Photo TR: Kings Dominion 5/15 & Six Flags America 5/16

[bgwfreak777]

Hello again,

 

I had the opportunity to hit up Kings Dominion and added on Six Flags America since I had a pass this year to Six Flags.

 

 

Awe, 305 looks so cute and tiny from my hotel.

 

We got there from Charlotte just in time for opening and decided to run to 305 first just in case it had problems later in the day (which it did).

 

The red train greets us and laughs at us because silver wasn't up yet.

 

 

Hmmm....when was Millennium Force painted red? We got one ride and it didn't take long at all for a middle ride even with one train. I was surprised at how quickly they could move when they did have both trains on.

 

Dominator had a very long line, and wouldn't get any shorter because the park was PACKED. We waited until after lunch, but still it was at least a 45 minute wait. I don't recall, but didn't they used to run 3 trains on this? It only had 2, and none in the storage shed.

 

Wait, how did I transport to Carowinds? They repainted it to match Southern Star. lol

 

Hi Hypersonic station. I don't miss your ride at all.

 

Grizzly was running amazing. Insane, fast and great laterals. One of my favorites still to this day. You do have to know how to ride it though.

 

I paid my respects to Geauga Lake and rode El Dorado for the first time. It was fun. Should've ridden it when I was at Geauga Lake.

 

We like it dirty in the south. Especially our coaster trains.

 

Smoother than Thunder Road? Check.

 

Cool new decals.

 

Welcome to Congo! Where we have NASCAR, aliens, a snake, volcanos a bobsled and a crypt!

 

Outer Hanks added goat to the menu.

 

Geek shot.

 

Intense and fun? Probably not as good as the ride though.

 

I cower in front of Boocifer's awesomeness.

 

Back for more big red. I loved the ride overall, but it comes in at #5 on my steel list, bumping Millennium Force down a notch. I prefer the other Intimidator, but that's just me. Both are great rides.

 

I liked the trains and actually wasn't bothered by the restraints at all.

 

Anaconda liked to laugh at us when 305 was broken down so much. Come ride me! It would yell. But we just ignored it.

 

Nice of the park to line up matching busses next to Dominator.

 

Stupid Eiffel Tower. ugh. This pic reminds me of the old pics in the 70s when the film would run out, but it would still take half a picture and the rest would look like this.

 

There were cheers and applause when the chasers came on. Night ride in the front row was great. Also I never blacked/grayed out at all on any of my rides.

 

Sean knocked me over so he could ride first. Redfoot12 from TN & TPR joined us for some rides for the evening. Sorry, forgot to get a pick of him.

 

Never seen this pic before.

 

Sean meditates as we wait for our last ride of the night, Volcano.

 

Can you tell me how many Smurf's are still hiding in there? I'm working for Gargamel on the side.

 

The aliens landed on the tower.

 

Did Kings Dominion get a deal on chasers? Dominator got its own.

 

Call Screamscape. Intimidator is leaving Carowinds next year for KD.

 

Ride On!

 

Six Flags America coming up next.

[DarkStitch626]

Yea the day was really fun. I mean despite getting stapled to all heck on Grizzly and a few other mishaps during the day. Added the school band stuff that shouldn't be part of weekends! Say it with me School function thank you. Anywho I'm glad I now only need 10 more credits till I hit the big 500.

[bgwfreak777]

Six Flags America time...

 

Still a nice looking entry.

 

Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

 

Hello waste of time. I'll get to that later...

 

When did Clark Gable get brought back from the dead? And why is he at Six Flags?

 

This actually used to be a top 10 wooden coaster for me, now it's just a smooth rather boring ride. It has no air anymore, and so I dub thee Mean Streak Jr. We also got stuck on the brake run because of some problem with the other train on the lift. Otherwise we'd have been out of the place in 1.5 hours.

 

Why did I ride this? Oh yeah, Sean needed the credit.

 

A themed SLC? What?

 

ARE YOU READY TO RUMBLE?!?

 

Welcome to the GAP. No, not the store. The huge gap between the wheels and the track.

 

Fancy

 

Mini tower actually worked, so I got the credit. I couldn't really tell the difference in height (30 ft shorter) than Carowinds Drop Tower.

 

Wild One was down. They were working on it, but I had the credit and didn't feel like sticking around with our long drive back home.

 

Waste of time #2. Why was it a waste of time? A: They want to charge you for lockers, when they have a HUGE station where they could put boxes. B: I couldn't get the belt to snap, and the op refused to let me try the empty seat next to me. The ride was a walk on! Why couldn't I try the other seat? I even stopped a manager and he said he thought that was strange. Oh well, my fat butt already has the credit, so moving on...

 

Oh, that's gonna bring back the crowds.

 

One of the weirdest round ups I've seen. It sits on the ground forever then finally tilts up.

 

Seems Six Flags America has a "no helping" policy now. Strange how Six Flags Over Georgia will gladly slam the restraint down on you. I got the belt on by myself, had the restraint locked, but they said it wasn't down far enough. Then the (again no lines) the op said they couldn't help me and that I had to get off the train. Really? You can't even let me try a second time? NO GET OFF THE RIDE FATTY! Is what they might as well have said. I'll be glad to never return to this park. Also let me say how crappy this ride looks. The track has been painted, but the trains look HORRIBLE and so ghetto. They look like something that was picked up at a garage sale. Rant over, moving on...

 

Well here's one Intamin ride I was able to get on.

 

Sad to say Rodeo was the best ride I rode at the park. I'm really liking these break dance rides all of a sudden.

 

Happy Cow says: This ride made by Huss!

 

Who says Six Flags can't theme?

 

Cracked pretty much sums up how I feel about this park. I just don't know why SFI even keeps it and doesn't dump it like they did SFKK. It's such a tiny park, and except for the front of the park, it's in very bad need of some shade.

 

So overall the trip up to the park was a total waste of time and gas, and parking fee ($15) except for two things. The break dance which was good, and then I finally got to stop at a real Popeye's chicken fast food place. Their friend chicken is slightly better than Bojangles, but not a HUGE difference like I've been told. Plus, no Bojangles sweet tea.

 

This trip report brought to you by D.C. traffic. It sucks.

 

Thanks for reading, and hopefully this won't be the last trip report of the year for me...

[Capitalize]

SROS's trains look ghetto?

 

Funny... You would have really loved them before this season when the nose of the front car had a massive dent and was rusting pretty bad.

 

Too bad your trip wasn't that good at SFA, in the past ops have always helped guests tighten restraints, not sure if that's a new rule some idiot higher up is telling them or just the employees.

 

 

Funny about Popeyes; as every time I go to Southern VA or into the Carolinas I rant and rave about Bojangles to people and insist on going. Around here Popeyes are a dime a dozen... As far as traffic, be glad that you drove through the Wilson Bridge area now and not 2-4 years ago... It was such a cluser**** down there, MUCH better now for w/e that is worth.

[bgwfreak777]

Yeah the manager I stopped and talked (which frankly he seemed very nice) was like "well, we are afraid of being sued now basically so they can't put any real pressue on the restraints because we're basically afraid of being sued for internal bleeding or whatever".

 

It just seemed to me that they didn't even want to try and help. It was like, oh well, we can't help you. Get off our ride.

 

Glad to hear of another Bojangles fan. Charlotte now even has its own Bojangles arena -- the Bojangles Coliseum. I drove by their corporate headquarters yesterday on the way to an interview.

[redfoot12]

It was cool meeting up with you and Darkstitch (and Homeboy23 briefly). Sorry about the crummy SFA experience.

Hopefully I'll be able to pull off a Carowinds/Dollywood trip and meet up with you again!

[Homeboy23]

Nice photos! It was nice meeting you Sean and Rob in the line Saturday night. I'm glad that I didn't look crazy in the picture you took like I usually do in photos.

[YoshiFan]

That is a shame that they refuse to help with the restraints, especially since if the belts are like some rides at Great Adventure, some are longer than others. With Batman, some seats I can buckle myself with no problem, others I need to have a ride op help buckle (and I can buckle the belt on the test seat easily).

[carolinacaniac]

I have to agree with you Wes on liking the Carowinds Intimidator better.

 

That is a shame that you had the issues with the rides at SFA.

 

Thanks for the pictures, as they are well done!

 

-Gary "Wish I could have joined you guys at Kings Dominion, but alas getting moved was a bit necessary" T.

[haiderodes]

That sucks that you weren't able to ride Superman, but I believe they added sensors in those lapbars. Interesting you could ride Volcano (arguably the most restrictive ride at KD) but not Superman and Joker's Jinx.

 

A tip for SFA's Superman for taller folks, the back row of each car has a lil more leg room due to the positioning of the lap bar "box". When I visited last month, I was having a hard time in the front of a car because of this and they let me move to the row behind. It was early morning and there was no one else in line so I'm not sure why they were being difficult.

[DarkStitch626]

Yes Homeboy23 and RedFoot12 it was great meeting you both at the park!. Oh and Gary, yea you Caniac lol. I was kinda bummed you couldn't be there to hang with us. Rob, yea when you come to DW/Carowinds be sure to tell me when I'd be glad to hang with you again!

[JEAPUgrad]

I think it's weird that you were able to get the seat belt buckled on Superman yet you were too big to ride JJ.

 

SFA shortened the seat belts on Superman July of last year and I'm no longer able to ride.

 

But I don't have any issue on JJ. I can ride JJ just fine. I don't have issues on Volcano or the standard sized B&M seats.

 

I'm 6'1 280#, 42 waist, 48 chest. I have a big tum tum too!

[bgwfreak777]

I think my issue is that I have pretty big legs, due to the way I'm built, years of cycling and weight lifting too.

 

But anyway, I got the belt on myself no problem, but they said the bar wasn't down far enough. They pushed on it once, then said it wasn't down far enough and basically told me to get off the ride. I guess I shouldn't have gotten so pissed off and walked around and tried another seat, but at that point I was just ready to be done with the park.