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Kings Dominion (KD) Discussion Thread

p. 776: Rapterra wing coaster announced for 2025!

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We are worried about it potentially being crowded tomorrow and trying to figure out if we can budget fast lane plus if we need to since we only have one day. There are three of us, is anyone coming tomorrow that is planning on getting fast lane plus if it's needed that would like to join us in buying so we can save ten bucks per pass?

 

I would NOT recommend the Fast Lane Pass on a Sunday! Sundays are surprisingly one of Kings Dominion's least crowded days. When I went to Kings Dominion last Sunday, the park was so empty that we had to wait for enough people to be in line for Windseeker before they'd start the ride! The only ride you'd probably have to wait in a long line for,however, would be Volcano.

Edited by Bmanscool
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When I went, the line was extremely long, filling up the entire queue. From my experience at Gadv I estimated a 1.5 hour or more wait. However, the staff at KD were so incredibly efficient that the line was only 45 minutes. I wouldn't worry about lines at I305 to be honest

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Glad to see these responses to Ape. Making me feel better

 

as I've mentioned, we are going to be hitting KD on Friday, 6/19 (on our way to DC after checking out from the Williamsburg hotel), so we're only planning to spend 6-8 hours in the park (this is the first day they are open until 10pm too).

 

we're hoping to be there at open, and back on the road to Washington by 6pm (so we can get to the hotel while still have some daylight), and we are going to TRY to ride everything (many things, my Partner won't ride anyways), in particular the woodies.

 

but for sure, the 3 things I don't want to miss are: Volcano, I305, and Windseeker. . all things he won't ride. . LOL.

 

so not budgeting for a Fast Lane, but the comments here make me more confident in that choice. I know Friday won't be DEAD, but at least it will be less folks than on a weekend!

 

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Glad to see these responses to Ape. Making me feel better

 

as I've mentioned, we are going to be hitting KD on Friday, 6/19 (on our way to DC after checking out from the Williamsburg hotel), so we're only planning to spend 6-8 hours in the park (this is the first day they are open until 10pm too).

 

we're hoping to be there at open, and back on the road to Washington by 6pm (so we can get to the hotel while still have some daylight), and we are going to TRY to ride everything (many things, my Partner won't ride anyways), in particular the woodies.

 

but for sure, the 3 things I don't want to miss are: Volcano, I305, and Windseeker. . all things he won't ride. . LOL.

 

so not budgeting for a Fast Lane, but the comments here make me more confident in that choice. I know Friday won't be DEAD, but at least it will be less folks than on a weekend!

 

 

can't stress this enough: Ride. Volcano. First.

 

the first coaster you will see and be drawn to is Dominator. walk right past it and proceed to Volcano. Volcano's line is extremely slow and just gets longer and longer as the day goes on. in afternoons, i've seen a 2 hour wait for Volcano while i305 is almost a walk on.

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Glad to see these responses to Ape. Making me feel better

 

as I've mentioned, we are going to be hitting KD on Friday, 6/19 (on our way to DC after checking out from the Williamsburg hotel), so we're only planning to spend 6-8 hours in the park (this is the first day they are open until 10pm too).

 

we're hoping to be there at open, and back on the road to Washington by 6pm (so we can get to the hotel while still have some daylight), and we are going to TRY to ride everything (many things, my Partner won't ride anyways), in particular the woodies.

 

but for sure, the 3 things I don't want to miss are: Volcano, I305, and Windseeker. . all things he won't ride. . LOL.

 

so not budgeting for a Fast Lane, but the comments here make me more confident in that choice. I know Friday won't be DEAD, but at least it will be less folks than on a weekend!

 

 

can't stress this enough: Ride. Volcano. First.

 

the first coaster you will see and be drawn to is Dominator. walk right past it and proceed to Volcano. Volcano's line is extremely slow and just gets longer and longer as the day goes on. in afternoons, i've seen a 2 hour wait for Volcano while i305 is almost a walk on.

 

Noted.

 

I've seen several folks mention this.

 

Volcano 1st thing in the park!

 

thanks

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I don't usually make much of a "plan of attack" for parks, preferring a kind of spontaneous "OK, what's first, what's next? etc."

 

Hitting up Volcano first at KD is the one big exception; strategically, it's an absolute must-do move. And you really do have to be quick about it, because it seems just about everyone there at opening knows the same trick. Be at the park before open, be at the front of the rope drop by Dominator (at least this is how it was done my visit last fall), walk briskly and directly there. This got us on the fourth or fifth front row dispatch of the day. By the time we walked around for a second lap the line was already "oh heck no" in length. So dilly dally at your own risk!

 

Luckily, an empty I305 is a nice consolation prize to that Volcano reride.

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I must mention though, ever since they redid the queue and loading process last season on Volcano, the line does move faster and is a heck of a lot less claustrophobic. With the whole queue above the gift shop full it only takes about 45-50 mins and even if the line is pouring out to the midway it is less than a 90 minute wait. Yes, this is long for KD standards, but when comparing to CP it's nothing!

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I feel l like no matter what they do the line for Volcano is long and I don't think they ever run more than 2 trains which makes it even worse. But it is an pretty amazing invert, when it first open it didn't get much love but as it is gotten older I think more people appreciate how innovative and awesome the ride is, there Is no other coaster experience like it in the World. I agree though. None of the lines KD compare to busy day at Cedar Point!

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Idk. The ride can only do 16 people per train, which is kinda low when you think that the Dominator and I305 are doing 32 per train. I know that a when the ride first open it was having some tech issues and I think they decreased the capacity but part of the issue is they can only run 2 trains and they trains are shorter than most rides.

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Idk. The ride can only do 16 people per train, which is kinda low when you think that the Dominator and I305 are doing 32 per train. I know that a when the ride first open it was having some tech issues and I think they decreased the capacity but part of the issue is they can only run 2 trains and they trains are shorter than most rides.

 

yeah, capacity is very low. it's not just a matter of popularity. and i don't feel like the queue redesign had much of an impact on rider throughput. the only thing that would improve capacity would be a second station, or at least having the ability to let riders exit from one train while another train is loading (like Flight of Fear). but those kind of alterations would probably be cost prohibitive on a 20 year old ride.

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^ The ride only has 2 trains and could not run with 3 trains. The ride's capacity is fine, it's just the most popular ride in the park, even 17 years later and with Intimidator 305 next door.

They had 3 trains, but rarely ran the third and removed it altogether as part of the 40th anniversary improvements.

Source: I'm an observant longtime passholder.

And smallpox, they did have separate loading and exiting until 2014, so the new queue is nicer but actually diminished the ride capacity.

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The ride can only do 16 people per train,

 

Today they weren't using the back row on the trains. I'm guessing it was due to the magnet issue mentioned earlier in this thread.

 

Anyway, they must have been having a couple problems today. I got to the park around 10:20 and headed straight for Volcano. An employee was standing at the entrance and telling people they didn't know when it would be running. They finally started putting people on around 11:30 and luckily I was close by when I saw feet dangling from a car on it. I only waited for less than 10 minutes to get on but there was quite a line by the time I got off.

 

I went back a little later in the afternoon to see how long the line was and as I got closer I noticed the empty trains running and an employee at the entrance. So I rode Avalanche instead and by the time I got off that, Volcano was running again. Luck was with me again, I only waited about 15 minutes this time.

 

My two rides on Volcano were my longest waits today. Everything else was practically a walk on. Heck, I didn't even leave the station on my last 2 rides on Dominator. I unbuckled (and asked if I could stay on) and switched to a row that nobody was waiting for. The 2 trains they were running were only about 1/4 to 1/3 full each time out of the station.

 

Oh yeah, my mom laughed at me because I rode Woodstock Express.

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^ I liked how they showed a photo of Hypersonic XLC & mention how the park was dead and lines were non-existent.

 

Great journalism & investigation there.

This is BuzzFeed, not the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal lol.

 

Yeah I remember seeing this and thinking "Cedar Point? On a list of underrated amusement parks?" Nahhhhh, man, there's a reason you work for buzzfeed

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