mhuffva

The only anomaly, ride wise, from the KECO years of ownership, was the installation of Avalanche in Safari Village. That was in 1988. I'm not sure what management's thinking was back then when they placed the ride in its current location. They could have thought: "Hey, we already have a mountain in Safari Village. Let's place our new Mack Bobsled ride next to it and call it Avalanche!". Come to think of it, what does the original "Lost World" mountain have to do with Africa? None of the ride themes inside were African based. The Safari Village theme was originally centered around the Wild Animal Safari Monorail. As time went by, the area evolved to represent those mysterious places in the equatorial areas of the world that were still unexplored in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The area still had a cohesive theme up until Paramount took over. Course, the FOF and BLSC installations were the big "sore thumbs" that broke the theme cohesiveness in what was now called the "Congo" area; thanks to Paramount and the installation of "Volcano: The Blast Coaster". [Which Paramount's movie, based on author Micheal Crichton's book "Congo", was a total bomb]. Fast forward and in comes Mr. Kinzel and gang and places the "cherry" on top of the patchwork quilt of ride attractions in that area, with I-305. Now that Mr. Quimet is in charge and 3/4 of the Cedar Fair BOD is new. The company is trying to replace some of the charm, atmosphere, and theme elements back into Kings Dominion. As others have stated, there is no way to get Safari Village back to the way it was pre-Paramount without spending over 100 million dollars to do so. Cedar Fair is showing some love to KD; but, not to that extent. Maybe the park should just settle for naming the former Safari Village "The Bermuda Triangle".

Ironically, the park probably will draw as many people in 2014 without a new coaster as a year where the park does install a new one. I'm sure there is a "little" spike in attendance when a new coaster premiers. But, my guess would be around 3% or less in total yearly attendance. Most of that increase are folks who are not regular visitors or season pass holders. They visit when it is a major new ride or attraction that interests them enough to make the trek to the park that season. That spike in attendance will drop by more than half during the 2nd year of operations for the new ride/attraction. By the 3rd year of operations, the park attendance level is almost back to normal. I assume they might get a few thousand new regular visitors or new season pass holders from that spike. But, that would be like a .50% - .75% increase in total yearly attendance. I'm sure any increase in attendance, at any of their parks, would make Cedar Fair happy. But, it would not be enough to install a major attraction in the park every other year or dump a dozen flat rides into a park in one season. It certainly did not work for the Six Flags chain. Sources have stated that Cedar Fair's current operational philosophy is getting away from "chasing that coaster rabbit down the hole" in hopes of getting significant gains in attendance. Cedar Fair wants to hold on to and maintain their current market share and find ways to promote more spending from the guests they already have. And this is a trend that is happening across the U.S. Theme Park industry; SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment has stated the same thing. To me, that translates making places like Kings Dominion into more well rounded parks. Bringing back some of the theme elements and charm the park once had. Increasing and improving the live entertainment options at the park. Working on food quality and variety. Don't get me wrong, rides & attractions, are still going to be the bread & butter for Cedar Fair. Major new coasters are still coming to Kings Dominion. I just don't think they will be installed every 3-4 years like they used to be; more like every 5-7 years. And Cedar Fair will fill in the gap with installations of medium-large flat rides, water park stuff, and maybe a mature dark ride like Canada's Wonderland's "Guardian"; and, yes, there will be "Off-Years" as well. Your view on increasing attendance would be more appropriate during the 1970's and 1980's when there was explosive growth in Theme Parks in the U.S. That same explosive growth is what is now happening in China and other Asian countries as well as in some parts of the Middle East. The U.S. Theme Park industry is now mature and been stable for about 20 years. Currently, most major growth spurts have been the big players like Disney and Universal as they expand or makeover existing areas.

Well, there could be a few disappointed folks out there who thought the 12th day announcement would be the blockbuster climax. But, you did leave out the 2nd paragraph from today's Facebook announcement from Kings Dominion. "Continue to watch our Facebook page this winter for "First on Facebook" news updates, surprise annoucements and special content related to the start of our 40th Celebration in April 2014!" It looks like Kings Dominion is not quite finished with declaring all the 40th anniversary stuff for next year. Seems the public relations/marketing department will be teasing/baiting us for the next 3 months!

Well, we shall find out later today. It could be the Rebel Yell getting a paint job; more info on the International Street Fountain overhaul; which rides in Candy Apple Grove are getting the new lighting packages; more info on the 2014 entertainment lineup; or maybe a former flat ride or two making a comeback. I'm not sure, with the end of the "12 Days of Christmas" announcements, if the park is done disclosing the 2014 anniversary "surprises" or if they are keeping a couple more things up their sleeve to announce later in the off season. So, if no announcement happens today for a return of a former flat ride or two, I am not going to punch Santa out tonight. A couple of these overhaul/refurbishment projects are multi-year efforts; The just announced Volcano Mountain makeover and the ongoing Carousel restoration [in its 2nd year of restoring the horses; with 2-3 more years to go. I assume the park is trying to finish the restoration project by the 2017 season when the Carousel will celebrate its 100th anniversary]. Even without the return of a former ride for 2014, Kings Dominion is getting quite a bit of love from Cedar Fair this off-season with all these new and improved projects going on. It is something I felt is long overdue and will hopefully put back into the park some of the charm and atmosphere that was stripped out during the Paramount years of ownership.

Fixed. If this becomes an official TPR event with "Father" Chuck officiating, let me know so I can put it on my calendar.

Volcano did run with 3 trains in the past. I rode the ride when it had 3 train operations. So, it is already set up to run 3 trains. I am not sure what happened to the 3rd train. The rumors had it that the park ended up using the 3rd train for spare parts or they bought new trains to replace the original 3; but, only bought 2 new ones. I think the ride has been in a 2 train operation mode for a least the last 5-6 years out of its 15 year existence.

For those who visit theme parks from across the country to the ends of the world; has anyone experienced improved capacity and wait times for a popular ride by just reconfiguring the queue lines? For some reason, I thought an extra coaster train or dual load/unload areas improve capacity. I know the current volcano station load area can get a bottleneck due to the narrow entrance path on the station floor. But, I have never seen the park dispatch half empty trains due to a lack of riders.

Too bad it can't include the 4 original rides. It would be nice. But, to do what Kings Dominion did for between 22-24 million dollars back then [1977-1979], would probably cost 115-125 million dollars today. I just don't think Cedar Fair has that amount of money laying around to spend on one park. I am crossing my fingers in hope of a slim chance of the park getting the return of a former flat ride in 2014. But, I am not holding my breath on that either.

For those of you not following Kings Dominion's Facebook site, they are doing a "Twelve Days of Christmas" reveal where the park is sharing "Small Gifts" happening for 2014. It started this past Friday and one "Gift" will be revealed each day through Christmas Eve on their Facebook site. The park stated some of the "Gifts" have been disclosed; but, they will be sharing more details and photos. So Far we have the following: Day 1 - Return of the Floral Clock in its original location. [At the Bottom/Base of the Center Walkway just before the Carousel] Day 2 - New Trading Pins; staggered release dates throughout the 2014 season. Day 3 - Free Dinosaur's Alive Admission for Gold and Platinum Season Pass Holders.

It became clear to me during the interview that Kings Dominion, (and Kings Island for that matter), contracted with this 3rd party business, Lion Country Safari, to provide for the animal attraction. The park provided the land/habitats and Lion Country Safari provided the animals and zoologists/rangers to care for and watch the animals. Keep in mind that Lion Country Safari at Kings Dominion was originally an up-charge attraction (First 5-6 years of operations?). Sometime in the early 1980's, the animal attraction was included in the park's general admission. From what I could find on the internet, during its heyday (1970's - early 1980's), Lion Country Safari had 5 animal parks in the US. The original drive-through park in Florida (still exists today). As well as one in California, Texas, and the 2 animal attractions at Kings Dominion and Kings Island. The animal park in California closed in the early 1980's and the other 3, (Texas, KD, and KI), closed in the early 1990's.

Kings Dominion has updated their Facebook site with some 2014 updates from the companies making the old new again. Also, someone came across another 2014 surprise on Kings Dominion's web site. (Sorry, you will need to dig around for that one). Reincarnation of the Frog and Mushrooms as well as the Apples for CAG update

We're hoping there might be a chance for a former flat ride or two making a comeback in 2014. We just don't know right now if Kings Dominion has the greenbacks budgeted to do that for next year. They have a pretty full plate right now with general improvements happening in 3 of the 5 areas in the park for 2014. Given that this commercial is promoting the new "Apple Turnover" (Enterprise) ride and other new stuff for the season, this ad probably ran in the spring when the park was in weekend only operations.

Sorry to see that you missed out on I305 on your trip. The ride did have a major issue; but, it was not due to a snapped cable. We think it was the lift motor drive and/or the transmission. In any case, it took over 2 months to get the coaster back up and running. I am not a fan of the delayed opening of rides at the park. I assume it is part of the budget measures to control costs. Cedar Fair does seem to keep a tight grip on expenditures at their parks; given the debt load it is carrying. Kings Dominion seems to be walking the razor's edge when providing decent park operations and customer service. Sometimes they succeed and other times they get a black eye by the park visitors. I can't solely blame the park; the budget directives are coming from corporate in Sandusky. During the Paramount years of ownership, Kings Dominion became a patchwork quilt of rides and attractions. We lost quite a bit of the cohesive themeing of the 5 areas that make up the park. That is why some areas of the park are very beautiful and other areas have the charm of an abandoned industrial complex.I do agree that the "Stunt Coaster" is one of the most undesirable themed rides in the park. I am not sure what KD/Cedar Fair could come up with to re-theme it; but, at least get rid of some more of the gravel and replace it with grass & bushes. The minimum track work on some of the wooden coasters, (Hurler), leaves a lot to be desired. Wood coaster maintenance appears to be a problem across the whole Cedar Fair park chain. They are going to have to throw more money into the wood coaster maintenance or come up with an alternative solution like a Rocky Mountain treatment for some of the coasters. Right now, it appears they are doing just enough to keep them up and running safely. Cedar Fair is trying to restore some of the charm and bring back some of the themeing to the park in 2014. The old Grove area and the Congo section are going back to their original names; those sections are getting back some of their theme elements from before the time of Paramount. I think we will see more asphalt disappear in favor brick pavers of some sort and more landscape islands to break up the large open expanses. Given what the park did for the kid's area makeover in 2013, I look forward to the changes coming for 2014. I can see the restoration process continuing into 2015 and beyond.

Well, Tampa could be going the route of what Williamsburg is doing with the Globe theater for 2014. Converting the venue back to a live entertainment facility. I think its been nearly 20 years since real performers have been on that stage (Though, they might have done a short run of a "Sesame Street" themed show when the kids "Forest of Fun" area opened). Tampa appears to be doing the same.

We know improvements are coming to Volcano. We just don't know the extent of those improvements at this time. Operationally, it could be anything from having a 3rd train added at one end of the spectrum to a dual loading station at the other end. Cosmetic/themeing improvements for the ride is a possibility. I thought the supports/track were just repainted 2/3 years ago; though the mountain structure itself could use some loving. From what I heard, the park wants to focus on "improving the throughput" on the ride for 2014. So it appears the improvement focus is on the operational side. We'll just have to wait to see if/when Kings Dominion decides to divulge the details. As far as the return of a former flat ride or two coming back to the park; I think we might have a small chance of that happening for next year. It would probably be one of those "surprises" to be revealed later this off-season. *** IF *** that were to happen, I could see a small to medium flat ride installed in Candy Apple Grove or Safari Village.

Did anyone see a Cigar Smoking Frog hopping around the Garner Holt booth? He would be about 2-3 feet tall, green, wears a bowler hat and plays the piano. Seems like Cedar Fair and Garner Holt have pretty solid partnership going on right now.

Well, might as well add another video link to the history of Kings Dominion. Bill did an outstanding job of producing this series of videos about the history of the park . This one includes a walk through of Yogi's Cave and an 8mm POV of the Galaxy coaster. Also included are photos of the dark rides "Journey to the Land of Dooze" and the "Haunted River". Pretty detailed themeing in those attractions back then, outside of Disney. [youtu_be] [/youtu_be] I think the one thing that many folks don't remember about Kings Dominion and its sister parks was the park chain entertainment division, Kings Productions. In the Pre-Paramount days, from 1975 through 1992, the Kings Dominion entertainment lineup each season was on par with what you currently find in a Herchend or Busch park. The entertainment budget was right behind the amount budgeted for rides and attractions. In those days, Kings Dominion was known just as well for their live entertainment options as for their rides. You probably had 16 to 18 percent of park visitors back then who came mainly to see the shows. Those folks who liked both rides and shows almost had to visit over a two day period to see and do everything the park offered back then. (And the park certainly did market a two day ticket for that purpose). When Paramount took over, they eliminated the park chain entertainment division, Kings Productions. Kings Dominion went from 11-13 shows during the prime summer season to 2-3 shows. Under the Paramount nameplate, we lost 3 entertainment venues (Flintstone Follies/Woodlands amphitheater, Safari amphitheater, and Country Crossroads amphitheater). We lost the only restaurant facility that had live entertainment in the dining room. After a couple years of being under Paramount, the park lost that 16-18 percent demographic of visitors who came for the shows; they walked away and never came back. The park evolved into a ride/coaster park. When Cedar Fair took over in 2006, they did try to show some love to the park; especially after the neglect the park experienced the last 2-3 seasons under the Paramount name. But, Kinzel and gang were of the rides & attractions mindset. Entertainment took a distant backseat to the latest ride. Now with Quimet in charge, I have seen a turn back toward entertainment options over the last 2 seasons. Is the entertainment at the level of what it was pre-Paramount? Nope. The performers were outstanding for 2013. The show facilities and production values are still sub-par (sets/scrims/costumes (or lack thereof) for a couple shows; Country Music stage - nice show; but I don't want to stand on asphalt, in the blazing sun, in the middle of a VA summer afternoon to watch it). So there is still work to be done in the entertainment department. Anyway, here is a video overview of what entertainment was like during the Taft/Family Leisure/KECO days. This was another video Bill put together to showcase the history of entertainment at Kings Dominion. [youtu_be] [/youtu_be]

That building was originally was a place to make music videos (green screen background and you pick the song/background to sing/dance to). I thought it was then changed to a small merchandise shop of some sort, and finally to one of those park picture pickup spots (park employee takes your picture and you could pick it up at that location or the one on International street. Course, the park used it for the photo op for Medieval Macabre during Halloween Haunt). Yes, it was one of the more "ratty" areas in the Grove section of the park. i am glad the building is gone.

You're 1 year too late for that. It was about this time last year that Kings Dominion was demolishing Yogi's/Treasure cave. The last time Treasure cave was open was in 2011. The park had removed the queue entrance/line and put bushes and a new curb there for 2012.

I think they are using Volcano's station, to "grow" the new mushrooms. I hear the environment is perfect for growing mushrooms.

Well, the park did say surprises (plural). I wonder if KD is planning to bring back the Floral Clock as well? The land where the clock once occupied is still vacant (bottom of the path from the Eiffel Tower to the Carousel). That could be a possibility. Course, I don't see any major attractions for 2014. There might be a slim possibility for a former flat ride to make a comeback somewhere. But, I just don't see the money in the 2014 budget to have the return of the Steam Train or Sky Ride cable cars happen. I know many people want the mountain rides restored and Lake Charles put back; but, I don't think Cedar Fair will blow 100+ million dollars to do all that for one park.

You mean that this area is now a new designated smoking area? ( I can hear the whining now; "If the Frog can smoke, why can't I? )

I would think that the B&M coaster would be a hot item. It is compact and built on flat land; it appears to be a ride that could be re-installed quite easily as compared to a custom terrain built coaster. I could see this going to a medium to large size park. Course, I am not sure if the major US park chains like Six Flags, Sea World, or Cedar Fair are into buying used coasters of this size. But, if it was a deal they could not pass up, I could see this coaster going into a Cedar Fair park like Worlds of Fun or maybe Dorney park for example. If there is no interest in the coaster from the US parks, it sounds more likely an park in China or Japan could snatch it up. I am not sure what the market is for the other coasters like the Premier Roundabout, Vekoma Mine Train, or the Premier Suspended coasters. I would think the Vekoma kiddy coaster would have a greater chance of being sold before the others.

Kings Dominion has "dug up" a little something from the park's past. Another 40th anniversary morsel to chew on (Well, figuratively anyway). Something original from the 1970's.

I wrote the following on another site and thought I would share it here: The whole story on "Miner's Revenge" came out when an op-ed person from the Washington Post came to the park and saw the description of "Miner's Revenge" on the park's Haunt map. This person had spent nearly 2 years investigating the coal mining industry and the dangers for miners that work there and interviewed the families that suffered the loss of loved ones in mining accidents. Kings Dominion offered to have the person tour the attraction and show what was in it. The person refused the offer. I can see where someone is more sensitive to this sort of thing; especially, after being immersed in the coal mining industry safety issues for that long. BUT, he was reading an overblown description of a Haunt attraction; one of many over-exaggerated descriptions for all of the Haunt attractions at Kings Dominion. It was part of the park's marketing hype for Halloween Haunt. I find it quite ironic, as I went through the “Miner's Revenge” Haunt attraction 2-3 times during the Haunt season, that there is NO SIMULATION OR RECREATION OF A MINE EXPLOSION, NOR A MINE COLLAPSE, NOR ANY OTHER SERIOUS INCIDENT IN THIS ATTRACTION. Nothing. Nada. The attraction, to me, looked like a mining operation from the late 1800's. It reminded me more of an old-time mine from the American West than a coal mine from Virginia/West-Virginia. The mine itself was mainly dark and there were a handful of Scare-actors who popped out to scare/startle folks. There were a few illuminated scenes that look like the creatures took it out on each other with picks/shovels, and one creature that looked like an ogre. And that was it. Maybe Kings Dominion should just modify the attraction storyline to simply be something about the miner’s digging and breaking through into a cavern with creatures such as goblin’s, orc’s, and/or ogre’s. They are attacked and those same creatures are waiting for you inside. With all due respect to those in the mining industry who have lost loved one's, it is a sad sign of the times when a park gets beat up over a Halloween attraction, whose idea/theme came down from the corporate Cedar Fair Haunt creative team to Kings Dominion AND, I believe, Canada's Wonderland, to put on for the 2013 Haunt season. Today's news media gets these poor folks riled up over this. I guess Cedar Fair is going to have to scrutinize new Haunt themes going forward. Maybe they should stick with fantasy creature and themes that are not based on realistic situations.