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Kings Dominion (KD) Discussion Thread

p. 777: Winterfest starts on November 29!

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^Hopefully Dominator's 3rd train will be running this weekend & Rebel yell should have northside running as well.

As of Saturday there was only 2 trains running and 3rd was no where to be seen. But 5 days can make a difference in getting #3 back on.

 

I'm hoping they get it up to full capacity ASAP.

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So I will be making my first ever trip to King's Dominion Monday July 2. I had a couple questions for you KD enthusiasts. What are crowds like on a Monday in the summer? Would Fast Lane be advisable? And I have people traveling in my group who want to go to the waterpark as well, is that an upcharge to get into the park or is it included? I know that running to Volcano and then Flight of Fear would be the best start to the park, so I definitely plan on heading there first.

Thanks!

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Not open. Any more ideas of what lines may be like on Saturday? Anyone actually been to this park on a Saturday?

 

I tend to go on saturdays & it can get crowded with the lines on backlot,FOF & volcano being so long I tend to skip them(not really a fan of volcano anyway) & with fastlane expect longer waits over last year on rides that use it based on my opening weekend observations.

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They were probably 30 minutes-1 hour, which is long for KD standards.

 

 

So I will be making my first ever trip to King's Dominion Monday July 2. I had a couple questions for you KD enthusiasts. What are crowds like on a Monday in the summer? Would Fast Lane be advisable? And I have people traveling in my group who want to go to the waterpark as well, is that an upcharge to get into the park or is it included? I know that running to Volcano and then Flight of Fear would be the best start to the park, so I definitely plan on heading there first.

Thanks!

 

Mondays and Wednesdays are usually the least crowded days of the week. Fastlane would be advisable if the Volcano line is long, it would most likely be the longest line there. And yes Waterworks is free with admission to the park. And DEFINITELY go to Flight of Fear and Volcano first. (Usually when I go, Flight of Fear's longest wait is 5-10 minutes, but you never know.)

Edited by Coaster_Fanatic
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So I will be making my first ever trip to King's Dominion Monday July 2. I had a couple questions for you KD enthusiasts. What are crowds like on a Monday in the summer? Would Fast Lane be advisable? And I have people traveling in my group who want to go to the waterpark as well, is that an upcharge to get into the park or is it included? I know that running to Volcano and then Flight of Fear would be the best start to the park, so I definitely plan on heading there first.

Thanks!

 

Mondays are usually low crowds as well as Tuesday Wednesdays and Thursdays. Volcano is a must at the beginning of park opening due to long line 30 minutes after park opens. Fof almost the same. Or hit Windseeker then high tail it to Volcano because last 3 times I been to the park all 3 were busy with long lines.Besides those 3 rides should be no more than a 10 to 15 minute wait in line for coasters and such. Do remember Water Works will be open and this does drop the rides lines down as well usua;;y mid day till 5 or so.

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Went to the park today & things were ok until the rains came during the mid to late afternoon.

 

Managed to get on windseeker twice today,including a coveted night ride to enjoy the lights as well as getting in some laps on the usual but passed on most of the flats for the most part aside from americana & the carousel & everything was going fine until we hit anaconda.

 

I swear I think we're gonna be using the lockers from now on for our loose items because while we were on anaconda someone stole my girlfriend's camera out of the bin during our ride...we had gotten off the ride & went down the ramp when we noticed that her camera case was missing so we went back to look for it & I know I put everything in the bin before riding but alas it wasn't in there but lwo & behold we find the case on the floor near the bin closest to the op's booth but minus the camera.

 

Aside from that things weren't too bad once the rain let up & most rides were near walk ons,we got at least two laps on rebel yell without having to get off & had the entire yellow train to ourselves for a good four laps on Grizz to close out the night....I didn;t get home till about 12:30 AM this morning & am exhausted.Did anyone else brave the monsoon & hit the park today?

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Went to the park today & things were ok until the rains came during the mid to late afternoon.

 

Managed to get on windseeker twice today,including a coveted night ride to enjoy the lights as well as getting in some laps on the usual but passed on most of the flats for the most part aside from americana & the carousel & everything was going fine until we hit anaconda.

 

I swear I think we're gonna be using the fluffy, fluffy bunnies filled with medicine and goo from now on for our loose items because while we were on anaconda someone stole my girlfriend's camera out of the bin during our ride...we had gotten off the ride & went down the ramp when we noticed that her camera case was missing so we went back to look for it & I know I put everything in the bin before riding but alas it wasn't in there but lwo & behold we find the case on the floor near the bin closest to the op's booth but minus the camera.

 

Aside from that things weren't too bad once the rain let up & most rides were near walk ons,we got at least two laps on rebel yell without having to get off & had the entire yellow train to ourselves for a good four laps on Grizz to close out the night....I didn;t get home till about 12:30 AM this morning & am exhausted.Did anyone else brave the monsoon & hit the park today?

 

Didn't get to head out to the park today but had to work tonight so know your pain being in the Monsoons!!! I feel your pain on someone stealing your girlfriends Camera. About 3 years ago I got a brand new Fuji Digi Camera stolen . I bought it off of a Truck Driver out west for $40 but it was the thought of someone stealing it peed me off most. Of coarse it happen at Magic Mountain in 2009 but still if it ain't yours don't bother it...... Glad you go to ride Windseeker at night . I still haven't seen it with the lights. Me and my Girlfriend carry a back pack with are cell phones keys and camera in it . Also her daily meds as well as all my junk I need.

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^Well at least she went out today & bought a new camera but she definitely won't be bringing it to the park again.

 

Windseeker lived up to it's name last night as it was shaking a godd bit up there,not to mention rather chilly spinning 301feet up in the air at 9:30at night following the cooler ground temps the rain bought with it.Has anyone ever had a problem at outer hanks with the foodbeing overly salty? I swear the fish & chips there tasted horrible because of the amount of salt....next time I think we'll stick to jukebox diner for dinner but I'm part & partial to victoria pizza myself as their cheese pizza is fabulous IMO as far as park food goes.

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I moved to Virginia last summer and went to the park for the first time on Saturday. We got there around 1:00PM and hit a few rides before a downpour around 4:00PM, but we did Flight of Fear during this time and it mostly cleared up by 6:00PM with little to no lines for anything afterward. Overall, we had a great time. Here are my pros and cons:

 

PROS:

1. Intimidator: This did not disappoint. It was unbelievably fast and intense. It also had about a 2 train wait all day. Could be made better only by having lapbars instead of the straps, but a small complaint overall. I think this slides into my #2 spot behind Maverick. A+

2. Volcano: I was pleasantly surprised. This is an awesome coaster. Starting to show its age in the theming department and fairly mediocre in capacity, but I have heard these will both be addressed this off season. A hidden gem though. Truly awesome. Definitely in my top 5. A+

3. The Towers: Drop Tower and Windseeker were both awesome. Enough said. A

4. Ricochet: This was insane. I expected a fairly boring mouse, but this was flying. No brakes at all throughout the course made some of the hairpin turns seem almost too fast to be possible. We rode this a few times as it was one of the more thrilling rides in the park, we thought. Awesome mouse! A+

5. Dominator: I rode this at GL and it is running much better in its new home. It had a horrible vibration when I rode it on several occasions at GL but had only mild shuffling in the corkscrews on this trip. Was fun and enjoyable overall, better than at GL, but still nothing to write home about. A-

6. The woodies: Rode them all and loved them all. My favorite was Grizzly in the dark and fog after some rain. Great experience even if a little rough. I had heard horror stories about these woodies but they were pretty smooth I thought. Nothing like HW's woodies, but above average I would say. A nice surprise. B+

7. Non ride stuff: Starlight Spectacular was pretty cool. The Eiffel Tower and fountains are pretty cool. This park has pretty nice infrastructure and lots of trees!

 

CONS:

1. Walkways: It appears that at some point this entire park was asphalted over and they've been slowly working to fix it. There were a few areas that were horribly uneven and in need of repair.

2. Bathrooms: I thought the park overall could use a few more bathrooms, particularly back by Flight of Fear and Intimidator. The ones they had were passable, but a few needed some renovations.

 

I'm very glad to call this my home park. It is much nicer than a lot of enthusiasts give it credit for! What a great collection of rides. Will be back soon!

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^Were you by any chance riding Grizzly close to closing time in yellow train?We practically had the train to ourselves with only a couple other guys in the back while we were up front.I think the rain certainly helped to make the woodies run faster & a bit smoother than usual.

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^ Glad to see you enjoyed your selves on the first visit to the park. I have noticed the uneven paths as well and I know some were done to allow drainage in certain areas. And as far as I305 , Dominator, and Grizzly yea there my favorites but then I remember when grizzly was built and rode it on its first season.

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Hey guys.

 

Next week I'm flying 6,000 miles for my yearly roller-coaser trip in the US.

 

This year includes 1 day at KD, 2 days at CP and another 2 days at SFMM (plus some other things in between...).

 

I tried to adjust my trip days so I'll be in the parks only on weekdays, but no matter how I tried to spin it, KD always fell on a saturday.

 

Anyway, as opposed to the other parks, this is my FIRST time to KD, and I have no idea what to expect there on a saturday crowd-wise.

I'll be there next saturday (May 19th), by the way.

 

How's KD when it's crowded? I know CP and SFMM on crowded times, and I can only imagine KD, even when crowded, is less crowded than those two.

Should I prepare myself mentally for buying a fast lane? I only have one day at KD (and I'm planing to be there from the opening till closing time), and I wanna ride everything AT LEAST twice (I believe you can learn to love a new coaster only after the second ride...)

 

Any tips? advices? suggestions?

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Hey guys.

 

Next week I'm flying 6,000 miles for my yearly roller-coaser trip in the US.

 

This year includes 1 day at KD, 2 days at CP and another 2 days at SFMM (plus some other things in between...).

 

I tried to adjust my trip days so I'll be in the parks only on weekdays, but no matter how I tried to spin it, KD always fell on a saturday.

 

Anyway, as opposed to the other parks, this is my FIRST time to KD, and I have no idea what to expect there on a saturday crowd-wise.

I'll be there next saturday (May 19th), by the way.

 

How's KD when it's crowded? I know CP and SFMM on crowded times, and I can only imagine KD, even when crowded, is less crowded than those two.

Should I prepare myself mentally for buying a fast lane? I only have one day at KD (and I'm planing to be there from the opening till closing time), and I wanna ride everything AT LEAST twice (I believe you can learn to love a new coaster only after the second ride...)

 

Any tips? advices? suggestions?

 

Crowds usually get bigger by mid day on Saturdays. I tell most people to hit Volcano first Flight of fear 2nd. Those to coasters have a low cycle time for some reason. From there it is pretty much a gamble. You may get very lucky and most people will be hitting Busch Gardens that weekend since Verbolten will be opening on the 18th.

if you want to ride everything 2 times I would get to I305 after Volcano and Flight of fear it is in the same area and can get crowded. But I have yet seen a line over 10 minutes on it. Windseeker is on the other side of the park . You also got fast lane on 15 of the rides at the park so there would be a option as well..

As far as the Crowds it can get a little rough mid afternoons but to me they not as bad as some say unless it is a holiday weekend.

 

Hope you enjoy your first time at King's Dominion and your entire trip to The US ......

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Hey guys.

 

Next week I'm flying 6,000 miles for my yearly roller-coaser trip in the US.

 

This year includes 1 day at KD, 2 days at CP and another 2 days at SFMM (plus some other things in between...).

 

I tried to adjust my trip days so I'll be in the parks only on weekdays, but no matter how I tried to spin it, KD always fell on a saturday.

 

Anyway, as opposed to the other parks, this is my FIRST time to KD, and I have no idea what to expect there on a saturday crowd-wise.

I'll be there next saturday (May 19th), by the way.

 

How's KD when it's crowded? I know CP and SFMM on crowded times, and I can only imagine KD, even when crowded, is less crowded than those two.

Should I prepare myself mentally for buying a fast lane? I only have one day at KD (and I'm planing to be there from the opening till closing time), and I wanna ride everything AT LEAST twice (I believe you can learn to love a new coaster only after the second ride...)

 

Any tips? advices? suggestions?

 

Crowds usually get bigger by mid day on Saturdays. I tell most people to hit Volcano first Flight of fear 2nd. Those two coasters have a low cycle time for some reason. From there it is pretty much a gamble. You may get very lucky and most people will be hitting Busch Gardens that weekend since Verbolten will be opening on the 18th.

if you want to ride everything 2 times I would get to I305 after Volcano and Flight of fear it is in the same area and can get crowded. But I have yet seen a line over 10 minutes on it. Windseeker is on the other side of the park . You also got fast lane on 15 of the rides at the park so there would be a option as well..

As far as the Crowds it can get a little rough mid afternoons but to me they not as bad as some say unless it is a holiday weekend.

 

Hope you enjoy your first time at King's Dominion and your entire trip to The US ......

 

The waterpark should be open by then so that can help disperse the crowds making wait times shorter for some rides in the park.

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2012 Rescue Challenge at Kings Dominion

 

How many of you have dreamed of rappelling down the sides of a roller coaster—for example, the Grizzly at Kings Dominion? Some Mid-Atlantic firefighting and rescue teams got to do just that as part of the 18th Annual Rescue Challenge at Kings Dominion this week (May 7-10).

 

Kings Dominion was one of a number of Central Virginia sites hosting this year’s event, which is rotated around different regions of the state, including Northern Virginia, Roanoke, and Virginia Beach. Rescue workers had to tackle two difference rescue scenarios at the park: a “water rescue” under Anaconda and a “shaft rescue” at Grizzly. These scenarios have various requirements and parameters that the firefighters must follow.

 

“This gives firefighters a chance to hone their skills,” said R. C. Hagaman, the public information officer of the Richmond Fire Department. The group really has to “think outside the box” to solve the problem and rescue the poor “victim” (in this case, a 185-pound mannequin).

 

The teams at the park today were from Arlington and Prince William County, Virginia, and Montgomery County, Maryland. Participants this week include not only career firefighters, but volunteers and industrial and military crews. The structures at KD provide an opportunity for them to use “unconventional methods” in pulling off rescues. For example, at last year’s event firefighters rescued someone dangling from the superstructure of Intimidator 305, and Flight of Fear gave rescue crews a chance to work in the dark.

 

I observed the “shaft rescue” at Grizzly today, and it was very interesting to watch all the teamwork involved—everyone has to pull together at the right time (not to mention on the right rope) for a safe, successful rescue.

 

“Kings Dominion's number one priority is safety, and Rescue Challenge 2012 provides unique technical training, allowing rescue crews to be fully prepared in the event of an emergency,” said a press release from the park. My thanks to Kings Dominion, with an extra nod to Gene Petriello, the park’s communications manager, for the chance to witness such a unique event. It will be a few years before the park hosts another Rescue Challenge.

 

Here’s a look at what happened at Grizzly’s “horseshoe” turnaround.

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Can you spot all the 300' plus structures in this photo?

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Meet Gene Petriello, the park's communications manager. He's been there a month, and this is the first theme park he's ever worked for (not counting a stint as a lifeguard at a water park). Welcome aboard, Gene!

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The Prince William team was just getting started at Anaconda, so we headed over to Grizzly.

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It's not often that you get to see this side of Grizzly's "horseshoe."

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But when you're near Grizzly, be wary of the Shed of Death!

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Here's where the rescue took place. And where there's a rescue . . .

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. . . there must be a victim. This poor guy fell down a "shaft" represented by yellow tape. The rescue crew from Montgomery County had to work within this limitation by rappelleing down the side of Grizzly, pulling the victim up in a basket, then transferring him to a zipline for the trip back down to safety. Plus, they had to deal with howling Velociraptors from the nearby Dinosaurs Alive!

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Here's the crew on the ground . . .

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. . . and up on high.

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Where there's rope, there's hope, right?

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There were men on all sides of Grizzly's turnaround.

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"OK, where's that basket?"

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Here it comes--that's a long walk up those stairs (around 80 feet, I think).

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There's a lot of rigging to be done on the ground, too.

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Hope those trees hold.

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This will give you an idea of how high up they are.

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Looks like they're ready to save that poor guy.

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That's John Trawinski, Montgomery County Fire and Rescue, dangling from all that rope.

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He's a little over halfway down.

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"You guys up there keep an eye out for dinosaurs, OK? Thanks!"

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Safe on the ground--for now.

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"Hurry! The raptors are coming!"

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Up they go.

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Their objective is that zipline in the middle.

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Yep--that's pretty high up.

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Almost there . . .

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. . . got it!

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Now it gets really tricky. The rescuer has to transfer himself and the victim to the zipline for the ride down to the safe area.

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As you can probably imagine, this is pretty tricky to do while you're dangling so high up in the air.

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Time to bring them down.

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Starting the trip back to Earth.

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Easy does it.

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The view from the safe area (which is a bit swampy).

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Almost down.

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Ta-dah! Another successful rescue! Well done!

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We'll finish with a backstage shot of Intimidator 305. My thanks to Kings Dominion for the chance to observe such a unique event, and to Gene Petriello for being such a good host.

Edited by cfc
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