Kings Dominion (KD) Discussion Thread

[Schwarzillard]

Can anyone tell me which places at Kings Dominion use the meal plan and is it worth the money for that pass. We've had passes for years but never had the meal plan and considering it this upcoming season. The website has little to no information on what places take it. Thanks.

I wouldn't get it. We've been pass holders and when we eat at the park, we go to the parking lot where we can eat better food for free! As for places, I think the major restaurants offer it (i.e. Hungry hippo)

 

Hershey also looks amazing.

 

As far as KD not offering any more than 3-4 re rideable coasters, that doesn't bother me. I usually go to a new park, hit everything, and bounce between 2-3 different rides at night, once I have a few beers in me. I'd like to get in at least ten rides on I-305 if I end up going there. The standard corporate feel doesn't bother me. KI is very similar to KD from what I hear and KI is probably my favorite park. Fast lane /flash pass will be mandatory for all parks.

 

 

Certain parts of the park feel very un-corporate. As for the trip, any way you could get to Hershey, KD? That'd be my recommendation. If not, go to KD and BGW. I prefer KD, but I enjoy thrills more than theming.

[mike541x]

So... next June I'm going to be 30 and my wife has awarded me a special trip. Here's what I have come up with so far:

 

Option 1: I305 has been on my wish list since it opened and BGW seems like a solid park.

King's Dominion (1 day)

Busch Gardens Williamsburg (1 day)

 

Option 2: We've been to Cedar Point before and had a great time. However, that was years ago when Maverick (edited) opened.

Cedar Point (2 days staying at Breakers)

 

Option 3:

Hershey Park (1 day)

SF Great Adventure or another NE park (1 day)

 

 

I really want to go to KD, but I wanted to see what you guys would say about my other options. Everything is about 12 hours away from me except for Cedar Point, which is 8 hours.

 

 

Hmm...this is a tough one. Out of all the parks you listed, SFGAv and CP are the only parks I haven't visited yet, but I'll give my two cents

 

Option 1: You really can't go wrong with either parks. If you've never been, you should definitely check out both parks. Kings Dominion has a solid coaster line up and flats. i305, Volcano, and Dominator are rides that are worth checking out. And now for BGW, I can't express how much I love this park. From the theming, rides, food and great staff, it's one theme park I think everyone should visit. You won't regret visiting this park

 

Option 2: As I said I've yet to visit CP, however one advantage you mentioned is that it's closer to you than the rest of the parks mentioned.

 

Option 3: I've been to HP but not SFGAv. HP is another great park that's worth checking out. In fact it might have my favorite coaster line up at any park I've been to so far. Skyrush, Great Bear, Storm Runner, Fahrenheit, and Lightning Racer are solid rides and the rest are great rides as well. On top of that you will also have another park with a great line up as well. As I said I haven't been to SFGAv but they look like they have another great line up of rides as well. El Toro and Nitro are on my bucket list.

 

Overall, you have three great, but very tough choices. If it were me, I would go with option 1, both KD and BGW are about an hour away from each other and are amazing parks that are definitely worth the visit. Option 3 is a pretty good choice as well but regardless of whatever one you choose, you should still have a great trip.

[prozach626]

Thanks for the feedback, guys. I think you're right about option 1. I think going to KD on day 1 will give me a change to finally ride I305 and geek out. Then day 2 at BGW will give my wife a chance to relax, drink a few beers, and enjoy the park as a whole, rather than worrying about how many rides I can get in on I305.

[Bmanscool]

Can anyone tell me which places at Kings Dominion use the meal plan and is it worth the money for that pass. We've had passes for years but never had the meal plan and considering it this upcoming season. The website has little to no information on what places take it.

 

If you click on the link below, you can view all the information about dining passes, including which restaurants you can use it for. https://www.kingsdominion.com/things-to-do/dining-plans

 

I personally wouldn't recommend the dining pass, because there are a lot of restaurants there that are not included with the dining pass and once you use it one time during a visit, you can't use it again until four hours later. You also won't know how much you will use it or if you will get your money's worth. Another disadvantage is that drinks aren't included with the year - long dining pass.

[caslater]

I've been to Kings Island several times now and I love it. I am going to Washington DC/Boston next summer and plan on stopping at Kings Dominion along the way. Heard a lot of good things about it and look forward to visiting.

[fraroc]

I've been to Kings Island several times now and I love it. I am going to Washington DC/Boston next summer and plan on stopping at Kings Dominion along the way. Heard a lot of good things about it and look forward to visiting.

 

Very good park with nice atmosphere with a good selection of coasters. Ride i305 as much as you can and maybe save Volcano for last before the park closes, because lines for Volcano can be bad. Literally, I've seen Volcano have a 30 minute wait and every single other roller coaster, INCLUDING i305 and Flight of Fear, have a walk-on. Flight of Fear is an extremely underrated indoor coaster and Avalanche plays the role as a "family mine train coaster". Backlot is a lot of fun, Anaconda and Shockwave....well...they're all a matter of your personal opinion. I think they're very rough, but have their fun moments. Rebel Yell is extremely rough, but you get some KILLER air. For Hurler, try and get a seat more towards the front, it'll definitely be less brutal. Grizzly is a lot of fun too and sort of reminds me of the Coney Island Cyclone. Dominator is a really fun B&M coaster with a great vertical loop.

Edited November 3, 2014 by fraroc

[coasterbill]

I always suggest getting to the park at opening and heading right to Volcano. I would never suggest waiting until the end of the day to ride an Intamin ride without already having the credit as they can break down quite a bit and you may miss out (though Volcano seems to be more reliable than many of the others).

 

And ride the very back row of Dominator... the loop and the first drop are amazing. It really doesn't even feel like a B&M.

 

Flight of Fear is an extremely underrated indoor coaster

 

This... this ride is criminally underrated by enthusiasts. It's also much smoother and better than the KI version.

[GwaziBSRider1]

Flight of Fear is an extremely underrated indoor coaster

 

This... this ride is criminally underrated by enthusiasts. It's also much smoother and better than the KI version.

 

As much as I enjoy this ride, I had the opposite experience. For some reason, KD's made me really dizzy and slightly nauseous, which I've never had happen on KI's. I've only been able to ride it once, and I really want to reride this one.

[SuperShawn]

As much as I enjoy this ride, I had the opposite experience. For some reason, KD's made me really dizzy and slightly nauseous, which I've never had happen on KI's. I've only been able to ride it once, and I really want to reride this one.

 

I have to agree, there is something about KD's model that makes me feel a bit off compared to all the other's I've ridden.

[netdvn]

Didn't cross Toro off my bucket list, but scored a few new rides.

 

Intimidator 305 makes it to my top 2 dethroning Storm Runner for my second favorite coaster. Great ride, but the transitions are kinda like that kink in Alpengeist's midcourse done back to back. Skyrush still beats it for the smoother transitions.

Flight of Fear knocks Volcano down a few notches. Still runs fantastic, although not a very hands up ride

Dominator knocks Great Bear out of my top 10. My favorite floorless coaster ever.

Volcano is still solid but not as intense as I remember. The capacity still sucks though.

Rebel Yell and Scooby Doo are still the smoothest wooden coasters at KD. Funny since they're the oldest coasters in the park. Lots of fun and airtime to be had.

Stunt Coaster is INCREDIBLY underrated. Seriously that ride packs a serious punch.

Grizzly is crazy rough, but in a good way.

Hurler on the other hand needs to die in a fire. Funny that the newest woodie in the park is the worst one. Hasn't gotten better since last time I rode it.

 

New top 10.

Skyrush, Intimidator 305, Storm Runner, Fahrenheit, Manta, Montu, Flight of Fear, Apollo's Chariot, Lightning Racer, Dominator

 

Really enjoyed Haunt. Mazes and scare zones were on par with BGW's. Drop Zone and Windseeker were down due to high winds.

[fraroc]

Didn't cross Toro off my bucket list, but scored a few new rides.

 

Intimidator 305 makes it to my top 2 dethroning Storm Runner for my second favorite coaster. Great ride, but the transitions are kinda like that kink in Alpengeist's midcourse done back to back. Skyrush still beats it for the smoother transitions.

Flight of Fear knocks Volcano down a few notches. Still runs fantastic, although not a very hands up ride

Dominator knocks Great Bear out of my top 10. My favorite floorless coaster ever.

Volcano is still solid but not as intense as I remember. The capacity still sucks though.

Rebel Yell and Scooby Doo are still the smoothest wooden coasters at KD. Funny since they're the oldest coasters in the park. Lots of fun and airtime to be had.

Stunt Coaster is INCREDIBLY underrated. Seriously that ride packs a serious punch.

Grizzly is crazy rough, but in a good way.

Hurler on the other hand needs to die in a fire. Funny that the newest woodie in the park is the worst one. Hasn't gotten better since last time I rode it.

 

New top 10.

Skyrush, Intimidator 305, Storm Runner, Fahrenheit, Manta, Montu, Flight of Fear, Apollo's Chariot, Lightning Racer, Dominator

 

Really enjoyed Haunt. Mazes and scare zones were on par with BGW's. Drop Zone and Windseeker were down due to high winds.

 

What about Anaconda and Shockwave?

[netdvn]

Skipped Anaconda for an extra ride on FOF and nobody in my group wanted to ride Shockwave because we all planned to have children someday. Skipped Ricochet too since that was broken down for half the day and by the time we headed back there, it was already maze time.

 

I already rode Anaconda back in the day anyway (not really worth a second ride) and missing Shockwave wasn't a huge loss for anybody.

[redfoot12]

^When was the last time you rode Grizzly? It didn't seem nearly as rough over the summer as it has in the past. I almost want to say it almost seemed tame.

Also, I'm in agreement about KD's Flight of Fear being better than KI's (I rode them about a month apart this past summer). Almost night and day in terms of how rough KI's was.

[netdvn]

Rode it on Saturday. It was absolutely out of control. Would've ridden again if they hadn't closed the gates on me when I entered the station (my friends snagged empty seats from the exit for multiple rides - had a few friends waiting at the exit anyway and I didn't wanna break up the group). Probably the only wooden coaster I've ridden where the roughness actually adds to the ride instead of takes away from it.

[jacksoro2]

I took a trip to Kings Dominion for the first time this Saturday and I was pleasantly surprised. I got there a few minutes after opening and the park was pretty empty. I guess the cold kept people away. I was able to ride every coaster in under two hours and I think this park is actually underrated. I305 is one of the best and I have to agree with a few other posters Dominator is probably the best floorless B&M. Volcano was fun and the launch was a little more intense than I imagined. I enjoyed FOF a lot more than Jokers Jinx (although they are the same coaster) and I guess the dark aspect and theming makes it a little more enjoyable. I thought Grizzly was a solid woody and it wasn't as rough as some have said. Rebel Yell was fun and the first drop was better than I imagined and it gave pretty good air. Backlot was a fun little coaster as well. I wasn't a fan of Shockwave, Anaconda or Hurler and Avalanche was just ok. I actually can't wait to get back there when the weather is better but overall a great visit at a great park.

[Canobie Coaster]

I really enjoy Kings Dominion as well. I find Intimidator a tad overrated. Don't get me wrong, it is a great coaster, but I prefer drops over the twisty things so it falls behind the B&M hypers in my opinion even though the speed is unreal. I too prefer Flight of Fear to Joker's Jinx, but find a noticeable difference. Flight of Fear seems to have a more powerful launch than Joker's Jinx, but Flight of Fear also has a stronger mid-course brake that saps a good amount of speed before the second half.

[GwaziBSRider1]

^ I also noticed that Joker's Jinx has brakes immediately following the launch that slows it down dramatically. It takes away the intensity that the Flight of Fears have, but there's no need for the MCBR.

 

Funny story about the Flight of Fear MCBR: I was riding with a friend in the front seat, and he let off this extremely rank fart right at the end of the MCBR. Everyone behind us was royally crop dusted. It was glorious.

[jacksoro2]

I really enjoy Kings Dominion as well. I find Intimidator a tad overrated. Don't get me wrong, it is a great coaster, but I prefer drops over the twisty things so it falls behind the B&M hypers in my opinion even though the speed is unreal. I too prefer Flight of Fear to Joker's Jinx, but find a noticeable difference. Flight of Fear seems to have a more powerful launch than Joker's Jinx, but Flight of Fear also has a stronger mid-course brake that saps a good amount of speed before the second half.

 

I actually forgot about that midcourse brake. I remember sitting there when it happenned and wondering why the hell did we slow down. It really took a lot of momentum out of the ride.

[cfc]

Yeah, it nearly comes to a stop there.

[Propeller Factory]

Tisk tisk tisk smh y must coasters stop on mcbr.

[prozach626]

Didn't cross Toro off my bucket list, but scored a few new rides.

 

Intimidator 305 makes it to my top 2 dethroning Storm Runner for my second favorite coaster. Great ride, but the transitions are kinda like that kink in Alpengeist's midcourse done back to back. Skyrush still beats it for the smoother transitions.

Flight of Fear knocks Volcano down a few notches. Still runs fantastic, although not a very hands up ride

Dominator knocks Great Bear out of my top 10. My favorite floorless coaster ever.

Volcano is still solid but not as intense as I remember. The capacity still sucks though.

Rebel Yell and Scooby Doo are still the smoothest wooden coasters at KD. Funny since they're the oldest coasters in the park. Lots of fun and airtime to be had.

Stunt Coaster is INCREDIBLY underrated. Seriously that ride packs a serious punch.

Grizzly is crazy rough, but in a good way.

Hurler on the other hand needs to die in a fire. Funny that the newest woodie in the park is the worst one. Hasn't gotten better since last time I rode it.

 

New top 10.

Skyrush, Intimidator 305, Storm Runner, Fahrenheit, Manta, Montu, Flight of Fear, Apollo's Chariot, Lightning Racer, Dominator

 

Really enjoyed Haunt. Mazes and scare zones were on par with BGW's. Drop Zone and Windseeker were down due to high winds.

 

You keep a very thorough top 10 list.....

[vacoaster09]

A funny Story from my visit on Oct 10th.

 

We got there and the park was dead! Perhaps it was the rain. There was a slight drizzle that day. We arrived that park at 8PM. Why so late... LONG story!

 

First ride we headed to was Dominator. 1 train wait. We get on the ride and I could see that, outside the station, it appeared the rain was becoming a little more heavy. Dispatch! We exit enter the turn around and proceed onto the lift. First half of the lift was alright. As soon as we got 3/4 of the way up completely downpour! I am talking we were getting pelted. We crest the lift and down we go! No turning back! I tried to keep my eyes open but it was impossible. It stung! I couldn't help as laugh at our luck and scream at the same time. Our On Ride Photo - Hilarious!

 

We headed into Congo and got on Volcano... 1 train wait.

 

Next was Intimidator 305. 1 train yet a Walk On! We take our seats and off we go. As soon as we heard "Gentlemen Start Your..." the rest of the spiel was drowned out the sound of rain slamming on the station roof. Yes, the downpour returned. I was sure that the dispatch was going to be aborted however, we were already hooked up. I was wrong.... off we went. I never really focused on how steep the lift on i305 is until I had rain literally filling my eyes sockets. I was drenched before we made up the speedy lift.

 

**PAUSE** - I was not ready for the insanity I was about the endure! I've been on i305 plenty of times but never in rain... as for that matter, I've never been on a coaster sans the earlier painful ride on Dominator in a torrential downpour. I mean it was raining buckets at the top of the 305 ft. tall lift.

 

**PLAY** - The inevitable took place. Down the drop we went.... and OMG! There was no way you could black out because this took pain to a new level. The pain alone would've woke you up. Getting pelted with 90 mph bullets of rain was insane. I was thinking this cannot be happening! It was Crazy! There was no laughing this time. I had to cover my face and did my best to imagine where I was along the course of the ride to try and brace for the swift transtions. I was not going to be able to brace for much of anything especially the quick transitions. I was whipped around like a rag doll.... yeah Intimidator Owned Me! We hit the trimmed bunny hill and alas some relief as we reduced speed somewhat. Almost to the end, we whipped around into the brakes. It continued to pour. The expressions on my face and surely the rest of the riders were self explanatory and priceless. The looks we were getting from the people in the station were forth-telling at best. As we exited, the weather downtime spiel began. We dashed to the store to get some relief from the rain. All I can say is wow... never again! Well... definitely again when the rain stops!

 

The rain calmed but rides were still closed so we checked out some haunted mazes. Soon thereafter the rain stopped and rides resumed operations. We checked the other rides. Drop Zone was closed the rest of the night. I must say I took my first ride on Bad Apple and I so love these flat rides. I wish there were more. Shockwave was regrettable as always, Rebel Yell was awesome, Grizzly was the surprise hit... it was so smooth I had to do a second ride to make sure I was not delusional... But really, the ride must've been re-tracked... it was that good! In all my years of visiting this park, I've never seen grizzly run this good! (Rode one in the front seat and once in the middle). Ricochet and Hurler were closed for the night (not sure if they were closed for the night or during all of fright fest... I hope KD didn't just cut staffing just because (that would be disappointing). We did some more mazes (i must say all of the mazes felt like that had only 5 monsters in them.. they were desolate...at least they were free). We then finished the night with some amazing rides at I305. I was not allowed to ride more than 2 times in a row on i305. Ride ops forced us to walk around for safety reasons. On this ride, I can appreciate it because I see the toll it takes on the human body. My ride partner completely blacked out on the bottom of the drop during our second consecutive ride. His body went limp ( I thought he was playing) but he really blacked out. My only gripe was that on the last ride of the night. My party and I were on the train before the last one (so we had one more ride before we would have to walk around). When we returned to the station the platform was empty except for the front row and the last row. Essentially everyone on my train could have ridden one more time. The op was very rude (not the same one from earlier) and said "no re-rides for the last ride of the night". Despite the fact that only 4 people would be on the last train. He said they never allow re-rides for the last ride and said he would call security if everyone did not leave. I did not understand the need to be so excessive to all the patrons. Not just my group but to all of the guest who were inquiring the logic behind kicking us all off when we all clearly could have ridden again. It was a unfortunate ending to the night! But oh well... we made the best of our 4 hours there and headed home. I just wanted to share my funny story about riding i305 in a downpour.

[GwaziBSRider1]

^ I rode I-305 once in a drizzle, and it was horribly painful. I can't imagine what it would have been like in a torrential downpour! Your ride on Dominator reminds me of my first ride on it (back when it was Batman Knight Flight at Six Flags Worlds of Adventure!). It was pouring down rain and I had a front seat ride. Up to that point in my life, it was the most painful rain ride I had ever experienced.

[cfc]

Hurler is closed during Haunt because the Club Blood maze is inside the structure (too noisy when it runs). Not sure why they'd close Ricochet, though.

[coasterbill]

Ricochet was probably having a mechanical issue. Hurler closes at 5PM during Haunt for the reason cfc mentioned but if for some reason you want to ride it it's always open earlier in the day.