Kings Dominion (KD) Discussion Thread

[XYZ]

I was more saying that it won't be very exciting until the first tower piece is put into place in Spring (supposedly). Building the foundation isn't very exciting in my opinion.

[KDCOASTERFAN]

I was more saying that it won't be very exciting until the first tower piece is put into place in Spring (supposedly). Building the foundation isn't very exciting in my opinion.

 

I have a feeling that they'll start sooner than that,especially if they hope to have it ready for opening day.

[larrygator]

I found this interesting article in an Alexandria newspaper that talks about Kings Dominion being behind a law making it standard practice for schools in Virginia to open after Labor Day, unless the school gets an exemption.

 

http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?article=356226&paper=59&cat=104

 

Dominion Over School Calendars

Northern Virginia school officials ready to fight for opening schools before Labor Day.

 

By Michael Lee Pope

Thursday, December 01, 2011

 

For a quarter century, King’s Dominion has exercised a strange power over school divisions across Virginia. In 1986, operatives for the Doswell amusement park successfully shepherded legislation through the General Assembly that prevented schools from opening before Labor Day. School officials can apply for waivers, but that doesn’t mean they’ll be given clearance. Earlier this year, the Virginia Board of Education was on the verge of rejecting an application from the Alexandria City Public School system when it was withdrawn.

 

Now, with the General Assembly session ready to open in January, school officials across Northern Virginia are ready to renew the fight against the King’s Dominion Law.

"It just doesn’t make any sense," said Libby Garvey, a member of the Arlington School Board. "We need flexibility to increase student achievement, and we can’t do that if we’re in a vice."

 

The hospitality industry is ready to defend the King’s Dominion Law, as they do almost every year in Richmond. Leading the charge will be the Virginia Hospitality and Travel Association, which represents King’s Dominion and other amusement parks that benefit financially from public schools starting after Labor Day. The association estimates that shortening the tourism season would forgo spending by about $274 million and decrease wages and benefits by about $104 million.

 

"We’ve never seen any kind of difference in academic achievement in terms of starting before Labor Day," said Katie Hellbbush, director of government affairs for the association. "But studies have shown a distinct change in tourism."

 

THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY has spent more than $200,000 in the last 15 years contributing to Republicans and Democrats in Richmond. Top recipients in Northern Virginia include $4,500 to Del. David Albo (R-42), $2,050 to Del. Scott Lingamfelter (R-31), $2,000 to former Del. Vince Callahan (R-34), $2,000 to Del. Tim Hugo (R-40) and $1,750 to state Sen. Dick Saslaw (D-35). But votes don’t always follow the money. Albo, for example, said he’ll be voting to overturn the law this year.

 

"Now that we have the Standards of Learning, it’s really important to give the schools time to prepare the students to take the test," said Albo. "You can’t have it both ways."

 

Two years ago, Del. Adam Ebbin (D-49) introduced a bill that would have allowed school with high rates of poverty be exempted from the Labor Day restrictions. That failed, but Ebbin is undeterred. Alexandria’s experience being essentially denied a waiver has galvanized local school officials to put pressure on Alexandria City Council members, who added the item to their legislative package this year. Now Ebbin says he’s going to take another crack at it, introducing a bill that would give school divisions the ability to start school whenever they want, regardless of poverty statistics.

 

"This is not going to be an easy bill to pass," said Ebbin. "But I feel strongly about local school divisions having autonomy."

 

SCHOOL OFFICIALS say momentum is on their side this year because the Virginia School Boards Association has identified the issue as a top priority. It’s an issue that’s a shared frustration across Northern Virginia, especially the easternmost divisions that can’t get the weather-related waivers. Alexandria’s failed attempt was to get an "innovative program" instead of a weather-related waiver, which became a problem when the state education officials determined starting before Labor Day wasn’t required to carry out the innovative program Alexandria officials were outlining. Fairfax County considered applying for a waiver but abandoned the idea after considering the prospects of trying to fight the system.

 

"The state is flat out wrong," said Alexandria Superintendent Morton Sherman. "It’s just downright silly to say that schools can start early if they get a lot of snow but can’t if they want to help teachers."

 

This year, the effort is supported by the Virginia Education Association, the Virginia Association of School Superintendents as well as a handful of Northern Virginia jurisdictions.

 

"The big hurdle is going to be having the business community not as concerned as it’s been in the past," said Michael Molloy, director of government relations for Fairfax County Public Schools. "It’s really about persuading legislators that this change is needed to help student achievement."

[megametal]

Yeah, makes you wonder what would happen to regional theme parks if we go to an all year school year like some would have us do...

[megametal]

Does anyone know how many acres the actual park uses? I tried researching and all the sites said 400 acres, which I can't believe. Maybe with the parking lot it's 400 acres, but in no way has KD ever seemed bigger than Cedar Point to me.

[djw44]

I believe it, the park is pretty huge.

[cfc]

And, thus, the thread has come full circle.

[megametal]

^Indeed, I remember the thread started talking about undeveloped land. Oddly enough, it was not my intention to restart the thread.

[KDCOASTERFAN]

Does anyone know how many acres the actual park uses? I tried researching and all the sites said 400 acres, which I can't believe. Maybe with the parking lot it's 400 acres, but in no way has KD ever seemed bigger than Cedar Point to me.

 

Don't forget,KD has a lot of undeveloped land at their disposal.

[cfc]

I feel that I've entered some sort of time loop here. Therefore, I'm going to break it by mentioning Windseeker and Dinosaurs Alive. Done.

[Intimidator305]

I totally believe KD owns 400 acres. They don't even use half of it... The "shaded" regions are the areas KD owns.

 

"BG Europe Fan" photo from KDFansite.

 

As for WindSeeker and Dinosaurs Alive...

 

Last I heard, WindSeeker's concrete base/pad is being worked on (from Coaster Crew).

 

I've heard all the dinosaurs are in place and assembled (only took 2 weeks to install) so the company is out and the park does the rest of the landscaping, paths, signage, ect. Also, it has been said that instead of doing a "Dino Store" crappy looking tent like at KI, KD is transforming the hardly used Grizzly Arcade into the "Dino Store" for tickets/merchandise. It should look better and they just have to change Grizzly's exit ramp for this to be done. That just makes me worried about the future of the Haunt maze "The Asylum". Finally, after seeing Coaster Crew's last update, it seems like there will be some unique angles for photos in the early spring/late fall for shots of Grizzly within the Dinosaurs Alive pathways.

[megametal]

I totally believe KD owns 400 acres. They don't even use half of it... The "shaded" regions are the areas KD owns.

 

[attachment=0]KDmap.jpg[/attachment]

 

 

Okay, that makes more sense. It does get quite confusing when seemingly parks use different estimates on park size. KD always says "over 400 acres" and then you have Carowinds using anywhere between 74 and 300something. I guess some include unused land or parking lots or both... some just count the area of the actual park. I asked the question because I'm planning a trip to SFSTL, HW, WoF, and SFGAm next summer and was wondering about their sizes in comparison to KD. Didn't want to create a thread asking the question though. SFGAm looked about the same size as KD, but I looked it up and it was just around 100 acres.

[KDCOASTERFAN]

I totally believe KD owns 400 acres. They don't even use half of it... The "shaded" regions are the areas KD owns.

 

[attachment=0]KDmap.jpg[/attachment]

 

As for WindSeeker and Dinosaurs Alive...

 

Last I heard, WindSeeker's concrete base/pad is being worked on (from Coaster Crew).

 

I've heard all the dinosaurs are in place and assembled (only took 2 weeks to install) so the company is out and the park does the rest of the landscaping, paths, signage, ect. Also, it has been said that instead of doing a "Dino Store" crappy looking tent like at KI, KD is transforming the hardly used Grizzly Arcade into the "Dino Store" for tickets/merchandise. It should look better and they just have to change Grizzly's exit ramp for this to be done. That just makes me worried about the future of the Haunt maze "The Asylum". Finally, after seeing Coaster Crew's last update, it seems like there will be some unique angles for photos in the early spring/late fall for shots of Grizzly within the Dinosaurs Alive pathways.

 

With Grizzly's exit you don't have to go through the arcade to get back on the midway....just use the same path that you used to get to the entrance.

[Coaster_Fanatic]

Where exactly is the KD Campground? I haven't really tried to search for it.

[eddie200330]

Ok, here goes my best.....The red X marks the farthest back/right side of the parking lot away from I-95 if you are standing at the front gate with your back to the park. The red circle is the campground. They have shuttles that transport you to and from the park. I have never stayed there, but have at the hotel right at the park entrance. We got to ride through the campground to pick up people and it looks very nice. They have cabins that I think we might try to utilize the next time we go down that way.

[BigDipper 80]

As far as campgrounds go, KD's is fairly nice and very reasonably priced given its location, especially with the 10% discount offered to passholders, Good Sam members, or military vets. The public bathrooms are a bit dated, but they serve their purpose and if you have an RV you'll probably be using your own toilet as it is.

[Coaster_Fanatic]

I totally believe KD owns 400 acres. They don't even use half of it... The "shaded" regions are the areas KD owns.

 

[attachment=0]KDmap.jpg[/attachment]

 

Would any land on the other side of the railroad tracks be used? I don't see any future development in that area, except for maybe some kind of hotel.

[KDCOASTERFAN]

I totally believe KD owns 400 acres. They don't even use half of it... The "shaded" regions are the areas KD owns.

 

[attachment=0]KDmap.jpg[/attachment]

 

Would any land on the other side of the railroad tracks be used? I don't see any future development in that area, except for maybe some kind of hotel.

 

Good question as Doswell Rd. runs alongside the park as well.Remember how much hell some folks got for parking alongside that road to film I305 testing last year?

[Coaster_Fanatic]

 

"This is going to be AMAZING!"

Edited January 6, 2012 by jedimaster1227

[Intimidator305]

First piece of Windseeker is up!

 

http://twitter.com/#!/KingsDominionVA/status/160426025979883520/photo/1

[XYZ]

It looks like WindSeeker is in a really good location.

[Intimidator305]

^ It is.

 

Windseeker will finally give people a reason to go to that end of the Grove again. It has been the ghost town section of the park since Hypersonic XLC left. This will also take up much more room than El Dorado did, which is hopefully going to fill up more of the "asphalt jungle"...

[KDCOASTERFAN]

Can't really tell but is that the hurler exit ramp in the foreground? if so it looks like it may make the queue for windseeker,at least judging by the fact that the person taking the photo was standing in it to get the shot.

[Intimidator305]

^ No. The ramp in the foreground is the path that wraps around Extreme SkyFlyer. The base of the Windseeker tower is right where the entrance & exit ramps began for El Dorado, so it should take up quite a bit more room (which is great) of the asphalt in that area... hopefully KD gets a cool Windseeker sign like CP and KI did!

[KDCOASTERFAN]

^ No. The ramp in the foreground is the path that wraps around Extreme SkyFlyer. The base of the Windseeker tower is right where the entrance & exit ramps began for El Dorado, so it should take up quite a bit more room (which is great) of the asphalt in that area... hopefully KD gets a cool Windseeker sign like CP and KI did!

 

Ohh I'm sure they will.

 

I'm not happy about the decision to add fastlane to the park one bit as this will make waits for the already busy rides even worse.