Kings Dominion (KD) Discussion Thread

[boldikus]

Its OK Bill, we can be "those guys" cause I need to know too.

 

Bill's got a platinum pass so he can afford to wait and just get FL once we get there if needed... but if I am tagging along I need to know if its worth it to get this admission/FL+ deal in advance cause its a steal. I don't have a CF SP. Just dont want to buy it and not need the FL+ but it does include I305, Volcano and Delirium so if I am gonna need it I definitely want it. KD locals, shed some light please!!!

[defrocker]

Take this with a grain of salt. The only experience I have is about 4 years ago on opening night of the Halloween festivities. The park was fairly crowded but ride lines were very short(station-wait to walk-on) with the exception of Volcano and Dominator. The midways were pretty crowded so I assume the haunts were rather busy, but I don't do them. Again, probably not super helpful, but it's what I got.

[boldikus]

Also consider there is an ACE event at the park that day - seems they just have morning ERT, meals, tours etc - nothing late at night for ERTs it looks like. (Neither of us are ACE members but just thinking those extra weirdo enthusiasts should be factored into crowds).

[Password121]

I was at the park on a Friday in early October last year (the 9th?) and it was that weird full day operation on a Friday thing, but it was empty until around 5. All the maze lines were 20-45 minutes and the ride lines weren't bad (20 for I-305) but definitely more crowded than during the day.

 

I think the main theme is (which you guys already know) that it's rarely crowded at Kings Dominion during the day, but it can get pretty crowded just before all the Haunt festivities begin for both mazes and coasters.

[boldikus]

^ So thats a good 6 or so hours we'd be dealing with crowds. I may just bite the bullet and go for this deal - its $120 for admission and FL+. I don't care about waits for haunts/trails since I dont really do them but if it means more rides at night on Volcano, Dominator, I305 and Delirium its a good investment imo. The only other factor then is if it freaking rains and I dont need it at all. How is the parks rain policy?

[coasterbill]

Thanks guys, any experience with Saturdays? I would expect Fridays to be slow.

[Password121]

Actually considering it's your first time riding I-305 (if I remember correctly) it may be worth getting Fast Lane just for a marathon session at night (pending how many rides you want to handle). The Fast Lane queue drops you right into the station for the back row (two train wait from there) which is where you should be riding.

 

The rain policy isn't Great Adventure's cold policy by any stretch of the imagination but it's nothing like Cedar Point. They'll run everything in a drizzle, close everything for lightning, and I-305 and Volcano seem to go down first but that's expected. Come to think of it, it started pouring the second I got off I-305 the last time that day last October and they closed it right then (along with everything in the park) but the threat of rain before then didn't stop them. It's generally somewhere in the middle in terms of rain policies.

[coneyislandchris]

Its OK Bill, we can be "those guys" cause I need to know too.

 

Bill's got a platinum pass so he can afford to wait and just get FL once we get there if needed... but if I am tagging along I need to know if its worth it to get this admission/FL+ deal in advance cause its a steal. I don't have a CF SP. Just dont want to buy it and not need the FL+ but it does include I305, Volcano and Delirium so if I am gonna need it I definitely want it. KD locals, shed some light please!!!

Without any idea on what the crowds are going to be like that day, if you have a good deal on a combo ticket, I say go for it. Bypassing that damn Volcano line is one of the most joyous things you'll ever experience. You probably won't really need it for 305 or Delirium since those don't have tremendously long waits, but if you don't hit Volcano right at opening, expect a mind-numbing slog through the line for about two hours. It's basically equivalent to waiting for Ka and probably the slowest dispatch in any of the Cedar Fair parks I've been to.

[boldikus]

Actually considering it's your first time riding I-305 (if I remember correctly) .

 

It is! First ever visit to the park and I've been dying to go.

 

I just called the park since it looks like the deal is only good for days starting the 1st (when we'll be there) as I wanted to make sure the deal won't disappear. She said she couldn't give me an answer and that it might change or go up in price. I may just go for it since I have the $$ to do it. Its actually just $110 for FL+ and admission. Considering I paid $110 for FP @ SFOG earlier this year (with free admission) its almost the same deal. And something tells me I'm going to want to ride the Intamins as much as humanly possible so for that reason alone it'll probably be worth it. #intaminjunkieproblems

[bill_s]

The first weekend is somewhat crowded, but then it also usually seems too warm for Haunt yet to me so that might have a lot to do with it. After that it's fairly light or at least very weather dependent. The second to last weekend perks up and the last is crowded unless partially after Halloween (not this year). Suddenly lining up to freeze on I305 is the thing to do.

 

With the late closing times, things will taper off nicely at the end unless they were just that crowded. You only can be so many places at one time though and maybe the thing about fast passes is you can keep going right through the worst part of the day. At the same time, it's likely you would only really "need" it to do all rides and haunts on a Saturday or in only 5 hours some Friday nights.

 

Saturdays are the only days that get really crowded at KD, it's alright but the other days are so good. They run in the rain when possible, but I305 is pain and they've seemed a little more cautious since that opened.

[michaellynn4]

I'd definitely just pull the trigger on that deal, especially if you have the money for it. Consider it as an insurance policy for your first-time visit.

 

Hope you guys have fun!!

[boldikus]

^ As long as there is beer and coasters, we'll have fun!

[Philrad71]

^ Just know that their beer policy is somewhat strange as they don't allow you to walk around the park with beer. There are signs plastered all over the few places where they do sell it and they usually have a watcher making sure you don't step foot out of the area with a beer. I think it has something to do with some type of open container law in Virginia.

 

Although when we did their spring bloom festival, they sold beer right under the Eiffel Tower and didn't seem to be monitoring it quite as closely as they were at Outer Hanks (near The Crypt).

[djcoastermark]

I never understood the beer policy at KD. The signs all say "per Virginia law " or something like that. However, at Busch G Williamsburg, we bought a bottle of wine in the France area and asked if we could drink it anywhere and we were told yes. Not wanting to look like total winos, we asked for a proper bag to put it in to carry around and the staff chuckled and gladly obliged. As it was meal time we got a food item, had some wine, moved on, got more snacks and had some more wine and never had any problem displaying the bottle at all. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe both parks are in the same state, so I don't understand why one park it's ok to drink anywhere, yet in another you must drink a beer in a confined area. Very odd.

[boldikus]

Good to know about the beer policies. Used to that nonsense at Great Adv - they wont let you leave the establishment, just means you have to drink it faster to get going to your next ride.

 

Also, room booked and jumped on that FL+/admission deal. I liked Michealynns thinking of it as an insurance policy.

 

I seriously CANNOT F*CKING WAIT. I305 has been at the top of my list for 3 years and a week from today I will finally get to try (read: marathon) that f*cker!!!! And the fact I'm going with Bill is the icing on top.

 

Now can everyone say a collective prayer the weather is nice?

[Philrad71]

^^ That's a very good point, Mark...and one that I didn't even think of!

 

While I can't specifically recall walking around the park with a beer at BGW, we certainly had it during the beer festival that we attended there last year and were not quarantined in any way. We kind of just hung out in Germany so that we could use up all of our stamps...and then proceeded to walk around doing coasters and such after we ate and drank ourselves silly. I think I do seem to recall seeing people walking around the park with beers though.

 

^ Boldikus - I don't pray for anything, but I will certainly keep my fingers crossed that the weather holds for you guys. Mainly because we all want to see the trip reports coming out of this one!

[coasterbill]

Boldikus is doing the trip report. I'm not doing sh*t. I still need to do another Montreal report, a Wildwood report and a Cedar Point report (maybe).

 

And yeah this trip is gonna be sick.

Edited September 26, 2016 by coasterbill

[beenagins87]

I never understood the beer policy at KD. The signs all say "per Virginia law " or something like that. However, at Busch G Williamsburg, we bought a bottle of wine in the France area and asked if we could drink it anywhere and we were told yes. Not wanting to look like total winos, we asked for a proper bag to put it in to carry around and the staff chuckled and gladly obliged. As it was meal time we got a food item, had some wine, moved on, got more snacks and had some more wine and never had any problem displaying the bottle at all. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe both parks are in the same state, so I don't understand why one park it's ok to drink anywhere, yet in another you must drink a beer in a confined area. Very odd.

 

Could it be different county policies??

[boldikus]

Boldikus is doing the trip report.

 

I still need to do a Wildwood report.

 

And yeah this trip is gonna be sick.

[Philrad71]

^^^ Looking forward to all of them, Bill/Boldikus. Winter is a great time to get caught up on all those reports!

 

^^ That's what I thought as well, but I wanted to think that the signs at KD specifically mentioning it being a Virginia law. I was digging around to see if I had taken a photo of one of the signs, but all I had was this pic.

Roped in!

 

Note that they also put these little round stickers on the cup denoting where you purchased the drink - in this case, Outer Hanks.

[CedarFanboy]

When both Volcano and I305 are down, it really breaks my heart. Volcano will be out all day and I305 is "temporarily down." I usually have good luck here but not today. The two main rides being down is creating some lines longer than usual. Grizzly marathon time!

[coasterbill]

What's up with Volcano? I thought they got that sh*t sorted out a few weeks ago?

 

Are they actually telling people it's down for the day or is it just on the sign out front?

[CedarFanboy]

What's up with Volcano? I thought they got that sh*t sorted out a few weeks ago?

 

Are they actually telling people it's down for the day or is it just on the sign out front?

A worker told me that there was a serious issue with Volcano. Intimidator still isnt open. Had a nice few rides with Grizzly though.

[djcoastermark]

Couldn,t find a pic of the alcohol sign either, so here's another sticker pic.

[dylpickle]

These markers are visible on the turn into the lift, first turn, 2 airtime hills, and the turnaround by grizzly. Also numbers painted in red visible from grizzly's lift.