Intimidator305 Posted June 1, 2013 Share Posted June 1, 2013 ^ The park has a goal to have the whole park asphalt-free and only have pavers eventually. This season they installed the pavers all throughout the new Planet Snoopy into the Grove and to the Congo entrance. The past several offseasons they have done a nice job of getting rid of a significant amount of asphalt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
palmerleeberry Posted June 1, 2013 Share Posted June 1, 2013 I went back to Kings Dominion last Sunday and had a good day despite the park being crowded as it was ( What did you expect: it was a hot, sunny day in the middle of Memorial Weekend? ). I got to ride a total of 26 rides, including four rides on Windseeker! And now it's time for some observations: QUESTION - If the Hurler coaster is such a bad coaster, then why did I see a long line? I rode in the back ( On that day, I rode in the back of all the coasters. ) and I didn't think the coaster was bad at all. The ride attendants at The Volcano should get a compliment on how they handled the fast pass/regular riders situation on when to release them to go to the station. I know what I was doing when I decided to get in line to ride The Volcano later in the day ( I timed myself on how long it took before I got on the ride - the results will appeat later ), and noticed that there was also a line with the fast passers ( a short line, but a line nevertheless. ). The ride attendant was releasing those that were waiting in a 1 to 3 ratio ( a total of 32 riders or two trains were released after a few minutes - at least 8 from fast pass line and 24 from regular line). Overall, I waited 75 minutes to board The Volcano while I'm sure that those in fast pass waited at least 15 minutes. Didn't ride the Intimidator 305 due to the long lines and running only one train. If I was from far away and knowing it may be years before I can go back to Kings Dominion, then I would wait in line. But Kings Dominion is my home park and I have a CEDAR FAIR PLATINUM PASS, so I decided to skip this one and come back another day. Besides, I waited 75 minutes to get on Volcano and didn't want to wait another 75 minutes to board The Intimidator. Did I mentioned that I rode Windseeker four times? And to think a few years ago I was against this ride being placed in the park. Try riding Windseeker at nighttime for an out-of-this world riding experience. I did - twice! Don't call Woodstock Express a "kiddie coaster" because this coaster has the props and the chops to be a thrill ride with the speeds the trains seem to have. Thank goodness for seatbeats. Avalanche had THREE trains running! Methinks they finally got the "Canada" car up and running. Oh, and I'll say it again like I did from an earlier post: AVALANCHE IS CELEBRATING ITS 25th YEAR OF ENTERTAINING RIDERS OF ALL AGES AND MAKING BOBSLEDS COOL AGAIN!!! SO RIDE AVALANCHE AND SEE WHY THIS COASTER IS COOL!!! A miracle happened while I was in line to ride Lucy's Tugboat. I am an adult, but I need at least one child to ride with. I could have exited the ride in anger, but I happily stayed in line hoping to find some kiddie to ride with. I didn't have to wait long; behind me were three little kids, including one little one that needed an adult to ride with, but no adults were with them. So those three rode with me and we all lived happily ever after. I'm hoping to come back later in June to catch the two shows that will finally be running: The Wheels show and "On Broadway" show. I hope they were worth the wait. THIRTY-FIVE YEARS OF VISITING kINGS dOMINION - AND COUNTING!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dumakey1212 Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 Could somebody tell me if there is early entrance at KD? I'm considering a trip later this summer coming from Indianapolis and would want to make use of my platinum pass for early entrance if they have it. Is it at 9:00 or 9:30 if they have it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intimidator305 Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 Unfortunately the park does not really have early ride time for Gold and Platinum passholders like at parks such as Kings Island and Cedar Point... however you can enter the park at 10:00 and International Street is open (all the shops, restaurants, Bezerker, Eiffel Tower, Dominator) and at 10:20 you can "enter the bottom of the park" aka the center walkway at 10:20 getting a 10 minute head start to rides before the rest of the guests can. Fingers crossed for early ride time coming to KD within the next few seasons... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
palmerleeberry Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 ^I remember a few years ago when those that had the gold passes could enter the water park earlier than the rest of the visitors. Plus, there were early ride times on Volcano. But this was when Kings Dominion was known as Paramount's Kings Dominion and it's a pity that Cedar Fair won't reinstate that priviledge for the Gold and Platinum pass holders inside Kings Dominion. There is another discussion I would like to bring up: Kings Dominion has this tradition of introducting a new ride or attraction every year. Since Planet Snoopy is considered a major attraction ( and a much needed one to boot ), it might be in 2015 before another major attraction comes our way. So what do you think Kings Dominion might do next season that will be minor, but will draw crowds? Here is my speculation: First, take out Wave Swinger and put a brand new type of flat ride that will fit comfortablely in its place. One ride I believe would be perfect is a ride by Chance called "Freestyle" - ( http://www.chancerides.com/rides/freestyle.html ). Then how about adding another ride to Planet Snoopy called "Sally's Swingset"? Dorney Park has one. Then finally, add another showplace in the Congo area ( Kings Dominion could use another showplace). Those additions would be great in the next season, but this is just speculation and I have no idea what Kings Dominion would do. How do the rest of you Kings Dominion lovers out there feel? 35 YEARS OF VISITING kINGS dOMINION - AND STILL COUNTING!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azza29 Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 Looks like my plan to visit the park tomorrow will be washed out. Option B is a credit run on Sunday, is this still a reasonable idea given Coasting for Kids is happening? I don't mind paying for fast lane as I'll probably only have 3-4 hours at best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 ^If they run Coasting for Kids like they did last year, they'll use those riders to fill empty seats; so, it shouldn't affect your day at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbrubakerjr Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 ^If they run Coasting for Kids like they did last year, they'll use those riders to fill empty seats; so, it shouldn't affect your day at all. Speaking of which...how does it work? Split into groups? How do the rides work? Thanks for the help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 ^They explain it all at the park, but last year we went in through the Fast Lane entrances. It's an hour each on six different rides. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddie200330 Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 I heard today where KD is closed due to weather......CRAZY!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azza29 Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 ^Yup. Thought we might head in and try to get a few rides in but they are shut. Fortunately I checked the park's FB page before we left. Udvar-Hazy centre made for a decent alternative... not every day you get to see a space shuttle and the Concorde! Didn't help my coaster count much though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraroc Posted June 9, 2013 Share Posted June 9, 2013 I LOVE Kings Dominion so much, but the entire Congo area just seems messy. Avalanche, Flight of Fear and I305 have absolutley NOTHING to do with Africa. I say what they should do is re-theme Anaconda to a NASCAR theme and call it something like "The Test Track" (Ideally, brand new Vekoma built trains with more comfortable OSTRs like on Sidewinder at Hershey that look like little DeLoreans, but that's just my idea of a perfect world.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheInsider Posted June 11, 2013 Share Posted June 11, 2013 Hey guys, just wondering if you guys could help me out a little. Heading to KD for the first time next week and was wondering if anybody knew of any discounts on admission to the park. Bring a coke can, online coupons or anything of that nature? I found a discount on their website awhile ago but It would have needed to be used before I actually arrived for vacation so that didn't work. I'll be with my wife and 18 mo. old so we'll be doing a "baby swap" for the rides and I don't mind waiting in line so it is really the cheapest entry ticket I'm interested in and not any flash pass or anything. Anything else I should know about this park or how the crowds will be next week? (6/15 to 6/21) Any info you guys provide is greatly appreciated... thank you so much in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voxelmatic Posted June 11, 2013 Share Posted June 11, 2013 ^If you purchase your tickets 3 or more days in advance online, you get about a 15$ discount. Also, all the schools around here are out then, but you can do the park in less than 5 hours on a weekday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheInsider Posted June 11, 2013 Share Posted June 11, 2013 ^ Awesome. Thank you very much for your help. And I think we will be going on a week day so it's great to hear we'll be able to fit everything in! Thank again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thepoint4life23 Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 I was at the park on Monday, and the park was dead, i think the longest i waited was like 20 min for front row on Intimidator and Volcano i loved both rides. Intimidator is a crazy ride lots of G's. I really enjoyed Volcano Just a really fun ride. What i want to know is what all did they change when they fix intimidator after the first year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonsaiisuperstar Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 I drove down from Cincinnati on Monday night and spent all day Tuesday at King's Dominion. Weather was perfect and crowd's were very small. A huge rain storm came and washed the rest of them away. I bought fast lane plus before i left for my trip, but did not need it as i305 was a walk on all day! Speaking of i305....INTENSE! Whoa! I got 35 rides on it, greyed out 32 times and completely blacked out three times. This is a serious machine. I loved it. My new favorite. I loved it so much that I went to Busch Gardens on Wednesday, stayed 3 hrs to get the coaster credits and then left and drove back to KD to ride i305 some more. Crowds were bigger on Wed and I only got 4 more rides. Dominator was awesome. Forceful and snappy. Great layout, great paint, nice speed. It felt like Gatekeeper to me without the wings. Anaconda was your normal Arrow looper. (I prefer Vortex at KI). Hurler was painful. If it was as fast a Son of Beast it would bruise your internal organs. Ricochet was closed and I did not get a ride. Grizzly was Ok and had a nice head chopper element that took me by surprise. Rebel Yell was smooth and nice. (Much better than the racer at KI) Backlot Stunt Coaster and Flight of Fear are the same as KI so not much to compare. King's Dominion has Flying Eagles so I rode them a bunch. The KI flying eagles were removed in 2004 and I'm still sad about it. The Berserker is AWESOME! Why does KI only get a dumb back and forth ship and KD's Berserker does 360's?? Also, that crypt ride with the flips,fire and water is sadistic. I had an excellent time and would drive back again in a heartbeat for more i305 rides. You all have a world class coaster down there. Great park. Very clean. Friendly people and staff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonsaiisuperstar Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 Oh, Volcano Blaster was thrilling in the front row and rough in the back. It was Ok i guess. The supports for it were a tangled mess and it would be more aesthetically pleasing with a better looking support structure. Shockwave was fun! The first drop and loop were smooth and great, the rest of the ride was painful. Not many of those operating these days so glad to have gotten a ride on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
netdvn Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 Were you the one at Busch wearing that Bat t-shirt on Wednesday? You should've stayed at Busch longer if you only spent a few hours there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonsaiisuperstar Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 Yes, that was me! Were you the one that commented on the shirt? If so, small world! Busch Gardens was very pretty and well maintained but seemed to be geared more for older people and children. The coasters were all good and fun, just not jaw dropping. Verbolten was interesting theming wise. The Bat t-shirt gained extra power being at the former site of Big Bad Wolf! Alpengeist has the best name ever, but is kind of forceless but fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
netdvn Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 Yep that was me The park is definitely geared more towards families than thrillseekers like KD is, but it's still an awesome park. I'd personally recommend coming back and staying longer to see the shows and sights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megametal Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 So... Has anyone heard a peep about what KD may be doing next year in terms of ride additions/removals? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bull24471 Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 What exactly was causing the damage to the trains? The the sheer force or was it something with the shaping/snap? I believe the track put too much friction on the wheels, causing them to basically melt away. Pretty much, yup. It's the combination of the high forces and the duration they're applied - plenty of coasters pull 4-5G's, very few of them do so for more than a second or two at a time. I305 pulls that straight through that entire turn, and before the reprofile that was probably somewhere around like 7-8 seconds worth. Now it's probably closer to 4, and then the forces begin to decrease a bit as the train loses speed. It's still enough to force all the blood in your brain down and cause the greyout, but it's done wonders for the wheel longevity! Reason why on warmer days there is water sprayed onto the track between the brake run and station...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TunaSled Posted June 23, 2013 Share Posted June 23, 2013 I drove down from Cincinnati on Monday night and spent all day Tuesday at King's Dominion. Weather was perfect and crowd's were very small. A huge rain storm came and washed the rest of them away. I bought fast lane plus before i left for my trip, but did not need it as i305 was a walk on all day! Speaking of i305....INTENSE! Whoa! I got 35 rides on it, greyed out 32 times and completely blacked out three times. This is a serious machine. I loved it. My new favorite. I loved it so much that I went to Busch Gardens on Wednesday, stayed 3 hrs to get the coaster credits and then left and drove back to KD to ride i305 some more. Crowds were bigger on Wed and I only got 4 more rides. Dominator was awesome. Forceful and snappy. Great layout, great paint, nice speed. It felt like Gatekeeper to me without the wings. Anaconda was your normal Arrow looper. (I prefer Vortex at KI). Hurler was painful. If it was as fast a Son of Beast it would bruise your internal organs. Ricochet was closed and I did not get a ride. Grizzly was Ok and had a nice head chopper element that took me by surprise. Rebel Yell was smooth and nice. (Much better than the racer at KI) Backlot Stunt Coaster and Flight of Fear are the same as KI so not much to compare. King's Dominion has Flying Eagles so I rode them a bunch. The KI flying eagles were removed in 2004 and I'm still sad about it. The Berserker is AWESOME! Why does KI only get a dumb back and forth ship and KD's Berserker does 360's?? Also, that crypt ride with the flips,fire and water is sadistic. I had an excellent time and would drive back again in a heartbeat for more i305 rides. You all have a world class coaster down there. Great park. Very clean. Friendly people and staff. We'll be there early August and posts like this get me reeeal pumped... I'm a CP and KI veteran and this will be my first trip to KD. Very excited! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonsaiisuperstar Posted June 23, 2013 Share Posted June 23, 2013 Glad it got you pumped up Tunasled! It's a very nice park and i305 is as good as it gets. I wish King's Island had it so I could ride it everyday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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