Kings Dominion 5/27-5/28 2023

Preamble:

I only stayed at Carowinds for a few hours on the second day for two reasons. First, FastLane allowed me multiple re-rides in an extremely small amount of time. Second, it started raining pretty consistently about 3 hours after the park opened. So instead of staying until 6pm like planned, I grabbed some food at Harmony Hall Marketplace and drove to Richmond around 2pm. Since I got to town way earlier than planned, I decided to go straight to Kings Dominion for the last few hours of operations to get a few rides in since the second day would be rainy.

The Park:

Kings Dominion is absolutely beautiful. Whereas Carowinds feels like it is set in a beautiful park, Kings Dominion feels like it is set in the forest. Large, old trees were plentiful throughout and I didn’t have to walk far to find a bit of shade. This enhanced the experience of walking around the front of the park. Instead of the shops feeling manufactured, they somehow felt incredibly authentic situated next to the big trees. Honestly, I got a lot of joy just walking around. The park was clean and easy to navigate. Simply put, Kings Dominion is one of the most visually beautiful parks I’ve been to.

The Staff:

In stark contrast to the beauty of the park, the operations at Kings Dominion were dreadful during my visit. It wasn’t just Cedar Fair’s adoption of what feels like needless safety standards. Cedar Point, Kings Island, and Carowinds are under the same protocol, but the staff at those parks at least make a moderate-to-great effort to dispatch trains in a timely manner. That wasn’t my experience at Kings Dominion. There was no urgency in getting guests on and buckled in. A great example was my experience at Intimidator 305. When I finally got my first ride, by the time my train got back to the station, they were just getting around to letting guests board the train in front of us. It was as if they had to wait until the previous guests had all exited the station before they opened the gates to let the next folks in. This was odd because on Fury 325, guests entered and exited at the same time…ride ops even did a countdown to warn guests that gates would be closing should they take too long. I’m not sure why this wasn’t replicated at Kings Dominion. In this case, my FastLane+ add on was absolutely vital.

The Food:

Unfortunately, my food selections were nothing to write home about. Victoria’s Pizza was a notch below mediocre. A woman even warned a little girl that her mom said it was terrible…I should have listened. I enjoyed The Jukebox Diner at Carowinds so I gave it a shot at Kings Dominion, but they weren’t serving their signature burger. The Chicken Shake was okay. I did try to go to The Outpost Cafe, but they ran out of the food I wanted. Ah well.

Day 1:

• Intimidator 305 (2x | 10 min): On paper, Intimidator should rank high on any coaster enthusiasts list, but while it is a top 20 coaster for me, it’s not a top 10 like it should be. I’ll be honest, I was a bit skeptical of the folks who say they gray out on it because those same folks speak of graying out on far less intense coasters. But I can honestly report, as someone who has never grayed out on a coaster in his life, I grayed out. It happened in the back seat, but it was far more pronounced in the front. It’s the feeling you get when you stand up too quickly and you know you need to sit down for fear of losing consciousness. In fact, when my vision started narrowing and I felt tingling all over, I thought, “I’m glad I have the OTSR in case I black out.” I stayed awake, but barely. While I wondered if that feeling would be thrilling in a weird way, it wasn’t and it made me hesitate to ride again. When I did make an attempt, it was in the back of the train. Even still, Intimidator was fun. The first drop is epic and just a notch below Fury (likely on par with Millennium Force). Similar to Fury, it was thrilling to be whipped through turns with such aggression, but with a high level of comfort. The airtime hills were mild, but they also offered a small break from the intense turning. Overall, a great giga coaster, but I’m conflicted on that first turn. It’s thrilling and a signature part of the ride, but I cannot deny that graying out isn’t something I want to experience on a coaster.

• Flight of Fear (1x | 20 min): Being a child of Nightmare at Boblo Island and Disaster Transport at Cedar Point, I absolutely love indoor coasters. Flight of Fear was identical to the one at Kings Island (other than the slow operations). It’s aggressive in a way that only 90s coasters are. The restrains are incredibly restrictive if you’re tall, however. I’m about 6’0, 225lbs, 36” waist and it was a struggle to buckle the seatbelt. And I found this odd because I’ve ridden the other FoF weighing 40lbs more and I don’t remember being rejected. Still, I loved this ride and had a blast, as always. I wish I could have seen this one with all the theming intact.

• Dominator (2x | station wait): Dominator lives up to its name. It’s big, long, and intense throughout. The first loop is absolutely massive and so I was surprised that the turn out of it was so small, but my god was it exhilarating. There is a bit of that B&M rattle, but I figure this is because it was moved from Geauga Lake years ago. Still, there was only one spot where there was a bit of uncomfortable head banging. I enjoyed my ride in the back more than the front, which sucks because you only get the floorless effect when you ride in the front. One cool thing…we got to watch the park’s Memorial Day fireworks presentation from the break run…one benefit to slower operations.

Day 2:

• Twisted Timbers (2x | walk on): My first smaller RMC and it was a fun one. This was a rare example of a crew that was working at a moderate pace to get guests on and off the ride. Still, I thought it was a bit comical that they require you remove everything from your pockets for this, but not Intimidator 305. Still, the coaster was a lot of fun and a big improvement to the previous version if Carowinds’ Hurler is any example. The first drop makes me want to fly out and ride Iron Gwazi because I want to experience that sensation at speed. Great addition to the park…I think more parks should get these smaller RMCs.

• Apple Zapple (1x | walk on): Y’all know, I’m not a huge fan of wild mouse coasters, but this one was actually a lot of fun. There was a little airtime on the drops and the cars were comfortable enough that the switch backs weren’t painful like they were on Wild Mouse at Dorney Park. This is a great step up coaster for smaller riders, but still fun for us adults.
• Racer 75 (1x | walk on): I was a bit nervous about riding Racer 75. It looks like it’s been some time since it’s gotten any love and given that Racer at Kings Island was recently retracked due to roughness, I thought I was in for it. Turns out, Racer 75 is about what you’d expect in a woodie. It provided some great airtime moments with a little shakiness to make it fun. There were only a few moments of roughness, but far less than I expected. Pretty solid coaster, plus the view of Intimidator was great.

• Intimidator 305 (2x | walk on)

• Flight of Fear (2x | 10min)

• Backlot Stunt Coaster (2x | 5 min): Like Flight of Fear, Backlot Stunt Coaster is another carbon copy of the version at Kings Island, but just like that coaster, I loved it. It’s quick, spunky, and a lot of fun. I will say it looked like the scenery hasn’t been kept up with. The biggest evidence of that was the faded billboard we passed along the course. But they did have the fake splashdown filled with water.

• Reptilian (2x | walk on): This was probably one of the larger surprises of the trip. Bobsled roller coasters are so rare nowadays and the only one I’ve been able to ride was Disaster Transport at Cedar Point. But even then, you could barely tell it was a bobsled because it was indoors. I figured Reptilian, with it’s minimal restraints and relatively low height, would be rather tame. But it turned out to have a decent amount of force and speed. The first half is quick and fun, but the second half is where it really picks up speed. Only rode in the back, but would recommend if you want to feel some pressure against your seat. It was so much fun, I rode it a second time later in the day. Oh, and this is one instance where I have to give it up for the ride ops. One of the guys was not only checking restraints with speed, but dancing to the jungle beat. He saw me smiling at him and asked if I enjoyed the ride. I did.

• Tumbili (1x | 15 min): Given my advanced age of 38 years, I’ll admit that I need to take Dramamine as a precaution nowadays. I avoid flat rides and get kind of nervous before riding any spinning coasters. I’ve never been on a 4D spinning coaster, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Tumbili flips your car almost immediately using magnets. The feeling of being tossed forward at such a height was more thrilling than I expected. Unfortunately, the only time we really flipped was when we hit the magnets. The spinning wasn’t enough to make me nauseous, but given the longer wait and the extremely quick ride, one ride was enough for me. Still a great addition to the park.

• Grizzly (2x | walk on): Grizzly is a hard coaster to find. You have to walk through a gift store and down a path in order to get to the entrance. Then, you take a wood path through the trees to get to the station. The only experience I’ve had with a coaster named Grizzly was Paramount’s Great America and not only was it mediocre, but it was the first (and only) coaster I had to do the walk of shame on back when I was 15 years old. This coaster was nothing like it. Grizzly was surprisingly fast and thrilling. It was raining by the time I got to ride, but we caught some amazing airtime. Grizzly was smoother than Racer 75, but retained the goodness of being a woodie. I had so much fun, I road it again once the rain subsided. Do not skip this coaster if you go to KD.

• Dominator (1x | walk on)

• Anaconda (1x | walk on): I’ll always ride an old Arrow coaster and I’m glad I got to ride Anaconda. It reminded me a lot of Vortex at Kings Island and some of the mega loopers Arrow made towards the end of its life. The drop into the water was so thrilling and the speed cooled right before the first loop. From there, it was your typical looper. Only a slight bit of head banging, but you can anticipate much of that by just looking at the track. In fact, it was likely one of the more enjoyable Arrow mega loopers I’ve ridden, which I hope means it’ll be here to stay.

Final Thoughts:

Kings Dominion is frustrating. It has a beautiful setting and top-notch coasters. But the operations absolutely killed it for me. I was so glad to have FL+ attached to my Platinum Pass because I would have likely only been able to ride a few coasters otherwise. This could have simply been a bad day for the crew or may be they were short staffed. But seeing the lack of urgency makes me think this is just the typical experience. I'd still visit KD if I were in the area, but unlike Carowinds, I likely wouldn't make the trip specifically for the park unless I was already in the area. This could be such an awesome park...

Great report. And sadly, those are the same operations I have encountered in every visit to Kings Dominion over the years.

Every time I’ve been in recent years I’ve managed to choose days when the park isn’t busy, so wait time or operations hasn’t really been an issue. And every time I go I’m also struck by the trees and how beautifully they add to the park. Virginia is known for having large trees, certainly more than Ohio. Which leads me to a comment about Kings Island. Over the decades that park has matured and filled out nicely. Even the trees on International Street started to have a lush, shady look. Then I’ll be darned- they redid the fountain and ripped out every single tree. Small ones were replanted but the entire area looks so bare. I really don’t get it. I’ll be in a nursing home before it grows back, lol.
You probably know that Grizzly was the beneficiary of a retrack this year. I understand that ride went from 0 to hero. As for the entrance, that area overlapped with Dinosaurs Alive and the gift shop belonged to it. It didn’t used be that way, Grizzly was just along the path.
Twisted Timbers is one of my favorite RMC’s. It’s quite aggressive for its size. And I have no love for Intimidator. I got to try each of its incarnations and found it started out bad and never got better no matter what they tried. I know I stand in the minority there. I’ll always take MF over it. The initial drops are identical but at least Cedar Point’s ride doesn’t buzz kill everything with an ill-timed trim brake.

Jephry:

Intimidator 305 ... In fact, when my vision started narrowing

That is what I have experienced on it as well. Have not had that on any other coaster. Was a little freaky but not enough to keep from going a few more laps on it.

Even with the poor operations, I like to make the trip to Kings Dominion just for I-305 (which I love), Twisted Timbers, and the chance to visit my beloved Batman Knight Flight. Not to mention my tied for # 1 favorite traditional log flume (it's tied with Coal Cracker at Hershey). Everything else is just a bonus.

It's an easy (and ridiculously cheap) two night trip flying from Orlando to Richmond. 5 years ago I would have said the trip was primarily for BGW with a stop at KD on the side. That has completely flipped as KD grows on me more and more every time I visit and as much as I love the rides and park atmosphere, the ops at BGW get more and more like their Tampa counterpart every time I visit. KI definitely has superior operations, food and overall ride lineup. But the forest-like atmosphere of portions of KD combined with their top rides make it a must-do every other year or so for me.

I’ll likely spend some time at Kings Dominion again when I go to Busch Gardens Williamsburg later this year. Similar to Dorney Park, it may not be my main destination, but seeing as I can visit and eat at no additional cost, it would be dumb not to.

The only coaster I want to be sure of my judgement on is Intimidator 305. I rode it at night on the first day, so I likely couldn’t tell that I was graying out. I had a blast on it. Maybe it was knowing that I was graying out that kind of disturbed me a bit. But I cannot deny that I loved everything after. I do agree…the trim brakes were a bit of a buzz kill, but I could say that about Fury as well.

I-305 is a very unique ride. It starts like Millennium Force, has that curve and pullout that should never have been built, and then ends like Maverick. I can handle (but don't particularly like) the gray-out curve, but everything that follows in the second half of the ride is so good!

Is there any method to combat the graying out? Initially, I thought it was my screaming/wooing, but my vision still narrowed. After the fact, a friend said he clinches his butt cheeks and that helps him...but I don't know how haha.

Yes you do. It’s not an acquired skill, lol.

Glad to hear Grizzly is running well. I was there about 8 or 9 years ago and I loved it, but all reports pointed to it being pretty rough over the last couple of years.