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King's Dominion-My experience

fishman100

Mega Poster
So yesterday was my first time I've been to KD, and it left a very good impression!

The operating hours that day were 10:30-6, but we got there about an hour late. However, the staff at KD extended the hours until 6:30 PM, meaning we only lost about half an hour.

The Park
Once you enter, you can see Dominator looming over the entrance. I'll admit, it was pretty exciting :) I have no idea where you get maps, but somehow we managed to find one randomly :p The layout is nice; it's pretty easy to navigate your way around and not get lost. It's pretty clean, too, and the carnival games/staff make the walk a lot more interesting.

The Rides
Okay, so i can't really say I can give you a detailed encounter of each ride, because we skipped some rides like Intimidator 305 (that line was probably a good 40 minutes! No thank you!) and Volcano (same reason).
Ricochet
We started with Ricochet, which proved to be a reasonable warm-up. That first drop was terrifying! Everything else was good, though. After the ride, we couldn't find our on-ride photo, so we left.
Hurler
Alright, I never liked wooden coasters, and this one is no exception. The first drop actually wasn't as bad as I expected, but when we rounded the corner directly after the drop the coaster started to get REALLY bumpy and shaky, and the hills kinda made me sick. But I'm more of a steel guy, not an airtime guy :p So after riding this, I made sure to stay away from Hurler.
Anaconda
This is a very good coaster, to be brief. Started out smooth, but as I kept on riding it it suddenly started to get really bumpy. After riding it 4 times I exited with a throbbing head and sore legs. It's a really good ride, though-I like the underwater tunnel during the drop and the double corkscrews over the lake. Anaconda is a very good coaster for people new to inversions. It has the classic loop, corkscrews, and the sidewinder, all of which are common on big steel ones (like Scream! or Viper). Places in my top 3 list there ;)
Rebel Yell
After almost puking after exiting Hurler, I made sure not to approach the entrance. Long story short, I didn't ride it. My other friends did, and according to them the drop was very steep and it was very fast. Even more reason not to ride it :p However, Rebel yell placed #2 in their top 3 lists, so maybe next time...
Dominator
It's Dominator. Enough said :p But I was a little scared at first, after not having the best time on Scream! (at Magic Mountain). We were all nervous on the list hill, but the drop felt great and I didn't feel sick! The rest of the coaster was perfect. Not only that, but for some reason the lines weren't too long until the park started to close! We rode this 4 times and this one is my favorite coaster at King's Dominion. Dominator also placed #1 on my friends' lists, too. Great ride :D
Volcano
We didn't have enough time to ride this. Plus, we didn't feel like waiting in a tremendously long line. :p
Backlot Stunt Coaster
Nice coaster for beginners; could also make a fair warm-up. however, the only drawback was the cramped seats. We came out with sore legs. Overall though, a great ride with nice special effects!
Shockwave
For a stand-up coaster, this one wasn't too painful. It seemed like your feet would leave the bottom of the train once you were upside-down, but that wasn't the case at all. And don't worry about bending your knees or dropping out-you won't have an urge to :)
Intimidator 305
Sorry to say, but none of us wanted to go on Intimidator-plus the line snaked out everywhere. When I watched the line from Anaconda's lift hill, the line didn't even seem to be moving.
Flight of Fear
To be honest, I think we completely skipped out on that one; I don't think we knew about it until the park closed.
Grizzly
Too bad it was closed :( I wanted to ride it, despite the number of hills and airtime :p


Well, that just about wraps up my thoughts on King's Dominion; anything else I should add? Any questions?

-fishman100
 

furie

SBOPD
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Not necessarily... A well broken up report with text is just as good. It's not the best report ever, but it was a fine summary of the day and an easy read - thanks Fishman.

It's a shame you missed out Volcano, it's a great coaster and one of a kind. Rebel Yell was a bit sucky, but it's a movie star!!! You didn't really miss out, except FOR THE CREDZ!!! Ahem...

It's a brave choice to go for more rides over the "biggest new thing!", but if it's your first visit to the park, then you probably made the right choice. Personally, I'd rather experience a decent number of old rides (that are new to me) than just two newer rides with massive queues.

I actually really enjoyed Hurler, but I'm in a massive minority. I didn't find it overly rough, I just enjoyed the speed of it and the fact they tried something different. It didn't really work, but it was something I'd not experienced before so it got more love-of_furie than it deserved :)
 

fishman100

Mega Poster
jjjjustin said:
Pictures = Better report. :p

I actually have an on-ride photo of me+friends on Dominator, but I didn't think it would make much of a difference ;)

Once I get back tonight though I'll try to upload it.
 

Ben

CF Legend
that line was probably a good 40 minutes! No thank you!

*stares blankly*

So...

You missed the two best rides because they had a 40 minute queue?

This does not compute.
 

peep

CF Legend
^Haha, yeah I didn't understand that either. However I think Furie sums that up nicely by saying that it's better to ride more older attractions rather than just two of the newest.

Sounds like you had a nice time at the park Mr Fishman.
 

Ben

CF Legend
Yeah, but, the other rides at KD aren't just the newer ones, they're the only GOOD ones...

Well, Dominator <3

But, Volcano's the only other decent thing there...

KD <////3
 

KDGrizzly4Life

Mega Poster
*Takes off fanboi hat*

You missed Volcano and I-305... what a shame. Those are two great coasters. Also, you thought Anaconda was more then decent? I suppose everyone is entitled to their opinions, but man that ride beats the crap out of me LOL
 

ECG

East Coast(er) General
Staff member
Administrator
Well, at least you got in Dominator. :p
No mention of the drop tower. :(
A 40 minute wait for Volcano would be great, but I'm sure it was longer that that if the park was as busy as you say (which I can imagine if it's the school spring break in Virginia like it is here).
I'm surprised that you say that the queue for I305 wasn't moving because it always really clicks along whenever I've been at the park. It usually moves so fast that a 40 minute wait means that it would have to be spilling out of the queue all the way over to the gift shop. A completely full queue usually is less than a 30 minute wait.
Hurler sucks, so it's too bad that the work on Grizzly won't be finished until May & Flight of Fear is another of the park's top coasters.
So you missed out on all but one of the park's best rides, which means that you have to go back to see what great rides the park really has. Just make sure to go early & head sraight to Volcano as soon as the park opens, then go to I305 as soon as you ride Volcano. You'll have both done within 30 minutes & can then take your time to get in the rest.
 

fishman100

Mega Poster
KDGrizzly4Life said:
*Takes off fanboi hat*



You missed Volcano and I-305... what a shame. Those are two great coasters. Also, you thought Anaconda was more then decent? I suppose everyone is entitled to their opinions, but man that ride beats the crap out of me LOL

After the 3rd time it started to bang my head around, and after the 5th time we were done with pounding headaches :p

Ben said:
that line was probably a good 40 minutes! No thank you!

Lol yes. None of us had the patience to wait in line that day! :)

The Drop tower was closed that day; I'm not entirely sure why but me thinks that due to the predicted thunderstorms (which never happened) they closed it down.

And what exactly are they doing to Grizzly?






*stares blankly*



So...



You missed the two best rides because they had a 40 minute queue?



This does not compute.
 
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