TR PKD 8-26-02 (First Time)
Associated parks:
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TR PKD 8-26-02
I wasn’t originally going to do a TR for this due to time constraints but I’ve somehow found myself with some free time, so here goes. Kim and I had just finished our trip up to Pennsylvania for a wedding and seeing our families. We had allready hit Knoebels and HersheyPark over the weekend and since Kings Dominion was on our way home down I 95, we figured that one more park wasn’t going to hurt. We arrived in the parking lot right at 10:30 a.m., just as the park was opening. It looked like it had just rained and the parking lot didn’t look very full yet, so things were looking promising. We used our Giant card to get a small discount on our tickets and entered the park.
As we entered we noticed two things that were posted. One was that Hypersonic wasn’t scheduled to open until 1:00 p.m. and secondly that The Avalanche was supposedly closed. The second thing kind of bummed me out as I was hoping to hit all of the park’s coasters that day but things started to look up as we entered the park’s Congo area and Volcano: The Blast Coaster! The wait wasn’t too bad at only 10-15 min, so we were soon on. This would be my second impulse after The Rock N’ Roller Coaster so I knew what to expect on the launch but man, it still took my breath away! I think that the fact that it is an invert adds to the sensation of speed because this thing was just flying. In fact from the moment we first launched, it seemed like I barely had anytime to think before I we being blasted up and out of the volcano top. Very cool. The ride itself was literally a blast with my only complaint being the overhead restraints. They just didn’t seem tight enough, as every time we did an inversion, you really banged around inside of them. That’s a minor complaint though, as we really liked the speed and intensity of this one.
We decided to stick with the impulse theme and headed next door to Flight of Fear, which was a walk on. BTW, what is an Area 51 themed ride doing in the Congo area? Anyway this was another fast and wild ride and I liked the fact that it was very dark so that you really couldn’t see what was coming up next. My only small complaint is once again the restraints. I understand that everyone likes the fact that they made the move to lap bars on this but man, this was a really tight fit. I shouldn’t complain though, as it really helped make this a great ride. Next up was Anaconda, which was another walk on. I guess we should have waited a train and went for the back but instead got right on somewhere in the middle. I really enjoyed the tunnel dive and first set of loops but what happens to this thing in the middle? The mid-course brakes seemed like they almost completely stopped us! Anyway, at least the second set of loops were good with the double corkscrew over the lake being one of my favorite types of elements.
We decided to head back to the middle of the park but first hit The Scooby Doo Ghoster Coaster on the way. I had ridden the one at Carowinds before and this was just about the same ride. This thing really moves for a family coaster though! As we headed up the middle of the park towards Shockwave we noticed that Hypersonic was indeed running and it was only around noon! The line didn’t look that bad, so we decided to save it for our final ride of the day. Shockwave was only about a three train wait but it still took forever. I felt bad for the ops, as this thing just looked like a pain in the butt to check. The restraints looked like they sucked and after getting off the ride, I can attest to the fact that they do! Ugh, what a rough, crappy ride. I don’t think that we’ve ever been as beat up on a ride as this one. Now I know why everyone complains about Togos. I appreciate the fact that this being the first stand up on the East Coast makes it a little historical but the park should just get rid of this thing and replace it with something new.
Next up was The Hurler. Now I’ve also ridden this one at Carowinds and thought that it was all right and this was just about the same, only rougher. We also did another Paramount clone, Ricochet, which gave us the same fun ride we had experienced before. I really the enjoyed the first drop on this but it seems like the hairpins could be a little more intense.
We stayed in the area and went over to The Rebel Yell. We rode in forwards first and were pleased to hear the ride op announce that we would be racing the backwards train. Unfortunately, it wasn’t much of a race as the backwards train pretty much blew us off the track and never looked back. The ride itself was great, especially at the top of the turnaround as I was watching the backwards train turn left (and automatically perceived that we would be going the same way) and then suddenly getting jerked to the right was quite unexpected and cool. We next rode it backwards and enjoyed both a smoother ride and a victory against the forward train. The Grizzly was up next and we had high hopes for this one because of the nice forest location. Unfortunately, this coaster is rough, rough, rough! Hey, I understand that some people like their woodies this way but when the train sounds and feels like it is about to come off of the tracks, I say you can have them. The scenery was nice though.
So it was finally time to queue up for Hypersonic. We expected a long wait but hadn’t realized that they only let a train full of people in at a time. Here we thought that the entire queue was filled up but it wasn’t, which made for a nice, short wait of only 20 min. We got seated in the very back, waited for the light to turn green, and Wow! And I thought I barely had anytime to think on Volcano. This thing blasted us out with such force that all you have time to do is register that your going very fast and then you’re at the top of the hill. The fun part though is going down completely vertical as we were lifted completely out of our seats. Very intense but very short. It was still awesome though and I would have loved to have done another lap. Unfortunately, we still had a 4 ½ hour drive left, so we had to get going. On the way out, we decided to check out The Avalanche just to make sure that it was in fact closed. We hadn’t realized earlier that it was right beside Volcano, otherwise we would have checked earlier. And guess what. It was open. This actually ended up being the sleeper of the day, as we really enjoyed this. You really feel like you’re on a bobsled. This was another one that I would have loved to have done another lap on but maybe next time.
The last thing I wanted to do before we left was buy a Hypersonic shirt. All I wanted was a white, XL shirt with the hypersonic logo on it. Not much of a request until after searching all around the park, we realized that there was only one and it was a XXL. They had all kinds of weird, funky, tie-dyed hypersonic shirts but not a plain, white one. Jeez, you would think they would try to stock more of these things. So after awhile we gave up and I bought a plain Volcano one. The thing that pissed me off was that I could have taken all of that extra time I spent looking for the shirt and used it to get some more laps in. Oh well, we still had a great time. We really enjoyed Kings Dominion. It had a nice, parklike look to it and seemed very clean. Its coaster selection could have been better but the good ones it has are pretty darn good. We’ll be getting season passes to Carowinds next season and look forward to using them here on a return trip next year.
*** This post was edited by Pale Rider on 9/6/2002. ***
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Its not attention deficit. I'm just ignoring you.
Ride of Steel
You know, I even thought that using the word impulse for them didn't sound right, even as I wrote it. I guess because they both use the LIM technology, I got them mixed up. Thanks for clearing that up.
Nice TR!
As for the shirt, they are pretty easy to find near the enterence of the park. I have two Hypersonic Shirts.
One I got last year has the tower on it and give the stats with a large print Hypersonic XLC on it.
The new one they just got this year has a large pic of it, with a train/dragster car. The shirt says 0-80 in 1.8 seconds. Any Questions?! I liked that one alot as well.
Too bad you didn't find yours, while it is easy to find though.
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Drop Oup at PKD in 2003!
OoOoOo...Rolley Coaster!
RCTfan
The shirt you described from last year was the one that I had really wanted but didn't see it. I saw the other one you described but didn't care for it. I guess I just came too late in the season, as all of the plain white ones were sold out except for one that was the wrong size. Oh well, that just gives me an excuse to come back again next year. Oh yeah, and to maybe ride Hypersonic again too ;)
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"I own you!"
"SUCKA!!!!!!!"
-quotes I have been known to exclaim on coasters.
The first one I described, was only available last year, I never saw it this year. I don't know why, its a great shirt!
I'm sure they'll have more of em in soon. Gotta love easy excuses to get back to a park.
Oh mom, they didn't have my shirt in at Cedar Point! =) Wait, didn't go, Darn it! .
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RCTfan said:
The new one they just got this year has a large pic of it, with a train/dragster car. The shirt says 0-80 in 1.8 seconds. Any Questions?! I liked that one alot as well.
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Drop Oup at PKD in 2003!
OoOoOo...Rolley Coaster!
I wanted that shirt when I was there and in every store they had it in every size but mine!
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Top 5 steel: 1)S:UF, 2)S:ROS(SFA), 3)Alpen.BGW) 4)AC(BGW)5)Hypersonic; wood 1)Rampage, 2)Roar SFA, 3)Grizzly PKD, 4)G Cyclone SFOG, 5)Wild One SFA
CCI 1992-2002, 36 rides.
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