Kings Dominion (KD) Discussion Thread

And speaking of theme, I am still bewildered as to why the hell is I-305, BLSC, Flight of Fear, and Avalanche are in the Congo/safari village section.

The only anomaly, ride wise, from the KECO years of ownership, was the installation of Avalanche in Safari Village. That was in 1988. I'm not sure what management's thinking was back then when they placed the ride in its current location. They could have thought: "Hey, we already have a mountain in Safari Village. Let's place our new Mack Bobsled ride next to it and call it Avalanche!". Come to think of it, what does the original "Lost World" mountain have to do with Africa? None of the ride themes inside were African based.

The Safari Village theme was originally centered around the Wild Animal Safari Monorail. As time went by, the area evolved to represent those mysterious places in the equatorial areas of the world that were still unexplored in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The area still had a cohesive theme up until Paramount took over.

Course, the FOF and BLSC installations were the big "sore thumbs" that broke the theme cohesiveness in what was now called the "Congo" area; thanks to Paramount and the installation of "Volcano: The Blast Coaster". [Which Paramount's movie, based on author Micheal Crichton's book "Congo", was a total bomb].

Fast forward and in comes Mr. Kinzel and gang and places the "cherry" on top of the patchwork quilt of ride attractions in that area, with I-305.

Now that Mr. Quimet is in charge and 3/4 of the Cedar Fair BOD is new. The company is trying to replace some of the charm, atmosphere, and theme elements back into Kings Dominion. As others have stated, there is no way to get Safari Village back to the way it was pre-Paramount without spending over 100 million dollars to do so. Cedar Fair is showing some love to KD; but, not to that extent. Maybe the park should just settle for naming the former Safari Village "The Bermuda Triangle".

Never got a chance to ride one of these, but it looks kind of cool.

 

I highly doubt it would be their final announcement because of it's past checkered history at their (then) sister park in Ohio, but I have to admit that it would be nice if they could get some unique, crazy flat ride like this.

 

I found it interesting that Intamin never made any more of these...anyone know if it was because the death at KI scared off other parks from purchasing one, the ride was a total maintenance nightmare, too many G-forces, or all of the above?

CGA had one as well called Skyhawk. It was terrible. It was so incredibly slow, and uncomfortable. I have no idea why it was removed, but it wasn't a very fun ride for me.

After seeing the picture of Volcano The Blast Coaster Queue under construction does anyone has any idea what they are doing from the look of that pic?

Or anyone have any ideas how they are going to update the Queue

^Your guess is as good as mine, but whatever it is that they're doing I hope it speeds up the waiting time!

I'm still buzzing with honey about the return of the Singing Mushrooms and the Flora Clock, but I just remembered something - Besides of having the Flora Clock I do remember of seeing gardens planted at the park's entrance and the colorful flowers arranged in such a way that they resembled cartoon characters. Now these were from the old Hanna-Barbera Days that featured Yogi Bear, Fred Flintstone, and Scooby Doo. I wonder if they will doing that again, but with Peanuts characters?

kINGS dOMINION - BETCHA YOU CAN'T DO IT ALL!!!

The sky pilot ride was removed because it was a maintenance nightmare, and there were several safety concerns with the restraint setup. Here is a picture of the safety inspectors showing how easy it was to slide out from the restraint system. I thought that I heard that it would have been very costly to fix the problem, so a combination of that and the accident at kings island, it's fate was sealed.

it was a really boring ride anyway. you could make it do a slowwwww barrel roll with a joystick mounted in the cockpit (and also raise and lower the arm it was attached to) but it wasn't thrilling. i doubt anyone ever felt the need to ride it again once they'd done it.

After seeing the picture of Volcano The Blast Coaster Queue under construction does anyone has any idea what they are doing from the look of that pic?

Or anyone have any ideas how they are going to update the Queue

I'll be happy if they just clean up the dust and grime. This is the filthiest queue I know of.

The sky pilot ride was removed because it was a maintenance nightmare, and there were several safety concerns with the restraint setup. Here is a picture of the safety inspectors showing how easy it was to slide out from the restraint system. I thought that I heard that it would have been very costly to fix the problem, so a combination of that and the accident at kings island, it's fate was sealed.

I figured as such...too bad because the concept certainly appeared to look pretty cool. Sounds like they just didn't execute the design or safety features properly before they launched it out at multiple parks.

The sky pilot ride was removed because it was a maintenance nightmare, and there were several safety concerns with the restraint setup. Here is a picture of the safety inspectors showing how easy it was to slide out from the restraint system. I thought that I heard that it would have been very costly to fix the problem, so a combination of that and the accident at kings island, it's fate was sealed.

 

I figured as such...too bad because the concept certainly appeared to look pretty cool. Sounds like they just didn't execute the design or safety features properly before they launched it out at multiple parks.

Also, on a thrill scale of 1 - 10 I would've given it maybe a 2, just because you could roll upside down.

This is what I saw at KD website.

When Volcano was built, I wonder why they never went with a train of this length........

When Volcano was built, I wonder why they never went with a train of this length........

I think it had something to do with the the LSM's not being powerful enough.

^I believe you are correct. When Volcano first opened, they actually had every other row of seats removed leading to only eight riders per train (if I remember correctly) to ensure the ride would make it over the top of the highest inversion (the ride hadn't yet had much time to be "broken in").

Check this out

VS

Volcano was a prototype and pretty "buggy" from the start; still, it's a shame that the Intamin launched inverted coaster (shuttles aside) never really "took off" (pun intended ) Volcano is a short, intense, and fun ride.

Volcano was a prototype and pretty "buggy" from the start; still, it's a shame that the Intamin launched inverted coaster (shuttles aside) never really "took off" (pun intended ) Volcano is a short, intense, and fun ride.

After youtubing the 2 Intamin inverted Tornado's, I hath wondered the same of those styles. They look pretty sweet and way more fun than Vekoma's SLC!

Kings Dominion is throwing a 40th birthday bash!

KD40 Birthday Bash: A Coaster Enthusiast Family & Friends Event

May 10, 2014

 

We're finally over the hill. Time to hold on! You're invited to KD40 Birthday Bash: A Coaster Enthusiast Family and Friends event commemorating Kings Dominion's 40th Celebration! This exclusive, first-of-its-kind coasting event at Kings Dominion will be held on Saturday, May 10, 2014 and will feature upscale food, interactive games, fun, prizes, exclusive ride time and more!

 

Birthday Bash will embrace the 40th Celebration Birthday theme, including hats, balloons, presents, surprise gifts and more!

 

Tentative Birthday Bash Event Schedule

While final details are still in the works, below is the tentative schedule for KD40 Birthday Bash at Kings Dominion:

 

12:00pm: Registration and Welcome (Location TBD)

 

12:30 - 5:30pm: Free time in the park, which will include One Ride Exit Pass per person on two of the following five rides:

 

Intimidator 305

Volcano: The Blast Coaster

Dominator

Grizzly

Flying Eagles

 

6:00 - 7:00pm: Cocktail hour with Games, Snacks, PEANUTS character appearances (Location TBD)

 

7:00 - 8:00pm: Dinner featuring carving stations, build your own side dish and more (Location TBD)

 

8:00 - 10:00pm: Dancing with a Live Band

 

10:15 - 11:00pm: EXCLUSIVE ride time on Intimidator 305 PLUS another ride to be announced on May 10th following participant vote prior to the event

 

Pricing

 

Pricing for Birthday Bash is still being finalized. There will be special pricing for 2014 Season Passholders and pricing for non Season Passholders, which will include admission to Kings Dominion for the day.

 

Each participant 21 years of age and older will be given TWO free drink tickets, to be used during the Cocktail Hour prior to dinner. Non-alcoholic drinks will also be served during this time. Additional drink tickets can be purchased on the day of the event.

sounds like fun!

That sounds awesome! Especially the One Ride Exit Pass for Grizzly

I'm curious why the One Ride Exit Pass is offered for Flying Eagles. That is so random!

Flying Eagles is on Fastlane and the line gets really long so I guess it makes sense. They probably figured they'd throw in a family ride so it appeals to families and enthusiasts and they probably picked that one because pretty much every age group enjoys it (including the enthusiasts).

yeah the Flying Eagles line takes forever. it was the longest wait all day the last time i went with my family, aside from Volcano. It's a really fun ride.

That birthday bash sounds like a lot of fun. Since KD is my home park, I plan on attending that! Hopefully it won't be too overpriced...

That birthday bash sounds like a lot of fun. Since KD is my home park, I plan on attending that! Hopefully it won't be too overpriced...

I'll be there too. And you can all watch me dance. And depending on the soda, I might be insane with the games.

That birthday bash sounds like a lot of fun. Since KD is my home park, I plan on attending that! Hopefully it won't be too overpriced...

 

 

I'll be there too. And you can all watch me dance. And depending on the soda, I might be insane with the games.

I will say though. The one thing I'm not crazy about is that I get that its a birthday bash and its suppose to be like a party and all, but I wish that there was more time devoted to ERT and less on the dancing. Its like 2 hours of dance, with 45 min of coasters.

As a holder of the Cedar Fair Platinum Pass, this looks like a special event that I cannot pass up. Surely you can complain how you don't have much ERT, but I see it differently; I have all season long to ride, but only this one special day to celebrate with Kings Dominion something that has been a part of my life for thirty-six years; who has been there with Hanna-Barbarra to Nickelodeon to Planet Snoopy; who has ridden the King Kobra, the Galaxi, and Hypersonic, and all three attractions at The Lost World; who has been there when it was Paramount Kings Dominion; who has seen rides come and go; and will be coming back this season as many times as I possibly can.

kINGS dOMINION - BETCHA YOU CAN'T DO IT ALL!!!