Kings Dominion (KD) Discussion Thread

[Emiroo]

^^^ Thanks for the recap. And was the tounge-in-cheek/sarcastic/humorous nature of my comment not clearly signified by the tongue smiley? Sorry if I offended/annoyed anyone's delicate sensibilities. Any reports on if final top speed is now dramatically (>10 mph) different?

[Josh Linn]

I'm curious to how fast the ride goes now...low/mid 80's, or does the thing slow it down even more?

[Wes]

Well this is disappointing. I still am eager to ride it, but I'm kinda bummed that the more extreme aspects of the ride have been toned down.

 

PS: I really like Intamin rides, but what the hell is going on?

[Capitalize]

Hanging down a three hundred foot drop? That sounds awesome!

 

QFT.

 

Jeez people. Bitch Bitch Bitch. I'm sure the ride is still awesome. Would you rather not have it, because I know several parks that would gladly take it off KD's hands.

We'll trade for Voyage.

[robbalvey]

I will be very curious to go ride it in August and I feel like I'll be able to give you a "non-Kings Dominion fanboy" perspective on how the ride has been changed. I mean, no offense to Clint and the locals, but I have a feeling that someone who rides it ALL THE TIME will probably view this a lot differently than someone who rides it every once in a while. And to be fair, the park is NOT targeting the people who ride it ALL THE TIME.

 

So if the ride still delivers a kick ass ride to me, then I'm sure it's going to be still perceived by the people who only visit the park once a year or every couple of years as a still kick ass ride.

 

--Robb "I can only trust the fanboys word so much...but to be sure...GO RIDE IT YOURSELF!!!" Alvey

[Capitalize]

Or slow the lift down significantly before the drop?

 

Yeah to me that would've been the better idea rather than wrecking this ride. I refuse to vote trimmed dropped rides high in coaster polls. I feel like I'm being cheated.

 

 

Just because it sounds like a better idea, that doesn't mean it would have solved the problems. As I'm not a expert I leave it to the engineers to find the best solution to these types of problems.

I agree that they have to know what they're doing better than anyone on here, but it just seems weird to have a lift going 15 or so mph just to hit trim brakes down a drop to me. But like you said they considered all these things and know what they're doing better than me.

[COASTER FREAK 11]

Trimmed I305 > Anything on the West Coast

 

 

I'll take it out here if you guys don't want it!

 

HAHA, yes! Let take it Elissa!

[rcg19]

Deleted by user

Edited December 29, 2010 by rcg19

[FeelTheFORCE]

^ I doubt the hype and excitement would have been nearly as high. Look at Intimidator at Carowinds. Yes it still got great praise, but it seemed, to me at least, that it was constantly in the shadow of I305, because it was just another 230' B&M cookie cutter. I'm just spit-balling here, but I believe that Kings Dominion wanted something that would put them on the map, and I don't think a cookie-cutter B&M Hyper would have done that, whereas I305 has a MUCH better chance of accomplishing said task. Trimmed or not, the lift hill is still 305 feet tall, and that's going to attract a lot more people than if it were 200-250 feet tall.

[cfc]

Or slow the lift down significantly before the drop?

 

Yeah to me that would've been the better idea rather than wrecking this ride. I refuse to vote trimmed dropped rides high in coaster polls. I feel like I'm being cheated.

 

 

Just because it sounds like a better idea, that doesn't mean it would have solved the problems. As I'm not a expert I leave it to the engineers to find the best solution to these types of problems.

 

I agree with Larry. I'm not an engineer, either, so I'm more inclined to trust the engineer's judgment. If this heads off serious maintanence and guest issues, so be it.

[FeelTheFORCE]

^ I agree also. When I go in August, I would like to ride it and not have the trains half falling apart by then. If it means they can continually run both trains with much less problems, then so be it. It is what it is.

[cgodsey]

Finding the right wheel compound takes time. I would bet this is a temporary fix until they can stop blowing thousands of dollars per day on wheels.

 

Step away from the ledge guys! It's gonna be okay!

[willh51]

^^(to FeeltheFORCE and above that) And that's absolutely the bottom line. The ride has to run safely and reliably and be enjoyed by the majority of the park's coaster-riding guests. That's all there is to it.

 

Where they really going through that many wheels, too? From some reports I've read, it seems like they had mechanics on hand to switch the trains and replace wheels almost every hour.

 

I have to give it to KD too. The ride's been open consistently from what I hear, no extreme periods of downtime. They seem to really care that when people get to the park, it's open.

[robbalvey]

Where they really going through that many wheels, too? From some reports I've read, it seems like they had mechanics on hand to switch the trains and replace wheels almost every hour.

This is not uncommon. MF went through this. So did Goliath and Titan. Engineering is NOT an exact science. You learn so much through testing and daily operation that simply not even possible to learn while a project is in development.

 

Look at the crazy weather they had during the off-season. The fact that this ride opened with the park, IMO is still AMAZING.

 

They did not have much time for testing and to iterate on their findings. Instead of delaying the opening of the ride, they are having to do that now. Clearly we have seen that the trims are quick to add, remove, and change around.

 

Perhaps they are testing a "worst case scenario" first and then we'll see the amount of trims modified later?

 

--Robb "Just trying to keep things positive and not act like the park just brough the world to an end..." Alvey

Edited May 21, 2010 by robbalvey

[willh51]

I'm definitely glad they are doing the fine-tuning now. I live about three hours south of Kings Dominion and I was all but sure the ride wouldn't open on time. Honestly, I expected June.

 

And I'm sure you know a lot more than I do about this, Robb, but didn't Tatsu absolutely blow through the course on it's first test runs and have to have different wheels installed?

[ginzo]

I'll take trims over grey out any day of the week.

[alpengeist04]

I guess Bizarro doesn't have to worry about losing its #1 spot in Mitch's poll this year.

 

I haven't been on I305 yet but I have the feeling it would not have lost that spot anyway even if it was better than Bizarro. Too many complaining about the OTSRs for it to make #1.

 

 

Yea, I know. My statement was more in jest, kind of tongue in cheek, since a coaster doesn't really worry about such things.

[cgodsey]

^^^B&M usually ships multiple wheel compounds to every new install to have them tested to find the right ones for each ride. This happens with EVERY coaster installation. There are so many variables to account for like heat and humidity, its impossible to figure it out using computer models. Real world testing must take place.

[larrygator]

I'll take trims over grey out any day of the week.

 

I have to admit, I liked that I got to experience a grey out. Quite frankly, for years I never had any idea what people had been experiencing when they referenced greying out.

 

As far as why they didn't build it shorter. Sometimes you can't fully predict the effects of a ride on a human body. Also the i305 name would not fit if the coaster was only 290 feet tall.

Edited May 21, 2010 by larrygator

[Hercules]

i290 has a nice ring to it.

 

I'll be honest, I didn't grey out on this coaster. The only coaster I ever greyed out on was Laser at Dorney back when I was about 7 years old. However, this was pretty intense to say the least.

 

Now, with that said, if there are people greying out and blacking out frequently, a modification for reasons other than maintenance might be in order. Imagine if someone got on this ride with a pre-existing condition and died on the ride due to the forces? Just think of the media frenzy that would ensue from something like that. This might not be a permanent thing like some have mentioned, but it is great to see they are doing some fine tuning at this stage.

[robbalvey]

And I'm sure you know a lot more than I do about this, Robb, but didn't Tatsu absolutely blow through the course on it's first test runs and have to have different wheels installed?

I actually don't know of a single coaster which didn't go through many different tweaks and changes from the point they first dropped a train over the lift to, well, in some cases, years later!

[cfc]

I have to admit, I liked that I got to experience a grey out. Quite frankly, for years I never had any idea what people had been experiencing when they referenced greying out.

 

 

It was a new experience for me, too.

[eddie200330]

From the original artist renderings I was skeptical of the turn at the bottom of the first drop. Hurler and Hercules albeit wooden coasters featured this concept. That was pretty brutal on the body even as short as the drops were on those rides. I didn't really think 90+ mph was gonna be any better. If this helps the GP, which I am sure somewhere along the lines were complaining about the forces and whatnot, then I guess it needs done. C'est la vie......

Edited May 21, 2010 by eddie200330

[jarmor]

Well I got to ride "untrimmedidator" in its hey-day and I have to admit it was intense! I know I brought a 2 day ticket for something! Time to head back up...hopefully those turns wont kick my ass as much now.

 

God bless intamin!

[AnEscapeArtist]

Is I305 really getting trims or is everybody jumping to conclusions again?

Jumping to conclusions. It's very entertaining, actually...

 

I don't know what to say about this other than I'm pretty dissapointed that this ride is no longer as intense as it started out to be. I was going to be making a stop out there at the end of this summer and was looking forward to experiencing the grey out and ridiculous forces of this ride, and I have to be honest but I'm not looking forward to ride it nearly as much.