Intimidator305

If it is named Fury 325 then all the southerners will be calling it Furry instead.

I noticed this a while back, but forgot to share on here... Busch Gardens is no longer having the tacky, cheesy, Illuminights event this summer. Instead there will be a new event called Star Spangled Nights. It'll definitely be smaller and let's hope it does not take over the park like Illuminights. There's nothing like some red, white, & blue 'Murica plastered all over a European themed amusement park. Here are the details found on the park's website:

WaterWorks opened up 2 weeks ago on May 24th. Some of the attractions were probably closed yesterday due to low attendance and limited staff (lifeguards still in school). For anyone in the area, tomorrow the park is doing a variety of special things (free buttons, shows, ect.) for their 40th day being opened this season along with having some special 40th merchandise (including an awesome poster). I wish I could make it for the buttons and posters tomorrow. Check out their Facebook page for more information.

Am I the only one who thinks this thing will be more thrilling than Dragster and Ka? I don't care how slow/fast it is... you can already tell you're going to be so high up much, much longer than .5 seconds like those rides. I don't even realize how high up I actually am on Dragster and Ka as the ride is actually about the launch in my opinion (the top hats just run off the speed) so this should be freaky, especially in those little tiny cars... And I feel like Orlando should have the world's tallest coaster! It isn't the most thrilling area as far as rides go, but it truly is the amusement/theme park capital of the world and it's only fitting for it to be here. The older GP will eat this up and I'm sure the media will too.

To comment on the Busch Gardens Williamsburg attendance decline, I have noticed across the state in the Roanoke/Virginia Tech area where I live that BGW has completely stopped advertising and promoting themselves compared to just a few years ago when half of TV/radio commercials were theirs (insert stupid Sesame Street Forest of Fun music here)... It definitely seems more and more people are going to Kings Dominion and Carowinds around here ever since the Intimidators were added. Since we live 3 hours from each of them the Intimidator 305 vs. Intimidator debate is quite popular around here.

^^ If you're not a first timer at the park WaterWorks is a nice mid-day break during the summer when it's hot as long as it's not Saturday. Often on Saturdays WaterWorks is the most crowded section of the park. It's nothing too special, but if you like water parks, it has a few good slides and gives you quite a different perspective/views of the park. ^ The slides Carowinds got this season seem like a good substitute to KD's Tornado slide. I personally think something like a Mat-Racer slide would be better and be a hit with the public.

Well 2014 was also rumored for WaterWorks, but then they went the 40th Celebration route and have said that it is a 2 year celebration so I could see money put towards both if they do invest in the water park. I must admit as much as I want a new coaster of some type, WaterWorks is what needs work the most in the park now... once they do that, the whole park will look spectacular. I'd love a retheme - maybe a throwback to the original days, Hurricane Reef (probably have copyright problems) or even Wildwater Kingdom/Soak City (Wildwater Kingdom would go great with the name Kings Dominion). However, whatever it is I still feel like 2015 will be even better than 2014 has been (which has been awesome) and KD will go out with a bang for the second year of their anniversary. Also, remember Kings Island got the Soak City revamp/retheme for their 40th Anniversary...

^ It's Six Flags we're talking about... anything goes #yolo I do however wonder how they'll protect those waiting/on Drop of Doom from loose articles of Ka without making it look too tacky.

^ And apparently it has changed continents all the way across the Atlantic to Europe...?!?! Silly Busch Gardens

& here comes the TPR roller coaster engineers! On a serious note, this is quite disappointing as we're getting in the prime summertime season, but I guess the longer it takes the safer, more reliable the ride will be in the long run... which will be for the best. It is looking quite spectacular though!

This may have been covered already and I may have missed it but do we know how guests are going to get all the way to the base of Ka to ride this? So I guess what I'm trying to ask is are they expanding the midway all the way back there or is it just going to have the longest entrance/exit in the world? Either way it seems awkward and I hope they fill that space in the future with other attractions to make Drop of Doom not seem in the middle of nowhere...

Fingers crossed they just plow it for a low capacity, short coaster that'll get constant construction delays but open up just in time for Labor Day next summer. In all seriousness, I'm glad to see Six Flags has found the potential in RMC... when will Cedar Fair discover it?

Rebel Yell is great - still one of my favorite wooden coasters ever. Hurler and Grizzly on the other hand... not so much

A few friends of mine have seen London Rocks and not one of them actually enjoyed the show unfortunately. Quite disappointing since it's the only "new" attraction of the season. However, thanks for another view and tour of Food & Wine. I feel like this event is slowly becoming the best time of the year at BGW.

It is just unreal to me that Cedar Fair can plan, build, and open mammoth coasters by the end of March/first of April and Six Flags can't even open a relocated mouse ride by Memorial Day weekend (not trying to bring up a CF vs. SF debate). Anyways, I'll be heading to the park sometime this summer if they ever get the thing open.

Wait - BGW has a Spain booth at the Food & Wine Festival? A SPAIN section of the park must be coming after all these years! In all seriousness, it looks delicious and even better than years before. Thanks for sharing as always Chuck. Also, hopefully Illuminights gets some love and improvements this season because it just seems to get worse and tackier each year.

That's my thought... and Carowinds will be getting a giga next year but the question remains as to what KD will be getting? However, I could see the argument that 305 was a larger project with greater impact to the park than the hypers at Wonderland, KI, and Carowinds so maybe KD will have to wait a season or two longer before getting a coaster. Also remember, ever since 305 Cedar Fair/KD have still been pumping the investments into the park with Snoopy's Starlight Spectacular in 2011 (1 million), Windseeker and Dinosaurs Alive in 2012 (7 million), Planet Snoopy' in 2013 (12 million), 40th Celebration in 2014 (1-2 million), along with replacing tons of asphalt with brick pavers each and every year. When comparing what KD has gotten since "the big coaster" to the other 3 (Wonderland, KI, Carowinds) we've received more and 305 cost about 2-3 million more than the hypers... yet Wonderland and KI outdo KD in attendance quite a bit and Carowinds has been chosen by Cedar Fair for large investments.

Neither can I, especially after the addition of Lucy's Tugboat in Planet Snoopy just last year. As far as 2015 goes, I still believe it's going to be fairly big... this season although they did a ton to the park was technically an "off" year and the 40th Celebration is for 2014-2015 so why not go out with a bang? Plus, it's been 5 years since Intimidator 305 next season... it was 5 years since Diamondback at KI, 5 years since Intimidator at Carowinds, so why not KD? Especially when competing with BGW who is putting in a coaster next season (although a small, crappy capacity coaster) and got Verbolten 2 seasons after 305 opened.

Don't forget... Woodstock Express (Scooby-Doo) also has an on-ride photo. Everyone needs one of those!

I agree, Dale is the best. He definitely brings a smile and enthusiasm to riders every time I ride 305 while he is working. I've gotten to know him quite well and he'll let you snag a front seat ride if there's no single-riders in the front row line.

I find this rattle discussion interesting. Hopefully the ride doesn't age roughly and get even more of a B&M rattle... although there are no OTSRs to bang your head on so I still feel like this ride would be very enjoyable unlike the other rattling inverts.

https://www.thedodo.com/seaworld-attendance-plummets-1-550282829.html?utm_source=BlackfishFB Interesting article trying to please those bandwagon Blackfish supporters. SeaWorld's reasoning to me makes plenty of sense, I know the public schools all have their spring breaks around Easter and the Orlando parks typically are more crowded around then..

I feel so bad for the first park (KI, Carowinds, or CW) to throw an enthusiast event with a Q&A.

This is my main concern. Of course capacity is going to be a pain in the @$$, but the fact that you will now be driving into the so-called "world's most beautiful theme park" with a mess of tacky colored steel combined just ruins to overall feel BGW strives for. But after seeing the additions of Mach Tower and Verbolten, this doesn't surprise me at all...

Thanks again for the coverage and the reviews everyone. What I like most about the ride is the level of theming Cedar Fair put into it. Between this and KD's 40th Celebration enhancements it seems like the company is heading into a great direction for future developments.