Intimidator305

This announcement has me in tears... of happiness! Although the ride looked beautiful and was the perfect sized (and colored) centerpiece for Candy Apple Grove, it isn't a good ride compared to everything else in the park (yeah even you Hurler). I get to the park about 8 times a season and ride the ride once a season - if that. I'm excited for what the future holds as the possibilities in that area of the park are endless! One month from today we will be saying our goodbyes. I plan on riding a few times before then and be there on August 9th to pay my respects to a ride I grew up with, but at the end of the day this is a happy goodbye! Smart move KD and Cedar Fair! Now all you "Cedar Fair isn't investing into KD" noobs can calm down!

IT'S OFFICIAL - SHOCKWAVE IS HISTORY! Get your last rides in by one month from today, August 9th, and bring on the 2016 attraction! https://www.facebook.com/kingsdominionva

That 'comfort collar' is such a joke - pointless, complicated, and weakens the experience. I hope they're removed in a season or two.

Kings Dominion and Carowinds are selling them, so I doubt it is going to happen anytime soon.

Kings Dominion will always lose to Busch Gardens in attendance. Busch Gardens operating calendar is approximately 40 days longer than Kings Dominion's with it opening earlier in the season, being open 2 weeks for Spring Break, and ChristmasTown. However, the days both parks are open they have very similar attendance ratings.

There are always more people complaining about the complainers than the complainers in this thread. Mind blown. Anyone going to the park soon to find out if there are actually markers around Shockwave? I'll be avoiding the park for a while with KingsFest, Military Days, and Forth of July crowds coming in.

I was at the park on Monday and closely circled the Shockwave site looking for any signs of removal and saw absolutely nothing... However, this 'Michael Zell' on Facebook constantly complains on Facebook about the park never receiving anything of significant value, gets all excited if he sees a new plank of wood, and says KD is becoming the next SFA. I wouldn't believe the rumors of survey markers until a TPR member or someone else confirms them. I have heard pretty strong rumors though that Shockwave is indeed out (at some point) and a SlingShot is in the works.

If you're interested in riding NightHawk, ride that first thing in the morning as the queue is in the full sun and is always the longest wait in the park. Once you knock that out the park doesn't necessarily need a strategy as Intimidator and Fury both are capacity monsters and the lines move quick.

Dominator is quite interesting in its smoothness/roughness. As Ape mentioned above, recently the ride has been super smooth in the back (one of the smoothest experiences I've ever had) which is the complete polar opposite of how the ride was in previous seasons! I used to always ride in row 2 for the smoothest rides as I got a bit of a rattle in the back, but recently, the ride has been smoothest in the back with a slight rattle in the middle rows during the 2nd half obviously. I rode the ride in the back row yesterday and had a great ride. It sounds like you got a day with a bad wheel/train. Definitely a ride that has its off days every now and then it seems, but the majority of the time it is smoother than most B&Ms with OTSRs.

Yeah, I wouldn't be a fan of cluttering the front facade skyline - I like how Dominator 'dominates' the entrance on its own as cheesy as that might sound. Compared to other parks, I enjoy how both KD and BGW provide a sense of discovery as you navigate through the parks. If the park does indeed get a SlingShot next season I would suspect it going in Candy Apple Grove. If a coaster is indeed coming in 2017, I'd be very happy with a nice flat and SlingShot for 2016.

I would love Intamin to tackle another Giga after what they learned, liked, and didn't like of Intimidator 305 and be given a bit more money. From B&M, now that they're in the 300 ft. range, I wonder how far they could push the dive machine concept before the G's get to strong. I'm a huge fan of Griffon and Sheikra even though they lack forces, so a significantly taller dive machine would be great if a park would put out the money.

Although I was totally for the Rougarou conversion, it makes me wonder why they went floorless on that only a season before the proposed dive coaster. I'm assuming the dive coaster will be floorless and with Rougarou opening up literally right across from the new coaster's site, it makes the 2016 attraction less exciting/innovating in my opinion. With that said and with B&M playing around with restraints, I wonder if we will see something never seen before on a dive coaster train? Because if not, this ride is going to have to be very different from Griffon and Sheikra's layouts to stand out from just being a 'Rougarou with a more intimidating drop and wider trains'...

1. It's obviously unconfirmed that the Blue Ridge Tollway will be removed (and if it is to be removed, it won't happen until at least 2016), but it sits upon prime real estate, occupies a fairly large plot of land, and that area of the park doesn't have a large coaster yet. 2. The difference between these two gasoline-powered rides is that the upcharge go-karts make money, while the Blue Ridge Tollway is presumably very expensive to maintain. Any rational businessman (or woman, gender equality) would remove an expensive ride that doesn't draw people to the park. Let's face it: have you ever heard someone say that they would spend $80 to visit an amusement park just to ride the antique cars? I doubt the antique cars will be removed in the near future - Kings Island still constantly hears about the removal of theirs a decade ago. However, like DonkeysWaffles stated, Thunder Raceway could be on its way out eventually. It is a 'trend' that has been happening the past few seasons across KD's sister parks that I would like to see happen here. Kings Island removed theirs after 2012, Carowinds removed theirs after 2013, and ValleyFair removed theirs after 2013. Its worth noting that KI replaced theirs for Banshee, Carowinds for Fury, and ValleyFair for Antique Cars and a Disk'o coaster... If Cedar Fair removed go-karts for the addition of antique cars, I doubt they would remove KD's historic antique cars before the go-karts. I could see them removing Dinosaurs Alive and Thunder Raceway at the same time as that would open up a huge amount of land for endless possibilities.

^ How insane! I hope he is bringing in the tips tonight.

^ I'm glad you enjoyed the park and yes, Drop Tower at KD is my favorite one out there still - 12 years later. I took the long way back home from another long weekend in NOVA/Washington DC this morning to fit in a stop at the park. I got to the park at 10:00 and left at 1:30 for the 3 hour drive home as the summer school crowds began flocking in. This was my first ever solo-trip to a park and I must say I did have a good time and could definitely do it again! If any of you have a Cedar Fair Platinum or KD Gold Pass, USE EARLY ENTRY at 10:00. Before 10:30 (when the the whole park opens) I got to ride Volcano 4 times (twice in the front, twice in row 2), with the first one being on the first train of the day. Once 10:30 hit the herd ran to Volcano but I beat them to it with one more ride on it before the line grew. Intimidator 305 and Dominator were hauling ass due to the 90+ degree temperatures. I got to ride Intimidator 305 5 times in a row within 40 minutes (even with 1-train ops), and hit it up twice more before leaving the park with waits about 10 mins in the secret second row. The heat made the greyouts near total blackouts for me today. Dominator was running the smoothest I've felt it in years, and that was in the very back row where it is usually the 'roughest' (although just a slight B&M ratter). The park has took an incredible effort this season in detailing as the park looks the best I've seen it with landscaping, signage, ect. Soak City looks the best I've seen it, too I must add. For a Cedar Fair laugh, I stood by the game booth in front of the Soak City entrance and counted 31 trashcans from my 360 degree vantage point. Total lap count 15 (3.5 hours). Intimidator 305 - 7 Volcano - 5 Drop Tower - 1 Windseeker - 1 Dominator - 1 I met several very nice people today from Ohio that were on a trip to hit up Dorney, KD, and Carowinds for the first time with Platinum Passes. They all were raving over Intimidator 305 and couldn't believe the intensity. Typical photo of the trip: Not a pin collector, but loved this 40th Celebration pin for Intimidator 305. Nice addition to my park traveling fanny pack... 2016 talks... Rumors going around are Shockwave is out making way for something eventually and a Slingshot is heading this way (both as predicted). Also, I doubt this is for 2016... but worth mentioning. The gravel lot that Intimidator 305's track/supports were held in (furthest east of parking lot), was being "raked" with an additional two cars parked and individuals chatting next to the lot. The lot could have been raked to prepare for heavier crowds now that the main summer season is in full swing. Sorry for the blurry picture, but I was driving and there were others behind me.

It definitely seems like the event is still a hit! Thanks for the report. Geez, seeing that stage with no Sorcerer's Hat is odd. With stages being assembled all the time at DHS, if they are coming up with a replacement icon, I sure hope it incorporates a stage in someway. I love Disney, but that stage is just one step up from Luminosity at Cedar Point...

With Cedar Point being the company's 'big coaster' next season, the potential of something big at Canada's Wonderland, the potential floorless conversion at CGA, and a significant sized water park expansion at Carowinds I'd expect something smaller similar to what you described. I don't know how safe CF would feel investing in Screamin' Swings after the SkyHawk incident at Cedar Point, but I could see them purchasing a Disk'o coaster/other thrill flat package for WOF and Kings Dominion next season.

Rob Decker, Matt Ouimet, Greg Scheid, and Don Helbig hang out with 18 year olds and give them all the details about future expansion in case you didn't know. I'd expect Kings Island to receive something fairly significant next season after taking an 'off year' with the smaller flats - I'd guess 5-7 million towards 2016. Their water park is still in good shape since the 2012 renovation, but it really needs some new updated attractions, so I'm guessing that'll be done before the next coaster goes in. Not sure if next year is the year for that, but Cedar Fair surely has been investing in water parks the past 2 seasons (Dorney, Carowinds, KD, Wonderland, ValleyFair, WOF) and if the trend continues it could be Kings Island's turn soon.

^ I'm too tall for Arrows trains since my knees have to squeeze in the train and the restraints kill my shoulders during the ride (especially if there's a ride op who insists on pushing it one more click down). I'm a relatively skinny guy just under 6'2'' I can't be the only one to have this problem. Personally, I'm very thankful for all these new inverts coming out with just lap bars... curse you Tempesto and your 'comfort straps'.

No they haven't - Unless you're having meetings with Pat Jones, Rob Decker, and Matt Ouimet. Personally, I'm not a fan of Anaconda or Vortex at KI - actually I hate Vortex even more. Then again, I'm one of a select crowd who dislikes Loch Ness Monster too... Tennessee Tornado on the other hand is one of my favorite loopers.

I think you guys have it a little backwards... Shockwave - free birth control Anaconda - free migraines Hurler - unwanted chiropractor Intimidator 305 - unwanted optometrist

Well it's about the only rumor going around in the enthusiast world regarding the future and I've heard it from others that it has a chance to go within the next two seasons as it was "under consideration". Plus, Cedar Fair is killing stand ups. Look at SkyRider at Wonderland, Mantis in Cedar Point, and now the rumor of Vortex's 2016 conversion at CA Great America... you can't really convert a crappy TOGO to a new thrilling experience, so you might as well sell or scrap it when land is needed for future expansion.

^ Preach that to yourself. You're the one who begins the complaining in this and other threads nearly every time. Realistically, if it's not a coaster in 2016, I'm hoping for a thrilling flat ride(s). It's been since 2012 without a new dry thrilling ride (if you count Windseeker as thrilling). I'd also like to see an area spruced up with the flat ride similar to what was done with the Gemini midway at Cedar Point and Route 76 at ValleyFair when their Disk'o coasters were installed. Speaking of those, a Disk'o coaster would do well at Kings Dominion, especially one of the ones that the riders face the outside of the car (Survivor/Tiki Twirl CGA) rather than the CP/VF model. http://www.zamperla.com/products/disko-coaster/

This. Intimidator 305 is mostly a 1 or 2 times a day type of ride for the GP if they're brave enough to ride it. I live 3 hours from KD and 3 hours from Carowinds and all everyone ever talks about is 'the coaster at Kings Dominion that makes you lose your vision and is super fast'. It's an experience like many of the park goers have never experienced before and often one that some people think is too much to handle. If there ever was a real life Roller Coaster Tycoon coaster that makes park goers say "Roller Coaster 1 is too intense for me" it would be Intimidator 305. On the other hand, I've been thinking about how well a thrilling family coaster could do at the park. Think something along the lines of Pandemonium at the Six Flags parks. Not only are they thrilling, but they are a hit with families. Ricochet always has one of the longest lines besides the main 'big boy coasters' in the park. I personally would love a Pandemonium-like ride where Shockwave currently sits. Not saying I could see this happening, but I would like it to - just a thought worth sharing.

Knoebels just comes off to me as 'grimy', rather than a 'charming' atmosphere like most find. With me being a landscape architect/urban designer, I guess you could see why I'm not the largest fan of a place full of asphalt, gravel, and weeds. However, I will say that Impulse looks amazing and I wish more parks across the country would install these rides since they aren't too pricey but pack a big punch like a(n) B&M/Intamin does. Impulse has me wanting me to give this park another shot soon.