In their announcement about the preview night (I believe that this is the first time they've done this), they mentioned that other rides would be open as well. I called the week before, and the person I spoke with only mentioned a handful of rides that *wouldn't* be open. Imagine my surprise when I showed up at the appointed hour and only a small portion of the park was open.
The security guard near one of the roped-off portions told me that only International Street (the entranceway) and the Congo section would be open. For those of you unfamiliar with PKD, that only comprises 4 of the 12 roller coasters in the park. Nonetheless, I figured that it was better than nothing, so I decided to check out Tomb Raider: Firefall, the featured attraction of the night.
The ride is located right near the entrance to Volcano, the Blast Coaster, and when I got there, I was about 20th in line. Since the ride seats about 40, I was excited to be in the first group from the public to ever ride this new attraction. After about a 10-minute wait, they put the ride through one test cycle, then the ride director (Dave) gave a little speech thanking everyone from coming out and explaining that this would be a dress rehearsal; not all of the effects would be running tonight.
Finally, they let us on and cranked it up. Hmmm, I'm not quite sure what to say about the ride itself. It flips you head-over-heels numerous times while shooting flames and water in front of you, and that's about it. Unlike the PKI version, this one is outdoors with plenty of space for an audience. It actually is pretty cool to watch, but it's really not as thrilling as it looks. Frankly, it's more fun to watch it running than to actually ride it. In short, I'm not exactly sure what the point of this ride is. Personally, I think the reride quotient of Tomb Raider is fairly low, so it will be interesting to see how its popularity holds up after the novelty wears off. I don't see myself riding it again unless I'm with a friend who's never ridden it and wants company.
As for the preview night in general, it was a mixed bag. For starters, I was annoyed at the misinformation that I had been given prior to the event regarding how many rides would be open. Also, even in the Congo section, only 2 of the 4 coasters turned out to actually be open. Fortunately, one of them was Volcano, which is one of PKD's top rides and during peak attendance days can have horrendous wait times. With the very light crowd last night, it was pretty much a walk-on the entire time that I was there.
Unfortunately, the other open coaster was Avalanche. While this is actually a pretty fun ride, it's pretty low on the thrill scale. Anaconda (an Arrow megalooper) was running empty test trains all night, and Flight of Fear (indoor launched coaster) right next to Volcano was not running at all. Most annoying was the fact that there were no signs or ropes to indicate the status of any of the rides. The lights around Flight of Fear were on, so I walked into the building and all the way to the platform unencumbered, and there was nobody around at all. With Anaconda, you could see the empty trains running, and the beginning of the queue was open, but after you walked a ways down the path, several trash bins blocked your way. Not helpful! There were plenty of befuddled people wandering around trying to find anything that was open. Furthermore, there were quite a few young children there, and there was hardly anything for them to ride. Kidzville was closed, although I think that Scooby Doo's Haunted Mansion was running. None of the employees seemed to have a clue about whether or not any of the closed rides might be opening later in the evening.
Although I had planned to stay the entire 4 hours, I wound up leaving after about 2.5 hours. I enjoyed the non-existent lines, and it was fun to be the first to ride Tomb Raider, but there just wasn't enough to hold my interest any longer. I wound up doing about 8 rides on Volcano, 1 on Avalanche, and 1 on Tomb Raider (plus a quick trip up the Eiffel Tower on my way out) before heading home.
I hate to criticize a park that is using a preview night as sort of a dress rehearsal, especially if they've never done this before, but I'd suggest some areas of improvement. First of all, they should have been upfront about what was going to be open that night. Secondly, they should have done a better job of marking off the areas that were closed. Finally, they should have let their employees know what was open so that they could educate the guests. I am glad that I went, though, as it whetted my appetite for a full season of theme park visits ahead.
I too wonder why Paramount chose to clone King's Island's Tomb Raider. The ride at PKI has gotten better over time, but one of the things that contribute big to that ride is the fact that it is indoors. Having ridden PKIs Tomb Raider numerous times, I wonder why Kings Dominion has chosen to put this version outside in the open? I can't see the effects having much of an impact in the outdoor light. Maybe it will have an audience, but the fire and rain effects will be neutered, as well as the darkness factor that simulates a cave. Maybe there is some kind of red tape or some other underlying reasons why they chose to have it outdoors, but if it was a cost cutting thing, maybe not so much a good move. I just can't see this ride being as good overall as Kings Islands version.