captured the young woman with or without the weave. It was without. The young woman, who was laughing just as hard as I was, took it pretty well. Without hesitation, she reattached the ponytail back onto her own hair and asked the lady who found it to pose in a picture with her. I’m anxious to read about her personal experience on her blog. For me, the missing weave was the highlight of the day. In this case, the ride itself was more of sidebar material. However for those interested in the ride, it begins with a slow, nerve-racking 305-foot climb in the air with the first drop descending at an 85-degree angle at more than 90 miles an hour. Asked how we enjoyed the ride, I said it was “awful” but the guy next to me said it was “awesome.” We did agree, however, that first ride was definitely an experience to remember. And the lesson of this story is simply to always secure your weave when riding a rollercoaster. I’m still laughing about it. Want to ride? What: The Intimidator Where: Kings Dominion, 16000 Theme Park Way, Doswell, Va. When: Park opens Friday and will be open daily throughout the summer Admission: Prices vary. Visit kingsdominion.com for additional details

OMFG YES!!!!!

Today, I was finally able to let the cat out of the bag. I had been invited by a friend who wishes to remain anonymous a week ago go to Intimidator 305’s Media Day today. I’ve been psyched all week but I also was invited on the condition that I kept it on the down low until today too. For those of you who saw me at the park with this particular person, please do not give up his/her identity. Thanks! =0) After getting off work at midnight last night, I went home and couldn’t sleep. I tossed and turned all night long and not quite sure if I ever really fell asleep. Being that I live about 15 miles southeast of Baltimore City, I had to get up early to get through DC before the morning’s rush began. I’ve been battling flu like symptoms all week and when I got out of bed this morning, I felt worse than I have all week. But this wasn’t going to stop me from riding I305. I left the house around 6am, fueled, Red Bulled up and was on my way. I hit some traffic in the DC area but was very fortunate that traffic wasn’t much worse. I arrived to Fredericksburg VA around 8am and I was meeting my friend there at 8:45am. Had a quick bite to eat at Sonic (we don’t have Sonics in Baltimore) and waited. My friend picked me up and we were at the park by 9:30am. We signed in, received Media Day “Pit Passes” with an I305 lanyard and a commerative pin. We were also giving a coupon for a complimentary first ride photo. I’ve was stoked. I’ve been to Media Days at Six Flags America before but never King’s Dominion. King’s Dominion pulled out all the stops for this event. We stood around and chatted with several friends who were also in attendance (it was so good to see you guys/gals again). At 10am, our Pit Pass gained us entry into the park. We walked along International Street and turned left at Berserker and headed down the path to the right of Dominator. We continued on over to the far side of Planet Snoopy before walking into Congo and on into the Flight of Fear plaza. Much of Planet Snoopy received a fresh coat of paint. In the distance towards the Eiffel Tower there was a large inflatable Snoopy parade floating looking object. When we arrived to Flight of Fear plaza, there were two tents. One tent was the set up for the lunch that the park provided. Lunch featured ribs, chicken, steamed shrimp, salad, beans, potato salad, and a dinner roll. In the other tent was a mammoth cake created by Duff and his team from Ace of Cakes. Duff was present and his film crew was filming the goings on for an upcoming episode! The cake itself was a three tiered cake and featured a Coaster Dynamics model tunneling through the cake. Everything on the cake was edible except for the coaster model. There were two wooden roller coasters smaller in size, an Eiffel Tower, Volcano the Blast Coaster, an oval water ride, a circus tent looking building, a few houses, trees, people, and Intimidator 305 signs. The park did not serve the cake with the lunch that they provided but as the event was wrapping up they cut the cake and passed out slices. Cake from Ace of Cakes was provided at lunch, just not from the Intimidator Cake. The Intimidator cake itself, at least the portion that I had, was chocolate cake with mint frosting. I later found out the Volcano “cake” was actually a Rice Krispie treat molded into a volcano. The opening ceremony started promptly at 11am. Dick Kinzel as well as several other Cedar Fair dignitaries were on hand. Two of Dale Earnhardt’s children were on hand (Kerry and Taylor Nicole) and some Commonwealth of Virginia’s politicians. The ceremony itself lasted about fifteen minutes and many of us slowly inched towards the I305 queue as the ceremony was going on. All of the dignitaries went over to the queue for the ceremonial cutting of the ribbon and they took the first official train out on I305. Some coaster enthusiasts and media members who were not worried about seat location filled the middle to the back rows. The photo contest winners were in the last two rows and since I was towards the front of the line, I decided that my first ride was going to be in the first row. I was on the third train out of the station. I climbed in and my riding partner wanted to be on the left in the event that we had to do an emergency evacuation since the steps were on the left. I wanted the right side to experience the lower end of the turn around. The cable lift on I305 moves fast! Someone said the lift climbs the hill at 16 miles per hour but I don’t know the accuracy of that statistic. At any rate, I thought I’d be intimidated by the lift since there are only the two supports but honestly the lift moves so fast there really isn’t much time to worry about it. As the train approaches the top, the cable lift slows down just enough that it’s noticeable before regaining speed to throw the train over the lift. Let me say this…I was really critical on the first drop of the ride when the coaster was announced last August. I didn’t like that the drop didn’t go straight to the ground and into the turn around but instead as we all know by now the drop gradually bottoms out as the track goes into the turnaround. The front seat, make no mistake, experiences ejector air on the drop! Speaking of being critical, at first I was critical also of the over the shoulder restraints and became less critical as this became the topic of the off-season. I’ll go on record by saying that I’m glad they put over the shoulder restraints on this ride because of how intense the airtime is on this monster. I couldn't imagine riding this coaster with only a lap restraint because of the INSANE ejector air time! Down the first drop, which feels like ninety degrees to me even though it isn’t, and into the turnaround. Pure speed kicks in and the announced speed during the ceremony was 94 miles per hour. Through the turn around and into the second hill. For those of you familiar with the third hill on SFA’s and Darien Lake’s Superman, you’ll know the feeling of being launched up out of your seat…well let me say this…I305’s is way more intense of ejector air. My body came up out of the seat and my shoulders were resting on the over the shoulder restraints. Phenomenal! We turned to the left and started the first series of transitions. Ejector air runs amuck on the transitions as you are jolted up out of your seat and into the restraints again and again. The transitions for the first part of the ride weren’t as painful as I thought they would be. They’re violent and aggressive but not painful, at least up front. =0) The train careens through the back part of the layout by the first drop. Wicked head chopper was you weave between the lift hill and into the back turnaround. Again, pops of air loaded in the transitions as the train changes vertical direction in those transitions. Now for third hill which has the magnetic brakes permanently installed. Again I was critical of these brakes and let the two other instances above, I was wrong! The brakes on the third hill doesn’t decrease the ejector air you experience but it prolongs the ejector air you experience. A couple more transitions and the second to the last transition (counting backwards, not the one right before the final brakes but the one before that, EDIT: If you look at Robb's reverse direction POV this is the 2:36-2:38 moment in the video) is freaking nasty. Nasty in a good way. We hit the final brakes on my first ride and I had tears coming out of my eyes. There is absolutely no doubt about it. Of the 125 steel coasters I’ve been on, Intimidator 305 is absolutely the best steel coaster I’ve been on. Montu was my first B&M in 1996 and blew my mind but Intimidator 305 took the steel coaster to the next level in my opinion. I’d ride somewhere between 12-15 rides totaling two in the first row, one in the very last row (16) and the rest in rows 7-10. A couple of things that surprised me about this ride. First while sitting in the very last row, the train doesn’t experience the normal whipping of the last row over the top of the lift hill. The train is released from the cable after the last row goes over the top of the lift. Also in the back, I felt that the ride was violent and painful in the transitions as it relates to the over the shoulder harness. I couldn’t ride in the back again. It was way too rough for me and I’m a masochist when it comes to coasters and pain. I305 is everything that I hoped it wouldn’t be in the back. Rows 7-10 experienced almost as much ejector air as the front row but the front row’s air was far more plentiful and powerful than 7-10. Rows 7-10’s airtime on the first drop also throws you into your over the shoulder harness. But the front row is where this coaster really delivers. What Other Enthusiasts Said: Many people shared the sentiments that I’ve typed here both in comparing the front to the back. While I did not personally experience it, some claimed to have “grayed” out in the turn around. Some enthusiasts worried that I305 would have to be dulled down and worried about the General Public’s perception of the ride. I think the coaster is perfect the way it is and hope the park continues to operate it as such. The pre-boarding instructions tell you if you have any doubts about riding this coaster, you shouldn’t ride. I forget the exact verbiage they used but they make no bones about it that Intimidator 305 is an intense thrill ride. The park also opened the Eiffel Tower so anyone in attendance could get shots from afar. As I wrap up this Trip Report, I’d like to once again say THANK YOU to King’s Dominion for first class event and for everything they provided for us today.

Well lets plan it!!! lol I really want to go to Dorney this summer. I have not been there in YEARS!!! Done! We gotta stop at Kauffman's Chicken Ranch on the way home though...

Nice photo TR. I'm happy you reported why Supe and JJ weren't open due to the low temperatures. I read another report from Opening Day on a different site where the moron didn't get to the park until a half hour before close and ripped the park to shreds in his TR because Supe and JJ weren't open. That and he only got three coaster rides before the park closed and faulted the park for this! Here at TPR, I've been saying all off season that SFA has made great strides in turning things around. I'm glad you got to experience what I've been talking about.

I hit SFA alone a couple of times a year, KD at least three times alone a year and SFGAdv once or twice alone a year. You're welcome to come anytime with me...you should know that by now!

FOR THOSE THAT HAVE SHORT MEMORIES THIS STATEMENT STILL APPLIES. The next offense will result in a 24 hour timeout! THANK YOU!!!!!!

I went to SFA on Sunday with a friend that hadn’t been since the 2000 season. He had only been on Superman, JJ, and Mind Eraser on his previous visit. We arrived to the park around 2pm after grabbing a bite to eat at Chipotle in Crofton. When we arrived, the parking lot was nearly empty. There couldn’t have been more than thirty cars total. No busses. Always a good sign when there are no busses . We walked up to the Front Gate and everybody was over the top friendly. The friendly was like an over the top “forced” friendly like you get whenever you walk into an Old Navy store. The lady at the ticket booth wanted to give us a high five as we walked through the turnstiles. We thought this was a bit odd but gave her a high five anyway. No problems through the metal detectors but again, the security guards gave us high fives…what is up with this? We strolled down Main Street and the park had its sound system blaring. Kind of like being in a crowded bar where you have to scream at your friends to talk to them because the music is so amped up, only there weren’t many people. The first ride I wanted to hit was Wild One. We passed through Looney Tunes Movie Town to see how the area looked after four rides were removed for Thomas Town. To a non-enthusiast, LTMT didn’t look like it had changed much. The park did a nice job of making sure there weren’t any holes left from the previous rides. Onto Wild One…we walked right on and off we went. I was a little disappointed with my favorite ride in the park…there wasn’t the usual ejector air in the back that I have come to know and love. Nice air coming off the drop but usually there is ejector air in the back after the turnaround. Not so much the case. The trim was on before the helix but I still think Wild One was one of the best helices around. You always feel like the train is going to rip itself right off the track! As the train entered the station, the ride ops were giving riders high fives…seriously people, it’s 2010. High fives were a thing of the 80’s. I’m a man on a mission to change Six Flags Corporate Culture and teaching these park employees how to fist bump. Next up we hit the Falling Star. I really wanted to ride the Falling Star and my friend did not. He’s more of a coaster only guy and not a big fan of the spin and spews. Since Falling Star requires two people to ride and I usually go to the park alone, I can’t ride it. We rode it and he really liked the ride. We left Southwest Territory and walked over into Gotham City. Batwing was next up as Superman and JJ were testing. A ride attendant said neither would open unless the temperature rose above 55 degrees. JJ was going through its course without a problem, while Superman on the other hand looked like it was struggling to make it over the final two bunny hops and that was with water dummies in the first eight seats. Batwing was my friend’s first flyer. He was really excited to ride Batwing. Walk on third row…now normally Batwing is a “once a season” ride for me as it’s just too rough for me to ride anymore than once a season. He had trouble with fastening the seat back on the rubber chest harness as did I. After the ride ops had us secured, they wanted to give us high fives but we made them give us fist bumps instead. Can’t you get swine flu by touch other people’s hands? As I type this report, I feel like a ton of bricks hit me. I have a nasty head cold and I’m starting to wonder if it’s a result from all these touchy-feeling Six Flags employees. I’m not a germ-a-phobe by any stretch of the imagination; however, I will not participate in all this hand touching anymore. Just kind of gross to think about how many other hands’s one employee’s hand touches through out the entire day let alone every ride you go on. I know they are trying to create an atmosphere and really trying to be more hands on (pun intended) with their guests but can we please do something a little more sanitary? But I digress. Batwing…I thought the ride was MUCH better than year’s past. Batwing didn’t seem to be as rough though the loop is still pulling some pretty serious G’s. I actually enjoyed Batwing and will probably ride Batwing more often this season but my friend did not enjoy. The day’s funny moment came as we were going up the lift hill. I told him to hold his hands out like he was flying and he was fine until we rolled off the lift hill. When we did the 180 degree flip and were now looking straight down he quickly grabbed onto his harness and made a noise similar to a lamb’s “baaaaaah”. We left Batwing and neither Superman nor JJ was open still. We stopped for some snacks at the Gotham City food places and I was told that I needed to show my season pass booklet in order to receive the season pass holder discount. Apparently just showing the pass is not good enough but you have to prove you have a season pass because I guess the park is having trouble with counterfeit season passes. I type this sarcastically as it’s opening weekend, it’s not worth getting upset about, and later in the season things will work themselves out over. Besides, I would’ve saved maybe all of $1 on the food purchase. Not a big deal. We walked towards Roar but the Ride Supervisor had just shut the ride down according to the ride op at the entrance. On our way over to Coyote Creek, we watched three unsuspecting riders board Shipwreck Falls (the park’s Splash Boat ride). After the splash, they were screaming in agony that they were so cold. Idiots. We hit Rodeo for a fun ride where the ride op was more than accommodating to get me locked in. The lap bar was coming just a smidge to short thanks to my beer gut. I kept telling her that she wasn’t going to hurt me and my friend talked her into slamming the lap bar into place. I blurred out “Oh that hurts so good, do it again” and she blushed. My friend and I got a good laugh out of it. We headed over to the Crazy Horse Saloon for a quick beer and I got to help out in an employees training. I’ve never purchased an alcoholic beverage ever at a park I don’t think and at Six Flags they place a bright yellow paper wristband on your arm that says “Age Verified” on it. The employee who placed the wrist band on me was a teenager and probably was the first time he ever affixed one of those wrist bands to someone’s arm. When he put the band on my arm, he didn’t meet the sticky side to the paper side. Instead he put the sticky side on my hairy arms just getting enough of the paper to make the armband to stick. I asked him if I could show him something and he came back over to me. I asked him if he was in training and he nodded his head. I ripped the armband off my hairy arms thus removing about a dozen arm hairs at one time. He gave me a confused look and I held up the removed armband with my dozen or so hairs on it and said “If you don’t put these things on people properly, it can really hurt when they go to remove them.” The ABC Manager handed the kid another wristband and this time he put it on me perfectly matching up the sticky side to the paper side. You all can thank me later. We headed over to Mind Eraser where I would take my first walk of shame. I had the metal clip of the seat belt in the fastener and just needed a little pressure to secure it. The ride op absolutely refused to put any pressure down on the restraint to make the seatbelt click. I tried to reason with her that she was suppose to press down on the restraint and pull up to check it but she refused to even check the restraint because the seatbelt was not fastened. It’s the first weekend, I’m not worried about it. She probably was doing me a favor and saving me a headache anyway. As we exited Mind Eraser, we could see that Roar was back up and running. Roar was also a walk on. We sat in the very last row and I’m sad to report that all of the shuffling that I moaned about last season returned this season. The only noticeable part of the ride that I could tell had been rebuilt was the final turn into the brakes. Just a rough ‘brain scrambling’ ride. Maybe the should switch names on the coasters and call Roar The Mind Eraser. Good grief! We headed back to Superman. I didn’t even try the test seat as I was almost 100% positive they weren’t going to readjust the seatbelts back to how they were to start the season. At some point last season, mid-season they shortened the seatbelts on Superman so unless you have a waistline of less than 34 inches, you can’t ride. I sat down in the last row and the seatbelt buckle was about six inches away from the fastener. Just a shame. I’ve been at my current weight for the past three years and prior to the seat belts being shortened, I never once had a problem riding this ride or the one at Darien Lake for that matter. I really debated not getting a Six Flags season pass this summer solely because of this reason. Then my friends got together and started to plan a trip to Great Adventure so I figured I might as well save a few bucks at the gate and get a season pass. My friend rode Superman. All in all we were there for about three hours and just took our time. It was a first date for us so there was a lot of slow walking and talking between the rides and it didn’t seem like we were there for so long. Good day at the park, though could’ve been a bit better. No more high fives for me though.

They practically announced Thomas Town Opening Day 2009 with signage on Main Street... They now have history doing something of that nature. Not saying I agree or disagree, just stating a simple fact.

^I was thinking pretty much the same thing. The videos you've shot are what I expect to see when I saw "Official POV". Not being a suck up, you just have done some real nice work.

1. Montu - also my first B&M 2. Fire Drago 3. Raptor 4. Ice Dragon 5. Talon 6. Alpengiest 7. Batman Clones 8. Great Bear

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFjWRGaV-Fs

I don't think what's going on at the park has anything to do with feeling threatened by KD's additions. SFA is just headed in a different direction than KD. I just wrote a post http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=51113&start=220 on what's been happening with SFA over the years.

I actually like the stickers on the sides of the train. Great pics too! I'm actually looking to go to my first NASCAR race strictly for the cultural aspect of being in the infield with a bunch of rednecks and getting hammered. I'll be at I305's Media Day on Thursday and I'm sure I'll be posting a report later that night.

When else would lift lights be on? During the day? Gee thanks, Mr. Smartie Pants... Hey they could be left on during the day...you never know... lol

I hope the lift hill lights will be off at night...we'll find out at the Nightime ERT event on May 1st!

He said he wouldn't do something like that because, basically, that is what ruined the park. He said he wouldn't market the flats. He didnt' speak of the War on Lines. I was just making a general comment speaking of the additions of flat rides particularly to Great Adventure. While he said they wouldn't market the new flats, I don't see how adding flat rides ruined the park, nor do I think those were his words.

Maybe Shapiro's Team will get the "War on Lines" right when his predecessors could not. That's a positive comment..not a negative comment...

Best park, I'm guessing, doesn't have anything to do with the attraction line up. I'm sure it's more about the park that has the best operations, best safety record, most profitable, best guest service, highest intent to return, and all those categories that makes a business successful.

While I do not know how that is judged, the statistic was posted by SFA on their Facebook page a couple of weeks ago...

I don't think the goal is unattainable. SFA had the highest overall guest satisfaction rate for 2009 at 97% among all the SF parks. They must be doing something right.

A couple of years ago, I checked Peter Schnabel of Premier Rides into a hotel that I was working at the time. He had arrived early than he expected and we had a great conversation for about twenty minutes about his work with Intamin and Premier. He was very candid with me, shared plans for the proposed Pepsi Ferris Wheel at Xanadu (that I eventually tipped off to Screamscape), talked about Great Adventure's removal of Chiller, he mentioned a prototype Speed coaster that they were working on that would've blown Kingda Ka's record out of the water, and all sorts of other coaster type things. I was especially impressed with him asking me what I liked about Premier's products, what I didn't like, and he admitted that talking with enthusiasts and park goers is something he's always loved to do but never really made much of an effort to see things from "the other side". When he checked out the next morning, he left behind a Premier Rides product kit with all sorts of brouchers and flyers, concept artwork for the Pepsi Ferris Wheel, a business card, and a personal thank you note for recognizing him and for my feedback. Premier Rides headquarters is literally about three miles from my house. I've always wanted to call him up and say "hey" but figured he was a busy guy and didn't have a lot of time for that sort of thing. I was coaster-geeking-out big time, like I had just seen a celebrity or something for hours after our conversation.

I usually wear Vans myself, but just the normal college walking has worn both of my pairs out. They're just too expensive and they've never really lasted for me. Really? I've never paid more than $30 for a pair of Vans though I usually buy them directly from a Vans store and not another retailer. The majority of my large scale events have been on blacktop pavement and I think they're pretty durable. I can usually get one to one and one half years per pair of shoes from Vans.