Photo TR:Virginia Parks (BGW, KD)

[pianojohn]

Just returned from 4 days in Virginia to ride i305 and the new ones I had not been on at Busch Gardens yet: Grover and Griffon.

 

1st of all, it was HOTTER in VA than FL. Yes....mid 90's on Wed while it was in the mid 80's in Orlando!

 

Got to KD by 930am on Wednesday to purchase a Platinum Pass and beat the crowds to Intimidator. A rant: when I bought my Platinum Pass last year at Cedar Point, they refunded the $10 I just spent on parking since it is included with a Platinum Pass. Not so at KD. So, unless there is some trick I don't know about, they still make you pay for parking once before you get your pass processed. Lame.

 

Got in the gates and luckily heard the announcement that all Platinum Passholders get in 10 minutes early to ride i305. I followed the mob, eventually passing most of them to make it to the station for the 1st train out. I should have waited for the front row while the line was short, but I opted for the back.

 

Now my opinion:

I find it hard to compare i305 and Millennium Force (from now on referred to as MF) because they are very, VERY different rides. Yes they are both giga coasters, over 300 feet tall, made by Intamin, and very fast. But whereas MF is all about graceful drops and swooping curves, i305 is all about fast changes of direction and insane amounts of positive g's. For me, it was Maverick but 3 times as tall.

 

Is it my new #1? No. It was intense, and for me, TOO intense. Every time I rode it (8 times in all), I grey-ed out after the first drop in the turn leading to the 2nd hill. Every single time. And for me, that was not a feeling I relish.

 

And I know the theme is all Nascar, but I found the location very sparse. There were no trees at all where the ride was built since there are no trees at a Nascar track. And while the view from the top is nice, it cannot compare to the view of Lake Erie and the rest of Cedar Point from the top of MF. Also, since I am the farthest person from a Nascar fan, I found absolutely no need to purchase an i305 shirt since it looked like a Nascar shirt. Just an observation.

 

I do applaud the ride ops who were efficient and safe. I never waited more than 10 minutes for a ride, and the line seemed to keep moving all day long. They will need to have signs up so those waiting for the front row stay to the far right and let everyone else load the station. Sometimes it would get clogged up, and the station would get almost empty until someone realized there were two lines.

 

Whereas i305 was a lesson in efficiency, the rest of the park was not. For example, Anaconda, Avalanche, Hurler, and Shockwave were not running the day I was there. And Back Lot Stunt Coaster and Rebel Yell had ONE train running. Yes. Rebel Yell, a RACING coaster, had one side open and was running one train, which meant a 45-60 minute wait. FAIL!

 

The next two days I spent at Busch Gardens, a park I know very well since I worked there from 1994-97. The Sesame Street area was very well done, but I don't know why they closed off the path leading to it from the left side of Squire's. It forced everyone to walk to the right, make a left turn, cross the railroad tracks, and then make it to Sesame Street. And the queue line for the Sky Ride also seemed out of the way. Is this a normal thing?

 

Griffon was fun, but I still prefer Sheikra for the theming and landscaping. Griffon for me just seemed like a lot of blue track and no trees. I also like Sheikra's 2nd dive into the tunnel and water feature.

 

The new show Celtic Fyre is excellent! Instead of just mounting another show all about Irish step dancing, they wrote and produced a show which features dancing, music, TAP dancing, and live musicians. And it runs just 25 minutes. Great fun and well performed.

 

Enjoy the pics!!

Paris? Um....no

The insane lift hill

The brake run

The queue pretty much all day!

Hellooooooo....

Dominator. I rode it a few times at Six Flags Ohio but didn't remember it being so forceful!

That is one big ass loop!

Snoopy wanted my autograph. What can I say.

Griffon dives

Great views from the skyride.

That's a whole mess of B&M track!

The splash down is cool but nowhere as interactive as the one in Tampa

Bottom of the 1st drop

Questor....um....King Arthur's Challenge....um...Corkscrew Hill??

Oh...Soarin' Over Europe!

BBW....boo....so sad for someone who REALLY loved this coaster!

BBW station. They left all of the queue line and station intact. Hmmm.....start the rumors now!

Celtic Fyre. Great show!

Still remnants of the park's past: Ireland USED to be called Hastings.

I love the Grover in the front row!

Thanks for reading!!

Edited April 12, 2010 by pianojohn

[robbalvey]

Thanks John! Great mini report. Looking forward to more pics.

 

--Robb

[Homeboy23]

Nice report.

 

Best way to get your pass is to purchase online and print the voucher. Show the printed voucher to the parking attendant and you still get the free parking - no hassles of trying to get it refunded.

[redfoot12]

Nice report! I always flip-flop on which dive machine I like more--Griffon or Sheikra. I need to get down to Florida to refresh my memory about Sheikra (plus I haven't ridden it with the floorless trains).

[CPmaverick]

I keep hearing about the 10 minute platinum pass early entry at KD and Carowinds. How exactly does that work in comparison to CP and Kings Island?

[pkdcoaster]

At KD it is kinda dumb because it is the most Inconvenient place to put it.

KD opens up International street at about 10am but you need to go down the tree filled path on the opposite end of the fountain (the one that leads straight to the carousel ) there is a little side entrance around the gate and security will let platinum and gold pass members in at 10:20am but it is a LONG power walk to Volcano/I305. It was fine when Hypersonic was the big new thing but it is just stupid now (they need to move it by Dominator or at least planet snoopy).

 

JEFF

[pianojohn]

Yes. I agree. We made the WALK (and i stress walk since the security guard threatened anyone who ran) to i305. By the time I rode it in the 1st train of the day and returned to the station, we could already see the masses descending on the ride. So basically you got one ride in with whoever else had a platinum pass.

[cfc]

It would make a lot more sense to bring in platinum passholders via the Dominator path--maybe they could just string a rope there between the two fences--or being in passholders 15 to 20 minutes early if they have to use the old path.

 

I saw them rehearsing Celtic Fyre at media day a month ago. Were they dancing on the stage-side tables?

[bgwfreak777]

It's interesting that the ops on the other coasters weren't up to par. I had the same thing at Kings Island last year, with Diamondback crew kicking butt, and the rest acting like they were auditioning for Six Flags.

[pianojohn]

It would make a lot more sense to bring in platinum passholders via the Dominator path--maybe they could just string a rope there between the two fences--or being in passholders 15 to 20 minutes early if they have to use the old path.

 

I saw them rehearsing Celtic Fyre at media day a month ago. Were they dancing on the stage-side tables?

 

Yes. There are four tables up front that the ushers seat guests at. They tell them that they are part of the show but to keep anything off the tables. It really is a great show, and for someone who worked in Entertainment there for 4 years, it is probably one of the best I have seen.

 

Enjoy!