Photo TR: Kings Dominion and Busch Gardens Europe

[natatomic]

This past weekend I drove up to Virginia with my neighbor, her husband, and her brother for a two-day, two-park excursion. I can't even begin to tell you how pleasantly surprised I was with how relatively short the lines were for it being a weekend in June - I don't know if it's due to my mad theme park skills where I just know how to hit the right rides at the right time, or if perhaps there's a bit of good in high gas prices after all.

 

Let's just say it's my mad skills.

 

Anyway, we decided to do KD first (many thanks to those who suggested this order), and headed straight to Volcano. We had about a 20 minute wait, but only because we all waited for the front row. Then we did Flight of Fear, Anaconda (each of which were walk-ons), and then Backlot Stunt Coaster, which took the ridiculous wait time of 10 minutes (that's worse than forever, you know?!)

 

We headed back over to Avalanche which only had about 15 minutes until it opened, though once it did, it was only using one train, and about two dispatches in, there was a hold up when there was a child towards the front of the train with her mother who was apparently having a near panic attack about riding. The ride ops didn't want to send her crying, but the mother was saying, "It's my child, my responsibility, and I'll take her if I want to," kind of stuff, and they spent FIFTEEN MINUTES trying to decide what to do, much to the chagrin of the other THOUSAND PEOPLE IN LINE. There was a moment, though, when some of the people started chanting "Go Kayla! Go Kayla!" to encourage the poor thing, but the enthusiasm quickly diminished once we got past the 5 minute mark. Then people wanted to slap little Kayla.

 

Eventually, they decided to just send the train, and as I predicted, Kayla came back smiling; but when they pulled back into station, that was the first time I actually got a good look at her, and I SWEAR she was 12 years old. I only saw the back of her mother's head when they were arguing about sending the train, and so I just assumed that she was probably 4 or something, given that this was Avalanche, the tamest coaster in the park second ONLY to Taxi Jam. If I had known how old this girl really was, I would have jumped the gates, crossed the train, and pressed the dispatch button myself. Time for that girl to grow some nards. You heard me, nards.

 

Anyway, Rebel Yell, Hurler, and Grizzly were ALL work-ons, Ricochet was about a 10 minute wait, and we skipped Shockwave because we didn't have a death wish. And as hot as it was, we decided to skip the water rides because those queues looked packed. Totally fine by me! (Water + clothes = one really uncomfortable Natalie, ugh.)

 

Finally we headed to Dominator, which had about a 45 minute wait, but again, this was mostly due to the fact that we (and just about everyone else) waited for the front row. When we rode it again later in another row, the wait was less than 15 minutes. The ride never had a full queue as far as I could tell, but when we went back to Volcano for another ride, the line extended just past the entrance (and yes, the entire queue was open), so we decided to skip it. Let that be a lesson to all of you: as soon as you get to the park, go to Volcano. Go directly to Volcano. Do not pass Go, do not collect $200.

 

And that was pretty much our day. By the way, I noticed that I didn't get photos of all the coasters this trip, but if you're really wanting to see pictures of the ones I skipped this time, you can take a look at a trip report that I did a couple weeks ago from when I was there the first time this year.

 

On to the photos:

Okay, that's the last photo. Stay tuned for the Busch Gardens part of the update probably some time tomorrow. Hopefully. No promises.

Even though I think the yellow loop is dumb, I really like the new color scheme.

I think the guy in the front row is about to fall out

I like the way the clouds sort of follow the flow of the lift hill and drop in this shot.

Does anyone else feel like there's a dirty joke that's yet to be made about interlocking corkscrews? No? Just me? I mean, I don't know what the joke is, I'm just saying...I think there's one there.

First drop. Sorry these captions aren't too terribly exciting right now.

Geek shot.

Don't you just want to reach out and pet it?

You're so close to the track you can almost smell the feet as they waft by.

Notice the guy in the back. He's wearing socks. So either he wasn't using the smart part of his brain when he took off his sneakers, or he was wearing sandals. With socks.

WITH. SOCKS.

Yeah, yeah, I can't line up properly to take a straight picture tellmesomethingIdon'tknow.

And now a whole slew of Dominator photos.

The backside of Scooby Doo's Ghoster Coaster. I LOVE this little thing.

After working on Splash Mountain, these log flumes seem like they're just one step above a cardboard box on a slip'n'slide.

The only way I'd do one of these things would be if it were free. And I was drunk.

Inside Grizzly's station. I think we were just about the only ones in line. I'm not a fan rough coasters, but I REALLY like this one.

Mmmk, now I'm in Ricochet's queue. Looking up the mouse's skirt.

I didn't take a picture of Rebel Yell, but here's a picture of Ricochet that I took from RY's queue. That's just as good, right?

This coaster only deserves one word comments. Um, except this one. This comment has lots of words.

Ugh.

Hurler.

What is this track even made of? Yarn? Rope? Those cheap aluminum blinds people insist on putting in their house? A mixture of all three?

The Frenchman with his hands up and the American were with me.

And we headed back to this, right as it opened. This was a brilliant move seeing as how it took a half hour due to a one train operation, terrible capacity as it is, and one twelve year old baby named Kayla. If we had waited to ride this later in the day, I'm sure it'd have been closer to an hour wait.

Last time I was here, I stood directly above the track, positioned my lens through one of the fence links so that you wouldn't see it, and waited for train to come shooting out. Yeah, I didn't care so much this time.

I gotta hand it to Paramount, this is some pretty impressive theming for a flat ride. Too bad Cedar Fair probably won't put that kind of effort into any future attractions. Unless of course they've got "Trash Can: The Ride" in the works. They'd nail that.

Ugh, this awful thing. Not that I've ever ridden one, so I really have no idea, but I think it looks more like a torture device than an actual ride.

Intamin track is just so...*pretty*

That's right, I just used a girly word to describe a big ol' scary macho roller coaster. Sue me.

I don't know what that little red and white thing is there down at the bottom toward the left, but it looks like Santa bending over to tie his shoe.

First ride of the day, because the shiny new (ahem, "new") coaster in the front of the park won't lure me in like it does the GP. I'm on to Cedar Fair's dirty, dirty tricks. HaHA!

To start these captions off with a bang, I really don't think it gets any more phallic than this.

[pianojohn]

Funny funny stuff! Especially liked the "nards" comment.

 

Looking forward to part two!

[Team Thriller]

This could be the best KD TR I've seen.

 

Thanks for sharing them. Great fun!

 

--James

[RenegadeFan]

At least CF repainted Dominator. It looks 10x better than its Geauga Lake days.

[tnguy]

This is awesome!

 

I personally don't think Dominator looks that bad. Even the yellow loop isn't that bad.

[krazekiddd]

Awesome Natalie! I think you are about the only person that I actually read your report before looking at photos!

 

Oh and with socks? HAHAHA

[All Clear]

Those are some great pictures.

 

I think the yellow loop is pretty geh, but I do like the overall scheme of Dominator.

 

Nards = my new favorite word of the week.

[socalMAN123]

I'm gonna have to go ahead and say that your captions are quite possibly the funniest things I have ever read. And you have some great pictures! You always seem to have fun, thanks for keeping me entertained!

---Brent

[andy_e219]

Great TR!

I hope to visit both of these parks sometime in the next few years.

[Skramp]

Nat, great PTR, I'm so impressed that you managed to include the words nards and phallic in the report. You rock!! Great pics though!!

[KDCOASTERFAN]

Excellent TR & pics....just one moth from now & I'll be heading down to KD myself so long as the weather co-operates.

 

You havn't ridden their top spin? good decision,I rode it once in it's debut season & hated it....the restraints were the most uncomfortable devices I've ever encountered on an amusement ride in my life.

[Coasterfanatic245]

I gotta hand it to Paramount, this is some pretty impressive theming for a flat ride. Too bad Cedar Fair probably won't put that kind of effort into any future attractions. Unless of course they've got "Trash Can: The Ride" in the works. They'd nail that.

CF just put in that exact same ride at Great America and theming that looked just like that, so obviously they can handle it.

[THE ONE]

Great TR Natalie, I never did understand CF reason for the yellow loop, other than the fact that they can promote it as the worlds highest loop.

 

Does Dominator still ride a little rough in the last 3 or 4 rows like it did at GL. Any way great pick's and i'm looking forward to the BGE pick's.

[natatomic]

Thanks to everyone for the awesome comments so far. My heart is all a pitter patter from the positive feedback.

 

Does Dominator still ride a little rough in the last 3 or 4 rows like it did at GL.

 

You know, I think I've only ridden Dominator in the front half of the train, so I couldn't tell you. Having said that, I thought it had a noticeable case of the B&M rattle even in the front row (which I felt when I rode it at GL last year as well). I dunno, maybe I'm just a delicate flower, but I've definitely been on smoother B&Ms.

[THE ONE]

^ Your not just a delicate flower. It's a shame that Dominator is not smother, I think it is one of better B&M floorless coasters. SKC @ SFFT being my favorite floorless coaster.

[okinawaboy11]

Yes, the last couple of rows has the B&M shake but nothing too bad. The ride is still incredibly smooth for any of the coasters at KD. Even Volcano is getting pretty bad, and FoF has developed almost a wooden type roughness. The brake run is set on INSTANT stop so be prepared and there are a lot of lights inside now, almost too many. They do have the music on though which they usually have off (or atleast previous visits in 07 they did)

 

But all in all Dominator is still very smooth.

[KDCOASTERFAN]

Speaking of the "parking brake" does KD have it on in full force for Dominator? Man I hope not.

[bgeguy]

^From what I've heard, the block is on very minimal.

[natatomic]

Here it is everyone, the BGE portion of the TR.

.

.

.

.

.

Haha, no. Just kidding. Not yet, but that was a good joke, wasn't it?

 

Yeah, I know I said I'd have the pictures up by, um, yesterday, but wouldn't you know that ONE MILLION PHOTOS is a lot to go through. Plus, I was busy with lots of other things, and I just got behind. Anyway, this might be a pointless reply to my own TR, but I'm just letting you all know that I didn't forget. I'll get this TR finished ASAP.

[CP_RULES]

Great pictures of KD, the park looks really nice! And why wont you ride sky coasters? Cause the reason should be because they suck, not cause they're scary.

 

-Justin "wont waste another $30 bucks to ride a thrill-less sky coaster again" Seabaugh

[THE ONE]

Here it is everyone, the BGE portion of the TR.

.

.

.

.

.

Haha, no. Just kidding. Not yet, but that was a good joke, wasn't it?

 

Yeah, I know I said I'd have the pictures up by, um, yesterday, but wouldn't you know that ONE MILLION PHOTOS is a lot to go through. Plus, I was busy with lots of other things, and I just got behind. Anyway, this might be a pointless reply to my own TR, but I'm just letting you all know that I didn't forget. I'll get this TR finished ASAP.

 

Hey thats ok I still haven't done my update from Cliff's in Albuquerque Nm. from May yet, I also have Mt Olympus In the Wisconsin Dells to do and Coaster Mania .

Don't feel bad about not getting it done. Nice tease though,

[natatomic]

No joke this time around. Here it is, folks - Day 2: Busch Gardens Europe.

 

First of all, considering that it was a weekend in June, I was shocked at the crowds. Or rather, lack thereof. Coming in at a whopping TWENTY MINUTES, Big Bad Wolf had the longest wait of the day (this does not include the front rows for either Alpengeist or Apollo's Chariot, however, which had their usual 4 1/2 year wait - I've got my seats reserved for 2012), but we definitely walked on the 2nd and 3rd rows of Griffon a time or two (I even saw some trains with empty rows in the back all together). In all, we got 6 rides on Griffon, 3 on Apollo's Chariot (if I could, I would marry the back row of that coaster), 2 on Big Bad Wolf, and a partridge in a pear tree. We also got one on Alpengeist and Loch Ness, of course, as well as DarKastle. The people I was with even convinced me to go on Roman Rapids, but only because I got a plastic bag from one of the shops to cover my precious, precious hair (I'd have taken a picture, except my camera was locked safely in a very dry locker, far away from the very wet ride, and I must say, I was insanely jealous). Plus, I gave them all dirty looks the entire time and spit on them* when they weren't looking, and that got me through it. Coping mechanisms, people. Coping mechanisms.

 

*This part may or may not be true.

 

The rides did shut down twice due to thunderstorms (though the rain stayed away (and by the way, have you noticed that I use parentheses a lot? (No really, I'm obsessed or something))), but they were back up within a half hour each time. If this impacted the crowds any, I really don't know, because like I said, there really wasn't much of a crowd to speak of as it was.

 

By the way, when I first rode SheiKra at BGA, I thought it was fun, but kind of a one trick pony of a coaster. It was a goodride, but that was about all I had to say about it. For whatever reason, though, I thought Griffon was AWESOME. I know they added they whole floorless aspect to it, as well as the extra immelman, and maybe those had something to do with it, but honestly, I think it was those extra five feet of height.

 

Sometimes it's the little things...

 

Now, on to the photos:

And one last photo of Griffon to round it off. Thanks for reading everyone!

Too bad a train didn't go by right then.

Here are some shots I took from the skyride.

And don't be fooled by the close proximity of the coasters in this shot. The entrances are literally MILES apart from each other. You actually even cross a couple of different time zones during your trek from one coaster to the other.

By the way, you really have to be in shape to do this park.

 

Or at least really determined.

...but, jeez, it's no Spider-Man

Pretty good ride...

For it being my favorite coaster, it's the one I have the least photos of. Well, except Big Bad Wolf. I don't have any of that. Busch just doesn't make it easy to photograph those two.

BEST. COASTER. EVER.

I don't know if anyone else does, but dang, I think this shot is awesome. Seriously. Go me.

Man, no one ever thinks to take photos of this part of the coaster.

Wait, I never heard of the "it's a dragon" theory for Nessie. Dinosaur or seal-thing maybe, but that little blurry round head in the photos I've seen looks nothing like a dragon.

If you look hard enough but don't really think about it, it kind of looks like little aliens sitting on top of the cobra roll

Wow, it's like...an orgy of support beams in there.

Ooo...it looks like one of those Chinese fans.

I suppose ol' Alpy could use some rapid fire love, too.

As part of his payment, the Alps spirit is allowed to eat one train-load per day. Hence, the empty train you see here.

What, did you think it was when they were cycling-out the ride for the thunderstorms or something? Psh, no.

ALPENGEIIIIIIIST!!!!!! (You couldn't hear me, but I just said it with a really awesome monster growl. Awesome for a girl, at least. I still probably sounded like a yappy chihuahua.)

How perfect of a photo is this to serve as a segue into the next coaster?

And despite the nets, I really like this shot.

From this angle, you'd think the first drop was only 8 feet tall.

The one guy likes to ride Crucifix style

I promise I know how to take pictures of other coasters. We'll get to them soon, I swear.

Looks like they do indeed force the No Prostheses rule judging by the guy on the right.

You'd think that with the thousands of shots I got of this coaster, I'd have a better shot of the train hanging over the edge, but nope, this was the best I could do.

I dunno, something about the angles in this photo...I just really like it.

Rapid fire!

I don't have a video camera, but here's the next best thing:

Oh, I forgot this photo. How often do you get to see the underside of a coaster train?

There is only one person on this train who will ever be allowed to party with me. Guess which one it is.

These people agree.

The curves of a B&M coaster are more beautiful than my own curves, and let me just tell you - that's is saying a lot. Seriously. A LOT. I'm pretty hot.

We headed to Griffon first, and we had to walk through about eleven countries to get there, which is weird since there's only like five or six in the actual park. By the time we got there, I lost ten pounds.

[THE ONE]

Great phots and TR Natalie, I have always wondered if griffon was better than Sheikra was better or not. I have never been on a Dive Machine before, They always seemed to be a gimmick to me. I'll get their in 2011 for our USBC open (United States Bowling Congress) tournament in Orlando.

 

Again great job.

[downunder]

Natatomic, do you mind if I use some of your Domintor photos for Coaster of the Week on the East Coast Trip board?

 

Another nice batch of photos, I checked out that camera you said you used, I was hoping it was some super compact which I would consider buying one myself but it was SLR city - damn I'm too lazy to lug an SLR anywhere.

[dino]

Beautiful pictures with hilarious captions from a hot girl...do TR's get any better!?