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Kings Dominion (KD) Discussion Thread


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I was never very fond of the multi-color track, but if I remember right, it was done about the same time as some kind of big Nickelodeon expansion went on at the park. I like the new green much better. I really am looking forward to seeing how the park continues to improve as it does look like a lot of effort is being done to spruce the place up. The may still be areas that could be fixed up, i believe they will be able to take care of it in due time.

 

-Gary

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I know many will probably disagree, but I love the new colors! They won't fade anywhere near as bad as the neon puke colors did. The green and teal will go well in the Grove because there is actually some green and teal paint throughout that area of the park. I can't wait to see the station painted... because it looked rediculous with the neon colors.

 

Can't believe I'm saying this, but nice choice Cedar Fair!

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^ There is absolutely nothing wrong with the poll. Quit your bitching. There are literally hundreds of thousands of these types of "readers choice" polls on various subjects done all the time. Not every poll can be Mitch Hawker's poll or the oscars.

 

Here's an idea...if you don't like a certain poll...don't participate in it.

 

There. Done. Over.

 

Agreed.

 

But if they're going to set the rules so that people can vote every day, then they shouldn't complain that the fans of any particular park stuffed the ballot box!

 

It's one thing is the rest of us complain about the results... as some of us inevitably will! Thta's what coaster geeks do.

 

But it's another thing when the writer of the results articles is effectively saying that the results of their own poll are worthless and wrong.

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On the subject of Intimidator, I can understand people having different opinions of the coaster. That's natural, especially for such an extreme ride. The most extreme rides always have a real variety of opinions about them, since everyone likes different things in coasters.

 

But it's completely unacceptable to boo park staff for any reason. Especially at an enthusiast event, like the TPR day was. Period. It's blatantly disrespectful and unappreciative. It makes us all look bad. And it makes TPR look bad, even if it's not Robb or Elissa's fault. It would be completely fair for TPR to ban such people from the board or events. And it was absolutely right for Robb to call such people out publicly at the event (and in this thread.)

 

That said, I think it's fair for people to be disappointed with the brakes or the restraints, or frankly anything to do with the coaster.

 

I'll admit that I was somewhat disappointed with I305. Unfortunately, I went at the worst time: after the brakes were added, but before the restraints were changed. And one of the main reasons that I was disappointed with it is because it seems like just my type of coaster. I tend to like coasters with a lot of extreme forces. I like coasters with a lot of positive G's and a lot of laterals. And I generally can tolerate a decent amount of the bad (i.e. painful) violence if it comes with a hefty dose of good intensity. So, I305 should have been a top coaster for me.

 

But I have to admit that the hard restraints made it hard for me to really appreciate the ride. I spent most of the ride trying to keep from getting hurt by violently banging into very hard restraints. On EVERY ride I had, I heard others saying OW several times, especially at that sharp turn right before the picture was taken. (In fact, when I looked at the pictures, I could always see more than a few people grimacing in pain, NOT laughing from fun, as you usually see in on-ride photos!)

 

I'm hardly a wuss. I actually enjoy quite a few coasters that are nearly universally panned as being too rough. If you look at my ballots in Mitch's polls, you'll see that I rank a lot of rough coasters higher than most enthusiasts do. But, for some reason this was just too much for me to not have it affect my enjoyment of the ride. The restraints definitely dropped it at least a dozen or two notches below where it would have otherwise been.

 

Now, I know this will probably sound hypocritical, but I also thought that the brakes did detract from the ride. These weren't some small trims. At least not when I visited (June 9, to be precise.) Maybe it was just my enthusiast trained perception, but I could REALLy feel the brake. After all, it took up a large portion of the first drop. Trim brakes always work best on the uphill sections of coasters, because they're less noticeable. While the brakes didn't hurt the coaster as much for me, it was very noticeable. But I'm sure that if I'd ridden it a few weeks later, with the new restraints, I'd have liked the coaster a LOT more.

 

On the way out of the park, I ran into a manager of the park. He actually pulled me aside, because I was wearing a coaster shirt, and he mistakenly thought I'd been there with the ECC group that happened to be there the day before. He asked me what I thought of the coaster, and I told him the truth. I said it's a great coaster, but I really hope the rumors of them changing the restraints was true, because they really detracted from the quality of the ride. He told me that the coaster wasn't actually supposed to ever have had those restraints! And while he said he couldn't officially verify anything (especially in the internet era!), he strongly hinted that the rumors I'd heard were true. The only comment I made about the brakes was that with more comfortable restraints, it would hopefully be possible for them to lessen the brakes and still be enjoyable fro most people. And I definitely did thank him for having the ride built in the first place!

 

Honestly, I think that was a fair balance. I was overall positive and thankful. But I let him know what was my major concern for the ride, and only because he specifically asked for my opinion. (Up until that point, I hadn't said anything about the restraints of the brakes to anyone.) And I think that if I'm not going to give an honest opinion, then that opinion is worthless.

 

It's a shame that it's unlikely that I'll get back to KD for a few years. For the next couple of years most of my coaster travels will be abroad. I'd honestly love to see what I305 can do when it has the chance to shine. And I'm sure I'll love it, though it will remain to be seen exactly where it will fit in my rankings. Right now it's right around #40 (out of over 600 steel coasters, so that's still damn good!)

 

I'm not even sure what to do about it in Mitch's poll, assuming the steel one happens. For this year, it seems fair to rank it, since it did ride like that for a good part of the season. But next year, I'm not sure if it's fair to even rank it. After all, it will be hopefully much better this year. i think that's one of the dilemmas with these polls. What do you do if everyone tells you that ride has significantly gotten better or worse, especially if they've made specific concrete changes to the ride, but you haven't experienced them. Do you just vote on what it was when you rode it, or do you skip it altogether. Good arguments could be made for both answers.

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^I think there's a general consensus that the brake didn't do wonders for the drop or that second hill. And I totally agree.

 

However, I also still keep I305 at my #3 spot regardless. It's an absolutely fantastic ride, and there's only two weeks left until it's time to ride again - this time with the drop back. And I couldn't be more excited! Hopefully they'll really get it perfect this time.

 

*EDIT: Oh, and that last twist before the on-ride photo is actually my favorite one with the new restraints, so maybe you'll have to try it out again when you get the chance and see how much they improve the experience!

 

In other news, I like the new Shockwave colors! Much better than before.

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I was never very fond of the multi-color track, but if I remember right, it was done about the same time as some kind of big Nickelodeon expansion went on at the park. I like the new green much better. I really am looking forward to seeing how the park continues to improve as it does look like a lot of effort is being done to spruce the place up. The may still be areas that could be fixed up, i believe they will be able to take care of it in due time.

 

-Gary

 

True but I kinda wonder if the fatal accident just the year before had anything to do with it? I mean maybe they were thinking if they changed the colors a bit it would help folks to forget that "someone died on that black & yellow coaster last year" mentality.

 

I'm all for the new colors & CF made a wise decision(for once) in choosing a color combo that's eye catching & yet easy on the eyes at the same time,as for the trains I'm hoping they go with a color scheme similar to Raptor with the black/purple green combo in som fashion but anything's gotta be better than orange.

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True but I kinda wonder if the fatal accident just the year before had anything to do with it? I mean maybe they were thinking if they changed the colors a bit it would help folks to forget that "someone died on that black & yellow coaster last year" mentality.

 

That's what I always suspected. I mean, neon puke is the complete opposite of black...

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Just a question regarding Flight of Fear:

 

 

Have they attempted to re-instate the UFO into the que? To my knowledge, they've used it for the Haunt the last couple years, and honestly the ride feels half-a**ed without the spectacular theming that makes the Kings Island ride so much better in an overall experience...

 

 

EDIT: Also just discovered that they LEAVE THE LIGHTS ON DURING THE RIDE...Nice job Kings Dominion.

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Just a question regarding Flight of Fear:

 

 

Have they attempted to re-instate the UFO into the que? To my knowledge, they've used it for the Haunt the last couple years, and honestly the ride feels half-a**ed without the spectacular theming that makes the Kings Island ride so much better in an overall experience...

 

 

EDIT: Also just discovered that they LEAVE THE LIGHTS ON DURING THE RIDE...Nice job Kings Dominion.

I'd love to know where you got the idea that they re-routed the entire queue to avoid the UFO... no, they shut the ride down at 4:00 PM on Haunt days and remove a few wooden walls and turn it into the Haunt maze. During the season the wooden walls block off the indoor switchbacks and you walk by and into the UFO.

 

Also, where did you hear they leave the lights on?? Yeah, a strobe and a couple colored lights. Totally ruins the experience

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^There's a wall following the queue around the first corner and straight into the big UFO. Last season, they still had all of the switchbacks closed, but I'm not sure if they still use it for a Haunt maze or not.

 

Also, they run it with show lights, but not anything major.

 

Oh, and did anyone else notice the fluorescent yellow paint on the corkscrew during ECB last August? I wonder what that was about...

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Just a question regarding Flight of Fear:

 

 

Have they attempted to re-instate the UFO into the que? To my knowledge, they've used it for the Haunt the last couple years, and honestly the ride feels half-a**ed without the spectacular theming that makes the Kings Island ride so much better in an overall experience...

 

 

EDIT: Also just discovered that they LEAVE THE LIGHTS ON DURING THE RIDE...Nice job Kings Dominion.

I'd love to know where you got the idea that they re-routed the entire queue to avoid the UFO... no, they shut the ride down at 4:00 PM on Haunt days and remove a few wooden walls and turn it into the Haunt maze. During the season the wooden walls block off the indoor switchbacks and you walk by and into the UFO.

 

Also, where did you hear they leave the lights on?? Yeah, a strobe and a couple colored lights. Totally ruins the experience

 

 

 

Huh. Where I read, it made it sound like they were always like that, with the entire que now avoiding the UFO.

 

 

I heard they leave the lights on from PLENTY of people. I've talked to people who've been on it countless times. They've told me, in the past year or so, they have lights on that basically reveal the whole layout. I'm not talking about strobes, they're telling me THE WHOLE LAYOUT can be seen from any vantage point with the lights that are on.

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