Kings Dominion Trip Report 4/22
Kings Dominion: The crowds were pretty light, which I was very surprised by, seeing that it was 80 degrees.
Well, I went to KD yesterday 4/22 and just got back. The crowds were pretty light, which I was very surprised by, seeing that it was 80 degrees. The longest we had to wait was 30 mins for Hypersonic, and by 7pm, everything including Volcano and Hypersonic were walk ons. KD hasnt really changed alot as far as deparamounting things. Everything was running very well with the exception of Anaconda, it didnt open until sometime after noon. I had a great time, the employees were much nicer this year than last year but then again it is the beginning of the season. Here my ratings of the rides we did.
Rebel yell- Still very smooth and pretty good airtime, just needs a little more speed. 9/10
Hurler- Pretty darn rough but not as bad as Carowinds version, has GREAT airtime. 8/10
Grizzly- Now I used to hate this ride with a passion but for some reason, I dont know why, it seems much smoother than last year and I actually enjoyed it. 9/10
Ricochet- Ehh its a mouse coaster, no big deal lol 5/10
Hypersonic XLC- The launch is out of this world crazy and intense, but XLC has become very rough this year, last year it wasnt so bad to me as far as roughness but its obviously ageing quick, but awesome launch. 7/10
Volcano- Great launch, and very smooth ride, still the best ride in the park. Nothing but fun the whole way thru 10/10
Flight of Fear- Great launch and very smooth, it seemed darker inside than what it was last year, last year I could at least make out where I was going but this year I couldnt see anything, this ride is pure fun. But I still say the MCBR slows it down way too much. 9/10
Anaconda- Seatbelts? Anaconda and Hypersonic both have seatbelts now, dont know if its a CF thing or just for safety. Anaconda is ok, but again the MCBR slows it down too much but it is cool going thru corkscrews really slow. 7/10
Italian Job- Good family coaster, themed very well. I noticed after the launch going around the circles to get to the top put a big strain on my neck, weird anyway pretty fun. 8/10
Shennandoah Log flume- Ehh kind of boaring but good way to cool off which was the only reason I rode it. 6/10
White Water Canyon- Very refreshing, I was getting pretty hot and I got soaked on this so I was happy. 9/10
Shockwave- I love this standup, I love the drop and the parallel loops too, just too short. 8/10
Well thats it, I had a great time and cant wait to go back.
How rough was Shockwave? And where did you 'stand?'
From steve lee
Posted April 23, 2007 at 7:44 PM
Anaconda has seatbelts AND an OTSR? What the heck kinda crazy game is Cedar Fair playing?
The kind they have been playing with their other parks for quite some time now. Safety first.
seatbelts on coaster not cedar fair ins companys for ins purposes not the park idea, do not like the seat belt idea? undo it i do , when i can not ride volcano when it is broke..
Dustin - I dont find Shockwave to rough until the last 2 hills and even then its not that bad, as far as where I stood, geez I rode like 5 times but it always closer to the front or in the middle of the train.
Steve- Yes Anaconda has OTSR's and seatbelts, I think that might be why they have been having so many problems with it this season. I never noticed Anaconda having problems last year. I also noticed Carolina Cyclone at Carowinds has seatbelts too.
That's what I think about Shockwave, it's a good ride till the last few hills before the brake run where it is unbelievably uncomfortable.
I can understand why they put seat belts on Anaconda. I've notices that going through the corkscrews that it puts a huge strain on the OTSRs with how slow the train goes through them. Not to mention how you can move around them so much in the trains. I think that it's a good idea to add the seatbelts for safety reasons even if it does take a little more time in the station.
From steve lee
Posted April 24, 2007 at 3:24 PM
Wow. I haven't been to Carowinds this year, so I didn't know about the seatbelts on the Cyclone.
That just really surprises me, especially since I don't remember seatbelts on Double Loop or Corkscrew last summer - maybe I just blocked that memory out.
Ya know, I've honestly always thought about falling out of Anaconda during the corkscrews. Seatbelts are prob. a good call. And Christy, I can't believe you like Shockwave. I absolutely detest that ride, haha. At least someone likes it.
I think got some love during the offseason (there's quite a bit of new wood on it), so it's smoothed out a bit (it's my favorite of the park's woodies). One change I have noticed since Cedar Fair took over (other than the removal of the old movie props that used to ring the Eiffel Tower)--the woodies now have two-train operation, even on slow days.
Jacob, I have always liked Shockwave. I have also noticed alot males seem not to like it rather than females, but thats with any standup.
Guys, I was at KD yesterday 7/23- The park was more crowded than I expected with an hour wait for Hypersonic and a 30 minute wait for Volcano, but the later it got the better the lines were. Everything else was walk ons the whole day, even with the woodies only running 1 train(it was still a walkon).
I did notice some activivty while on Anaconda, and it looks like they have made some paths (paths to walk on) and I saw some stacks of wood too, I have no clue what they are doing.
Volcano broke down 3 times yesterday that I know of. They said that the brakes at the end kept getting stuck. Did anyone know they have installed video cameras on Volcano like whats on Top Gun @ Carowinds? The cameras were not on Volcano when I went back in April. But anyway the DVD's are way too expensive, they were 19.95, I got a DVD at Carowinds for 10 bucks.
I finally got brave and rode Drop Zone, I was so scared to ride this. All these years I wasted being too scared to ride. I rode it I know at least 10 times, that feeling is definatly addictive. There was no line for it either and they were only running it at half capacity.
You were at King's Dominion Monday, Christy?? So was I! Wonder if we ran crossed paths??
Good possibility. I had a blue T-shirt on and a fanny pack around my waist. My hair was pulled back. What time a day were you there? I was there from opeing to closing. Rode drop zone about 7 times back to back right before the park closed b/c there was no line.
Hey guys just wanted to let everyone know KD and Carowinds has extended their hours to 10pm every day until aug 19th, woohoo sounds like a night ride on Grizzley to me.
Man...that would have been a dream come true on Monday...I had a blast. I was wearing a light blue/periwinkle (sp?) Abercrombie polo, and khaki cargo shorts, and was with a pretty blonde girl who was wearing bright blue and green plaid shorts and a blue cami over a white cami. I'm 6'0" ft tall with brown hair, and she's about 5'7".
I was at KD back in May. It was my first time there in over 20 years. Some things were just as I remembered them... some notsomuch.
It was a Saturday so it was very busy. However, we got in a ride on the Tomb Raider, Drop Zone and Flight of Fear as walk ons before the crowds really showed up.
Then we went to Volcano and wound up with about a 45 minute wait there, still not too bad... but by the time we got off the ride it was nearing noon and the park had filled up considerably.
Even with heavy waits (and a ticking clock... we had to be outta there by 4:30) we still wound up getting to go on Grizzly, Anaconda, Rebel Yell and The Hurler before we had to take off.
The park was cleaner than I expected it to be but the gum and grafitti in some of the queues was a little off putting (I kept saying "look at this crap, this would never fly at Disney") but it was ultimately no big deal. There wasn't like garbage laying about or anything.
The staff seemed fairly friendly (if young) so no complaints there either.
I do have to complain about a couple things though
1) The food was horrible... even for a mid-grade theme park, just awful. Oh well.
2) There was a hornets nest in the covered portion of the Grizzly queue area. That's just asking for trouble right there. I mean c'mon!
All in all it was a fine time for the price and I wish I had longer (or had gone on a slower day) to spend there. Loved Volcano, loved Flight of Fear and was happy to have finally gone on the Grizzly (I was still too young, small and scared to go on it the last time I was there as a kid).
Oh... One funny thing. In the queue for the Scooby Doo dark ride... There is a spot where you go under a covered area in the "swamp" and there is a pre-recorded hisssssing sound along with the other swamps sounds. Well as soon as I heard that the first time, someone yelled "Snake!" and I thought they were referring to the recording... Nope, there was a real black snake trucking through the queue area. I don't think I have ever seen THAT many people moving THAT fast. (No one got bit before it found its way to a less populated area).
Where/What did you eat in the park? I am EXTREMELY picky about food, and haven't had a problem with anything from the park in years.
It was 2 or 3ish and it was at a random counter service spot. Chicken fingers. Tasted like they'd been dipped in liquid salt. Cold, tough, stringy meat with toothbreaking skin. Soggy, overly salty fries. No one else in my group was particularly pleased with their food either except the one that got a slice of pizza that they saw come straight out of the oven.
Again, it's no biggie... I didn't expect Cinderella's Royal Table- type food at KD, but I expected it to be of at least generic drive-thru calibre and I was just not happy with it. Didn't ruin the day or anything.
I couldnt really tell you much about the food there as I dont eat at theme parks, but the only place I have eaten is the Subway across from Shockwave, and the sub I had tasted better and fresher than the subs I get here in my hometown. My stepdad got an order of fries at the place beside Shockwave(dont remember the name) and he also said the fries were overly salted too, next time just ask for no salt at all and just salt them yourself.
I would recommend Bubba Gump's Shrimp near TombRaider. The food there is delicious. The prices are steep but they give you a large portion and it's quite tasty.
Hey guys I am headed to KD tomorrow (WEdnesday)and will be by myself. Anyone else going?
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