Since it had been since August of 1998 since the last time I went to PKD, I was interested to see what had changed. There were four of us this time, me & three non-enthusiasts. We all agreed the first stop would be Hypersonic XLC, since this was sure to have the longest line. The first thing I noticed was that distinctive S&S billow that is inherit in all their drop tower/launch tower rides. Trains were rolling by us at a pretty consistent rate which was good since they’re only running two of four trains. Unfortunately, most of the queue has little shade, so we baked for the hour-an-a-half wait. It was fun to see the expressions on peoples faces before the launch. Extreme anticipation would be how I would describe it. We finally get to ride and it was cool, but man I wish it were about 5 times longer. I wouldn’t recommend anyone travel thousands of miles to ride it. With all the speed the ride has after the launch, they could’ve done so much more. Oh well. And, one of the funny things was that I heard several people calling it Supersonic, including my sister. Next we try to figure out which one of the paths is the entrance to The Hurler. It’s one of three times that we play “guess where the entrance to the ride is” today. The Hurler is only running one train of course until we go to ride. They decide to add the second train right as we’re about to board. This made no sense to me at all. It’s a nice day in August, fairly busy, and you only decide to add a second train at 1:00pm in the afternoon? The Hurler was better than I remembered, but also a little rough. Afterwards since it was really hot we all decided to go to Waterworks, PKD’s large water park. Our big “mistake” was to wait in line for Pipeline Peak. We waited easily an hour to ride one slide called Turbo Twister (I believe that’s what it was called, it’s purple). But from the heights we’re at I can see we made a wise decision with Hypersonic. I see no trains go over almost the whole time we’re in line. Before we rode, I finally see them cycle some empty trains. One lady tells me later that the wait was three hours because of the breakdown. After a few more wet attractions we move onto our next coaster, Shockwave. I like the new paint job. It’s light blue with alternating green and orange rails. What I didn’t like however was the ride itself. It had a few too many jarring transitions. Since the death in 1999, they also added a second seat belt that goes across the upper handlebars. Next we checked out the Nickelodeon Space Surfer. Sitting two to a “wing”, you climb a large tower while swinging around and around. There’s controls for up or down, but it doesn’t do much. Next section was Congo. First stop was Volcano the Blast Coaster. The line’s not bad, so I convince everyone to ride. We waited about an hour. For three of us, this was the first time since adding the extra 8 seats to each train. I noticed they added a second seat belt in the front also since my last ride. Memory can play funny tricks on you, but not with this ride. It was better than I remembered! The first launch comes out of nowhere and it is very powerful. The barrel rolls seemed much faster also with the extra weight. Everyone loved it. Next it was onto Avalanche Bobsled and everyone agrees that this hasn’t lost any of it’s charm. It’s a shame it’s the only Mack bobsled in the states. Continuing on we go and ride Flight of Fear without the OTSR”s. Everyone agreed the lack of headbanging was great, but why can we see all of track? The darkness is what made this ride, and the cool “alien” who spoke to you before the launch is also missing in action. I also don’t like the slowdown after the first three inversions. Anaconda was next and I’m also appreciating the new yellow and orange paint job. There was a split decision on this one. Two of us hate it because of some jarring transitions that make us say “ouch!”, while two people like it. We do ride it twice though because of short lines. Then we went back to The Grove and rode Rebel Yell backwards. They actually stopped us while going up the lift for about a minute. It was freaky to hear the anti-rollbacks kick in while you’re looking down the lift. Rebel Yell was still cool, and also pretty long. Unfortunately it was only running one train in either direction. Lastly, we rode The Grizzly, which has an extremely hard entrance to find, and I’ve been to the park before! Hypersonic has totally made me lose my direction in this area. Luckily my sister spotted the entrance next to an arcade. The Grizzly was still great also, except for the tunnel where I banged my ribs pretty hard against the side of the train. Even with all the lights from Hypersonic, we had a very dark ride. We also rode this twice. We all had a good time, and the crowds were mellow. Till the next big coaster gets added, or more free tickets:)
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Batwing-Bow Down
Busy week for you, huh? Good trip report.
I've always enjoyed PKD's unique assortment of rides. Still, something B&M would fit nicely. :)
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Joshua Wilcox
The following statement is true.
The preceding statement is false.
Ahh yes, getting lost looking for Grizzly. What is it with Virginia parks, and crazy layouts?
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Parks for 2001: SFEG, Lakeside,Funtown USA, Palace Playland, HP,BGW,PKD,Alton Towers.
I have been to PKD many, many times this year and I still pass by the Grizzly entrance sometimes. But what I find even more crazy is that when you exit Grizzly, you have to go through the arcade.
Actually many parks make you exit through arcades or gift shops. Its a thing to get your money.
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Parks for 2001: SFEG, Lakeside,Funtown USA, Palace Playland, HP,BGW,PKD,Alton Towers.
PT300 said:
"Actually many parks make you exit through arcades or gift shops. Its a thing to get your money.."
The worst place for this is IOA. every ride drops you into an appropriately themed gift shop.
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"Looks like you've been missing quite a bit of work lately"
"Well, I wouldn't say I've been MISSING it, Bob."
I was there too. Did you see a kid with Hot Green shorts on? That was me.
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Ricochet: Bouncing to you in 2002, Only at King's Dominion!
I'm glad you enjoyed Kings Dominion. I ended up not going. I totally agree with you about making Hypersonic longer with alllll that speed it has at the end (remember hearing the brakes hitting at the top of the bunny hill?). Hate me for saying this but I kind of enjoy searching for the Grizzly's entrance. Hehe.
I was there the day before and it was the best trip I've ever had there. Lucky for me I've been there enough that I know where everything is without a map.
Same here.About that grizzly item.One sure fire way to find the que is to look for the bubble gum tree.That's the infamous tree next to the grizzly's enterance where every one sticks thier used gum yuck!well I'm headed out to PKD this morning,expect a full report any day now.
