certifiedcoastergeek

Meanwhile at Kings Dominion... *scours park* *no survey markings* *stupid Hurler (terrible woodie) refurbished* *Shockwave (SkyRider clone) still operating* *wallows in despair of six-year coaster drought* You don't realize how lucky you all are... Leviathan, WMG, and "Ziz"?

I live <5 min from Kings Dominion, and was wondering if I should invest in a day ticket to this park. It seems like it has fun coasters, but I've heard horror stories from friends and acquaintances of frequent parking-lot gang fights and muggings, and of petty theft and other crime in the park. Is this park "family-friendly (i.e. safe for families w/young kids)", or are these stories simply based upon racial bias?

For me: 1. 2013: No new coaster @Kings Dominion (KD) 2. 2014: No new coaster @KD 3. 2015: No new coaster @KD 4. 2016: No new coaster @KD To be continued... (Oh wait, that's four strikes. Cedar Fair, you've just struck out lookin'.)

...your Instagram page is completely dedicated to coasters ...you still play RCT3 ...you've been to a ride's soft opening intentionally ...all of your vacations feature at least one amusement or water park ...you collect park maps by the dozens

For everyone saying that KD will get a new coaster: No plans have been filed as of yet (to my knowledge) with the Hanover County Board of Supervisors, given that I live in Ashland (5 min from KD) and receive the weekly Herald-Progress local paper, in which the board prints all of the countywide proposals for the upcoming meeting. If we don't hear of plans for a new ride within the next month or so, I think we can rule out a large 2016 coaster for the park. This week's edition comes out today, so I'll try to keep you all updated.

I can reride I305 all day long (before and after trims) even though I have a very low "rough threshold", given that I become queasy from Dominator after one ride and find Alpengeist and Shockwave to be unbearably rough.

I was doing some research on 2016 attractions for KD, and there isn't much, except a recent interview with CF CEO Matt Ouimet, in which he stated that CF intends to roll out Triotechs to all 11 parks in the coming years. He also mentioned "empty boxes and blank spaces", with the KD Action Theater given as an example of a potential site. The theater really has fallen into disrepair since the motion seats were removed, it never draws a crowd except for Haunt when it moonlights as the No Vacancy maze, and they use the space underneath the projector screen to store bleachers for park events. Did I mention the 10-min, low-budget, cheesy movies are terrible? Regardless, this is not something that's popular, but it does occupy a pretty sizable space, large enough to convert into a Triotech. That's why I'm calling a Triotech for KD in 2016, with the Shockwave removed in 2017 as the park gears up for the next coaster, likely a very large B&M of some sort (i.e. the chain's big investment for the year), which will fly over parts of the Grove, Old Virginia, and International Street in 2018. Do you agree? Partially? Disagree? Hate my guts? Let me know below (and please keep any insults regarding my perceived insanity and/or stupidity PG-13 or below).

This year, I upgraded my typical Kings Dominion Gold Pass to Platinum so that I could visit Carowinds over Spring Break and during August for Fury 325, and to visit Dorney during my road trip with my parents and siblings (and their families) in July (which also includes a visit to Hershey). However, I will be staying with relatives in Pittsburgh from Wednesday-Friday August 5-7, and was excited to learn that August 6 is a Platinum "ride night" for Top Thrill Dragster. I've never been to the Point before, and there's no $$$ for a FL or FL+ should I need one. I need some advice, however, before making the Pilgrimage: 1. Should I make the trip in general? In order for me to visit the Point, I would have to leave Pittsburgh at ~5:30 AM (3-hour drive, 9AM ERT, compensating for parking, walking, and potential traffic), and would get back around 2:30 AM at the earliest (provided that I stay for LRT). Is it really worth it to make the caffeine-fueled day trip? 2. Food advice? I have no clue about the Point's food offerings. 3. Line advice? Again, I have no clue about the Point's lines, but I do have access to ERT and LRT. Ideally, I'd hit as many of the larger coasters as possible, but I'd need some line advice. 4. Lockerz? I've heard that MF has lockerz, but the only other Cedar Fair locations where I've seen lockerz are in the in-park waterparks and at Fury 325. How much dinero (money) necesitaria (would I need)? 5. General advice? Any more tips and tricks I should know? I know that at most Cedar Fair parks, it's an unwritten rule that water and Gatorade/PowerAde are allowed in (as a matter of fact, I believe it was buried in the bowels of the park maps until recently, when they supposedly "changed their policy", although bag check still waves me right through). Is CP the same way? Parking advice? Thanks in advance, and you all are AWESOME!

Every coaster @Kennywood - except for the kiddie coaster, which I haven't ridden (not OCD about credits) Intimidator 305 (outside of the TPR community) - it gets a bad rep for the "terrible" grayouts, which are surreal in a good way. Manta @SeaWorld San Diego - not as popular as its namesake B&M flying coaster @SeaWorld Orlando, but IMO more intense than 90% of coasters out there, and beats most other multi-launch coasters like Verbolten, Backlot Stunt Coaster, and Tempesto, with the exception of Volcano and other Intamin launch coasters. Loch Ness Monster @BGW - quite possibly the smoothest Arrow out there. Thunder Road - #SaveThunderRoad, if it goes Rebel Yell is next Intamin accelerators with lap bars (TTD, Xcelerator, etc.)

I personally believe that my body type greatly influences how rough I perceive a ride to be, since I am 5'11", 135 pounds - so I have a lot of wiggle room within restraints to be rattled around. For instance, I found Fury 325 to be slightly rough, when many others didn't.

There is so much wrong with this I don't even know where to start... You forget that this is personal preference, not universal truth - you are perfectly entitled to your opinion(s).

Pleasant surprises: 1. Phantom's Revenge - my first Morgan hyper, and due to the original's bad rep I was a bit nervous about roughness. 2. Intimidator @Carowinds - smoother than I expected and had some nice airtime, so I rode it twice despite the 1hr wait time. 3. Hurricane Heights @KDSoakCity - 3..2...1..goodbye 4. Exterminator @Kennywood - the best family coaster and best wild mouse/spinning coaster I've been on, smooth, intense, and exciting, not to mention themed well. 5. Silver Bullet @KBF - was expecting a typical, rough B&M invert (shoutout to Alpengeist and Afterburn) but was definitely surprised when it was anything but. 6. Manta @SeaWorld SD - looks like a kiddie launch coaster, but IMO more intense and much smoother than #1 on my unpleasant surprises list (exception: first drop on latter). 7. Thunder Road @Carowinds - As a frequent Rebel Yell rider, I braced myself for the rough parts as the coaster transitioned from straightaway to airtime hill, but they never happened. #savethunderroad UNpleasant surprises: 1. Fury 325 - B&M seemingly couldn't decide whether to focus on airtime or intense twists and turns, and ended up with a milder one-trick pony (that has some rough portions, IMO). Stick to airtime, B&M - it's what you do best... 2. Verbolten - For a coaster with some epic theming and that friggin' awesome drop-track, I was expecting something smooth. I guess that's the price you pay for going with Zierer instead of Mack or Intamin. A Cheetah Hunt-ish Verbolten? Now we're talkin'! 3. Giant Dipper @Belmont Park SD - other than the fact that it's an ACE landmark, it's utterly terrible (and the park itself is SUPER sketchy). 4. Alpengeist - some call it underrated, I call it glorified, rattly scrap metal. 5. Both Hurlers @KD & Carowinds, GhostRider @KBF, and basically everything else from CCI - KILL IT WITH FIRE!!!!!! 6. The last drop on Backlot Stunt Coaster - if you're OK with the severe whiplash, go right ahead and ride that thing. 7. Every season since 2013 @KD - each coaster-less announcement makes me cringe and despair.

This is an any-row coaster, although the front and back are best. If you want my advice, ride front, then back, then get as many rides as possible without worrying about your row after that. By employing this strategy, I got over twelve rides in within 1.5 hours on a slow day.

At five parks (four in the United States, one in Japan), there are five roller coasters which tower over three hundred feet and which reach speeds in excess of ninety miles per hour. Two of these coasters were manufactured by Intamin, two were manufactured by B&M, and one was manufactured by Morgan. However, since the construction of Steel Dragon 2000, there has been an ongoing debate about which of these coasters is best. This debate has only intensified in the past five years with the construction of three new gigacoasters and the introduction of B&M as a new player in this revived and thriving coaster category. This year saw the construction of Fury 325, B&M's second gigacoaster at Carowinds and the world's talllest gigacoaster, eclipsing Steel Dragon by a mere seven feet. Many angry YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook commenters insist that Fury is the world's best, while others still accuse the coaster of being overrated. Since many of these commenters have no clue what they are talking about, I decided to bring the debate to the most knowledgable here at TPR. Personally, I have been on two of these coasters (Intimidator 305 and Fury 325) and prefer Intimidator 305, but I have yet to ride the remaining three (Millennium Force, Steel Dragon 2000, and Leviathan). Which do you prefer, and why?

Here's a not-so-radical concept, Omar: It won't happen. Hear me out: Kings Dominion is my home park, and I've been visiting since the post-Volcano Paramount years. I would love nothing more than another world-class B&M or Intamin coaster to complement Volcano and Intimidator 305. I agree that Cedar Fair is completely dissing KD by postponing the park's next large coaster. Since 2013-2014, Kings Dominion has arguably been due for a new, large coaster (and I ain't talkin' Triotechs here). Unfortunately, there's enough evidence at this point that we can with near-absolute certainty rule out a large roller coaster for Kings Dominion in 2016. My guess is that Cedar Point gets the largest coaster in 2016, with Worlds of Fun or Valleyfair getting a smaller B&M. In 2017, however, I could see a pair of identical medium-large B&Ms implemented at Canada's Wonderland and at Kings Dominion. As for 2016, expect a thrilling flat ride or a Triotech and the removal of Shockwave (or even just minor improvements) in preparation for 2017 at Kings Dominion. The only reason why CF might hesitate on a Triotech in the next few years is that they already have a 3D shooting dark ride in Boo Blasters. It's not fantastic, but it's still fun albeit tacky. But coming back to the topic of a B&M 4D coaster: 1. Space - For the first time ever, KD is all but out of space for attractions, meaning something's gotta go to make way for the new, and those 4D coasters are frickin' HUGE. 2. Cost - I doubt that Cedar Fair will drop $40M plus on KD in one year, especially with the v 3. "Carowinds Master Race" mentality This is really putting the brakes on any large investments in KD, at least for 10-20 years.

If you absolutely have to choose one or the other, choose Intimidator; otherwise, on a weekday you should have time for both (both are world-class rides).

This year, DelGrosso's debuted an ARM rides "Rock Star" model, fittingly named "Rock Star", and is currently buildings its largest investment ever, a $12.5M expansion of the park's already-solid waterpark, Laguna Splash. The full park press release, with the park's provided photos and artist's renderings, are below:

Hey everybody! This thread is simple! Rather than having a million little threads about everything that goes on at DelGrosso's Amusement Park, this thread is designed to consolidate it all into one user-friendly thread. Feel free to use it to post updates, trip reports, questions, comments, and of course, general discussion. (If I was authorized to post a link to the park website, I would do so, but due to a low post count I'm not permitted.) Instead, you can Google, Bing, Yahoo, or (insert your search engine here) the name of the park, at least until an admin edits this post. --certifiedcoastergeek

I know that DelGrosso's Amusement Park in Tipton, PA isn't very large, but it's similar to a mini-Knoebels, and its waterpark has expanded greatly since I first visited five years ago. Each year, I go up there for a day or two, since it's only $20 for an all-day ride 'n' slide pass per person, or $1-$2.50 per ride, if you choose to go the old-school ticket option. Could we get a discussion thread for the park? *UPDATE*: Whoops! I apologize for my blatant error! However, I would like to see a discussion thread created for the park (by a moderator this time )...

The last 2 rows of Volcano are a little more forgiving for some reason. I-305 is pretty roomy, so you shouldn't have to worry. Someone else already mentioned the big boy seats on Dominator. I think you'll be fine. The back row of Volcano has been closed permanently in an effort to limit rollback by compensating for aging magnets.

1. 2. Worlds of Fun doesn't have a B&M hyper or gigacoaster. 3. With Cedar Point receiving an uber-expensive B&M dive coaster in 2016, you can forget any coaster above the size and price tag of a Triotech hitting Kings Dominion in 2016. 4. Cedar Fair rejected Kings Dominion when the park was due for a coaster in 2014, and again in 2015. It seems like they want to milk Intimidator 305 and clever marketing ploys as long as possible.

Worlds of Fun did it. Plus, Kings Dominion doesn't have Millennium Force (look in the background). I discovered the picture, and I'm helping to debunk it - the only place where KD might put a hypercoaster is as a Hurler replacement, and that just got retracked within 2 weeks and new trains at the beginning of the season. Look for something in 2017. The only parks that we know are getting something are Cedar Point (the email-known as Divegate to the KD faithful), Canada's Wonderland (land clearing+survey markings), and Carowinds ("big splash in 2016", Thunder Road closing). There are no leaked plans, trademarks, survey markings, or a hint during a press conference to indicate that 2016 is KD's year. Expect the Shockwave removed with a thrilling flat ride to replace part of its land for 2016 while the land around it gets prepared for a huge B&M in 2017.

Dominator does in the middle two rows, but none of the other coasters or rides (as far as I know) have designated seats for guests of a larger size.

I was at KD today and queuing to re-ride Drop Tower when I noticed that the KD FUNTVs were playing a POV of GateKeeper. I watched the TVs carefully for the rest of the day, and this was the only POV that I saw. Is this typical of KD's FUNTV service or a subtle hint for 2016? Fun fact (no pun intended): The name "FUNTV", which is the name of all audiovisual queue entertainment services across all Cedar Fair parks, is a reference to Cedar Fair's NYSE ticker, FUN.

Carowinds already confirmed that it will be closed down for "family friendly attractions". So right away an RMC makeover is right out the window. Also, Cedar Fair does not work with RMC. Yet. Yet is the key word. Can you say "New Texas Hurler"?