KD Opens Dominator

Right on schedule, KD opened Dominator this morning. We were one of the
first 1000 people to ride (about the 5th train out) and we were given "First
Rider" t shirts.

The area looks good, its not a "parking lot" coaster as some (including me)
feared. The area is well landscaped, they are still working on a little bit
of area under the 2nd part of the ride. But most of it has nice grass and
mulch, the sidewalk (blacktop) was ripped up and the nice brick tiles put in
its place in the area. You can approach Dominator from the front of the
park behind the Berserker or from Kidzville behind the Ghoster Coaster.

We didn't have to wait a long time for our first ride due to being there
very early, we decided to take our shirts out to the car so we didn't have
to carry them all day before our 2nd ride. The 2nd ride took about an hour,
that was with the queue being full and the line wrapping around the ride
down the sidewalk going beside the Ghoster Coaster (or Scooby Doo as we all
mostly know it by). Later in the day the line was just at the entrance of
the queue and was about 40 mins. They were running three trains. They
could be getting trains out a tad bit faster, they are not horrible, but
could do better, I hope they get faster as the season goes on. Later in the
day we were next to get on and it shut down for about an hour and fifteen
mins, it appeared the floor wouldn't rise or lift under the 3rd car. They
had to evacuate the two trains on the brakes, one behind the station and one
behind that on the first final brake (not mid course). They got it fixed
and we got our last ride of the late afternoon on it. It was smooth and had
a good whip on the first drop. It seemed to be faster than I remember it in
Ohio. A very neat observation, when entering the 2nd flatspin, you can look
at the Eiffel Tower as it is centered and watch it flip as you invert.

On a sad note, for some reason KD decided to NOT allow any loose articles at
all on this ride. This INCLUDES eyeglasses. I have to admit I was pretty
annoyed at that. I hate not being able to see. I also wear contacts, but I
didn't wear them today, I will next time so I can see in complete focus. We
asked if we had a leash on our glasses if that would be ok, the one operator
we asked said no. I hope this will change, its the only coaster at KD that
does this and I don't know why.

Overall the ride is nice and fits into KD very well. We fans of KD are
finally happy to get a high capacity ride that isn't a launched gimmick.
The other loopers there (not including Shockwave which is smaller than what
I am about to describe) are all 2400 feet long and have four inversion,
Volcano, FOF and Anaconda. So its nice to have Dominator, which is about
4200 feet long, five inversions, and most important 3 trains and 32 per
train.

Its also the first B&M in VA that has the "roar" that B&M is known for. BG
sand fills their track and or supports which muffles out the roar.

Danny Biggerstaff
CoAsTeRDaN
PKD4ME
http://members.aol.com/coasterdan

LOL. "First rider" shirts...heh heh heh.

^ LOL.

I was looking at people's photo trip reports of the ride today, and just thought.. "man, that used to kind of be in my backyard". :)

It's so weird seeing it open to all this fanfare, and reading people's descriptions of how much "airtime there is from the midcourse" etc.. and I'm like "yeah, I know :)".

It's weird, though - Dominator was one of my least favorite rides at GL.

Josh

I love to read an expression of a person/individual who respects and is grateful for a new thrill ride in a park he/she admires (KD). Sounds to me you are very happy about Dominator delivering at KD. Love to read it.

There is a good chance however, certain things about the ride I wont like as much as others, but its the point of getting or having a new ride that counts.

I for one don't get the idea behind filling the supports with sand so it drowns out the roar. Isn't that what a coaster supposed to do, or is it so you can hear the screams more clearly. Takes away from the admiration for the ride and the intensity as far as I'm concerned.

Filling the supports with sand is not just a sound dampening action, it also helps maintain the integrity of them over time. That's apparently why they did it for Maverick at Cedar Point, since noise is obviously not something they're typically worried about.

Is that how Maverick is structrured, because Silver Bullett is also structured with sand filling the supports.

Silver Bullett is so quiet, that you can't hear anything except riders screaming.

This was the first Beemer that I experienced that didn't have any roar sound when navigating the course. It was total quiet.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe it was Talon that was the first sand-filled B&M. This was done to appease the neighbors who moved in a lot later than the park, which has been there forever.

I still remember in 2001, standing up against the fence in one of the low turns of Talon, feeling the wind whipping off my face from the train, but barely hearing a noise. It was really odd.

Actually, Medusa (west) opened a year before Talon and has sand filled supports. It's fun when you're the only one on the train because you really feel like you're flying through the air since there is no sound.

I'm glad Dominator was moved so people get a chance to ride and enjoy it.

Dominator was the only reason I went to GL. I for one will miss it dearly :(

But, on the other hand, I'm sure what ever KI is getting for next year will help me get over it real quick! :)

Jo

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GoliathKills said:
Actually, Medusa (west) opened a year before Talon and has sand filled supports.

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And a year before that, Dueling Dragons opened and that is filled with sand. I think that was the first that used filling the structure to deaden noise. Alpengeist, two years before DD, used polyurethane wheels instead of nylons to cut the noise. I think by the time they got to Talon in '01 they had come up with some kind of acoustic foam filler instead of raw sand.

For the most part, BGE always has to fight Kingsmill (which they also created...) when they put rides in, so they have to make them as quiet as possible, thats really the only point of the sand filled B&Ms. Tampa doesn't do that, just Williamsburg.

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CoasterDiscern said:
I love to read an expression of a person/individual who respects and is grateful for a new thrill ride in a park he/she admires (KD). Sounds to me you are very happy about Dominator delivering at KD. Love to read it.

There is a good chance however, certain things about the ride I wont like as much as others, but its the point of getting or having a new ride that counts.

I for one don't get the idea behind filling the supports with sand so it drowns out the roar. Isn't that what a coaster supposed to do, or is it so you can hear the screams more clearly. Takes away from the admiration for the ride and the intensity as far as I'm concerned.

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Well, I don't know if this was the first, but Alpengeist is sandfilled, and that opened in 1997. All of BGE's B&Ms are filled.

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Intamin Fan said:
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe it was Talon that was the first sand-filled B&M. This was done to appease the neighbors who moved in a lot later than the park, which has been there forever.

I still remember in 2001, standing up against the fence in one of the low turns of Talon, feeling the wind whipping off my face from the train, but barely hearing a noise. It was really odd.

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Re: Dominator... I always thought it looked like a great floorless with a unique and fun layout. Glad to see it has a new home and audience.

Re: Sand Filled... I loved riding Medusa west in 2000, it was freaky smooth and elegant without the roar. I really liked just watching the train glide through the course with screaming riders being the only sound heard. Of course waiting in a full queue for Riddlers Revenge with the roar has its charm too.