certifiedcoastergeek

^ Beat me to it. ABSOLUTELY YES YOU CAN UPGRADE. I did it for Carowinds and Dorney this year. As long as you'll be visiting more than one day at non-home CF parks, it'll be well worth it. Go to the front window of the sp processing center later in the day once lines have died down to do the upgrade. Also, if you got your passes on a discount, you will have to pay the difference between what you actually paid and a full-price Platinum Pass, so keep that in mind ($204-what you paid). PRO TIP: In the future, I'd recommend getting a Platinum pass in the fall of the previous season, since it's usually $20-50 off then.

This. Me and my girlfriend agreed that this was one of the best parts about this park. (We both couldn't comment on that before cause we had both hadn't been to the park since middle school) Enjoying some cold beers while on the queue makes the line go way faster. Unfortunately, this also contributes to a wave of drunks staggering around the park at about 6 PM daily. During my numerous visits over the years, I've found security at the park to be quite lax. Excuse me, but I have yet to experience roaming herds of drunks at the park after 6:00 pm, and I've been living in Williamsburg since the 1980s. I find your claim to be, at best, an exaggeration. I didn't say "roaming herds", I meant that there are a fair number which can be observed, maybe one or two out of every few hundred park guests is wasted at that point, enough to be noticed. And I've lived in Virginia my whole life as well. Drunk people... drunk people everywhere! 99% sure that the guy in the yellow hat waited until Tempesto launched backwards, then flung himself onto the tracks.

LMAO I'm calling BS on this one KD...

Exactly. Fury 325 is much less forceful than Intimidator 305, but Intimidator 305 and Leviathan were more or less a test to see if the GP preferred a more intense or a less intense ride (which oftentimes encompasses the modern Intamin v. B&M debate), and it shows. I've never been to Canada's Wonderland, but from what I've heard that ride draws long lines, while even on the Fourth of July Intimidator 305's line never exceeds thirty minutes or so. With this in mind, B&M was selected for Carowinds' Fury 325, which is by no means a bad ride, but many enthusiasts (myself included) prefer Intimidator 305. Once again, Fury 325 received a much more universally positive GP response to the ride (Intimidator 305 is also feared by many locals for the inevitable grayout from the prolonged 5-7 Gs during the first turn, which TBH isn't that bad but is fairly unsettling on the first few times around). Cedar Fair's goal is to make money, so they need to attract crowds. I've been on Griffon many times, and it's a fun ride (albeit short), with a nice rush, but it's not an intense ride at all. If Cedar Point builds a dive machine, they have made the right call attendance-wise and will draw very large crowds. Stop complaining, and enjoy your sixteen-to-be-seventeen world-class coasters.

This. Me and my girlfriend agreed that this was one of the best parts about this park. (We both couldn't comment on that before cause we had both hadn't been to the park since middle school) Enjoying some cold beers while on the queue makes the line go way faster. Unfortunately, this also contributes to a wave of drunks staggering around the park at about 6 PM daily. During my numerous visits over the years, I've found security at the park to be quite lax.

I've started a pilot project, where I take older coaster POVs, upscale them to 1080p (if necessary), double the bitrate, clean the audio quality, enhance the lighting, and smooth the framerate to 60FPS. I started with Intimidator 305 (which you can check out on my channel) and the embedded vid is my second project, Drachen Fire (which was significantly more challenging). It's pretty far from perfect, and pretty obviously upscaled, but I was still more or less pleased with the results. If anyone wants the upscaled video (which is ~115 MB) for personal consumption or if Robb or another TPR YT/FB person wants this, then let me know via email and I will try to send it to you (TBH no clue how). Enjoy the not-as-low-as-it-used-to-be quality of Drachen Fire! Pro tip: Watch this on youtube.com to view it @60 FPS. [youtu_be]https://youtu.be/aqCT-CgQbmw[/youtu_be]

Well that escalated quickly JURASSIC WORLD 2 LEAKED FOOTAGE CONFIRMED

I didn't want to speculate for the next ten years, but I think that it's only fair that I do so, since some of these are slightly inaccurate: 2015: Land clearing continues near Shockwave and behind Old Virginia, nothing officially announced for 2016 2016: SlingShot opens next to Shockwave, Old Virginia land clearing continues, new coaster announced for 2017 2017: New coaster opens, nothing officially announced for 2018 2018: Minor improvements, Action Theater closes, Triotech dark ride announced for 2019 2019: Triotech dark ride opens, Shockwave, Flying Ace, and Peanuts Showplace close, new theater and Planet Snoopy expansion announced for 2020 2020: New theater and Planet Snoopy expansion open, Hurler closes, new waterslide complexes announced for 2021 2021: New slide complexes open, land clearing in and behind remaining unused Hurler space continues, new coaster announced for 2022 2022: New coaster opens, nothing officially announced for 2023 2023: Minor improvements, Ricochet closes, flat ride and 50th anniversary celebration announced for 2024 2024: Frisbee/Enterprise reopens, minor 50th anniversary improvements, Backlot Stunt Coaster closes, Lake Charles expansion and second year of 50th anniversary announced for 2025 2025: 50th anniversary improvements continue, Anaconda closes, new flying/wing coaster over Lake Charles announced for 2026 Just to recap what I think that the next ten years might look like: +Two new coasters (with a third in development) +Triotech dark ride +Planet Snoopy upgrades +Soak City upgrades +Lake Charles partially restored +One or two new flat rides +Cosmetic improvements -Five coasters close -Action Theater closes By 2025, Kings Dominion might be down to a "shocking" *credit whores cry everytime* 11 coasters, with number 12 on the way. The park would become the dominant regional destination with a very solid, quality-over-quantity coaster lineup, bolstered by park icons like Volcano, the Blast Coaster and Intimidator 305, as well as Dominator and two newer, innovative (or cloned ), household-name coasters (with a third on its way). With the restoration of Lake Charles and expansions of Soak City and Planet Snoopy, the park would definitely look better than ever for the 50th anniversary. But the moral of the story? Cedar Fair hasn't given up on the park. Rather, the company's "master plan" for the park seems to be to build a large, world-class coaster, then to wait four to seven years while upgrading everything else around the park before building the next one, to entice infrequent and casual guests to return sooner with a healthy atmosphere, rather than with the (everything but) Paramount "The new ride is cool, but I have no reason to come back until they build another one" mindset.

A. WHERE? Star Wars cough I mean Coaster Drought Episode VI: Return of the Jedi Coaster? Probably not... but still cool! B. I took a closer look @ the flags behind Shockwave on Sunday and they aren't gas or other utility markers, but rather "John Deere Landscaping" flags. Why in the middle of a forest? Personally, I'm hoping that it's for this kind of landscaping... The Shockwave eats dirt once and for all.

There are two methods: Pay off the ticket booth guy, or jump the fence. (Don't do either of those, of course, unless you lack all common sense ). My friend somehow managed to jump the fence at Kennywood in 2005 and according to him made it all of 10 yards toward the entrance tunnel before being caught and promptly banned for life . (IMO he was lucky not to be arrested for trespassing, since Kennywood has actual police). (Note that I did not INVOLVE MYSELF WITH NOR DO I ENDORSE my friend's behavior AT ALL, I'm simply stating what happened, DO NOT DO THIS...EVER. I'm NOT BRAGGING ABOUT THIS SO I'M NOT IN VIOLATION OF RULE #15 ON THE ToS, MY FRIEND IS JUST AN IDIOT). Last year, my friend returned as a paying customer (to test if they actually enforced the lifetime ban after the Parques Reunidos acquisition), and made it through the entire day without any questions asked. That stinks, though, about the private event... I hope that you can figure out a way to work the trip into your schedule despite this. Personally, I think that it would be better if parks stopped closing for private events and instead posted "long lines" warnings and offered ticket date transfers for non-event attendees.

1. Intimidator 305 2. Xcelerator 3. Volcano, the Blast Coaster 4. Fury 325 5. Silver Bullet 6. Intimidator 7. Griffon 8. Apollo's Chariot 9. Phantom's Revenge 10. Thunder Road

Some kids were trying to record me w/one at KD today, first one that I've seen at the park (other than the ones being sold in the I305 gift shop ).

Shockwave update: Visited KD for an hour tonight. No flags or markers under or directly around the Shockwave (the supports evidently were repainted recently, though . HOWEVER, the Action Theater was closed (IDK why) and a fair number of unmarked red and orange flags were observed at the base of a number of trees by the kiddie flat behind the Shockwave, the "Flying Ace". Let the flat-for-flat tradeoff speculation commence (although they might be utility markers).

I might go on Sunday, but I'd assume that a more dedicated fan would visit sooner.

It was... it was... just a joke... not insulting mocking, or complaining about KD's lineup, just poking fun at how they might try to market a Slingshot (which is still speculation, as I said earlier). ). Intimidator 305 will forever be better than whatever other coaster that they decide to implement at some uncertain point in the future.

Introducing Fury: And no, it's definitely NOT a parody. I made this because you all are being too serious recently. Smile more!

UPDATE: I conversed with a couple of acquaintances who are fellow enthusiasts about this, one has very close ties to the park (he wishes to remain anonymous) and allegedly knows the 2016 addition(s) but won't tip his hand one way or another. He said something along the lines of "I'll keep my mouth shut until something is announced". Do with that as you will. My other acquaintance said that the markings might be for water and electricity and that Mr. Zell is "talking for the sake of talking", BUT that there is a strong possibility that they are indeed survey markings and that he will take a closer look during his next visit. Most of the park employees with which I've spoken (and again, they're not the most credible sources) have stated that we should expect one or two flat ride(s) to replace the Shockwave in 2016; if this is following the current Cedar Fair trend (and again, still assuming that this Shockwave out, flat ride(s) in thing is happening), we can expect an upcharge Slingshot, a Disko Coaster, a Giant Frisbee, or some combination of the three (if they remove the practically barren and likely unprofitable mini-arcade nearby). One more time: THIS. IS. PURELY. SPECULATION. I've had so much hate about this. I'm not affiliated with the park in any way, so I can't tell you for certain what is happening in 2016. I can, however, make educated guesses based upon the limited information available to me.

Removal rumors continue... Here's that comment... I don't know if I should be happy or angry if this turns out to be legit - it depends on the variety of S&S flat that they install there. It sounds like these markers might be located in the trees between the Flying Ace kiddie swings and the Shockwave - if anyone visits the park sometime in the near future, it'd be awesome if you checked! *And no, my name's not Michael Zell. Just clearing that up. You can look me up on Instagram (same username @certifiedcoastergeek) if you really want to know my real name.

BREAKING: According to a Facebook comment on the Kings Dominion page, markers have been spotted near/around Shockwave. I don't have pictures, but would someone who is going to KD in the next few days be so kind as to verify this?

It seems to me like this is what enthusiasts with a CF home park want/complain about: Carowinds: Let us keep Thunder Road Kings Island: We want a gigacoaster Kings Dominion: We want a coaster Cedar Point: Dive coasters suck Canada's Wonderland: We want a large B&M floorless or invert Worlds of Fun/Valleyfair/Dorney Park/Michigan's Adventure: We want a non-relocation dry ride Knott's: We'll just go to SFMM instead until Knott's Scary Farm starts up again

I never said anything about "concrete information". I said "individually matching employee accounts and speculation".

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? 3. For the 10,000th time, that land isn't unused, except for a very narrow sliver between the Int'l St. shops and the storage/office buildings. Additionally, through my sources above, Cedar Fair is considering a Triotech within the next 5-10 years in the nearby building which currently houses the Action Theater and the No Vacancy Haunt maze, so I highly doubt anything else will replace that.

^ I'm sorry, but I prefer Shockwave, one of the worst coasters ever (here's looking at you, Drachen Fire), to an upcharge Slingshot (although $10 says that this is happening in 2016, no irony intended). 2016 just ain't the year. However, my guess is that because a Slingshot doesn't use up that much space (I saw the one at Carowinds ), the remaining Shockwave plot will be used as part of the (rumored) 2017 Old Virginia expansion that would mean the removal/relocation of the Blue Ridge Tollway for a new coaster. Source: I'm friends with a few maintenance guys and park supervisors at the park. While they might not be the most reliable sources of information, I talked to them separately and independently they gave me very similar answers. Or it could be the Illuminati trying to throw us off the scent again... |> (that's supposed to be a triangle)