VF15

Mad Mouse - Valleyfair

Going to Worlds of Fun early next week, might make a stop at Adventureland on the way to or from Kansas City.

Steel Vengeance and Twisted Timbers both have the most obnoxiously loud lift hills I’ve ever heard. They were so loud that I was slightly frightened a few times when standing nearby. Still, listening to that noise is a small price to pay to ride two incredible coasters.

Today was probably the busiest day I’ve seen at VF so far this year. The parking lot was full except for the far northeast corner, and a lot of rides had full queues or 45+ minute waits. As of today, Steel Venom’s holding break has been off for almost a month now. I’m a bit worried it might be a permanent change.

Grizzly at Kings Dominion was a pleasant surprise for me. This ride doesn’t get much attention and doesn’t look like anything special but it had some great ejector air and laterals, and it wasn’t any rougher than your typical wooden coaster.

I’m planning on visiting Adventureland for a few hours on the last Sunday of July. How busy does the park usually get on Sundays?

Back at the park today and the floodwaters have risen again after recent storms, the employee lot is once again completely flooded and it’s getting closer to Renegade. Also noticed that Renegade has two new flags installed at the top of the lift.

Need some input, is Mt. Olympus really that bad that I should avoid it at all costs? I’ve lived only a few hours away from the park for several years now and haven’t been yet, but since I might be moving away soon, I’m thinking about biting the bullet and going.

^ I haven’t been at the park for a few days but the flooding wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been earlier. A week or so ago some of Renegade’s footers were underwater, and a few days ago it looked like the employee parking lot was only partially flooded. Hopefully it’ll be back to normal in the next week or so.

^ I did ride Shenandoah earlier today . Nice location, relaxing ride, and didn’t get too wet. The park has been pretty slow attendance-wise these past two days, the longest I’ve waited for anything was 10 minutes for the flume. Is KD usually this quiet on summer weekdays?

Had a great first day at KD yesterday. Some quick thoughts on the rides... -Intimidator 305 might be the most intense coaster I’ve ever ridden. I greyed-out on the first turn as expected, and after that experienced a relentless layout full of speed and forces. -Twisted Timbers was a fantastic RMC with a great first drop, lots of intense turns and inversions, and plentiful ejector air. It’s probably my favorite ride in the park, but I think I need a few more rides on it and i305 to confirm that opinion. -Dominator is probably my favorite of the three B&M floorless coasters I’ve ridden (others being Kraken and Rougarou). Very smooth and forceful all the way around. -Flight of Fear and Backlot Stunt Coaster felt mostly the same as their Kings Island counterparts, though this FOF was certainly a lot smoother. -Grizzly was an unexpected surprise. A fun ride with some nice airtime moments and wasn’t that rough. -Anaconda actually wasn’t that bad. Then again, I was bracing for every transition. -Avalanche was my first bobsled coaster and I enjoyed it, pulled some decent forces in most of the turns. -Racer 75/Rebel Yell was a bit disappointing, pretty forceless all around with little to no airtime, though the racing aspect was fun. -Apple Zapple was a standard Mack Wild Mouse but still enjoyable. -Probably won’t get to ride Volcano on this trip but it’s definitely nice to look at.

Twisted Timbers!

Kings Dominion for the first time next week.

Since tomorrow is Saturday, it might be moderately busy, but you shouldn't need Fast Lane unless your time is limited or you want lots of rerides. I'd recommend riding Mad Mouse first since that usually has the longest wait due to low capacity, would also recommend riding Renegade, Xtreme Swing, High Roller, and North Star early on, everything else shouldn't be too busy.

In the past, July 4th has been relatively slow up until mid-afternoon, then more people start showing up as it gets closer to fireworks time, though the chance of rain/storms for tomorrow could change that.

My bad, Excalibur did open today, it just opened late and thought it was due to the flooding but I guess not. I’ve also noticed that Steel Venom’s holding brake has not been used in the past few days, I hope this isn’t permanent. Edit: Rode Renegade today and the floodwaters are surrounding some of the supports near the first turnaround and the figure-8. If they keep rising I’d bet Renegade will be temporarily closing soon.

Water levels on the Minnesota River are taking a toll on the park right now. The far north part of the parking lot is partially flooded and the employee parking lot is completely flooded, they’re having us park over at the dorms for now. Excalibur is currently closed. I hope it doesn’t get worse enough to close Renegade, especially with Fourth of July coming up.

Goliath - Six Flags Great America (2014) Rougarou - Cedar Point (2015) Lightning Rod - Dollywood (2016) Steel Vengeance - Cedar Point (2018) Twisted Timbers will be joining the list in a few weeks.

Update: 1) Steel Vengeance 2) Fury 325 3) Lightning Rod 4) Maverick 5) Top Thrill Dragster 6) Millennium Force 7) Banshee 8) Goliath (SFGAm) 9) Magnum XL-200 10) Diamondback

I’d love to visit BGW but since I’m making this trip without a car, getting from KD to BGW doesn’t really seem feasible unless someone here knows a reliable way to get there.

Thanks for all of the advice. That’ll be a bummer if Volcano is closed, but i305 and Twisted Timbers are the main rides I’m going for so as long as I can get on those two I’ll be happy. If it helps, I’ll be at the park for two full days and a few hours in the morning on day three, so hopefully it’ll open sometime within that timeframe.

I’m officially headed to Kings Dominion for the first time in about three weeks . Have a few questions... 1) How busy does the park usually get on weekdays in July? Would it be worth getting Fast Lane (Plus)? 2) Where are the best seats on the major coasters? 3) Since I’m doing the trip without renting a car, I pretty much have to stay in one of the hotels acros the street from the park. Which one would you guys recommend? 4) Anything else I should know?

Just wondering, is it at all possible to do a Kings Dominion Trip without renting a car? I’m thinking about taking a trip to KD next month if a flight to Richmond fits my budget, but renting a car would be difficult and very expensive for me since I’m under 25. Are there any buses or public transit that go from Richmond to the park? If not, does anyone know how much it might cost to take a cab/Uber/Lyft to the park?

The operations I experienced at Cedar Point last week were very efficient all around, though the GateKeeper crew was particularly fast. They were checking restraints as fast as possible, and they normally dispatched the train in the station before the train on the course reached the keyholes.

The land clearing I noticed earlier was located directly north of the ride. It’s still a mostly grassy area but it seems like there are fewer trees there than there used to be. Either way, I’m still half-expecting that this will end up being nothing since there have been rumors of Excalibur’s removal for years now but it’s still here.