Intimidator 305 opens at Kings Dominion

I don't find graying out to be painful or uncomfortable. It merely distracts from the experience of the ride.

I'll tell you what I don't care for: the gees that pull on your legs and feet on an invert's helix. It actually hurts, which is the main reason I'm not a Raptor power rider anymore.

That actually requires the opposite response... just let yourself go limp. I remember having hurty calves once by pulling my legs up too much on Raptor's final helix.

Are hurty calves going to be covered under universal health care?

I dunno. Ask a Canadian.

Is herding calves going to be covered under President Obama's health care? That can be a dangerous occupation.

But much easier than herding cats

Jeff said:
I dunno. Ask a Canadian.

Eh! What was that? ;)

I think it would be beneficial to understand that blood pressure throughout the body would be one indicator for greying out on a roller coaster. People who have hypertension or chronic stress would "not" feel the effects of positive G's as much as people who do not. The sensation of positive G's in someone who has normal blood pressure would be heightened dramatically, and would feel like a large swing from one extreme to another, but in this case, one normal experience to abnormal one.

Not saying this is the reason why everyone is greying out on the ride, however there are too many variables to tell, and too many humans who are physically, mentally and anatomically different.

If you are a person who for some amazing reason has good health, and the pleasure of ridding coasters with the absence of greying out, I would consider yourself fortunate.

What did the cats say?

I have a friend who has ridden just about every coaster, and in his 20's in good health and he blacked out 4 times on the ground level U turn. I saw a film of how the Blue Angels pilots train so they can withstand high G forces, probably much higher than I-305. Those guys are in tip top shape, more so than the most avid roller coaster riders, let alone the average park guest, and they have to tense their bodies tremendously to keep from blacking out.

When you say 'blacked out', is that what you really intend to say? Blacking out refers to loss of consciousness. If it was a momentary dimming or loss of vision, that's called greying out.

I have greyed out on multiple rides including Double Loop (RIP), Dominator after the loop and into the banked turn, and Millenium Force's first overbank. If there are decent sustained positive G's I'm going to greyout.

Needless to say Intimidator 305 made me greyout. The first ride was not a full train and I used the tensing technique and avoided a greyout. By the third ride with a full train and being later in the day, I lost all vision for a split second while coming out of the first turn. This ride is crazy and as most have posted- greying out is likely inevitable. It is the price we have to pay for intensity I guess. I never got to ride Mindbender or Taz's Texas Tornado in its heyday but I assume its the closest thing to those in terms of sustained high G's.

Props to Kings Dominion for having some guts and building a ride that is simply put- just SICK.

I actually have had much more greying out on Titan and Shockwave (OT) than I ever did on Taz's Tornado (or Zonga, which was slightly tamed).

I didn't experience the grey out. It is a tremendous ride. Easily number 2 just behind SROS/Bizarro@SFNE. I agree with everyone that said it is a combination of maverick and MF. Thanks Cedar Fair!

Does anyone actually know how we can tell what our G force tolerance is before we go on I-305. I have been looking it up a lot, and keep finding that blood pressure, height, age, and physical fitness are factors.

The problem is that everything I have found ends there. They don't actually state how those four characteristics affect our tolerance. In other words if we are taller are we more tolerable or less. If we have high blood pressure are we more tolerable or less. I'm assuming that if we have low blood pressure we are better off, If we are more physically fit we are better off. But the other two I have no idea. So does anyone know?

From what little I know about it, low blood pressure makes you more susceptible to graying out.

What difference does it make? It's not like you're at risk of dying.

Here's a question.

The stats that the PR guy was saying... don't they seem a bit inaccurate?

I'm just interested really. I'm not at all afraid to black out. I can see why you interpreted what I said that way though. I actually think it would be kind of cool to pass out and then wake up on a roller coaster. Sometimes I can't stand waking up and realizing I have a long day ahead of me, but waking up on a roller coaster.......NICE!!!!

You arent sustaining pos Gs long enough for *most* to blackout. Once you come screaming around the corner hitting the full +G load, you work to the first hill and Neg G, and blood returns.

But mileage may vary, so your question is quite hard to blanket benchmark. My father being Air Force could withstand more Gs for a slightly longer time than I could. But his body is used to higher loads and "adapts" to it better.

Even still, there really isnt a specific flow chart of who will do what. Just a matter of G-tolerance a person is "designed" for.

On our 4th lap we both experienced the grey out, and that was the first time I had ever experienced that on a rollercoaster. It's a fantastic ride.