Kings Dominion (KD) Discussion Thread

[Skyllama]

I was just writing that my one trip to Carowinds was 20 years ago, Thunder Road was in terrible shape even then, and also seemed really badly located. I don't think they would have bothered aligning Windseeker and 3 hills of I305 with Rebel Yell if there was any thought at all of removing the ride, and it would be a big flip-flop to do so now. It's a bit rough right where the latest retracking ends, bit in some ways it's the best ride experience it's ever been. Maybe they took out Thunder Road partially to make KD more unique.

 

Now, the HURLER question...

 

Back at Carowinds 20 years ago, Hurler was actually a pretty solid addition to that park. They had no Grizzly, TR was as described, Vortex was their top steel, ahem ... Hurler was just fun and it was the first time we had a chance to ride one without long lines etc. and was the one pleasant surprise all day. Just to give some proportion.

 

 

It's funny. I was pretty upset when I learned Thunder Road was being removed. Until someone pointed out it was basically the same as Rebel Yell w/ minor differences. Then it was easier to get over.

 

Carowinds 20 years ago is exactly what you described. Hurler was a solid addition mostly because not much else was being offered. Now that I think about it, adding Hurler to KD which already had RY and Grizzly seems kinda strange.

[MScoasters]

No offense, but RMC doesn't build beautiful coasters. They build ugly, mind blowing awesome coasters.

I don't care what she looks like. Is she fun the ride?

That's a question of taste

RMCs are beautiful. No. Matter. What.

I don't think you got it and your age isn't displayed so to be careful I'll just leave it as "agreed!"

I'm 24 not your little 12 year old boy on the forums

I'm a coaster enthusiastic and YES I understand it so don't underestimate me

I just think the actual appearance of RMCs are pretty

[Password121]

No offense, but RMC doesn't build beautiful coasters. They build ugly, mind blowing awesome coasters.

I don't care what she looks like. Is she fun the ride?

That's a question of taste

RMCs are beautiful. No. Matter. What.

I don't think you got it and your age isn't displayed so to be careful I'll just leave it as "agreed!"

I'm 24 not your little 12 year old boy on the forums

I'm a coaster enthusiastic and YES I understand it so don't underestimate me

Better safe than sorry. My mistake.

[madmax]

Unless they are in touch with RMC, they just need to get rid of Hurler. It's a waste of money to try and maintain such a crappy and unbearable ride.

[coasterbill]

Unless they are in touch with RMC, they just need to get rid of Hurler. It's a waste of money to try and maintain such a crappy and unbearable ride.

 

You should call the park and let them know. I'm sure they've never considered the economic feasibility or potential return on investment of whatever they plan to do with Hurler.

[madmax]

Unless they are in touch with RMC, they just need to get rid of Hurler. It's a waste of money to try and maintain such a crappy and unbearable ride.

 

You should call the park and let them know. I'm sure they've never considered the economic feasibility or potential return on investment of whatever they plan to do with Hurler.

 

[bill_s]

Burn Hurler to the ground!

What'd Hurler ever do to you?

 

It's true, some rides do unpleasant things to people. However, some here seem to become blinded to any attributes of a ride and just give up. If you're on a park-hopping marathon, that's often the way to go, but if you're stuck mostly going to your local park I can't see giving up that easily.

 

Fact is though, hurler even at its most vicious never hurt me much, while 4 other rides at the park have. Grizzly and Rebel Yell were terrible in 2008; I actually swore off RY for 2 months before coming back and learning what to do. I'll give 'em one thing this year though: they've been racing Rebel Yell every day, all day from what I've seen. It really is twice the coaster when they get it just right.

[Bmanscool]

Burn Hurler to the ground!

What'd Hurler ever do to you?

 

It's true, some rides do unpleasant things to people. However, some here seem to become blinded to any attributes of a ride and just give up. If you're on a park-hopping marathon, that's often the way to go, but if you're stuck mostly going to your local park I can't see giving up that easily.

 

Fact is though, hurler even at its most vicious never hurt me much, while 4 other rides at the park have. Grizzly and Rebel Yell were terrible in 2008; I actually swore off RY for 2 months before coming back and learning what to do. I'll give 'em one thing this year though: they've been racing Rebel Yell every day, all day from what I've seen. It really is twice the coaster when they get it just right.

 

I've seen only one side operating on Rebel Yell a couple times this year, but they've definitely raced both sides much more often lately! However, I'm really disappointed that they haven't been lighting up the classic chasing lights, which returned for KD's 40th anniversary in 2014!

[BeansproutMidget]

I've been to the park four times; three out of the four times the ride was racing. It makes for a different expreience for sure, at least for me. I find that the left side ran smoother than the right, but again, that was for me.

[TBpony414]

^^ Pretty night pic of Rebel Yell you got there! They used to race it all the time, in fact growing up it raced one track forwards and one track backwards which made it even more exciting. I don't recall it racing last year on any of my visits but when it does the ride is really a blast! I've found that the left side is smoother as well but for some reason we always forget that end up on the right side track. Either way it's fun.

[Voyager6442]

I'm going to be at the park on Sunday. About the earliest I can get there is 12:00. Would anyone have any suggestions about what to ride first, second, etc.?

 

If anyone would like to meet up for some rides, please let me know. Thanks.

[coasterbill]

I'm going to be at the park on Sunday. About the earliest I can get there is 12:00. Would anyone have any suggestions about what to ride first, second, etc.?

 

If anyone would like to meet up for some rides, please let me know. Thanks.

 

If you get there at 12:00 it doesn't really matter. Volcano and Flight of Fear get the longest lines. Nothing else will be a problem.

[bill_s]

Since this will be a 10:00 close Sunday, closing time will probably be better than opening time anyway. Reverse the usual recc's. Doms may still have line when you arrive, if so circle around to it later.

[Intimidated305]

Kings Dominion under a tornado warning. 60 mph winds and two inch hail. Both weather and roller coasters are huge hobbies of mine, but usually I don't like it when the two mix, cause then we get things like this. Hopefully no major damage is caused, except to Hurler maybe... #IronHurler

[Superbatboy]

Kings Dominion under a tornado warning. 60 mph winds and two inch hail. Both weather and roller coasters are huge hobbies of mine, but usually I don't like it when the two mix, cause then we get things like this. Hopefully no major damage is caused, except to Hurler maybe... #IronHurler

 

Can the tornado please take Hurler away just like Dorothy's house? kthxbye

[njcoasterguy34]

^ Not before I get a chance to ride it. I wanna see what all the complaining is about.

[MScoasters]

No offense, but RMC doesn't build beautiful coasters. They build ugly, mind blowing awesome coasters.

I don't care what she looks like. Is she fun the ride?

That's a question of taste

RMCs are beautiful. No. Matter. What.

I don't think you got it and your age isn't displayed so to be careful I'll just leave it as "agreed!"

I'm 24 not your little 12 year old boy on the forums

I'm a coaster enthusiastic and YES I understand it so don't underestimate me

Better safe than sorry. My mistake.

Apology accepted

[MScoasters]

No offense, but RMC doesn't build beautiful coasters. They build ugly, mind blowing awesome coasters.

I don't care what she looks like. Is she fun the ride?

That's a question of taste

RMCs are beautiful. No. Matter. What.

I don't think you got it and your age isn't displayed so to be careful I'll just leave it as "agreed!"

I'm 24 not your little 12 year old boy on the forums

I'm a coaster enthusiastic and YES I understand it so don't underestimate me

Better safe than sorry. My mistake.

Apology accepted

[Physical]

We decided to stop in on our way home from BGW last night (seeing as we had to drive right past the park anyway, it wouldn't make sense not to stop)

 

We arrived right around 4:30, and we managed to get one loop around the entire park hitting all the coasters, the flyers, and Delirium before close. Dominator is still amazing, so is I-305. The operator on the flyers was yelling at us for "bending" the cables, which really is a shame considering last year the operators we had on the flyers were encouraging us to snap them. Guess it's time to strike off KD's flyers as one of the good ones. I just wish they would have something on the rider safety board that lets you know before your cycle that you can't snap them, that way we'd have known not to bother with them

 

On the way out, we got stuck in that storm that caused the tornado warning. I-295 turned into a parking lot for about an hour, other than extremely heavy rain, I believe there was some slight hail (sure sounded like there was some hitting the roof of my car, but there aren't any dents to knock out of it today) and very high winds. All in all, a pretty decent 3.5 hour pit stop before a looooooong drive back to PA.

[I Like Theme Parks.]

We decided to stop in on our way home from BGW last night (seeing as we had to drive right past the park anyway, it wouldn't make sense not to stop)

 

We arrived right around 4:30, and we managed to get one loop around the entire park hitting all the coasters, the flyers, and Delirium before close. Dominator is still amazing, so is I-305. The operator on the flyers was yelling at us for "bending" the cables, which really is a shame considering last year the operators we had on the flyers were encouraging us to snap them. Guess it's time to strike off KD's flyers as one of the good ones. I just wish they would have something on the rider safety board that lets you know before your cycle that you can't snap them, that way we'd have known not to bother with them

 

On the way out, we got stuck in that storm that caused the tornado warning. I-295 turned into a parking lot for about an hour, other than extremely heavy rain, I believe there was some slight hail (sure sounded like there was some hitting the roof of my car, but there aren't any dents to knock out of it today) and very high winds. All in all, a pretty decent 3.5 hour pit stop before a looooooong drive back to PA.

There are anti-snapping workers at every park, even a rare few at Knoebels! At pretty much any park, there's some operators who allow snapping, and some who don't. As long as it doesn't specifically say "no snapping" (snapping doesn't always have to involve violent sail-whipping) on the sign, I'd say go ahead. Even if they stop the ride early, you could just come back later and they won't recognize you or there will be a different ride operator. And I'm pretty sure you can't get kicked out of the park for something like that. If a rude or angry teenage worker on a "family" flat ride could ban you from the park at any moment even if it's not for breaking any rules, it would be complete chaos.

[Physical]

We decided to stop in on our way home from BGW last night (seeing as we had to drive right past the park anyway, it wouldn't make sense not to stop)

 

We arrived right around 4:30, and we managed to get one loop around the entire park hitting all the coasters, the flyers, and Delirium before close. Dominator is still amazing, so is I-305. The operator on the flyers was yelling at us for "bending" the cables, which really is a shame considering last year the operators we had on the flyers were encouraging us to snap them. Guess it's time to strike off KD's flyers as one of the good ones. I just wish they would have something on the rider safety board that lets you know before your cycle that you can't snap them, that way we'd have known not to bother with them

 

On the way out, we got stuck in that storm that caused the tornado warning. I-295 turned into a parking lot for about an hour, other than extremely heavy rain, I believe there was some slight hail (sure sounded like there was some hitting the roof of my car, but there aren't any dents to knock out of it today) and very high winds. All in all, a pretty decent 3.5 hour pit stop before a looooooong drive back to PA.

There are anti-snapping workers at every park, even a rare few at Knoebels! At pretty much any park, there's some operators who allow snapping, and some who don't. As long as it doesn't specifically say "no snapping" (snapping doesn't always have to involve violent sail-whipping) on the sign, I'd say go ahead. Even if they stop the ride early, you could just come back later and they won't recognize you or there will be a different ride operator. And I'm pretty sure you can't get kicked out of the park for something like that. If a rude or angry teenage worker on a "family" flat ride could ban you from the park at any moment even if it's not for breaking any rules, it would be complete chaos.

 

I know in PA with the PA rider act of 1994 if you ignore the instructions of a ride operator you can get kicked out of the park and the park is /technically/ supposed to press charges. Virginia had a few signs regarding following the instructions of the ops, so if the operator says something over the mic during the cycle, you don't really have a choice if you want to stay in the park.

[Vonni]

Has there been any noticeable activity at Hurler?

[vcgjr76]

Has there been any noticeable activity at Hurler?

 

I just got home from the park. Nothing new with Hurler. Not even flags or markers.

[njcoasterguy34]

Has there been any noticeable activity at Hurler?

 

I'm pretty sure that if and when there is activity in that area, someone will post about it.

[coneyislandchris]

Has there been any noticeable activity at Hurler?

 

I just got home from the park. Nothing new with Hurler. Not even flags or markers.

Did 305 ever open yesterday? I was at the park from 10 to 4, and aside from a few test trains being sent early in the morning, there was no activity. Was contemplating sticking it out a bit longer, but it's a heck of a drive back to NY.