Kings Dominion

Visited: Saturday, October 20, 2018

Attending: Just Brian

October brought with it another conference, in Raleigh, and I opted to drive again. I did the same trip a year ago, and I knew it wouldn’t be too bad of a drive. I knew from last year that Kings Dominion is pretty much on top of I-95, and I wish I’d stopped there last year, but I wasn’t taking the whole “business trip / amusement park” thing seriously. This year, though, I decided to try it after my success at Cedar Point. I wanted to get to the conference on Sunday, so I left home very early Saturday morning, hoping I could get to Kings Dominion by rope-drop. The park opens at 10:30 in October, so I made it with time to spare.

The day started out overcast, and it had rained before I arrived. Temperatures were around 60 at the start of the day, a bit too cool for comfort with just a t-shirt, but good for keeping the crowds away. The sun came out in late afternoon and the temperature increased, so the crowds showed up too. Kings Dominion was also holding their Haunt event, which drew more people later in the day. Haunt basically didn’t exist during the daylight; some props for the scare zones were around, but that was all. I’ll say that I didn’t like it at night at all. I was there long enough that night fell, and the crowds plus the disorienting lights and smoke made me very uncomfortable, especially because I’d decided to leave my glasses in the car. I gave about one second’s thought to trying to get a night ride on Intimidator, and then decided against it.

Dominator

Dominator is a B&M floorless coaster right near the entrance. My initial plan was to head to Intimidator first, which I knew would pass by Dominator. I also knew that I’d probably get stopped by a rope and have to wait a bit, because I arrived before 10:30. The pleasant surprise was that Dominator was “outside” the rope, and was already running at 10:00. So I rode that first as a warm-up. It was fairly fun, a nice B&M floorless. There’s nothing particularly special about it. Kings Dominion is almost entirely flat terrain, and Dominator just sits on a patch of grass. It’s nice and tall, but sadly, I’ve ridden several floorless coasters now, and they don’t excite me much anymore. It was a good warm-up, which was nice, since I don’t often get to do warm-up coasters, but that’s about it.

Intimidator 305

Riding Intimidator was a large part of the reason I’d come to Kings Dominion. Once the rope dropped, I headed right for it, along with a small crowd. I was very near the front of the line, but I discovered that it has no bins on the platform (unlike most other coasters at KD), so I would have to get a locker for my glasses. That was somewhat annoying, but I put my phone and keys in there too, just in case, since I had the locker anyway. I managed to hop back in line quickly enough that I snagged a seat on the first train of the day (many of those in line wanted to wait for front row; I opted for near the back).

I’ll be lying if I said I wasn’t a little nervous. I’ve ridden several 300-footers now, but I wasn’t sure how I’d react to the height. Turns out I’m pretty well inoculated to it now. Plus, Intimidator has the speedy lift hill found on Millennium Force and Skyrush. The drop was fun, didn’t seem to be particularly long. There are two airtime moments which are good fun, but Intamins aren’t really about air. There are several really sharp “snap-back” moments, similar to Maverick and Skyrush, but I knew to expect them, so I was able to enjoy them instead of being surprised. I was a bit concerned about the g-forces in the legendary first turn, but I didn’t gray out, and I was able to keep my hands up, so either it’s not as intense as I thought, or I’ve got considerable coaster fortitude by now. Of course, first run on a cold day, maybe it was running a bit slow.

The lines were short enough that I was able to get right back on, only having to skip one train. I stayed with a back seat again, but switched from the right side to the left. Can’t say there was much of a different experience this time. I think it’s fair to say it’s my favorite Intamin, and possibly the most intense coaster I’ve ridden. It’ll have to rank behind Fury and Steel Vengeance on my overall list, though.

I have to admit, I was bothered by the over-the-shoulder restraints, even though they were soft ones. They just seemed unnecessary on a coaster with no inversions, and took a bit of the fun out. If enthusiasts prefer Dragster over Kingda Ka because Dragster only has lap bars, why Does Intimidator get a pass for having shoulder restraints when Fury and Millennium Force don’t have them?

Anyway, with any residual fear banished, I thought about going for a third ride, maybe closer to the front, but then I had a different idea.

Twisted Timbers

Intimidator lives in a corner of the park where there are six coasters, depending on how you define “corner.” Twisted Timbers, the brand-new RMC conversion of Hurler, lives at the other end of the park, with a couple of friends. I figured the smart thing to do was ride everything in Intimidator’s corner early, and just deal with the lines for Twisted Timbers. But since the lines were so short, I had only spent a tiny amount of time riding Intimidator, so I figured I’d see what it was like by Twisted Timbers.

I needed to get a locker again, as Kings Dominion is enforcing the “no phones, at all, whatsoever” rule for Twisted Timbers, so I left my glasses there too. Fortunately, I was right, and the lines were short. Even though they were only running one train, and the operations were terribly slow, I only had to wait about 15 minutes to get on, and I skipped most of the queue.

Having ridden Steel Vengeance just a couple of months ago, I was afraid I wouldn’t be too impressed with a smaller RMC. It’s still a really fun, very enjoyable coaster, but it’s not the next-level experience of Steel Vengeance. It’s probably the most fun ride at Kings Dominion, though. The barrel roll drop is unique in my experience, and even though I sat at the back, I could still feel the pull of gravity quite clearly as the drop started. The rest of the ride has RMC’s trademark glassy smoothness and crazy overbanked turns, which are great fun to ride. There are also some of the small airtime pops, and what’s supposed to be a trick-track section, but the shift is so sharp it feels more like a snap-back.

I thought about riding a second time, but I saw the line on the platform was filling up, so I was concerned about getting the rest of the credits. I shouldn’t have been; there was plenty of time. I did, however, go back later in the afternoon, around 4:00. I’d ridden everything else by that point, so I figured it didn’t matter how long the line was. It turns out that three hours is an awfully long line, even if you have nothing else to do. Worse, the ride shut down by the time I’d gotten to the platform, which caused considerable dismay, but it didn’t stay down for long. I had hoped for a ride from near the front, but the front seats seemed to be having some trouble, and some fast-pass people were coming up the exit and opting for the front. When the person in line in front of me started letting people go before him, I got frustrated and swapped to a seat in the middle. By that time, it was full dark, and I assume the coaster was fully “warmed up,” because it seemed a lot faster and more intense at night. I’m glad I did that, but I really could have wished for a shorter line.

Apple Zapple

After getting off Twisted Timbers, I rode Apple Zapple because it’s right there. It’s a wild mouse design, but modified a little bit and stretched out, not the usual box shape. Still, it’s a wild mouse, which means lots of sharp switchbacks and not a lot of hills. I amused myself by thinking how Doug would have hated it. It’s recently repainted to match the apple theme of that area, so it’s kind of adorable, if a coaster can be adorable. I hopped on and off pretty quickly, so I don’t begrudge taking the time to ride it.

Grizzly

I took a quick break for lunch (fried chicken at the Country store, mostly because it had indoor seating, but that was more food than I wasusually eat for lunch at a park). I figured the crowds would be increasing after lunch, but that certainly wasn’t the case for Grizzly. I could barely find it, behind the Dinosaurs Alive exhibit; I had to ask for directions. When I got there, there was literally nobody on the platform; I had to ask if the thing was even running. I thought briefly that I was going to ride all by myself, but two groups turned up while I was sitting down.

Grizzly is definitely an old wooden coaster hidden in the woods. I couldn’t find a good vantage point to photograph it. The best views of it are probably while riding Twisted Timbers, but you’re too busy to notice if you’re doing that. It has a fairly simple design, not too long, which is a shame, because it could take better advantage of the trees. A bit rough, as you expect from an older wooden.

Racer 75

This is the coaster that used to be Rebel Yell. I didn’t ride it under the old name, and I don’t care to get into the politics of it. It’s one of the simple wooden racing designs, a literal “out and back,” in that it goes out in a completely straight line, turns around, and comes straight back next to the outward track. There are a bunch of these around, although they’re getting rarer as they get torn down. Two things surprised me about this design. The first is that there’s little of the jerky roughness you expect from older wood coasters, because there’s only one curve. The second surprise is that the hills don’t go in decreasing order of height, as I would have expected. They seem to be almost random. Unfortunately, the hills aren’t shaped properly to provide any airtime, even with the lax restraints. On the whole, it was more pleasant than I expected, but I didn’t feel the need to ride it more than once. Only one side was running, so there was no race involved.

Back Lot Stunt Coaster

This coaster is a serious leftover from the days of Paramount ownership; it used to be “The Italian Job,” and the cars are shaped like Mini Coopers, although they’ve since been anonymized. The ride isn’t too tall, but that’s sort of the point. When it was new, it was very heavily themed to the movie, and it looks like it used to be really impressive. Unfortunately, none of the effects that used to be part of the ride are still working. It’s pretty terrible when you can tell that a ride used to be really cool, but has been allowed to deteriorate. The initial acceleration is more intense than I expected, as well as the initial helix. The “car chase” section is also pretty neat, if short. The “tunnel” section is a bit long to be completely in the dark; I wonder if there used to be lighting in there. I think I liked it more than I expected, but it’s still kind of sad in its current form.

Anaconda

This one was nearby, and didn’t have much of a line, so I rode it next, with low expectations. It’s an old Arrow Looper, and not one of the better-regarded ones, apparently. The first drop felt way too shallow, and the loops seemed kind of slow, especially the double corkscrew at the end, which felt positively sluggish. Not really the way you want to feel when you’re upside-down. The transitions were rough, and there was a noticeable shimmy. None of this should really be a surprise, given that it’s an old Arrow. I rode it; I don’t need to do it again.

Avalanche

The Kings Dominion app doesn’t list Avalanche on their coasters page, calling it a family ride instead. But RCDB says it’s a coaster, and I have a personal history with this ride style. Back in 1984, Great Adventure had the Sarajevo Bobsled, and I really wanted to ride it, as I was enamored with Olympic luge and bobsleds -- until I got to the park and saw it. It was probably the tallest thrill ride I’d seen to that point, and I chickened out before we even got into the park. Sadly, it didn’t stick around very long at Great Adventure, and there aren’t a ton of bobsled-type rides left, so I’m glad I could ride this one.

The restraints are...strange. The seats are structured such that one rider sits in the other’s lap, so if you’re riding solo, the restraints kind of sit on your upper thighs, your upper body is unrestrained, and your feet kind of stick straight out in front of you, with nothing to brace on. True to its design, there are no rails, so the train rides freely. It shouldn’t feel reckless, but it does. It also seems rather faster than it’s actually going. I could have ridden this a few times, but the crowds were starting to grow at this point.

Volcano: The Blast Coaster

Unfortunately, this one was down, which I regret. It’s a launched Intamin inverted coaster, a design unique in the world, so it’s worth riding for that reason alone. But it’s undergoing repairs right now, so I’ll have to get it another time. Update 2019: Kings Dominion has announced that Volcano won’t be reopening, so I missed my chance. That’s a bummer.

Flight of Fear

This coaster was known as “The Outer Limits: Flight of Fear” during the Paramount era. It was closed the day I went because its pre-show building was being used for a Haunt maze. I have personal history with this coaster: In 1996, Carole and I visited Kings Dominion, because we lived in Virginia at the time. Outer Limits was the only thing we rode that day. It’s a magnetically launched indoor coaster, with most of the ride inside and in complete darkness. Back in 1996, it had hard shoulder harnesses, and like most LIM launches, it was kind of rough. Since I was a novice rider at the time, it beat me up so much that I was left with a splitting headache, enough to make me nauseous and unable to ride anything else, so we just went home. So Flight of Fear was the only credit I had from Kings Dominion until today. I would have enjoyed the opportunity to take “revenge” on it by riding it properly, but it’s not a new credit, so whatever.