Intimidator305

^ For a source to what he just said... In The Loop Rebooted Podcast - Clint Novak Very excited about this! Also, rumor has it on Saturday KD "hole punched" your Fast Lane wrist band once you rode Volcano which only allowed you to ride it once using the Fast Lane pass... -according to somebody on the park's Facebook

SO JEALOUS. My visit on Saturday 4/7 I rode it 9 times in a row with walk-ons at first, but then the line got up to about a 5 train wait, so I decided to go get a ride on Windseeker before the crowds really started to come in (the park eventually got packed like the previous day). Still, 10 rides over 2 days on Intimidator 305 is a great way to kick off my 2012 coaster season!

Drop Tower is 305 ft tall, with a 272 ft drop with a max speed of 72 MPH. Which drop towers have you ridden that are more intense than it is? I still haven't found one that even comes close to being as good as it is besides Drop Tower at KI (315 ft tall, 260 ft drop, 68 MPH).

I personally think that they should just ditch all the PEANUTS props and just keep the lights within the trees and buildings. This would make is seem more unified with Luminosity and it would simply just be twinkling lights all over the place rather than a separate "Starlight Experience". I liked the simplicity of KD's Snoopy's Starlight Spectacular because they focused on the lights rather than all the random props like other parks in the chain (except Wonderland).

Yes, I also noticed Dominator was running incredibly smooth my first visit this season. There was no vibrations/rattling at all, and I sat near the back where it is usually the worst. I was impressed!

^ Glad to hear lines were moving well and it sounds like you had a good time! It is literally the same exact set-up as Dominator and Flight of Fear have with Fast Lane users still having to pick what row they want and then wait in the station...

How is Fast Lane bothering you on Intimidator 305, Flight of Fear, or Dominator? Fast Lane riders merge into the stations with 150+ other riders so how the heck is another few people added in every once is a while making the lines that much worse for you? Fortunately, KD is doing Avalanche's Fast Lane line the same way as Intimidator 305, Flight of Fear, and Dominator so the effect will be minnimal. I could see if you were complaining about Volcano, since that's where the only Fast Lane problem currently is (hopefully they'll fix it soon), but as you said before you don't ride it because of "poor capacity", claimed "headbanging", and how you want a B&M invert in the park. Trust me, be thankful for KD running Fast Lane how they are and not letting Fast Lane riders just walk up to the exit and then pick your seats on almost all the like rides like they are down at Carowinds...

I'm not a Transformer fan at all, but wow, that sure looks incredible! Universal just keeps doing better and better with their newest attractions.

I swear people are just complaining to complain when it comes to Fast Lane at KD. Trust me, I was very shocked and impressed by KD with the way they were running Fast Lane to keep it fair as possible to non-FL users... The only ride that I hope they find a different way to run the FL on is Volcano, and rumors are that park management is aware of the problem and looking for a solution according to Coaster Crew/KDFansite staff.

^ All of the former Paramount Parks still list each themed area on their park maps. I've always enjoyed Kings Dominion's term of calling themselves a "themed amusement park". I'd put Hersheypark under that category as it is the middle of a "theme park" and "amusement park" like KD...

What's supposed to be this ride's max speed? It looks like it crawls through much of the layout, which might be a good thing since it has a shorter layout and it will provide good hangtime. I'm excited to see the theming and keyhole structure to go into place!

I'll be there the Monday-Wednesday after the opening weekend for this so I'm excited to check it out. It definitely looks better than the old show and I have to give Cedar Fair credit for coming up with a cool name and logo! And yes, if another Cedar Fair park were to get this, I agree Knott's should be the next one.

^ Since it is the last day of spring break, it's questionable. If I had to guess, I'd say it won't be too bad and since you're going on the weekend, they will be running 2 train ops on all the rides so lines should move quickly. Even if the park is semi-crowded, the best part about KD is that they have so many rides that the crowds really spread out. Be sure to get there at opening if you want to ride Volcano. Even on a slow day that ride has atleast an hour wait when other rides are close to walk-on due to low capacity and it's still the most popular ride in the park.

^ Thanks for posting that as I've been checking every once in a while waiting for them to be released. Overall, they are pretty creative for a now generic themed water park, and I noticed some of the attractions share the same name as similar attractions at KD's WaterWorks (Tidal Wave Bay, Zoom Flume, ect.). I am glad to see them come up with a name for the tornado slide ("Mondo Monsoon") rather than just naming it "Tornado".

Thanks for sharing all the photos of Dinosaurs Alive! I was at the park opening day/weekend, but didn't check out the walk-thru. It definitely seems like families are interested in this as there were large lines at both the ticket booths to buy tickets for the attraction. My only question is, with KD being a regional park with many frequent guests, will guests pay to see this on a yearly basis? I guess we'll just have to see how busy DA is at Kings Island this year since it is its second year...

Judging from the photos, it definitely doesn't look too tall... which is a good thing in my opinion! Hersheypark shouldn't have something that awkwardly stands out in the skyline which is why I think the height of Skyrush is perfect. It is plenty tall enough to get the hyper feeling, but also not something that will dwarf the surrounding area's great attractions since everything is pretty much right on top of each other. I also like how low to the ground the rest of the layout is besides the first hill as it allows the ride not to completely dominate that part of the park. Hersheypark and Intamin did a fantastic job designing this ride for looks, so I definitely can't wait to find out how it rides! And yes, those edge seats look awesome. They should give a very unique experience.

^ I definitely think that is exactly what the park needs. KidZville is definitely the next section of the park that needs attention and 2013 would be a perfect year to do it. One large, fun, colorful Planet Snoopy like KI and DP have would be awesome here at KD. In 2013, it will be time for another "family" attraction since the park got the very thrilling Windseeker this year. KD has typically been alternating every year for the past few years between thrills and family attractions. Plus, a kiddie expansion would be a great addition before 2014, which should definitely be some type of a coaster. Finally, Busch Gardens Williamsburg shouldn't be getting much in 2013 as well since they are spending an estimated 50 million on Verbolten, so the competition won't be getting anything too thrilling to draw the thrill seekers.

I visited Kings Dominion on Friday (Opening Day) and Saturday to kick off my 2012 coaster season. Overall, I had a blast and got lots of rides in despite the surprisingly large opening weekend crowds. The new attractions for 2012 include Windseeker, Dinosaurs Alive, and Dinosaurs: Giants of Patagonia 3D... but so much more has been done around the park! Just to name a few: -Fast Lane which actually is being ran very well and fair with the exception on Volcano -Avalanche got a new paintjob and is looking great -The International Street fountains got painted -There are many dinosaurs scattered around the park promoting Dinosaurs Alive -There are more new planters in The Grove -Center Walkway got brick pavers and new barrier walls -A ton of the rides got new entrance/exit ramps plus an elevators to meet the new handicap reqirements -Grizzly has a new sign and entrance because of Dinosaurs Alive -New food options -And much much more! On Friday (opening day) I was at the park from 11:30 AM - 6:30 PM (7 hours). The park was packed! A lot of the rides had full queue lines with 2 trains running including Intimidator 305, Flight of Fear, Volcano, and Dominator. Windseeker had a line spilling a few hundred feet out of the queue reaching the Xtreme SkyFlyer entrance. The park was surprisingly running operations smoothly and quickly handling with the unexpected crowds as good as they could. The biggest problems seemed to be at the food stands, but when getting my 2012 Windseeker cup refilled, I didn't have to wait too long. On Saturday I was at the park from 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM (7 hours). The park wasn't as crowded as opening day, but it sure was much more crowded than opening weekend in years past. By the afternoon many rides had a full queue including Windseeker spilling out of the queue like the previos day. Operations were going well once again and I was glad to see familiar faces like Dale working on Intimidator 305 and Fran on Drop Tower. Once again the food stands were packed, but overall I didn't have to wait long for my refills and Boardwalk Fries. What I rode (in order): Friday Windseeker - 1 Wave Swinger - 1 The Crypt - 1 Dominator - 1 Beserker - 1 Shennadoah Lumber Company - 1 White Water Canyon - 1 Grizzly - 1 Hurler - 1 Dinosaurs: Giants of Patagonia 3D - 1 Intimidator 305 - 1 Saturday Volcano - 1 Flight of Fear - 1 Intimidator 305 - 9 Windseeker - 1 Drop Tower - 1 Rebel Yell - 1 Eiffel Tower - 1 Windseeker is a fantastic addition to the park as it seems like a hit with all riders. It blew my expectations away and it was much more intense and thrilling than I ever thought it would be, but I feel like that might be because it was really windy both days. It really fits in that part of the park well with the same colors/lighting as Juke Box Diner. It also really takes up a lot of that empty space where XLC was and the park also put brick pavers around the ride to break up the "asphalt jungle". Dinosaurs Alive seemed to be another hit with familes as just to buy tickets at both ticket booths for the attraction had a long line. I personally didn't do the attraction, but you could see a lot of it from on Grizzly and it looks very nice. Dinosaurs: Giants of Patagonia 3D was also getting quite a lot of attention. It seemed the theater was hitting capacity each show and they would have to turn away guests until the next show. Originally the park was showing the movie every hour, but changed it to every 30 minutes due to the demand. I don't miss the crappy moving seats at all and the 3D quality was amazing. Kids and adults seemed to like the movie and I love the fact that it isn't an upcharge like at KI and Wonderland. Overall, a GREAT way to kick off whats going to be my biggest coaster season ever, especially since I got 10 laps on my favorite coaster, Intimidator 305. Riding it 9 times in a row on Saturday morning was amazing. Next park: Carowinds! My images are too big, so I'll have to go change the size. I'll upload them later.

Did the ride have a a decent size line? If not, I imagine them only loading half the carriage for balance issues similar to what they do on Drop Tower. Considering this ride holds 64 people, it chews through the line. Also, I wonder if it was something to do with testing the ride as on mid-Saturday they had the ride running empty, then 1/4 full, then 1/2 full, before returning to a full carriage (I watched this from on top of the Eiffel Tower). Just speculating here as I can't imagine more people buying Fast Lane on Monday than on Friday/Saturday... On each of those days I only saw 2-8 Fast Lane people per cycle on Windseeker. Even 8 people is only an 8th of what the ride holds.

I don't understand how you think Fast Lane isn't being ran right on Windseeker, as I thought it was being ran well. What they were doing Friday and Saturday seemed completely fair to me on all the Fast Lane rides with the exception of Volcano... My only complaint about it is that I'd love to see them somehow merge the Fast Lane line for Volcano in the station like they did for Intimidator 305, Dominator, and Flight of Fear. IF they are going to continue doing Fast Lane the same on Volcano, I'd wish they would eliminate the Fast Lane on it while the back 2 rows are closed. Capacity is already down to 12 riders, throw in some Fast Lane riders, then you easily got a 3 hour line! Luckily, I got in 10 mins early because of my Cedar Fair Platinum Pass and got a ride on Volcano on the second train of the day. By the time I got off... the line was already spilled out of the Volcano towards the queue switchbacks. Yes, the ride is VERY popular still.

^ Fran (who works Drop Tower) told someone that Drop Tower's max wind speed is 28 MPH while WindSeeker's max wind speed is 35 MPH... but you know how theme park rumors are. The high winds both Friday and Saturday sure added quite a thrill to WindSeeker at the top! And yes, now that WindSeeker has improved the southside of The Grove greatly, the area in the park that needs the most attention is definitely KidZville.

The only ride not working on Opening Day was Drop Tower due to it being very windy and Backlot Stunt Coaster was also down. Fast Lane worked great and the park was doing well managing the very large crowds. They were doing a great job getting through the lines (faster than usual) and the only problems I heard of were at some of the food places. Sunday until today It sounds like some of the launch coasters are having problems and WindSeeker is having trouble with these strong winds we've been having in Virginia. Anyways, KDFansite is at the park today and they believe they found John from CP, Greg from KI, and Jason from DP riding Intimidator 305! http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=10150717398212272&set=a.10150550531162272.393543.228082587271&type=1&theater It appears that high-up KD staff and others were in KidZville with blueprints and pointing around. 2013 - Much needed rennovation of KidZville into one huge Planet Snoopy with new rides? That's what I have been hoping for and thinking for a while now as KidZville needs attention next to bring it up the level of the other areas now. KD didn't get the big Planet Snoopy expansions in 2010 like the other parks since they were opening up the 25 million dollar giga coaster in the back of the park, so this makes sense! 2014 - coaster? This would make sense also since Wonderland waited 4 years after Behemoth to get another one and 2014 will be 4 years since Intimidator 305 was built. A coaster would be a nice follow up to a kiddie area expansion...

Thanks for sharing! Amazing photos, especially the last one!

^ That doesn't get people through the gates like new attractions do. I'd agree with this if they were to add atleast a little something to the park each year such as a flat, new 3D movie, kiddie expansion, ect. along with adding theming.

Park Management was all throughout the park Friday and Saturday looking at what needs improvements. I saw Pat Jones (GM) and her group of "upper workers" with ties and such at Windseeker, Dinosaurs Alive, Dinosaurs: Giants of Patagonia 3D, and other places throughout the park. Because they saw how popular the new Dinosaurs 3D movie was, they changed each show to every half hour instead of every hour. I was amazed at how well KD was operating this opening day/weekend compared to past years.