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Kings Dominion (KD) Discussion Thread

p. 777: Winterfest starts on November 29!

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I am for sure. We may or may not do any mazes but we always do our KD trip during Haunt because of their incredible hours. 10:30 AM to Midnight, Fastlane puts you right into the station on everything at KD and they run the Log Flume until 7:00 which is awesome in October.

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I still think that Hurler will eventually be given the RMC Iron Horse treatment while Grizzly gets the GCI Ghostrider treatment. As for the grain of salt B&M Launched flyer rumor, I'd be interested in seeing how they do that. The forces are definitely quite unique on a flying coaster and I wonder how fast it could be launched given the riding position and forces. Then there's the question of where to put it? There was a rumor a few years ago that they were looking into a Deckerized B&M wing coaster. Personally, I'd love to see a pretzel loop that goes around the main entrance to any park. Frame the entrance inside the loop. Tell me that wouldn't look completely awesome with the Eiffel Tower in the background.

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I am for sure. We may or may not do any mazes but we always do our KD trip during Haunt because of their incredible hours. 10:30 AM to Midnight, Fastlane puts you right into the station on everything at KD and they run the Log Flume until 7:00 which is awesome in October.

 

In that past, the park was open only from 7:00 pm to midnight on Fridays during Haunt, and the crowd was small. I think staying open longer is a good idea. Families can do the kid Halloween stuff then.

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I am for sure. We may or may not be scooping up Boldy on our way down for his first ever visit and so he can finally ride his #1 bucketlist coaster which is awesome.

 

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Change of topic for KD... What was your first coaster ever ridden at KD? Surprisingly it was not Scoobie Doo for me and it was Mt. Kilimanjaro... For all of those that aren't as old as me, it was the coaster that ran through the smaller mountain between Volcano and Anaconda. Gosh, it brings back memories of sitting there and watching the ski show in the lake too!

 

Volcano.

 

we followed advice here on TPR and went there 1st.

 

(followed by Avalanche, I305, Flight of Fear, and Anaconda . . .i remember the order, because i REALLY had to pee, and there are absolutely no toilets in that area, but the rides were opening one after the other with no lines, so we went from one to the other to the other)

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^^ Oh you're coming. Get ready for the customary last log of the night at 7 PM in October. It's tradition.

 

PS: I just realized that I've never ridden Shenandoah Lumber Company when it was above 50 degrees.

post-23914-Im-ready-Jon-Snow-gif-othl.gif.4be5772118e2be6e3c169c7b534d7001.gif

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I am for sure. We may or may not do any mazes but we always do our KD trip during Haunt because of their incredible hours. 10:30 AM to Midnight, Fastlane puts you right into the station on everything at KD and they run the Log Flume until 7:00 which is awesome in October.

 

Pretty much all of my visits to Kings Dominion have been on their 7PM-12AM Friday nights in October for Haunt for the reasons Chuck laid out. Nary a line in the place!

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Hmm.. My memory may be fuzzy on this one but wasn't there a speculation about carowinds getting a giga in 2013 and it ended up getting announced in 2014? This could also be for the s*** and giggles but it could be something to think about

That speculation also stemmed from a new article about when cedar fair went to the tax people for the incentives and pitched the 300 plus foot coaster similar to what cedar point had just done with gatekeeper. Turns out they were referring to the fact that it was an "gate" coaster and it did end up being a giga. There is no sorts of this going for kings dominion. Its getting really sad how some people are really trying with their all their might to FORCE a RMC hurler to happen.

 

I feel this year shows that Cedar fair, as a chain, realizes their parks are good in the coaster department. I was personally shocked any coasters were announced as it seems the chain is going for a more "back to basics" approach and fixing things from inside out (infrastructure, environment of the parks, experience . . .etc). When the coasters do come, its gonna gonna be an ever better thing.

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In all of my visits over the last two years, Rebel Yell does not race. The park operates both sides all day long (which is more than can be said for King's Island), but one side of the lift hill goes up faster than the other and the trains are completely apart during the entire ride after the lift hill. It's a shame and i would imagine a relatively simple thing to fix. But it takes away greatly from the experience of the coaster.

 

As far as King's Dominion getting big new coasters, I-305 failed to pack them in and usually has a minimal wait. KD doesn't get that great of attendance. The park lacks in many areas, and Busch is right down the road with a better overall appeal to a larger group of customers Busch accomodates thrill seekeers, kiddies, non-thrill riders, live performance enthusiast, and has decent food to eat! KD is a coaster park, and their coaster lineup isn't that great.

 

KD would be foolish to continue to invest in coasters and nothing else when they are getting a poor attendance with this formula. To compete better with Busch, the elements that Paramount ripped out need to return so everyone can be entertained there, not just coaster riders.

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As far as King's Dominion getting big new coasters, I-305 failed to pack them in and usually has a minimal wait.

 

I've seen this mentioned multiple times as an example, and I think it's actually a pretty poor example... I-305 is super intense, so much so originally that it had to be modified, and even coaster enthusiasts concede that it's very intense. It shouldn't be surprising in the least that the GP don't flock to it in droves. If KD were to install a coaster that was more re-ridable to the GP, you had better believe that you would see a much more enthusiastic response by the GP than you do with regard to I-305.

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I've seen this mentioned multiple times as an example, and I think it's actually a pretty poor example... I-305 is super intense, so much so originally that it had to be modified, and even coaster enthusiasts concede that it's very intense. It shouldn't be surprising in the least that the GP don't flock to it in droves. If KD were to install a coaster that was more re-ridable to the GP, you had better believe that you would see a much more enthusiastic response by the GP than you do with regard to I-305.

 

So would that have made I-305 a bad decision to install at KD? At least that 's how I'm reading into it. A company that spends that kind of money for what is basically the park's marquee attraction yet doesn't bring in the results they had hoped makes it sound like it was a failure from the start. I, personally, loved the ride and consider it better than Millennium Force.

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I've seen this mentioned multiple times as an example, and I think it's actually a pretty poor example... I-305 is super intense, so much so originally that it had to be modified, and even coaster enthusiasts concede that it's very intense. It shouldn't be surprising in the least that the GP don't flock to it in droves. If KD were to install a coaster that was more re-ridable to the GP, you had better believe that you would see a much more enthusiastic response by the GP than you do with regard to I-305.

 

So would that have made I-305 a bad decision to install at KD? At least that 's how I'm reading into it. A company that spends that kind of money for what is basically the park's marquee attraction yet doesn't bring in the results they had hoped makes it sound like it was a failure from the start. I, personally, loved the ride and consider it better than Millennium Force.

 

I actually almost put something to that effect in there, but yeah, I think if CF had it to do over again, they wouldn't have installed it, or they would have installed a version of it that was more GP-friendly - like MF is. Intensity is not a bad thing, as MF proves. But clearly, there is something about the level of intensity on I-305 that is keeping people off of it, while they still enjoy riding coasters at KD like Volcano, and Dominator. I would go so far as to say, if KD had added an Intamin Hyper coaster that was taller than Apollo's Chariot, but similar to Superman at SF:NE, it would have much different ridership numbers than I-305 does.

 

Unlike some people, it seems, I don't think CF is infallible, and actually DO think they have made plenty of mistakes over the years in running their parks. Everybody makes mistakes, it's just a matter of learning from them. However, the mistake here, as I pointed out in my last post, was not adding a new, large, marquee coaster, but rather adding the specific coaster that they did.

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As far as King's Dominion getting big new coasters, I-305 failed to pack them in and usually has a minimal wait.

 

I've disagreed that the coaster is not successful before. After 6 years, the park still has noticably better attendance than it did in 2009, to my eyes. Unless you think that's due to something else they added, heh. It's a people eater and people spend more time at the park because of it than they spend actually riding it (the first year, I think more came to look at it than ride it). There's actually times the line is much longer than FoF or Volcano, rides with famously low capacity, and a really long line last few nights of the year, even with temps going below 40 degrees. And it will continue to draw people to the park for a long time to come. There's coasters they could have put in instead that would have had a better immediate reaction, but I can't think of any that would have given the park more respect.

 

Plus, how long a line do you want? Sure the parks would love for people to spend their hard earned money to stand in line 95% of the time, but I won't, and rides like Dominator and Intimidator are evidence CF/KD have realized that capacity appropriate to the park is a good thing (vs. Hypersonic).

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I've disagreed that the coaster is not successful before. After 6 years, the park still has noticably better attendance than it did in 2009, to my eyes. Unless you think that's due to something else they added, heh.

 

It could also be due to an outside factor such as economic recovery.

 

It's a people eater

 

While in a sense this is true, it frequently runs one train. I've only been there twice when it was running 2 trains and every time it is a station wait while running one train. That makes Volcano have essentially the same capacity/hr.

 

There's actually times the line is much longer than FoF or Volcano, rides with famously low capacity, and a really long line last few nights of the year

 

Never seen it, personally. I've seen all three have short lines but never has I305 had the longest.

 

There's coasters they could have put in instead that would have had a better immediate reaction, but I can't think of any that would have given the park more respect.

 

Shaky argument, but possibly true. However, respect doesn't pay the bills.

 

Look, I don't want to come across like I dislike the ride. I think it's great and it falls just outside my top 10. The sad reality is this was a flop. We have not, and likely will not see other rides like this in the US, at least not in the near future. Millennium Force hit the mark, Maverick hit the mark, but unfortunately, a love child of the two was a swing and a miss.

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I still say an overbank instead of the first turn would help the ride alot in the GP eyes

 

Absolutely. That's where all the grey-outs occur and once someone has that happen at the beginning of the ride, the rest is not as enjoyable to them.

 

It also would have helped to not tear itself apart. lol

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Any sign of life over at Volcano?

 

Signs said closed Saturday, but I didn't verify. Running today, all rows open, although my fully loaded ride was the slowest ever, hangtime coming out the volcano in the 3rd row.

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I've disagreed that the coaster is not successful before. After 6 years, the park still has noticably better attendance than it did in 2009, to my eyes. Unless you think that's due to something else they added, heh.

 

It could also be due to an outside factor such as economic recovery.

 

It's a people eater

 

While in a sense this is true, it frequently runs one train. I've only been there twice when it was running 2 trains and every time it is a station wait while running one train. That makes Volcano have essentially the same capacity/hr.

 

There's actually times the line is much longer than FoF or Volcano, rides with famously low capacity, and a really long line last few nights of the year

 

Never seen it, personally. I've seen all three have short lines but never has I305 had the longest.

 

There's coasters they could have put in instead that would have had a better immediate reaction, but I can't think of any that would have given the park more respect.

 

Shaky argument, but possibly true. However, respect doesn't pay the bills.

 

Look, I don't want to come across like I dislike the ride. I think it's great and it falls just outside my top 10. The sad reality is this was a flop. We have not, and likely will not see other rides like this in the US, at least not in the near future. Millennium Force hit the mark, Maverick hit the mark, but unfortunately, a love child of the two was a swing and a miss.

 

Fyi.. Not a swing and a miss. I305 is back and forth with Dominator as 2nd and 3rd most ridden attractions in the park (Volcano is indeed #1). Thats not too shabby if you consider the much better location in the park of Dominator.A bit intense? Absolutely. But I think it was meant to be more intense than 99% of coasters, and it achieved (although obviously underestimated intensity in version 1). It is a ride that gets people talking and brings them in from miles around to visit.

 

The economy was really poor until '13, so their great years of '10-'13 were likely thanks to i305.

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Are those official ridership numbers? I would honestly think Dominator would be #1 in the park due to it's capacity since Volcano struggles in that department and I305 runs 1 train on slow days.

 

Same here. Also doesn't KD have a train? That would probably be in the top 5-6 there.

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Fyi.. Not a swing and a miss.

 

I'm talking about in the eyes of the GP. It could be debated that Millennium Force is the most popular rollercoaster on the planet and Maverick is universally loved by GP and enthusiasts. When they married the two, they only achieved mass amounts of love from the enthusiasts whereas the GP didn't respond quite like they had hoped.

 

I305 may have brought in more attendance. I'm not going to argue that. What it does not have though is the ridership. What we have seen is CF no longer doing business with Intamin after I305. What we haven't seen is anything like this being built in the years since. And these reasons are why I'm saying it was a miss. Because of these reasons are why I'm almost certain we will not see a ride like this in the US in the foreseeable future. I'd love to be wrong, but currently the signs don't point to that being the case.

 

Like I said, I like the ride. You can love the ride, many of us do. But that doesn't mean it hit the mark like they hoped.

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Are those official ridership numbers? I would honestly think Dominator would be #1 in the park due to it's capacity since Volcano struggles in that department and I305 runs 1 train on slow days.

 

Same here. Also doesn't KD have a train? That would probably be in the top 5-6 there.

 

No train... Sadly.

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Are those official ridership numbers? I would honestly think Dominator would be #1 in the park due to it's capacity since Volcano struggles in that department and I305 runs 1 train on slow days.

 

Same here. Also doesn't KD have a train? That would probably be in the top 5-6 there.

 

I believe they got rid of it, but yeah those numbers don't add up. When I think of High Capacity rides at KD I think of things like Drop Tower, Dominator and Rebel Yell if they actually ran both sides on a frequent basis. Hell I wouldn't even be shocked if Eiffel Tower is ahead of Volcano (though again they usually only run one elevator so maybe not).

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