I-305 major change?

I seriously hope it's enough to prevent the wheel melting because it is running in top form right now, right on the brink of "too intense." There was never a line for the ride but every single person came off with absolutely huge smiles on their faces, clapping all the way into the brake run.

It's so good, but I fear that it will be re-trimmed. I don't think the trims were ever really about the greyouts.

Okay, I had to go make a trip to Kings Dominion this weekend to see what all the fuss was about this ride... But I have to say now that I have ridden it 5 times, every single time I blacked out. That's not a comfortable feeling for me. Honestly, it left me feeling like crap the rest of the day. I thought maybe trying different positions on the train might help, and not one of them was less intense than any of the others.

One thing I also observed, that on the brake run at the end of the course, it is very noticable if you listen to other rider's reactions that they notice they blacked out too. Every lap I heard someone behind or in front of me talking about blacking out on the first turn. To me, because of this reason, the ride is a miss. And unless they can fix that issue, for me, it's not the greatest ride. There's a difference between intense, and fun.

^ and i305 walks that line perfectly in many people's opinions. I definitely don't think we'll ever see another coaster built that pushes the body's limits quite as much as i305, insane is the only word that can sum it up. Every row is equally intense.

When I rode it 13X over an April weekend (pre-trim) I had no issues with the restraints or greying out. I'm glad to see the report above, because it landed in a tie with MF as my fave steel after those initial rides.

I haven't been on it since, but if I (and my car) are feeling okay, that changes this Saturday.

Then I'll ride my #2 steelie on my way home Sunday.

Mike, the less-trimmed 2nd half and new restraints might be enough to inch out MF after your next rides. KD has a winner on their hands if the wheels don't melt in the upcoming sun.

Maybe they should have went with the overbank?

The ground hugger looks and seems like a great idea, but not for a coaster of this size. I have only ridden the trimmed version, but that turn was still very intense and grayout/blackout inducing for not only me but other riders as well. I have an extremely high tolerance for intensity, and I wasn't bothered by greying out, but several others complained and even claimed blackouts. Only a matter of time before someone cries wolf and files a suit claiming injuries. If the ride isn't getting re-rides by the general public, it is not fufilling its role as the signature attraction.

I gray out on MF's first overbank. Is I-305 more intense than that?

LostKause said:
I gray out on MF's first overbank. Is I-305 more intense than that?

Way.

How does it compare to the Giovanola helices?

It's kind of surprising, but I-305 has not snagged enough ratings yet to be included in the CoasterBuzz 100. Rate those track records, folks!

It is absolutely more intense than the Giovanola helices ever were at max speed... WAY more intense than the MF overbank ever has been. The crushing G's begin halfway down the main hill, by the time I'm even banked all the way to the side I've lost a good amount of vision to greying out.

Even with the modifications it isn't until the airtime on the 2nd hill that I can totally comprehend what's going on through that part of the ride, it's borderline nuts. On my second ride (about 5 mins after my first) I actually would classify it as closer to a black out than a grey out, snapping out of it instantly upon airtime.

The turn after the 3rd bunny hop (before going into the twisties) is also extremely intense as is the turn heading into the midcourse trims. I'm usually pretty lightheaded going into the midcourse trims.

EDIT: I should state that I'm a young, fit, healthy guy that has never experienced any g-related issues on any ride except for a TINY amount of greying out on MF's first turn on a 100+ degree day when I was probably dehydrated.

Rode it with the trim on the drop and I'd have said the Giovanola helices hit me harder. But that is to say, I still don't get the 'grey out' on any of the aforementioned coasters...to the point that I think it's kind of funny that the MF overbank is even being mentioned in this conversation.

Also understand that my general impression of I-305 is that it's probably the most overrated coaster of the past few years.

Your mileage will vary. (YMWV - as opposed to YMMV)

^ With the trim on the drop the first turn was nothing... without the trim on the first drop... watch out. It's beyond anything else on any other ride, including the Gio's, by a large margin.

I have a feeling you would understand the hype if you actually got to ride the ride within 20mph of how it was designed :p.

I can't imagine the second half with the quick twist/turn things being remotely enjoyable at 20mph faster - even with the better restraints. Side-to-side forces are not my thing.

It's like they took the most boring parts of MF (wide turns and shallow hills - first drop excepted) and combined them with the worst elements of Maverick (quick transitions in a shoulder restraint).

Dumbest layout ever.

RC Crazy, which Gio Hyper did you ride?

Personally, that's the most intense moment on any coaster, and while I've heard that I305 without first drop trims is almost comperable, I've heard from quite a few people that I305 wasn't quite as intense.

I guess I'll find out in a couple weeks.

And I don't get why anyone would grey out on an overbank?

I have never grayed out, and that's after riding trim-less Goliath, Millennium Force in the summer and Nitro. What is it like? Everything turns gray? blurry vision?

Lord Gonchar said:
Dumbest layout ever.

Looking at the layout of it, I always thought it looked like they basically took the layout for one of the Mega-lites and scaled it bigger... taking out a few elevation changes, replaced with at-ground movement

Delan, graying out is just like blacking out, except you don't lose all vision and consciousness completely.

I've only experienced it on MF, but I haven't been on the Giovanola's yet. I sometimes start to lose vision at the bottom of the first drop on MF, and then it gets worse as I go around the overbank. I gain full consciousness before the track hugs the ground going into the tunnel. Having worked at the park for so many seasons, I rode MF many many times, and this happened a lot, but not always.

I think that maybe I should put KD on my list of parks to visit this year. I am getting excited to gray out on I-305. :p

Edit to add...

When I-305's layout was revealed, I thought that same, Gonch. I'm still willing to give it a chance though.

I used to grey out on MF all of the time, but haven't lately.

I agree that the layout is terrible. I have ridden it in all of it's different versions and consider the current one to be far and away the best. That being said, to me it is only the 3rd best coaster in the park.

After our opening weekend trip, it finally hit me why I prefer MF over I305. It is the feeling of going somewhere. I305's foot print is extremely small by comparison to MF and the fact that there is no landscaping around the coaster makes it a rather bland experience.