Kings Dominion (KD) Discussion Thread

[okinawaboy11]

I've only gotten to ride it once, It has horrible capacity. But I still loved every second of that ride. I hope it doesn't go.

[okinawaboy11]

Thats just like SFA, A tornado and a Family Flume.. Minus the second wave pool of course.

[Thrillrider15]

This will be a smart, and awsome move for King's Dominion, and Cedar Fair. A huge expansions of a waterpark. Well done Cedar Fair (clap clap clap) .

[the sound]

Grrr. I HATE Cedar Fair. What is going on in those heads of theirs. They better make something good in place of it.

 

Yes. Cedar fair is making some lousy decisions.

 

Jeebus H. Christ, does this week in coaster news need to be anymore screwed up?

 

Its been a weird week. Is this the start of the downfall of roller-coasters and Theme Parks?

[TCKR]

^No offense, but you young'uns make me laugh. Does it not make sense that hard to maintain and/or expensive to operate rides should be modified or removed? It looks like the only decisions CF is making are sound, business-minded ones. I can only pray that they continue with this operations philosophy.

[Shockwave]

Teenagers all over TPR must be thinking it's the end of the world!

 

Hypersonic looks like a quirky ride if nothing more. I've already done the S&S Funny Car launcher thing down at Old Town Kissimmee, and I guess the two starts must be quite similar forcewise, but the rest of the coaster looks nothing like as spectacular as the start.

[the sound]

^^ I know that. I seriously do. But i seriously don't see why they can't maintain it, or fix it up. Its not adzactly as if Cedar Fair or Paramount is/was poor.

 

Also, business wise, i would think this attraction brings in a lot of Guests. Not many places in America offer such a tall, fast ride. While, yes, there are bigger ones now, but it is still one of the bigger attractions in the states.

 

^ While i don't think its the end of the world, i am annoyed. Unless of course they move it to our soil...

[kaliboiryda510]

While, yes, there are bigger ones now, but it is still one of the bigger attractions in the states.

 

Uhh... I wouldnt consider H:XLC as one of the BIGGER!!! Yes its just 35ft shy of 200 but There are ones just slightly bigger and faster... TTD, Kingda Ka...

[BeemerBoy]

Also, business wise, i would think this attraction brings in a lot of Guests. Not many places in America offer such a tall, fast ride. While, yes, there are bigger ones now, but it is still one of the bigger attractions in the states.

 

I'm sure that when it opened it brought it larger crowds, but you gotta remember.......Alpengeist, Apollo's, and Griffon are all within a couple hours from it. And, it's not even the tallest attraction in it's own park, or even the signature ride, which I'd consider Volcano to be.

 

The truth is, you're all missing the most obvious fact here. The removal of any ride brings an opportunity for more glorious concrete! And just think about the cluster of garbage cans you could have in the spot that the hill currently occupies.

[Reon]

While, yes, there are bigger ones now, but it is still one of the bigger attractions in the states.

 

Uhh... I wouldnt consider H:XLC as one of the BIGGER!!! Yes its just 35ft shy of 200 but There are ones just slightly bigger and faster... TTD, Kingda Ka...

 

PWND!

 

 

But I don't quite think that's what their going for. I've never had the (dis?)pleasure of riding XL, but I think the point is it was a record breaker without substance. Then again, most speed/height based ones are (points finger at KK, SoB, TTD, and pretty much everything else). Still sad though. The first year I'm aloud to drive that far from Cincinnati, and all the parks on my Maxx pass are getting screwed

[CoasterFanatic]

On my visits to the park, I have actually had pretty good luck with this ride. i think there was only once that I didn't get to ride it.

 

Anyways, I kind of always liked Hypersonic's insane launch. There really isn't anything out there (save Japan) quite as extreme. I will miss it, but I completely understand why it is for sale.

 

- Horrible Capacity

- Maintenance Nightmare

[Gnome]

They'll probably build a rocket coaster in its place. Well, it would make sense if they did that so that way people don't feel like they're loosing something, CF has a new ride to market, and it won't have the mechancal nightmares of HS - XLC...... unless they go for an uber tall rocket. (THough I find it unlikely)

[cfc]

XLC's launch does pack quite a wallop, and there's a nice shot of airtime as you crest the hill and plummet down the other side.

 

After that, the train shakes like it has Parkinson's disease and there's a hard, painful stop with brakes that sound like 100 aluminum trash cans, which are also full of aluminum beer cans, being knocked over at once.

 

Yeah, I think it's fun if you catch it before the line gets too long (and it breaks down). But would I miss it? Not all that much.

 

I wonder if Cypress Gardens is thinking about buying this bad boy.

[redfoot12]

I'm surprised that this one's leaving KD before Shockwave. I guess there's more value to be gained in a launch coaster than a Togo stand-up torture device.

[cfc]

^Perhaps a two-for-the-price-of-one-sale is in order. Shockwave also suffers from low capacity, and it has a retraint system built for Togo by Marquis de Sade Industries.

[exzantia]

and it has a retraint system built for Togo by Marquis de Sade Industries.

 

LOL

 

Never rode it, and probably never will. It doesn't look brilliant to be honest, I'd rather an Intamin Accelerator, that way I know there is little chance of me being rattled to death.

[alpengeist04]

^^Since we're mentioning coasters that sould go, I vote for Hurler to be next.

[TCKR]

I think Hypersonic had the best launch out there. Waaay better than any of the Intamins I've been on. However, I won't be sorry to see it go. After The Hill, the ride was so awful that it just killed the fun-o-meter...and that's coming from a guy who generally likes his rides with a little bit of 'I own you roughness.'

[cygnusx1]

^Perhaps a two-for-the-price-of-one-sale is in order. Shockwave also suffers from low capacity, and it has a retraint system built for Togo by Marquis de Sade Industries.

 

I just made a post like this on PkdPlace, but in general I don't think this will happen. Parks with high coaster counts (>10) take pride in that and don't want their coaster counts to go down. However, if they can take one coaster out and swap it for a better one, then the park looks better to both investors and the public. They'd have lots of good, new coasters for people to ride.

 

In 2005, Kings Dominion had 12 coasters: Hypersonic, Volcano, Flight of Fear, Anaconda, Shockwave, Avalanche, Hurler, Rebel Yell, Grizzly, Ricochet, Taxi Jam, and the Scooby Doo coaster.

 

In 2006, Kings Dominion closed Flight of Fear for most of the season but opened Italian Job, so they still had 12 coasters and marketed the park as having 12 coasters.

 

In 2007, I think the park plans to keep Flight of Fear open all year, which would bump them up to 13. But if they remove Hypersonic, they'd be back to 12.

 

Then in 2008, the park can open their next big coaster (since they haven't gotten one since Hypersonic), take out Shockwave, and still have 12 coasters.

 

If the coaster count goes down, then that might give off the impression that the park's struggling to make a buck / is in disrepair / etc., when in reality all they may be doing is removing bad rides that have low ridership, expensive maintenance, or what have you.

 

I think that the same kind of reasoning is what keeps rides like Flashback at SFMM SBNO instead of removed from the park entirely. Parks like SFMM, Cedar Point, and possibly also Kings Dominion and Kings Island take pride in their high coaster counts and see them as a huge selling point that can draw guests from hundreds of miles around.

[coasterfreak101]

I actually really liked this ride, and it didn't shake me up too bad, either. The launch was great, and the airtime over the first hill was great as well! If they replace it with a rocket coaster, it'll probably have to be a Stealth-like one to fit into that space. So much for originality!

[cygnusx1]

^ Something like the biggest Gerstlauer EuroFighter ever made would fit nicely into Hypersonic's spot.

[Real]

I love the Availability - Immediatly hahaha

[kennywood!007]

I actually really liked this ride, and it didn't shake me up too bad, either. The launch was great, and the airtime over the first hill was great as well! If they replace it with a rocket coaster, it'll probably have to be a Stealth-like one to fit into that space. So much for originality!

 

 

I agree with you 100% on everything. I could totally see a Stealth going there. Elevated above the path, like H:SLC was. I hope thats the turn out of this whole tragedy, it would make me a lot happier about this removal.

[coasterfreak101]

I just thought of something. A larger-scale Stealth (270-300 ft) could fit nicely into that space, and because of the short length of the space the park could keep a G-Packed launch as well!

 

Hypersonic was 0-82 in 1.8, right? This could be like, 0-100 in 2.3 or something around there! That would be an almost-Dodonpa launch, but about 10 MPH slower and an extra half-second to get to that speed.

 

Would that work? I'm trying to imagine a coaster like that fit into the area, and I THINK it could fit...anyone know if it would fit?

[redfoot12]

I'm wondering if Shockwave's spot would do better for a rocket.