Dissapointing trip to Kings Dominion and some interesting news on Flight of Fear
Kings Dominion: My trip and the truth behind Flight of Fear.
Yesterday I went to Kingsdominion and had a little bit of a tough time. My first ride was Hypersonic in the front. About a 30 minute wait because it was my first ride. I also went with my Church so I wasen't able to ride some rides because we had to stay in a group and they wouldn't ride some rides. Hypersonic is running smoother this year and it only broke down once the entire day. Next was Anaconda and it was okay but headbanging is extreme during the corkscrews. Then we went to see the line for Italian Job. It was way to long so we went in line for Volcano and About an Hour wait. I got in the front seat and it was really good this year. Then I wanted to ride Tomb Raider but every other person didn't want to ride it. So then we went to ride Grizzly. The first ride was good but the second ride was really rough. I then wanted to hop on over to Hypersonic while they were doing test runs but they wanted to ride Hurler which should be turn down for a GCI woodie because it was extremly rough. Then I went to Rebel Yell and it took 20 minutes because they were running one train and the ride ops were taking to much time checking restraints. I then went to drop zone and right as I was able to board, it broke down so we went to kidzville because they wanted to do the stupid Scooby Doo dark ride. I have seen much better shoot em up rides. Then I went to the Eifel Tower to take some pics. Some things though made my experience not so great. I am not trying to sound mean about this but the international workers need to work harder. It took a person 10 minutes to give me 11.50 change back at Johnny's no lie. Also the ride ops people took to much time to check restraints. All that they need to do is push down a bit and pull up. You don't have to undo everyones seat belt and buckle it and pull the lap bar down so that you can't breath.
Now for the interesting piece of information that I have recieved. I was talking to an employee next to the closed Flight of Fear and he told me that they were going to sell the ride but nobody would buy it so then they tried to move it but couldn't find the right place so they will begin to do test runs in a few weeks. It will probably not be open this year and he told me that they may theme it to Soundwave in the off season.
KD rules now that Cedar Fair owns it, next year is the year of the GIGA, can't wait, can u???
Cedar Fair owns many parks, yet they've only built one giga. Why on earth would anyone expect that they'd build one at King's Dominion once the sale goes through?
BTW, Hurler wasn't built by GCI, it was built by ICI, an obscure (and now defunct, I believe) company that only built a handful of coasters.
I'm with you Ryan hoping for a Giga near by like MF. I can tell you that it's not in the cards right now for KD. First, Cedar Fair has enough going on right now with their new ride at Cedar Point. Between keeping that secret, getting all the low level construction done, and getting all the excavation done, I'm sure their very busy. Also, if those rumors are true about Flight of Fear, they have on their hands a coaster that they don't really want and that no one else wants either. Lastly, CF has a lot of work to do. They have five theme parks in which they have to decide what they are going to keep, what they are going to change, and when and how they are going to go about what they want to do. I bet you it will be at least 2 seasons before we see anything go in there. As much as I'd like to see a Giga in there (sorry to admit this to everyone, but I'm a CP man now), I know enough not to expect any big rides for a while.
I know that Hurler is not GCI I just think that something like Thunderhead should take its place.
lol Dustin you have joined the club haha. CP changes your life forever jk but the place will make you want your home park to build some of their rides. My home park is BGE and its a nice place I will agree. It's not a daycare center like most Six Flags parks are so I'm happy about that. I just wish (and I'm sure BGE wishes to) that they didnt have a height restriction cuz of Kingsmill.
Wow, Ryan, those are the nicest things you've ever said about BGE.
That being said, I truly think its more of a noise restriction than a height one.
I realized this about 5 minutes after I posted my last message, but it would make no sense for Cedar Fair to theme Flight of Fear after the Soundwave theme. The Soundwave theme dealt with MTV, which was another sister company to Paramount. Why would Cedar Fair spend the parks money to theme a ride after something that they'll just have to retheme after the next season? Haven't you noticed how all of the 'set' on the Hurler has dissappeared? I believe that Cedar Fair was only given one year to make plans on how they were going to change all of the Paramount themed attractions. That's why I said that Cedar Fair has a lot to do before they can focus on a new major attraction like a roller coaster.
Oh, and yes, I am a Cedar Fair man now. But that doesn't mean that I agree with everything that you said Ryan.
interesting, and what don't you agree on out of curiousity....
Im sorry your day at PKD sucked but I disagree with you about Hurler last time I rode it it was bumpy but bearble unlike the Hurler at Carowinds which snapped my back in 2004. I went to PKD 2 weeks ago and I had an awesome time I havent noticed any CF changes yet. And Ryan I would LOVE to have a giga less than 7 hours from my house I REALLY would its something PKD would do but I doubt they will do it anytime soon. We may just see a flat next year Im hoping for HUSS Giant Frissbee because those are teh awesomeness.
I have been on the Carowinds Hurler and it is alwful as well. My day was bad because of the terrible service, Ride ops that didn't know what to do, and break downs. Plus my group that I got stuck with was a bunch a wimpy theme park goers. I was lucky to get them on Hypersonic and Volcano.
Maybe Cedar Fair will keep the Paramount tag and the pararmount parks will be the only ones that have something to do with Paramount movies.
Chase, if a Huss Frisbee is like MaxAir, I second that! Those are sweet and would be on an equal level if wth all of the coasters in KD.
As for what's going to happen next season at KD, I think the only thing that we'll see is a new name, the re-opening of Flight of Fear (if the rumors are true and it will have a new name), and new theming aroung the park with the new name.
the very first thing that cedar fair needs to do with KD is to put in a brand new parking lot. Its gotta be the worst lot ever. I'm trying to think where in the park they could even put a GIGA because they do take alot of room.
Daniel Williams said: "Wow, Ryan, those are the nicest things you've ever said about BGE."
I was thinking the same thing! Ryan has been coming up with some pretty thoughtout comments lately - about things OTHER than coasters - that I appreciate. He's taken his first step into a much larger world...
Ryan said: "I just wish (and I'm sure BGE wishes to) that they didnt have a height restriction cuz of Kingsmill."
I'd go one step further and wish that Kingsmill wasn't there at all. I think it is currently holding back some great ideas/expansion of the park and it will probably affect them into the future. Can't upset the pampered guests, can we? What a rotten place to put an upscale resort. Busch seems to have to constantly walk a fine line because of the location of Kingsmill. Stinks.
robert olson
If they ever do put in a Giga, it's going to be where Anaconda is. First, they have farm land on that side that used to be part of their safari area when the park first opened (this is what I've read on various websites). If the don't take out Anaconda, then I wouldn't be surprised to see Avalanche go. Avalanche would be a prime location for the station and the lift hill could go behind Volcano. Where Anaconda stands there's a lot of land that could be used better and open up more land. This could also be whey there were rumors with Flight of Fear this year. Moving that out of that area would free up a lot of space back there. As much as I would hate to see FoF go, I would much rather see a Giga or bigger go in. It's time that VA got a big coaster and get in the coaster race. KD has a lot of coasters, why not start adding or upgrading?
It won't let me edit my last post so I have to double post, sorry.
It's been a long time since KD has gotten something new to bring a lot of hype to the park. Even longer since they've gotten a new coaster. Yeah Italian Job is new, but that's a copy of 3 other coasters. We haven't had anything unique since Hypersonic in '01. KD has huge potention with it's current fanbase and it's location. Also with it's college base, with UVa in Charlottesville and the University of Richmond, they have huge fall time crowds. Like I said, if they play things right, KD will become a huge cash cow.
Yea KD has alot of coasters but most of them are average at best. I would dump avalanche, shockwave, and any other coaster that has become a walk on (parks hate it when their coasters are walk ons) cant blame them though, i would to. I used to think XLC was the greatest launch coaster in the world until I was able to get on TTD. Now I wish they could trade places. Can you imagine the first drop to their new coaster being right beside the observation deck of the eiffel tower, would be interesting i think.
Dustin don't forget about the Hokies. They should put in the Micheal Vick experience in like the Nike comercial a few years ago. Ryan I think that a Giga like Millenium would not make a lot of noice because the cable lift is pretty quiet. They will never get a wooden though. I think that if they tear down Hurler they can make a couple of flat rides a impulse coaster or they could make a vertical drop giga twister coaster. Just out of the blue. Here is probably the time line of the park that I would like.
2007 Flight of Fear reopeons with a new theme.
2008 Hurler closes down and kidzville combines with Nick Central plus add the Boomerang Bay sign because it would not bring in any new rides.
2009 Intamin woodie that will break Son of Beasts record because Intamin makes better woodies than RCCA.
2010 Take down Shockwave and put in Huss Frissbee. Italian job revamp into Brazzilian Job
I tried to stay in budget as best as i could.
I used to be a season pass holder at KD but that will never happen again unless they finally build a world class coaster. Thats why I'm glad that Cedar Fair bought em out even though it seems like they only build the good rides at CP which sucks. Hopefully Cedar will battle it out with Busch to bring in as many customers as Busch brings in. It will take something huge to get the countries attention. It will happen within the next 3 years I guarantee it!
I wouldn't mind something like Xcelerator. I think that Cedar Fair has to bring in something to Carowinds and Great America because they are lacking something that creates a big buzz. Kingsdominion has Volcano and Hypersonic which is no fair to a North Carolina fellow like me.
The only reason that I'm a season pass holder is that I need that coaster fix any way that I can get it, that and I get a sweet discount through work ($51).
Jake, here's what I think is in store for KD:
2007 - Reopen Flight of Fear with new name and theme. At end of season, closure of Shockwave announced.
If Flight of Fear really is gone, then the building will be gone, and construction signs will go up where it used to be.
2008 - If Flight of Fear stays, then Huss Frisbee opens where Shockwave used to be and construction starts at end of year for new coaster.
If Flight of Fear is gone, then opening of new coaster (some type of Intamin, most likely metal).
2009 - If Flight of Fear stays, new Intamin coaster opens.
If Flight of Fear is gone, then new flat ride opens and closure of either Anaconda, Avalanche, or Hurler (all three of these close off good size chunks of land).
2010 - If Flight of Fear stays new flat ride opens.
If Flight of Fear is gone, then construction begins on new coaster.
I know that for sure that you will see a lot of cosmetic changes to the park and a lot of rumors going around. I wouldn't be surprised if most of those rumors are about coasters closing. I would be surprised if they removed any of the following coasters for various reasons:
Volcano: It's a good ride and even after so many years, it has the longest lines in the park.
Hypersonic XLC: At least for a while it'll stay because it's the only vertical launch coaster of it's kind in the park. Also, Cedar Fair has a similar coaster at every one of it's parks and I don't see them looking to build a new one anytime soon.
Rebel Yell: Just for the fact that it's one of the original rides of the park.
Grizzly: Because it's a good old fashioned woodie in the woods.
Anaconda: I'm on the fence with this one because at Cedar Point, they are still holding on to Corkscrew even though it's the shortest coaster in the park and there really is never a line for it. If it does go, a new coaster will be filling that space because that is a lot of land.
Italian Job: On the fence with this one too, mainly for the fact that it's a new coaster and still has a good draw for them. It will disappear in the future for sure. I mean, why would they put money into retheming a coaster of that size.
I have a season pass to BGE, yes I'll admit it lol and to Water Country. The main reason i do is cuz mom paid for it lol. I will for sure have one next year cuz of the new ride. Im actually still praying for an Intamin Strata lol. Lets say you were the one that made the final decision as to what the new coaster would be at KD, what would you build and why?
I would love to see a giga but I think what is need the most is a good wooden by GCI.
what is GCI?
i have an idea for PKD
tear every thing down except for
rebel yell
hyper sonic xl
river raft ride
efiel tower
then they can start from scratch and make the park look a lot better and get rid of those aspalt paths. it gets so hot walking on them
I know you don't like Volcano but it is a good ride. GCI is a company named Great Coasters International which made two 9 rating woodies in Thunderhead and Lightning Racer.
GCI is by far THE BEST wooden coaster company. Yes Ryan, even better than Intamin.
I would love to see a Giga be built there. I'm sure that will happen sometime in the near future (at least a Hyper within the first 2 years). If anything that will be their second big project, aside from retheming the entire park. A strata would be nice, but I don't think that we'll see that anytime soon. At least not until Intamin comes up with some clever way to speed up the process of getting the train to the top of the hill (no way would Cedar Fair do a copy of Top Thrill Dragster) and keeping the coaster somewhat compact. TTD might be a taller coaster, but MF takes up almost triple the space that TTD takes up. Also, they would have to build up the fan base of KD a lot before they would even seriously consider putting in such a major attraction/investment.
Vaughan, that would be the worst thing that they could do. The sheer amount of time it would take: 1. to tear everything down, 2. redo all of the paths, 3. replace everything that they took out with new stuff, 4. the cost to do all of that, that's not going to happen. They just spend $2.1 billion on buying the parks, not to mention they're probably putting at least another $25 million into their new coaster at Cedar Point.
They have a lot of good coasters at KD already. Some of the need some TLC to get them back to what they were. A lot of people are already fans of the park and wish that the rides weren't so neglected. I'm sure the biggest improvement we'll see for next season is that they'll go over the rides and smooth some of them out, and repave the parking lot (desperatly needed for the past 3 years).
El Toro is an Intamin woodie and from the reviews that i see so far its the best woodie ever made. what do yall think? wanna ride it?
I want to ride El Toro but I also want to ride the Voyage. I think that they should improve the waterpark Waterworks has just turned ghetto since they took stuff out for IJTC. Shockwave needs to go too. Hurler can stay believe it or not last time i rode it it was smoother than Grizzly. Id like Avalanche to stay because its the last Mack Bobsled coaster in the united states and its fun. I think were more likely to see a hyper than a giga although a giga is something PKD would do Gigas are still much more expensive. Hypersonic can kiss my big butt its only 5 years old and its extremely rough for some reason. Id like to see it relocated and a strata put in its place but how likely is that.
I don't think the Frisbee will come but I would really like to see a Vekoma Thrill Lift. It is on their page and it lifts you up like a elevator but has a vertical drop and some inversions as well. I think that the GCI twister that is long would be perfect to replace the Hurler.
Doubt you'll see anything Vekoma. Cedar Fair pretty much only deals with Intamin for anything steel.
the funny thing is i went to PKD today and they have plans to reopen Flight of Fear this month. supposdly sometime this week but they wouldnt give me an exact date
stupid question! what exactly is a GIGA that every one is talking about?
From Sean Rust
Posted August 19, 2006 at 4:06 PM
It is a coaster that meets or goes above the 300 feet mark. Millennium Force at Cedar Point in Sandusky Ohio is one exmple. Its drop is 310ft i believe. A hypercoaster is the same but with 200 (Apollo's Chariot at Busch Gardens Williamsburg) and a Stratacoaster is the same with 400 (Kingda Ka at Six Flags).
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