Kings Dominion (KD) Discussion Thread

[bejackso]

i was at media day as an ACE member.......late posting a TR. my main point of praise for the ride (biased since KD has been my home park my whole life) is to see the hurler re-purposed in such a terrific way. what a nice face lift for the area!

 

agree with all previous posts about it being a great ride.....intense but not too intense. love the triple airtime hills and smoothness. can't wait to ride it in the summer once it warms up. also very happy to meet alan schilke and fred grubb at media day! #legends

[bejackso]

NOW should carowinds follow suit?

Not right now. I think hurler at carowinds has a different condition and among different company than KD's. KD still has 2 more adult size wooden coasters so hurler really isnt a major loss. If I ran the world, I would ONLY convert hurler under the condition a new wooden coaster were to be built prior to it happening. And I wouldn't want both RMC hurlers to have the same layouts, but I would keep the middle section the same lol, its damn near perfect.

 

interesting point.....i hope carowinds either demo's their hurler or does some wild RMC alternate version that is way different than the "paper clip" version at KD. given carowinds hurler proximity to fury, if they revamped it with something insane, imagine the 1-2 combo right there in that plaza.

[prozach626]

Can anyone weigh in on how the ride compares to Storm Chaser? Does it have the same convulsion time ending?

[SharkTums]

Eliza will take care of it.

 

I have to comment because as KT is a Hamilton enthusiast that is in fact Angelica!

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Eliza will take care of it.

 

I have to comment because as KT is a Hamilton enthusiast that is in fact Angelica!

Ah, my bad. Thank her for correcting me!

[coneyislandchris]

Can anyone weigh in on how the ride compares to Storm Chaser? Does it have the same convulsion time ending?

I personally liked it a lot more than Storm Chaser. Storm Chaser just felt like a collection of elements, this feels like an actual ride. And though there's a ton of little bumps, nothing like the end of SC that just jerks you around rag-doll style.

[boldikus]

Hope its cool to post this, stumbled upon this awesome offride footage of TT. His channel is pretty great with lots of awesome offride footage of various coasters.

[prozach626]

Wow. That's great off ride footage. I love when videos like this really capture the sights and sounds. The first traditional over bank looks great. Thanks for sharing.

[jarmor]

Eliza will take care of it.

 

I have to comment because as KT is a Hamilton enthusiast that is in fact Angelica!

No one ever cares about Peggy lol.

 

I may have seen some of you all but since I broke my glasses first thing as I got there, I couldn't see crap!

[Manic Monte]

Cedar who? For my money, KD now has my overall favorite coaster line up in the US bar none.

[CoasterAuditor]

^Honestly at this point anything they add is just like a bonus. (*hides before the crazy B&M Hyper people show up*). I currently live in VA and plan to move to Houston in 2 years and I am going to miss the crap out of KD and Busch Gardens once I am down there.

[CarolinaJay]

^Honestly at this point anything they add is just like a bonus. (*hides before the crazy B&M Hyper people show up*). I currently live in VA and plan to move to Houston in 2 years and I am going to miss the crap out of KD and Busch Gardens once I am down there.

 

Dude I'm moving to Tampa at the end of August and I'm so bummed haha, BUT I WILL MAKE MY WAY BACK TO KD!!! WE BOTH WILL!! We can't just give up on KD because we're moving. We can't do it lol.

[CoasterAuditor]

^Luckily I still have plenty of family and friends in the area!

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Eliza will take care of it.

 

I have to comment because as KT is a Hamilton enthusiast that is in fact Angelica!

No one ever cares about Peggy lol.

Lol, poor Peggy. She was actually pretty badass IRL though. She hid her sisters during the Revolution when their estate was raided by British sympathisers, facing down armed men and saving her whole family with quick thinking. At the time Eliza was pregnant with Philip Hamilton, the very one who is prominent in Act II of the musical. Peggy died too young, but she kept that family together.

[IntaminLove]

Hope its cool to post this, stumbled upon this awesome offride footage of TT. His channel is pretty great with lots of awesome offride footage of various coasters.

 

The reviews here said Twisted Timbers is intense and this video captures it perfectly. I wasn't too excited for this coaster prior to it opening, but now I can't wait to ride it someday. I have never been to Kings Dominion and hopefully my first trip finally happens next year.

[ZeroGravity55]

That video is a great example of why you don't judge a coaster on videos of it testing before the ride has even opened. Especially videos from a drone that is at least a 100 feet in the air and 200 feet away from the ride.

[boldikus]

That video is a great example of why you don't judge a coaster on videos of it testing before the ride has even opened. Especially videos from a drone that is at least a 100 feet in the air and 200 feet away from the ride.

 

This.

 

The reviews here said Twisted Timbers is intense and this video captures it perfectly. I wasn't too excited for this coaster prior to it opening, but now I can't wait to ride it someday. I have never been to Kings Dominion and hopefully my first trip finally happens next year.

 

I can concur the video absolutely captures what this ride feels like. Relentless airtime all the way into the brakes. Riding early in the morning it was insane enough, our last rides before closing (in the dark) were otherwordly.

 

Cedar who? For my money, KD now has my overall favorite coaster line up in the US bar none.

 

I really fell hard for Kings Dominion over the weekend. I loved it before, but now its one of my favorite parks. Aesthetically its my fave CF park, and the ride lineup is so varied and fun - they have a little bit of everything and the hole in their lineup where they were missing an airtime machine is now more than adequately filled. Being able to bounce between this, I305, Dominator, Volcano, and everything else was quite a treat. I'm definitely planning to get back down later this summer/fall. That area is gonna be incredible during Haunt.

[bill_s]

I think the drone video was totally accurate, just a matter of interpretation. Coasters always look slower when not riding them (although I305 comes close). It DOES slow down faster than a metal-wheeled wood coaster and it's going slow at the end. It's just how these things work. Looking at the elements showed it better slow down later on or it would kill you, actual testing video wasn't needed to see that. It also loses a lot more speed than the Raptors do which are about 60% as long.

 

On my rides Sunday eve., even the last little hump felt forceful. That's a matter of it running up to spec, maybe 3 MPH faster than the first video.

[coasterbill]

I always try to be careful since rides are always hyped up to ridiculous levels when they first open. The combination of the initial hype, anticipation and opening day experience really gets people excited. All of that out of the way though, I really, really love this ride.

 

When we got off of our first ride early in the morning, it reminded me a lot of Wicked Cyclone. It was awesome and I loved it, I loved the first drop and the rest of the ride had a real "Wicked Cyclone" vibe to it. Obviously I was elated with that.

 

As the day went on though... god damn. I was getting Lightning Rod vibes by the end of the day. The ride is absolutely relentless, especially from the first far turn over near Grizzly to the brakes. The only breaks from the intensity in that stretch are really that barrel roll (which is god damn awesome in it's own right, just in a different way) and the last turnaround. Those last two turns are totally f*cked looking, but ride really, really well. They don't try to throw you but they're super weird. It almost feels like the last 2 swoops of Mako would feel if Walter Bolliger and Claude Mabillard designed them immediately after trying crack cocaine for the first time.

 

I thought it was odd that anything on an RMC reminded me of an element on a B&M but Boldikus and I both got Mako vibes from it. It was weird, but awesome. I know some of the hardcore Intamin / RMC people will hear this and their level of anticipation for the ride will drop approximately 800% but trust me... it's cool as sh*t.

 

I'm awful at ranking coasters, and I generally don't care to do it but of the RMCs I've ridden (Lightning Rod, Storm Chaser, Wicked Cyclone, Goliath and now Twisted Timbers), I'd say it's right near the top. It combines that "Lightning Rod" relentlessness with that awesome Storm Chaser barrel roll drop and it's glorious. That obviously means you do get an occasional reprieve from the bucking bronco craziness so the ride can perform a super fun inversion so if you just want wall to wall "holy sh*t, holy sh*t. holy sh*t" moments then I guess you might prefer Lightning Rod (though you won't be disappointed with this ride either). If you want a great balance between mind-f*ck-ground-level-head-chopping barrel rolls and airtime hills that seem determined to throw you out of the train then this thing is perfect.

[Ape]

The only coaster I felt let down by after being hyped about it was Diamondback. I am overly hyped for Steel Vengeance but I have a feeling that will live up to things like Lightning rod did for me.

 

Still trying to figure out a way to weasel a trip in to KD

[boldikus]

Those last two turns are totally f*cked looking, but ride really, really well. They don't try to throw you but they're super weird. It almost feels like the last 2 swoops of Mako would feel if Walter Bolliger and Claude Mabillard designed them immediately after trying crack cocaine for the first time.

It's true though.

 

On our rides later in the day I felt like that very last small pop after the final turns and before the incline into the brakes is one of the most intense parts on the ride. It's like it kinda chills out around those last turns, even though they are still kinda crazy, and then BOOM that hill tries to toss you into the Atlantic.

 

The run from the first turn around the station to the far turn by Grizzly are just relentless airtime moments one after the other, event the two little tiny pops in and out of the three "El Toro" hills. Those hills provide a very similar sensation to the sustained yank Toros two big hills provide. Obviously much smaller but same sensation. The turn under the lift with the outward banked airtime hill only to turn back the opposite way is absolutely insane and another highlight. I have more to say in the report that is well underway and coming soon. Hoping to get it up by the weekend.

[defrocker]

We made it to KD last Saturday for just a couple hours. I at least wanted to get a couple early rides on Twisted Timbers. The ride rode extremely well. I have never ridden anything so smooth in my life. Carousels are rougher than this ride. RMC really has a handle on their engineering. The ride itself provides a forceful, yet very comfortable ride that one could easily reride for an extended period of time. I know that many people won't agree with me here but it is my favorite ride at KD, but more importantly, it really rounds out their collection very nicely.

 

Everyone seems to be anxious to compare this to Storm Chaser, and while they do share a few similarities I am having a hard time comparing the two. Storm Chaser seems to be more focused on doing odd tricks while Twisted Timbers is more of a straightforward (as far as RMCs go) ride. I really enjoyed Storm Chaser last year and when I rode it, it was absolutely flying. Comparing how it felt with early videos makes me wonder how much faster Twisted Timbers can possibly go. If this past weekend was the slowest it will ever run then I'm slightly nervous to see how it will ride in the heat of the summer. lol.

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Loving the great reviews of Twisted Timbers! Looking forward to your TR, Boldikus. Coasterbill, you can just tell me about it when you come to Missouri this summer, it'll be faster.

[Arthur_Seaton]

Everyone seems to be anxious to compare this to Storm Chaser, and while they do share a few similarities I am having a hard time comparing the two. Storm Chaser seems to be more focused on doing odd tricks while Twisted Timbers is more of a straightforward (as far as RMCs go) ride.

Glad to hear this! I personally didn't like Storm Chaser that much, mainly due to the second half's series of awkward bucking moves. It looks like this one falls back on that in the "trick track" section a bit, but there's enough (to use your words) "straightforward" track to balance that out. My favorite RMC so far is still NTAG for this exact reason, but this one really is looking great.

[El Toro_Ryan]

Instead of a trip report, here's a vlog I filmed over opening weekend at Kings Dominion!

 

(Warning: If you are looking for good information about Kings Dominion, this is not the video to watch. But if you have a sense of humor and are looking to kill 12 minutes, this is the perfect video for you.)

 

[youtu_be]

[/youtu_be]