Kings Dominion (KD) Discussion Thread

[A.J.]

Don't feel bad. Studying my [censored] off for an exam kept me away from Phunfest last year.

[Intimidator305]

From the Kings Dominion Official Facebook page:

‎1039 Vampires! KD officially holds the World Record for Most People Dressed like Vampires! thanks to everyone that came out to SLAUGHTER the record!

 

The original record was 354.

[KingsDominionFanatic]

We demolished the old record.

[KDCOASTERFAN]

We demolished the old record.

 

Already saw that on KD's facebook.

 

How's the area for windseeker looking so far?

[braztaz]

I don't think they'll be doing much work on it this season since people still have to get through that area, and when I was there last week there wasn't any progress.

[xmichellex]

Hey guys...

 

I'm getting close to booking a last minute trip to VA around the 20th of Oct. to hit up BGW and KD. I know BGW gets busy on Saturdays so I was going to go there first and then do KD on Sat & Sun - figured I'd give KD 2 days, especially since it has more coasters.

 

Obviously the haunt stuff is going on so there will be crowds, but is it possible for me to get on all the coasters at least once over the weekend? Are all the coasters open during the haunt?

[cfc]

^I think only Hurler is closed during Haunt, and Ghoster Coaster (the kiddie wooden coaster) runs during the day, but they close the kids section shortly before Haunt begins.

Edited October 4, 2011 by cfc

[Homeboy23]

Flight of Fear will also close for Haunt, I believe the two Chuck mentioned and Fof close at 5pm.

[xmichellex]

Thanks! Good to know!

[Synshine]

Flight of Fear will also close for Haunt, I believe the two Chuck mentioned and Fof close at 5pm.

 

It makes sense, they have a maze in the FoF queue building.

[KDCOASTERFAN]

El Dorado is now closed & walled up while deconstruction of the ride is taking place....looks like windseeker will occupy it's space after all as I thought it would go more near the spot where HSXLC's vertical tower was so as to allow more clearance for the swings.

[Intimidator305]

 

I'm going to HAUNT XI tonight and tomorrow! 6 scarezones, 10 mazes, and night rides on 305... YES!

Edited October 7, 2011 by cfc

[braztaz]

Windseeker will look amazing in that spot. In my opinion, it's the best place they could've put it.

[KDCOASTERFAN]

Windseeker will look amazing in that spot. In my opinion, it's the best place they could've put it.

 

I'd have to agree,my guess is the queue will go around that front path & it leaves the XLC spot open to future development.

 

I'm going tomorrow to check out haunt,anyone know if they've got the sliders on central stalkway this year?

[Intimidator305]

I'm going tomorrow to check out haunt,anyone know if they've got the sliders on central stalkway this year?

 

I went last night and am going back today (trip report will be coming soon) and there were sliders all around the Eiffel Tower (it isn't even technically a scarezone). It is like the sliders got their own section this year!

[Philrad71]

That sucks about them removing El Dorado as I always liked the looks of that ride - only rode it once at Geauga Lake & thought it was quite fun.

 

Any word on if they are relocating, selling or are they just scrapping?

[braztaz]

^They had it up for sale, I don't know if there were any buyers though.

[cfc]

I thought El Dorado was "meh," at best--not particularly sorry to see it go.

[eddie200330]

I thought El Dorado was "meh," at best--not particularly sorry to see it go.

 

Hersheypark had the Conestoga ride and for some I reason I always remembered it to have more of a punch than El Dorado??? Basically they were the same ride were they not?

[Nozzy]

Had a great visit yesterday. The park was empty until about 2:00, when crowds for the Haunt started to arrive. Most rides had full queues but the crews were doing a good job of moving them through- they even put the third train on Dominator.

 

I had never been to Haunt before, and I enjoyed the atmosphere- so much fog, and the lights on the tower were awesome.

While I am a pretty big chicken, I enjoyed the scarezones I had to pass through for rides, and did actively go through Ironworx, and thought it was pretty cool. The first time through most actors were more talkative than scaring or going after other groups, but on the return I had a pretty good fright. I really liked it.

 

I must also finally recant everything I've said in the past about Grizzly being a complete waste- I finally got the night ride in the back that Skycoastin Steve recommended months ago and was blown away. Thanks Steve!

[Austin11KD]

^ I am glad that you enjoyed Grizzly! It is probably the best woodie at the park, and I have never experienced it at night, and I am sure it is amazing! I am going for Haunt on the 29th and maybe I can stay for night rides on I-305 and Volcano. Maybe Grizzly if I feel like it

[coasterfreak101]

So, as a chicken, I should be able to make it through the scare zones without too many tears shed? Because they're the only things keeping me from night rides on Grizzly and I305 myself!

[braztaz]

^All you gotta keep thinking is that most of them are just teenagers you could scare any day in real life

[Intimidator305]

Well October 7th 2011 finally came, the day I’ve been waiting months for, and that is because it was my planned trip to Halloween Haunt XI. I figured it would be a great way to spend my birthday weekend, and It looks like I was right. Anyways, I must admit Kings Dominion somehow outdid themselves once again. I thought last year was great, but this year was even better! For those of you that do not know, Halloween Haunt XI has 10 mazes, 6 scarezones, and 4 shows so in total that is 20 terrifying attractions and I was fortunate enough to get to do all of them except for the show “The Night Shift” in the Kings Dominion Theater. Halloween Haunt XI featured 2 new mazes, 3 new scarezones, and 3 new shows.

 

It all started out when I hit the road from Roanoke at noon, stopped for lunch at McDonalds, and got to my hotel in Glen Allen. Before hitting up the park we grabbed some dinner at Chilis and headed up I-95 to Kings Dominion. We got there just minutes before opening and I was already excited by all the Halloween Haunt flags, announcements, and lights in the front-gate plaza. We got to go in and the night officially began with…

 

Overlord’s Resurrection (show):

Typical opening as always, but this year KD had new LED strobes on the “Kings Dominion” sign, a huge LED lit up skull behind the sign, and the Eiffel Tower lights went with the music during the show. KD uses the Snoopy’s Starlight Spectacular lights on the Eiffel Tower for Halloween Haunt with it glowing red with the eyeballs up top. I love when it is over and all the monsters start chasing after the guests! 4/5 stars, a bit too short.

 

Next, we hit up a night ride on Volcano since Volcano never doesn’t have a line! Night rides on Volcano are always nice with the launch in the tunnel being almost completely back with no lights on the back turn.

 

The Ruins (scarezone):

This scarezone fits the theme of the Congo very well including the music that they play for it. There were great props in the area as always with a few good scareactors. They have lots of hiding spots in all the trees in front of Volcano so it was nice to see them use them for their advantage. 3/5 as there weren’t a ton of scareactors.

 

Outbreak: The Evolution (NEW maze):

This was SO MUCH better than Alien Outpost with new props, better music, better scares, and awesome lights. It also doesn’t feel like you are walking through a queue line anymore. 4/5 stars.

 

Doll Factory (maze):

Just as good as last year, but the competition has gotten better so it is no longer the best maze in the park, but the last room still is nothing short of amazing. Lots of characters within the maze and I got two unexpected scares in here. 4/5 stars.

 

CarnEvil (scarezone):

TONS of decorations, props, and scareactors in this area. I still love how they play the creepy songs from Rollercoaster (1977 movie) that partly took place at KD. I also thought it was a nice touch how they changed all the lightbulbs in the lamps to orange, purple, and red this year. I also like how big this scarezone is. 5/5 stars even if I’m not afraid of clowns at all.

 

Blood Drums (NEW show):

Not bad, but not great. It definitely is a show that is just meant to be watched for a few minutes as you are passing your way through The Grove. I must say it is better than Freak Show Deluxe which used to be on the stage and the theme (blood) goes well with Slaughter House right next door. 2/5 stars due to lots of repetition within the show.

 

Next, we hit up Drop Tower which was so cool to see all the fog underneath you and the Virginia State Fair right next door to KD over at the new fairgrounds. Plus, any night rides on Drop Tower are awesome do to all the lights around KD and nothing but the darkness of Virginia woods and countryside around you.

 

Slaughter House (maze):

Just the theme of this one is disgustingly awesome. I love this version of Slaughter House more than the old one and it is just an overall great maze with scareactors who tried pretty well. The room with the heater is definitely a nice touch as well. 4/5 stars.

 

Toxic Plague (maze):

About the same as last year with a few new details (lots of freaky feeling things on the floor). I love the theme of this maze with all the little details throughout the whole thing. What made this maze improve from a 3/5 in 2010 stars to a 5/5 stars for 2011 for me were the insanely energetic scareactors within this maze, they were all coming after our group with all of their might. There were a ton of scareactors in here too. 5/5 stars and hats off to the crew!

 

Club Blood (maze):

Oh how I want to love Club Blood as always but just can’t admit that I can this year. I really thought the revamped maze was much better theme wise with lots of details but the scares were very limited I hate to say. They had lots of scareactors in here (so that wasn’t the problem), but it only seemed like a few of them actually tried to scare our group. The ones who tried did fantastic, but the majority of them just stood there. There were hot girls in there though, so it automatically gets a 3/5 stars. Hope I just caught it at a bad time.

 

IronWorX (NEW scarezone):

Absolutely love it! TONS of decorations with awesome costumes. Weren’t a ton of scares, but the props and the amount of scareactors that follow you were fantastic. Awesome use of Snoopy’s Starlight Spectacular lasers with a good job covering all the comic book strips with props. Best scarezone of the night. 5/5 stars.

 

Uprising (NEW show):

Nice props, nice costumes, but non-Halloween songs. Dancing was fantastic with nice usage of the props on stage, but it was lip sung… The new LEDs they put on that stage this year made it look very cool in the fog as well. 3/5 stars for lack of Halloween songs… atleast do Thrilller!

 

CornStalkers (NEW maze):

Very long with lots of scareactors. Very unique and the scareactors’ costumes blend in so well. No complaints from me. 5/5 stars.

 

Necropolis (NEW scarezone):

Improvement over the old “The Harvest”, but still not top notch like CarnEvil and IronWorX. The change from red & orange lighting to blue & green was cool as well. Nice large cemetery props thoughout but only a few scareactors. 3/5, just needs a few more scares.

 

Camp Killauee (maze):

They have decorations throughout the maze so that isn’t the problem, it is just so long that they need more scareactors within it. It is very spread out. Maybe they should just make the maze shorter so the scareactors are closer together. Still better than the old Blackbeard’s Revenge though. 2/5 stars.

 

Blue Ridge Bloodbath (maze):

How long has this been here? I know you really couldn’t retheme this but how about a zombie construction zone like the scarezone KI used to have? That would go well kind of with the cars. It just needs something, it is getting old and the scares were limited. Easily the worst maze of the night, but still not completely awful. 2/5 stars, needs work for 2012.

 

The Asylum (maze):

Wow, a great improvement over last year. I love how all the walls are either chain link fences or mirrors except for one room *SPOILER* the completely white room with the rusty/bloody/metal bed in the middle of the room with all the strobes is completely insane. The scareactor with the whip was doing a fantastic job crawling on the floor whipping the floor and walls. It freaked me out. 4/5 I loved it!

 

The Lair (NEW scarezone):

Short, but better than nothing in the arbor. The theme fits in there well and they had some nice props. The scareactors (Vampires) needed to wake up though and actually scare. Walking around making weird faces didn’t have me wanting to run out screaming. The beating heart noises were nice though. It was also nice to see typical vampires in Haunt instead of just the Club Blood ones. 3/5 because of the shortness and lack of scareactor effort, but still okay.

 

Medieval Macabre (maze):

The only wait more than 3 minutes of the night (45 minute line), but I believe it was because of the Fright Fight (right next door) was just let out and everyone went to the closest maze. We decided to wait it out because we had done every maze but this one and it was one of the better mazes last year with a ton of scareactors. This year it wasn’t as good unfortunately. It still had a lot of scareactors but they weren’t trying their hardest. Now I could blame this on me not liking the maze because of the line, but it wasn’t nowhere near as good as some of the others. 3/5 stars, it would have gotten 2 from me, but the outside of the maze looks incredible this year along with the addition of a few minor details.

 

Next, we went to ride Intimidator 305 and it had a line of about 15 minutes thanks to one train operations. However, I did get to ride it twice in all the fog in the pitch black. Every coaster enthusiast should ride 305 in complete darkness one time in their lives.

 

Feary Tales (scarezone):

Short but alright. Lots of scareactors but they just seemed tired since it was really late. 3/5 as the creepy giggling baby music still freaks the crap out of me.

 

Finally, we ended the night by snapping a photo at the front gate and going into the gift shops at the gates. Right before we left, there was one of the funniest moments I’ve ever seen in my life. It was a Tosh.0 or America’s Funniest Home Videos type events where I wish I would have had my camera. Even though International Street just has the venetians (which are fantastic this year), for some reason there were zombies in front of the exit gates. Even the gift shop employees were like “what are they doing up here, I thought this was a safezone?” They were some of the most energetic scareactors of the night! They were chasing everyone out of the park through the turnstiles and quite a bit of people were screaming their lungs off. Back on the funniest moment of the night though… the 3 zombies at the exit ganged up chasing this young woman around the plaza and the woman was terrified screaming and crying. She couldn’t get through the turnstiles so she pushed through really quick and her blue jeans completely ripped off and she had to walk out into the parking lot in her thong… the zombies were so into it, it was hilarious. I kind of felt bad for the girl though, but her family/friends were laughing hysterically at her, haha!

 

We headed back to the hotel and went to bed as we all were extremely tired.

 

Overall we did great on getting almost everything done: (7:00PM -11:30PM)

-All the mazes

-All the scarezones

-3/4 shows

-Volcano

-Drop Tower

-Intimidator 305 x2

 

We woke up the next morning and headed back to the park for opening, to get some pictures and rides in before heading home.

 

We got rides in on some of the favorites on Saturday. (10:30AM -2:00PM)

-Flight of Fear

-Intimidator 305 x 11

-Drop Tower

 

We were completely wiped out thanks to being up late the previous night and riding Intimidator 305 13 times (that takes a toll on your body). So we headed home with a stop by Chick-Fil-A for lunch and got home at 5:30. Plus, it was getting extremely crowded, I haven’t seen the parking lot that full for quite a while and the loads of people were still piling in!

 

Like I said, I must admit Kings Dominion somehow outdid themselves once again. I thought last year was great, but this year was even better! If you have never been to Halloween Haunt at Kings Dominion, this year is the year to do it! Check it out on a Friday or Sunday night though. One of my other friends went this past Saturday and said the lines were completely ridiculous. He said one employee even said a number of 34,000+ people were there.

 

Thanks for reading and sorry I didn’t do a Photo Trip Report, but my camera sucks at night…

[KDCOASTERFAN]

Had a great visit yesterday. The park was empty until about 2:00, when crowds for the Haunt started to arrive. Most rides had full queues but the crews were doing a good job of moving them through- they even put the third train on Dominator.

 

I had never been to Haunt before, and I enjoyed the atmosphere- so much fog, and the lights on the tower were awesome.

While I am a pretty big chicken, I enjoyed the scarezones I had to pass through for rides, and did actively go through Ironworx, and thought it was pretty cool. The first time through most actors were more talkative than scaring or going after other groups, but on the return I had a pretty good fright. I really liked it.

 

I must also finally recant everything I've said in the past about Grizzly being a complete waste- I finally got the night ride in the back that Skycoastin Steve recommended months ago and was blown away. Thanks Steve!

 

By any chance did you see the rather odd breakdown on Dominator last night?A couple of proxy switches in the station got knocked out of place somehow resulting in a setup & shutdown....should known something was up when the train overshot the station & had to be reversed just so they could park for unload.

 

I spent the Whole day sleeping today thanks to getting home at 3:30/4 am sunday morning....we left at about 11:30 saturday night but didn't get out of the lot for a good hour or so.