Kings Dominion 10/16/04

Stayed onsite and ate at the wonderful Denny's. Hey, the room was cheap. Very windy day. Got my picture with Spongebob. 10/10. Waited in line for Drop Zone, (50% of the reason I was there). Was to be on the next one, then it closed for high winds. 5/10. What a piece of machinery. Maybe next time.

Anaconda. Best crew in the park. 10 minute wait. 7/10. Rebel Yell. Down to one train, as backwards side broke. Suprise. Terrible crew for a mediocre ride at best. 5/10. Did Ricochet. Great Mouse. One girl loading the ride. Make her the Area Supervisor, and terminate the other mo-mo's. 9/10. She did a great job. Scooby Doo Coaster. Also a decent crew with TWO trains. 7/10. Grizzly. My favorite ride in the park. Lines also moved fast. 8/10.

had lunch at Happy Days. 6/10. Very fast crew of volunteers. Next year put some of them on the rides. Flight of Fear. Better with lap bars. 7/10. Did the haunted maze at the Grizzly arcade. Quite good. 7/10. Did the 'out in the woods' walk through along Canyon River Rapids. It has potential, but not this year. 5/10. Finally, Volcano is open. What a line. 7/10.

Did the new Scooby Doo Ghost Hunter ride. Of course I won. 1520. 9/10. Great attraction for kids. I cannot believe they removed their Shoot the Chutes for a Huss Giant Topspin. Unless their Waterworks is getting a re-hab in 2006. Whoops.

This is a great park, but I heard the same comments over and over again about how this and that is bad, and how 'our family' has bought season passes to Busch Gardens. If Paramount spends all that energy on surveys, maybe they should actually stand in lines, eat the food, and WATCH some reactions. Paramount has the resources to operate like Cedar Fair, yet they choose to lean towards Six Flags. They have hotels, camping, less retail and more food service, and great theming.

Also, why were you guys closed for 2 weeks? It was clear that the rides were put to the test after the crowds hit at noon. It would serve your equipment better if you were open on Friday nights to work the gremlins out. That is one thing Six Flags figured out. Also got my picture with Spongebob. 10/10. I will be back for Drop Zone soon.

The Huss Top Spin is going between Bubba Gump's Shrimp Company is and Volcano:The Blast Coaster. Don't know why the sign is still over by the old Diamond Falls Site.

The park was closed the first two weekends in October for buyouts. Doesn't make since to me either.

Wow! You only had a 10 minute wait for Anaconda? The line looked at least 45 minutes long maybe even longer when I was over there.

Yes, it did look long, but they were sending the trains quite fast. Does anyone know why Diamond Falls went bye bye?

Didn't Diamond Falls catch fire and the park decided to remove it, instead of replace it?

Diamond falls was simply outdated & they wanted to remove it plain & simple...still wondering what'll replace it though but I think a re-theme/expansion to boomerang bay is likely in 06.

How's construction on TR progressing? I'm suprised we havn't gotten regular updates on this ride lately,as usually whenever a new ride is announced at just about any park construction updates are almost constant....I guess the focus on kingda ka has changed that this year.

Anyhow I'm looking forward to riding it next year....never been on a top spin so it'll be a first for me.

Sorry you didn't get on DZ it's one helluva great ride but of course if there are high winds preventing the ride from safely operating then what can you do except grin & bear it?

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Agent Johnson said: why were you guys closed for 2 weeks?

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they weren't! they had park buyouts....

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coasterguts said:
Wow! You only had a 10 minute wait for Anaconda? The line looked at least 45 minutes long maybe even longer when I was over there.

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Never expect a longer wait for Anaconda than 10 or 15 minutes. It's always been a people-mover, even when it was new.

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Agent Johnson said:

Paramount has the resources to operate like Cedar Fair, yet they choose to lean towards Six Flags. They have hotels, camping, less retail and more food service, and great theming.

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AJ, I agree. Paramount has vast financial resources, but their overall product seems to be on the decline over the years. Their infrastructure is great, but the overall operation seems to be another victim of "budget crunching". I know that their Parks Divisions are going through some significant organizational changes right now and there are some growing pains associated with that.

From a "Guest Experience" perspective, I think that Disney is the best....followed closely by BEC (Busch Entertainment), Cedar Fair, Paramount Parks, Palace Entertainment Parks, & Six Flags being the worst.

Of course, independents such as Holiday World and Kennywood could easily compete with the Disney’s and Busch’s of the corporate world, but that’s an argument already beaten to death. It is admirable considering that their cap-ex plans have one or two less (zero’s) than the corporate parks with public resources. Could you ever imagine Holiday World with a $25 million Cap-Ex project?

I don't think Will would know what to do with 25 big ones to spend in one year.

He could get a 3rd train for Raven!

Holiday World is a fine park run by most excellent people, but let's not get too excited. Disney it aint!

lata, jeremy

--very defensive of Disney...

You're right, Jeremy...Holiday World isn't Disneyland. If Holiday World had a tea-cups ride they wouldn't tighten them so you can't spin ;)

mOOSH [yeah, I know Disney reversed that, but what a stoopid decision that was!]