Intimidator305

That would be the last place the next coaster will go. It financially doesn't make sense to remove and rebuild the largest building (the park's warehouse) for a coaster. If the Shockwave rumors are true, expect the next coaster to go there and branch outward around the site.

Did we ride the same ride? Anyways, 2016 the park will be "making a big splash" and has an estimated 12-15 million dollars left of their 50 million 3 year investment. Thoughts on what it could be besides the obvious Boomerang Bay/Soak City renovation and additions? Also, what's everyone's opinion on the Thunder Road leaving rumor?

Interesting thought... With Canada's Wonderland's removal of Sky Rider and Kings Dominion's current rumor of the removal of Shockwave, could the two parks potentially be receiving the same thing replacing their standup coasters? Obviously, Canada's Wonderland would need a greater head start due to harsher winters.

But also, when comparing to just Carowinds... 2010: Intimidator 305 (25 million) // Intimidator (22 million) 2011: Snoopy's Starlight Spectacular (1 million) // Snoopy's Starlight Spectacular (1 million) 2012: Windseeker, Dinosaurs Alive (7 million) // Windseeker (6 million) 2013: New Planet Snoopy (8 million) // Dinosaurs Alive and Picnic Pavilions (2 million) 2014: 40th Celebration improvements (1 million) // Dorsal Fin Drop, Surfer's Swell, Harmony Hall (5 million) Total: 42 million // 36 million 2015: Complete waterpark transformation (5 million) // Fury 325, Slingshot, parking upgrade (35 million) Remember, Carowinds is going through a 3-year 50 million dollar renovation (they have about 10 million left for next season) because Cedar Fair sees the most potential for their attendance numbers to grow as their competition isn't as heavy and Charlotte is a great partner. Kings Dominion's time will come, but as you can see, Kings Dominion was getting the better end of the bargain until 2015.

^ Kings Island is a significant amount above Kings Dominion too. They consider these their top-performing parks, with KD and Carowinds being about equal with attendance below them. Canada's Wonderland Knott's Berry Farm Cedar Point Kings Island Kings Dominion Carowinds

To be fair, KD has the most competition too with BGW and SFA. With Busch Gardens adding Verbolten and Tempesto since 305 and Six Flags adding Apocalypse, Rajin' Cajun, and LarsonLooper83933.5 since 305 it puts KD in the hotspot with locals wanting that newest coaster even if Intimidator 305 is superior to all five of those additions combined. On the opposite side of the spectrum though, KD definitely has needed everything that has been done since Intimidator 305. I wish the park was in such great shape when the world came to see 305 back in 2010.

I finally made the 3.5 hour adventure out to the park for the first time this season yesterday for the Bring-A-Friend discount days and took several of my friends. The park, as they have the past 5 seasons, is really focusing on the details which has created an incredible atmosphere that the park simply didn't have pre-Intimidator 305. Yesterday was the final day of the Spring Bloom festival, and it didn't disappoint for the first attempt at it, I expect this to expand throughout the park similar to the Halloween Haunt food booths are. The parks flowers were absolutely beautiful too. Being with 4 first-timers to the park, I had to ride everything (which was done in 6 hours with several re-rides on Intimidator, Drop Tower, and Volcano). I must say, the coaster in the worst condition at the park, even though its paint looks good, is without a doubt Anaconda. I usually ride it once or twice a season and it absolutely killed me yesterday. However, I wouldn't be sad to see Anaconda, Shockwave, or Hurler go. If a coaster gets replaced in the Candy Apple Grove, I could see it being a B&M invert like Talon at Dorney. If a coaster gets put in the front of the park or in Old Virginia, I'd expect it to be more of a headliner or record-breaker. To be honest though, nothing the park builds next will beat Intimidator 305 and leave many enthusiasts disappointed I'm sure. The ride is simply a one-of-a-kind and beats the hell out of Fury 325 and Leviathan still. Even though it goes so fast and is so intense, the ride has managed to stay smooth as glass and absolutely gorgeous in 5+ seasons. I expect Kings Dominion's next coaster to be back on the mediocre intensity similar to what GateKeeper is - and it should be so their coaster lineup is more well-rounded. Other notes: - The special touches for the 40th Celebration are even better this season - Improved and better music throughout the park fitting with the areas more - ALL ride attendants were very friendly, fast, and efficient even in the heat - ALL rides were working - Drop Tower needs painted next season - The new Soak City, Hurricane Heights, and Splash Island look absolutely fantastic (from the views I got riding DT 5 times in a row) - Dominator's B&M rattle seemed not to be there, even in the back with a half-empty train - KD's future is bright in terms of food with new Chef Paul Favorite shot of the day:

^ Agreed. The Eiffel Tower at Kings Dominion is a bigger thrill than Mach Tower to me... not to mention it only took two seasons to get the attraction open most of the time. As far as Europe in the Air goes, it never deserved a place in the park - what a disaster.

So by this logic, KD must also be receiving a Vekoma SLC too because the graphic on the game booth next to Safari Village is accurate besides that on it. 2016/2017 just has to be a coaster for Kings Dominion... remember, Intimidator 305 construction didn't even begin until Monday June 1, 2009. There's plenty of time in the season - they haven't even opened their new Soak City yet! (which will be great and is a large investment to be honest)

Still not a fan of the location of the ride at all, but the area itself looks great! I'll be heading to the park when Food & Wine starts up to check it out. It's interesting that the plans for this ride had a 156' inversion and it ended up being 154'. Volcano at Kings Dominion still holds the title for tallest inversion on the east coast at 155'. Thanks for sharing as always, Chuck!

The area around the ride looks great - including the move of Sparkler to this area of the park. I'm obviously more of an intense ride type of enthusiast, but this is exactly what Holiday World needed as their first steel coaster, so congratulations to them and best of luck in the coming years. Meanwhile, I will patiently waiting for Hyena Falls to not seem so random and out of place.

Here's hoping they theme it to whales and add more whales to upset the Blackfish bandwagon. This is awesome news for SeaWorld, I always felt like they needed one more good coaster to make me want to go there each time I visit Orlando - and this should do it, unless it is a recent B&M trimmed hyper.

I'm in favor of temporary fanny packs existing for all coasters!

I don't care how good or awful the movie will be, I've been waiting forever for this. I'm sure I'll find some humor in it - at least they have Clark and Ellen in the film.

Currently, the ride looks like the creator in Roller Coaster Tycoon has the launch speed set too high. Although not the biggest supporter of this project, I'm glad the ride is coming together and Busch is opening a new ride before Memorial Day weekend.

Thanks for the update as always, Chuck! Put me in the category that isn't fond of Tempesto's location - it just makes the 'most beautiful park in the world' look like a Six Flags from the parking lot with coasters stacked on top of each other. However, hopefully Tempesto will bring a repaint for Apollo's Chariot and a whole refresh for the Fiesta Italia area as it has really needed a general spruce up lately.

I also agree with Chuck - I much prefer Diamondback over Carowinds' Intimidator. I actually like Diamondback more than Apollo's Chariot too.

At 600 ft tall and 1500 ft long that means this zipline is traveling downward at 21.8 degrees - that's quite steep and terrifying for 600 ft tall!

The name Fury won't be coming to Kings Dominion. It was specifically chosen for Carowinds since Charlotte is known as the Queen City, Buzz City, and the Hornets were returning so it made perfect sense for Carowinds. 'Fury' was trademarked first, then 'Fury 325' was later on, so I'm sure that they figured if they were building the tallest giga in the world why not put the height at the end of the name. The Intimidator names were both used since 1.) they were paying for the licensing anyways, why not use it to its fullest 2.) both Richmond and Charlotte are known for racing 3.) Dick Kinzel. Ever since Matt Ouimet has taken over, theming seems more important and new additions make sense with the areas of the parks - I doubt he would have supported a NASCAR theme in the Congo/Safari Village area of Kings Dominion... but thanks anyways for the best coaster in the world Dick Kinzel!

Adventure Express at Kings Island should be on this list, but I laugh harder on that coaster than almost any other ride just because the ending is so anti-climatic. Verbolten. If that's all 50 million dollars gets you then... I know it's a family coaster (and trust me I love family coasters), but overall it is just a huge disappointment to me for the money they put into it. A positive however is that I absolutely love the trains and the restraints. Verbolten's step-sister, Cheetah Hunt, is probably the sexiest, best family coaster out there though.

Winner of the thread. Tempesto Tomato Sauce I thought KD's announcement was well done for Intimidator 305 back in 2009 (wow 6 years ago!). Banshee was probably the most recent-ish nicely done announcement in my opinion - I always enjoy Don.

I was reading comments on the new name elsewhere and someone brought up the great point of not having "Studios" or "Adventure" in the name due to confusion with Universal Orlando parks... I could not agree more, there has always been silly GP confusion between the Hollywood Studios and Universal Studios names from my perspective. If you give the park a name with "Adventure" then I feel as if it'll be even more confusing with Islands of Adventure. It seems stupid, but it happens and would happen all of the time. Also, yes the park is literally Hollywood in Florida, but I don't like having Hollywood in the name as it gives the impression the park is in Hollywood - i.e. Universal Studios Hollywood. I've hated this name quite a lot since the name change from Disney-MGM Studios, which I was never fond of either as the park grew. My vote is still for Disney's Movie Kingdom.

Are you joking...? Enjoy and be grateful for Banshee while waiting patiently for the next coaster in 2018.

I believe KD is satisfied with Dominator as the front statement (yellow loop FTW!) and Matt Ouimet has stated he likes the Kings Island and Kings Dominion iconic entries more than the majority across the chain. I could see some refurbishments going on to freshen up the area's existing buildings, but I highly doubt KD would see a Carowinds/Cedar Point change anytime soon. Even though B&M has been the popular trend across the chain, KD has proven to be the unique one of the former Paramount Parks with the Intimidator 305 addition (GoldStriker was put in due to its cheapness...), so I could possibly see something besides a B&M going in next, especially with B&M likely already building Dive Coaster Hawk 225 at Cedar Point next season. Although I would gladly accept a new custom B&M with open arms, KD's collection is unique, so Cedar Fair could keep it that way and experiment with other coaster companies besides B&M here. It does make sense, especially with the competitors Busch and Six Flags nearby. Plus, there's that mythical intimidating dangerous FBI top-secret B&M Busch Gardens contract. Hopefully, 2016 rumors will begin to fly around once the gates open up this season although KD's secrets are usually kept pretty well. I mean, they kept the giga a secret until the label on the track said "GIGA" in the parking lot.

^ This is actually a new version of map Cedar Fair was attempting last season at KD and it seems like it is here to stay after working out the kinks and complaints guests had about it. Surprisingly, it is much more realistic compared to the typical Cedar Fair version that the park had from 2008 - 2013. 2013 park map