boldikus

I’ve heard rumors of a retheme. Riddler perhaps?

Personally, I prefer a straight over a twisted drop. It's a personal preference. I could care less about the holding brake or lack thereof. Not to mention that WT had much, much more restrictive restraints than Possessed does, for reasons I've never quite understood.

If this means Possessed (which is better than WT anyway) can run for a few more years I'm totally ok with it being scrapped.

^ They gotta pay for Pantheon somehow.

Haven't checked in here in a while. After typically ballooning up last year due to a variety of reasons that don't really matter, I'm back on my exercising/good eating bullsh*t and have run each and every morning at the asscrack of dawn since the end of July and this morning passed the 30 pound marker since I started keeping track. Also lifting at home as well. Feeling amazing, sleeping great, lots of energy throughout the work day. My main motivation is a big trip we have coming up (in just over 40 days) to some new-to-me parks and I want to ensure I fit on all the rides and look as sexy as possible while doing it. Nice to see everyone else pushing themselves to be better, I'm cheering you all on.

Thoughts and prayers.

It's a whole vibe, don't take it personally.

This thread is sad. Signed, a Philadelphian

Barring any tech issues, JDC should be open through closing weekend in January. At least thats what it looks like will happen based on what the park is advertising. I don't know off hand when they will close Ka/Zum/Bizarro/etc but the last few years the park keeps everything open after Fright Fest, at least for the first weekend or two as they transition to HITP. Once HITP starts (check the website, I don't know off hand what the date is this year) they will not have that stuff open, its fenced off. And if I'm not mistaken sometimes they do close the entire Bizarro/MineTrain area right after Fright Fest ends. El Toro is still receiving extensive track work and at this point its extremely unlikely they would open it again this season as it usually closes in less than a month at this point.

I always assumed it would be open for HITP, they could have easily squeezed it between Ka and Toro and not had to remove any kiddie rides or very many trees, but just like everything else they've installed since 2016, they made the effort to put it in an area where they could have it open through January.

The eastern side of the park is not open after early November, so that means no Ka, Zum, Mine Train/flume, Bizarro. The boardwalk coasters are open and everything west of there is. The park is advertising Jersey Devil will be open for Holiday In the Park. Crowds can be moderately busy that time of year but a huge chunk of people that go to HITP don't go for the big coasters so you can *usually* expect short waits. That said, I've gone on freak 75 degree days and had a 30 minute wait for Nitro.

Interesting article. https://wydaily.com/regional/2021/10/11/kings-dominion-seeing-lower-incidents-of-police-reports-than-busch-gardens/ REGIONAL — Busch Gardens Williamsburg (BGW) is seeing a higher number of police reports from its park this season than Virginia’s other major theme park, Doswell’s Kings Dominion (KD). Throughout the 2021 season, BGW has gone viral on social media, not for being the “World’s Most Beautiful Theme Park” (as it has been awarded for over three decades by the National Amusement Park Historical Association), but for the number of incidents that have occurred in which the local police department was called. On Aug. 8, the video of a fight that broke out in the queue line for the park’s roller coaster, Griffon, spread around the internet. More incidents followed, including one on Oct. 1 where, according to the James City County Police Department (JCCPD), a fifteen-year-old juvenile was assaulted by another juvenile while he was sitting on a bench at the park. The reported offender left the scene before department officers arrived. The victim was treated by paramedics for what the JCCPD described as “road rash.” The victim’s mother did not wish to press charges. These latest incidents have alarmed guests and begs the question if the higher number of incidents in which the police department has been called is universal for both of Virginia’s two major theme parks, or is it isolated to just BGW? The Two Parks Like BGW, KD has been part of the theme park scene in Virginia since 1975. Both parks are owned by major corporations, with the former owned by SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. and the latter owned by Cedar Fair, and both parks boast thrill rides, family-friendly attractions, a handful of shows, and both have water parks associated with them (though KD’s water park, Soak City, is located within the greater park itself, while Water Country USA is located about three miles away from BGW). Both parks have seasonal festivals, such as Howl-O-Scream at BGW and Haunt at KD during Halloween. Lastly, both parks have devoted fan followings. Many will note that the differences come down to the intense level of theming as well as the animal attractions at BGW, while KD tends to place more emphasis on thrill rides and attractions over immersive themed experiences. Though close to one another (situated just over an hour’s drive apart), there is little doubt that a day at BGW will differ from that of one at KD. What The Data Says WYDaily reached out to both parks as well as the JCCPD and the Hanover County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) (which is the jurisdiction that KD falls in) for data regarding incidents over the past five years, to include the 2021 season thus far. The data for BGW is accurate as of Sept. 23 while the data for KD was provided to WYDaily by the HCSO on Oct. 5, 2021. The table below breaks down this data for the 2021 season: Since both parks were closed most of the 2020 season due to the pandemic, the table below compares the same incident data from the respective departments for the 2019 park season: It is important to note that the data shown for 2019 encompasses the entire calendar year, while the data for the 2021 season only includes data through the dates indicated in the table’s caption. The data shows a distinct increase in incidents reported to JCCPD from BGW during the 2021 season (thus far) versus 2019 with HCSO reporting that KD has seen a decrease in these reports during the respective years. Looking further, the number of incidents reported to the local police departments from BGW is higher than that of its Doswell neighbor during the 2021 season. Data Disparage There is little doubt that 2021 has seen its fair share of unprecedented challenges for businesses, particularly those of hospitality, tourism, and food service. As guests returned to theme parks during the latest iteration of the COVID-19 pandemic, measures were put in place by these destinations based on local and state COVID-19 mitigation measures and recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Parks installed hand sanitizing stations, began requiring unvaccinated guests to continue to wear face coverings, and recommending social distancing, no-contact payment options and implemented increase sanitization of high contact areas. While both parks were heavily advertising employment opportunities during the 2021 season, it is unclear if this is in any way correlated to the data disparage above between the two parks. In fact, it is unclear what antecedents have been contributing factors as BGW did not respond to questions asked by WYDaily regarding this nor did Kings Dominion provide any response as of the publication of this article. New Policies Following the rash of incidents (as noted in the above tables), BGW announced a new policy that started on Sept. 24 and is slated to last through Oct. 31. The new policy states that no bags will be permitted in the park past 4 p.m. Exceptions are made for wristlets and packs that measure less than 8″x5″, but will be subject to security inspection. Any item that is required for medical reasons will need to be packed in a clear plastic, vinyl or PVC bag and should not exceed 12″x6″x12″. Guests who arrive at the gate at 4 p.m. or later with bags that do not meet these requirements will be asked to to return them to their vehicle. Additionally, all bags, regardless of what time the guest comes to the park, are subject to security screening. Click here to learn more about BGW’s current bag policy. When pressed with questions regarding any further information regarding the uptick in incidents, any further security measures taken, and how the park will continue to assure guests that they will have a safe experience, Matthew Klepeisz, public relations manager for BGW, provided the following response per an email to WYDaily: “We continue to be committed to providing safe experiences for families to visit and have fun. This is and remains our top priority, as evidenced by increasing the presence and visibility of security, as well as our bag policy. As I have mentioned [in a comment printed in a Sept. 24 article from WYDaily], every decision regarding security policies and procedures is made with that goal in mind. In addition to our own security measures, we work closely with law enforcement.” According to its website, KD’s policy remains the same as the rest of the season, with all guests going through metal detectors and their bags subject to screening prior to park admission. It is unclear if the policy has altered during its special Haunt festival. Conclusion Without direct answers nor data provided by either park, WYDaily is currently left still asking what the antecedents are behind the increased incidents at BGW and why there is a disparage in data between BGW and KD. Time will tell if this trend continues, how effective BGW’s new security measures are and will continue to be, and how this will impact either park in the long run. WYDaily will continue to follow this story and keep you up-to-date on any new developments and data that becomes available.

LMFAO. Lambasted? By "a bunch of veteran members"? Come on dude. @coasterbill pointed out that it wasn't unusual for the park to do this and that they posted it on their website that this is a thing. Exactly one other member pointed out that Knotts also does this. I would hardly call that lambasting. If you're gonna talk shit on here you might wanna have the receipts to back it up.

Did you purposely not include a link to where you got this info because its exactly one former employee claiming on his twitter that this is all happening with absolutely no actual evidence to back it up?

So word on the street is that there is a giant wooden fence all around SideWinder, and also that the park has started to repaint SDL a nice bright shade of white.

Forget about the spelling and punctuation, exactly how would Cedar Fair buying Gerstlauer trains for Steel Vengeance even be a burn to Six Flags? If, as you claim, Six Flags has the most comfortable RMC trains, how would CF then buying a set be a burn to SF? A light ribbing? What?

Awful. What's especially wild to me is that during all that time that no one else riding with her noticed either. its clearly operator error, but her parent/guardian/whoever was sitting next to her didn't notice either?

The amount of people bringing babies/diapers to these Haunt events...

The majority of the comments are regarding diaper bags or complaints that people have young children and thus need to have bags. It's wild.

The comments on the Facebook post about that, good lord.

Forum member ElToroRyan has an excellent and super interesting (read: nerdy) video about Knoebels amazing operations on their two big woodies.