Photo TR:Kings Dominion, a wedding, and ALOT of driving

[Carnage]

First weekend in May means my first chance to make use of my Canada's Wonderland Maxx pass. Though it wouldn't be at Wonderland.

 

I was heading down to West Virginia for Ted's wedding, so the enthusiast in me had to figure out what new parks I could hit on the way. KD was the obvious choice with my Maxx pass and all.

 

("on the way" loosely includes any park in a six hour radius)

 

It meant ALOT of driving, but well worth it. Even fit in some culture credits in DC.

 

Enough with the quick overview, here's the pics.

Finally a light at the end of the tunnel.

No time to even think about museums. Maybe next time.

Ahh, I see.

That's quite alot of firepower. Wonder what it's defending?

40 minutes, 1.3 miles, and two tired feet later ...

Why does it seem like it's getting farther away?

Again, distance fools me. Figured that doesn't LOOK like a long walk.

Wow, a real life protest. I've got that weird feeling that I'm being watched.

Distance in DC seemed to be an optical illusion.

Seeing all the names in person was kind of chilling. Sure sunk in as I walked by countless names.

Nice view. I didn't have much time, but I'm glad I at least spend a bit of time in DC.

Lincoln memorial.

Washington monument.

I love subways. DC's stations were probably the coolest I've ever seen.

Being so close to DC, figured I'd take the Metro into DC before driving home on Monday.

Even 200+ feet up I can hear those damn breaks.

Required photo op.

Credit whoring time. Not nearly as painful as my last ride on this type.

Fun ride. But I prefer the non-ball buster versions.

Canaba in the lead!!

No Shockwave today. Closed due to the accident in Japan.

Grizzly was good. Better then it's cousin Wild Beast.

Rebel Yell. Forwards was decent. Backwards was awesome.

Windy day = awesome ride on the flyers.

Hurler was alright. Not great, but not bad either.

And the loudest break run I've ever heard. Maybe if it wasn't covered in rust ...

EXTREME airtime. Maybe too extreme.

Don't remember much after the head splitting whiplash on the top hat though.

Great forceful launch.

I wouldn't be sad if they tore this POS out.

Cedar Fair hasn't found any suckers ... I mean buyers yet to take it.

Got my Hypersonic credit before it's gone.

No drop zone today due to high winds.

My helpful tour guide Chuck says I caught it on a good day.

Not a single head bang. Even in one of the "what was Arrow thinking?" elements.

Surprise of the day was Anaconda being smooth.

3 for 3 on Italian Job. Fun rides, but nothing special IMHO.

2 for 2 on the FoFs now. Really fun ride with no wait.

The rest of it though seemed kind of pointless to me though.

Good couple launches, followed by an awesome climb.

First up was Volcano.

It's noon and I'm finally at a totally empty Kings Dominion.

Watching the sun rise as I drive. Only 5 more hours of driving to go.

I'll just fly to Richmond.

I get my first look at wherever the hell I am.

Even the moon is still out. Though I was happy to be able to see it, unlike the previous nights fog of death.

Ugh, checked in at 1am, checked out at 6am to start driving.

Got a head start on the drive to KD. Blue = my hotel, green=where my directions were to,red=where I thought I was going to die in the fog.

Photo POV.

I really don't like bridges. Especially when they have steel grating for a road deck.

The happy couple and plenty of bubbles. I never did figure out how to get the child proof top off the bubbles though.

See, coaster geeks can clean up nice.

Got skunked from there on out though.

#3 was money in the bank for me. Won on my first bet.

4 hours to kill between checkout and the wedding. Only one way to kill some time.

6 hours in, first stop is Wheeling,WV. Borrowed my dad's laptop to prevent boredom.

Only a couple hours in and I've managed to hit every bug in PA.

[cfc]

It was fun showing you around KD, Paul. I don't know what's up with Anaconda, but it hasn't been nearly as bad as in the past (still don't care for it, though).

 

I wonder if my sunglasses survived their trip into the OUTER LIMITS--not.

[live2tell75]

Great trip report Paul! Just missed you by a few weeks! I agree about Tomb Raider, fun ride, not fun on the family jewels! I am jealous of you! You have the Coaster Freak t-shirt I wanted to get when I was there, but forgot! Glad you had a good time.

[snuggles]

Nice PTR. In the last picture, were you driving on the wrong side of the road?

[Crazy4Coasters!]

Am heded to DC next week so am hitting this part on my trip. I hope I enjoy the coasters over there. And am sad to hear you say Hypersonic is pretty bad...

[alanjonesbath]

Great trip report. We're heading out to DC in just under three weeks time, and we'll be spending a day at PKD

[Louise]

Awesome TR Paul!!! PKD has always intrigued me greatly and I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because anywhere with an Eiffel Tower is a place I love?!

 

D.C. looks amazing, can't wait to get there someday. Glad you had a lot of fun, even if I do think you're insane for doing all that driving! Thanks for sharing!

[BeemerBoy]

Great job, Paul! TRs with cultural credits always earn bonus points from me. DC's subway did look pretty cool, and you got some great shots of KD.

 

I bet Canaba still ended up losing that race somehow.

[Carnage]

Nice Photo TR. In the last picture, were you driving on the wrong side of the road?

 

Looks that way doesn't it?

 

There's two seperate tunnels for each direction of travel. So the traffic going the other way is in a different tunnel.

 

Yeah, too bad I missed you Eric. Some other time hopefully.

 

It was cool to have someone to show me around Chuck. Sure beats being sad and pathetic.

 

Hypersonic would have been a pretty decent ride if not for the tight transitions into the top hat. Would have been much better with a more gradual pull out.

[cfc]

^The first time I rode Hypersonic, I liked it quite a bit (the first big, launched coaster with a high hat I'd ever ridden). But time has not been kind to that ride.

[crazyrider06]

Nice pictures look like you had a good time. Im hoping that when I do my weekend trip to Virginia I get to go to Kings dominion as well as Busch Gardens!

[derwood]

Heck of a trip. Coasters, nuptials, and dead presidents! Great photos and trip report.

 

 

d

[vistaway]

Great TR, Carnage.

 

Were you able to use your Maxx Pass at the turnstiles, or did you need to go to guest services? I will be there this weekend...

[Carnage]

^ Scanned at the turnstiles just like a normal season pass.

 

Looks like Cedar Fair at least did one thing right.

[vistaway]

Thanks! That makes it easier. We're going to stop in to KD for an hour or so before heading down to Busch.