I haven't been to King's Dominion since July of 2002, and I was very excited to return. I live in Northeast PA, and I visit Virginia frequently, but mostly in the early spring for the historic sites. I remember having a great time in 2002, but I missed out on a few coasters and just had to go back and give them a whirl.
It was fairly hot Thursday, and I think that many people were spending the day on the water rides, which meant pretty short lines for myself and my three companions.
Our first ride of the day was on Tomb Raider Firefall, which had a five minute wait. It was the first HUSS Top Spin I have ever ridden. It was very intense, and when the ride ended, I felt as though the restraint was embedded in my thighs, however, I really enjoyed it, and rode it several more times throughout the day, including once after having a drink of lemonade. I'm not one that has ever some close to "losing my lunch" on a ride, but that particular ride was not too pleasant.
After Tomb Raider, noticing that Avalanche had not yet opened, we got in line for Volcano, which was about a thirty minute wait. I for some reason assumed that my friends, who had never been to the park, knew that Volcano was a launched coaster so I did not see a need to mention it. I felt terrible afterwards because one of my friends hates launched coasters (I guess he particularly disliked Storm Runner). He did end up enjoying the ride but I felt like a jerk for a bit afterward. I loved the ride, it makes me wish I lived closer to Virginia!
From there I ran to ride Flight of Fear (not first consulting the park map, or having heard any word that it was closed). I had so much fun on this on my last trip (and also thoroughly enjoyed it's sister at PKI last summer), it was a pretty big disappointment. Seeing the big gate in front of the entrance was depressing . I apologize if this has been brought up before, but does anyone know why it closed?
I wasn't about to let this ruin my day, of course, so I got right on Anaconda, which was a walk on. My companions were not too fond of it because they thought it was pretty rough, but I enjoyed it, especially the underwater tunnel. I am a sucker for any ride that is over water, for instance Hercules. I never rode Hercules with anyone that enjoyed the ride, but in my book water = bonus points. But I digress.
Now for all of the coasters that I missed last time around:
I don't know how I managed to miss Shockwave, especially since it's right out in the open. I am very fond of stand up rides, and Chang is one of my all time favorites. This was pretty disappointing. I thought that the paint job was nice, but that was where the enjoyment ended. It was too rough for me, especially through the loop, and was not something I would ride again. I'm sure that there are tons of folks who like it, but it's just not my thing.
I didn't ride Hypersonic XLC last time because the line was extremely long, and since my boyfriend would not ride with me, I just decided to skip it. This time the line was significantly shorter, and although once again I had no riding partner (same boyfriend, plus other friend who hates launched coasters), I got in the queue. I hate waiting in line by myself, but this time it was kind of amusing because ahead of me there were several 8th-9th grade aged children who were getting themselves psyched up for how scary the ride was going to be. By the time we made it all of the way to the station, they all went down the exit ramp. I really enjoyed the ride. It was short, but it was nice and smooth, very exhilarating. Those few seconds before the launch were dramatic and terrifying. I wanted to ride again, but I didn't feel like waiting in line alone again, so I went on to ride Hurler and Rebel Yell with my group.
I also missed Grizzly in 02, and I can see how, as it is pretty well hidden. There was nobody in line, and we rode twice in a row. My friends named it their favorite coaster in the park. I thought it was great. It had just the right amount of roughness and was definitely my favorite wood coaster of the day.
Last but not least, we got in line for Italian Job. I was really excited to ride this because last year at PKI it was closed the entire day. It was as exciting as it looked, and the effects were great. I especially liked "splashing down" in the water after busting through the billboard. I thought it was odd that the billboard said 'Italian Job Stunt Track' on it. I know that the whole theme is that you are on a stunt track, but I didn't notice that it was called "Italian Job Turbo Coaster" anywhere except the map.
I had an amazing day, and this, along with my day at Busch Gardens Europe, was definitely the highlight of my week in Virginia! *** Edited 6/17/2006 11:57:50 AM UTC by jeanineprisonjazz***
^The rumor on FOF is that the park does not have enough power in its grid to run 3 lim launched coasters so it had to close one.
2022 Trips: WDW, Sea World San Diego & Orlando, CP, KI, BGW, Bay Beach, Canobie Lake, Universal Orlando
what?? after operating all three for 5 years they come to this conclusion? i think that rumor is false. we'll probably just see it open again next year with new theming.
^Hypersonic is an air launched coaster (just like S&S tower rides) which I assume take far less electricity to run.
2022 Trips: WDW, Sea World San Diego & Orlando, CP, KI, BGW, Bay Beach, Canobie Lake, Universal Orlando
^^ The other Flight Of Fear rumor is that it's headed to Carowinds just in time for their 35th anniversary. Which I'm in favor of, as it's the closest thing to my home park (at 2hrs away).
pezpunk said:
what?? after operating all three for 5 years they come to this conclusion? i think that rumor is false. we'll probably just see it open again next year with new theming.
I agree with the new theming. The park just added a third launched coaster this season. Until now (okay they still do) they've only had two launched coasters and I've heard the power rumor as well.
Oh, and didn't CF say capital expendiutres for any of the Paramount parks haven't been planned past this season? If so, another indication that FoF isn't heading to Carowinds. *** Edited 6/17/2006 10:00:57 PM UTC by coasterguts***
A day at the park is what you make it!
I enjoyed my trip there 2 years ago. I arrived at the park around 11 AM just before a huge Thunderstorm poured on the park. I was in first aid (major headache from travel) during that storm, and when I came out the park was very empty with walk-ons everywhere. The only coasters I didn't get to ride were Italian Job (not yet built) and Hypersonic XLC due to rain. That of course was the one I really wanted to ride.
I totally agree with anaconda being rough, but did ride 3x without getting off. I also agree that Shockwave was a little rough. The lapbar was in the wrong place on me to enjoy the ride fully, but I thought the ride itself was ok. Finally I really enjoyed Volcano, but nothing I would wait over 1/2 hr for. The ride ops there were the best of the day being very friendly with guests, and making sure the next train would be as full as possible before it arrived in the station. Too bad your ridding partners don't like launch coasters. I would gladly ride w/ you!
The rumor I heard about FOF is that they want to remove it to cover the purchase cost for IJTC.Now that's gotta be the most far fetched rumor out there regarding the fate of the ride...after all this is a Paramount Park<soon to be a CF park>,not an SF park so I don't see them simply removing one ride to cover the purchase cost of another one.
When I went to the park in 2002, I re-rode Anaconda several times, but being that nobody else was into it this time, we moved along. I definitely would have liked to ride it again. It would be awesome to have a coaster friend to go to parks with, my poor boyfriend tries, but he isn't really into it. I was surprised by the nember of walk ons that day. The park seemed pretty packed, but like I said, I think that a lot of the guests were enjoying the waterpark, leaving more coasters for me!
I went to Busch Gardens on Monday 6/12. It rained a bit in the morning around 8-9, and remained overcast and threatening all day (and it was even a bit chilly out). I don't think that I waited more than 10 minutes for anything all day. It was really great!
Anaconda is severely underrated, IMO. It LOOKS like it'd be a painful ride, but it's really been suprisingly smooth every time I've ridden.
Cool TR JPJ, just put in spaces between your paragraphs for those of us who like to read these things:)
Ah, sorry, I did let that slip by me.
Personally I believe the rumor about the power being the culprit of FOF. I think if it was moving we would already see track parts being removed and stored either at KD or Carowinds. I think the ride may re-open next season with a new theme if CF wants to go that way or with the same theme and a new power grid to keep it,Volcano and Italian Joke uh sorry Job running.
