Theme Park Discussion / Kings Dominion Review 2013

Just got back from Kings Dominion yesterday, and having went with a bunch of work friends from Dorney Park, it was a good time to say the least. We were there two days, spending one day entirely on the rides side and the next spending half the day in the waterpark and the other half on rides. The following were observations/opinions of the coasters:


Coasters:

Intimidator 305
Closed, sadly (and from the sound of it, for the rest of the season) I have been on it before and would have liked to ride it about a dozen more times. My friends had never been on it, so I felt bad for them

Volcano:
Best Invert in America, IMO. Such a brilliant coaster, with how they worked it into the existing mountain, easily the most detailed coaster there. Even though this was technically the longest line, it didn't feel that way with how great the ride looks, and speedy loading helped. Rode it twice, both times were excellent

Anaconda
Has to be my favorite "classic" looper, with how it takes place almost entirely over the lake. Very smooth for its age (although my friends chose to ride in the back, and complained of headbanging) but such a good ride, I hope they keep it around for a long time. Even though it's not considered one of the "main" coasters, its still one of the best.

Avalanche
My first visit I remembered this as rough. Funnily enough though, I actually enjoyed it a lot more this year, don't know why in particular. Its a fun and unique ride nonetheless (I believe its the only Mack bobsled in the US) and definitely worth a few rides

Flight of Fear
I was clearly too big for this ride, especially with the extra knee padding and that strange seatbelt, but I crammed myself in there anyway. The building was really hot (I'm assuming the AC wasn't functional) and a lot of the effects were closed off or not working, but still fairly well done, and a fun ride. If only they didn't practically stop the train on the trim, but I can understand why, as I have ridden the one at KI where the trim doesn't affect the speed as much, but the latter half of the ride was incredibly rough

Backlot Stunt Coaster
Fun little ride, restraints were much more comfortable, the effects were working when we were there. Good "family" ride

Dominator
My general opinion of this ride is "meh," at least compared to my home floorless, Hydra. Whereas Hydra is fairly unique and uses the terrain to create an interesting layout, Dominator is practically plunked down in a parking lot, like many other floorless coasters. The first half of the layout was ok, but the back half was really rough, especially the corkscrews and the steep turns. Rode it twice, one time being in the front row, which was fun but not really "thrilling" compared to the awesomeness of Volcano or Anaconda. Also, there were a few other downvotes: loading took forever because there were only two attendatns who opened the individual rows often to let people in and out while stacking the trains on almost every loading cycle, and it broke down twice while we were in line for it. At least compared to my own floorless, it left a lot to be desired.

Shockwave
Last time I was at KD I enjoyed it, but I was also shorter and more normal proportioned back then. Now it was painful due to age and me being a bit too tall to fit in properly (either I was crouching or sitting on the bicycle seat provided) but the general consensus among the group was that it was rough and not worth the long waiting time (those togo lifts are too damn slow, and the awkwardness of the restraints was not helping) not something I wanted to ride more than once

Rebel Yell
What an awesome wooden coaster! absolutely loved the air on it, but unfortunately the one side was closed (likely due to the park not being overly crowded) but quite fun. My friends made the mistake of sitting on wheel seats, and complained that it was very rough, but I though the air was amazing regardless, and it was still so smooth

Hurler
Unless you're looking for the credit, avoid it. Its rough and in need of a reprofiling. The airtime on the straight sections was ok and it was much smoother there, but the turns were absolutely painful. If they were redone, I can imagine it would be a good ride, but definitely don't ride it more than once, and look up what rows are less painful than others.

Grizzly
Without a doubt the roughest experience on a coaster I've ever had was sitting in the front row of this monster. I literally felt like I got mauled by a bear after riding it. There were no smooth sections what so ever, and any airtime that it might have had was ruined by the vicious rattling of the trains. I had the misfortune of having to go on twice, second time wasn't as bad (I sat farther back) but was still very painful and not worth the effort of finding the ride behind all of the Dinosaurs Alive stuff

Other Rides

Drop Tower
Definitely the best drop tower ride I've ever been on, beats the shit out of our two (S&S tower and the last 1st gen Intamin drop ride in America) also worth noting the employees here were EXTREMELY nice, some of the nicest ride ops you will ever meet, and they love scaring the crap out of you with their ride.

Windseeker
First time I've been on one, and I can say I was pretty disappointed. Great view, got to see the old Hypersonic XLC station, but other than that it was pretty tame

The Crypt
Closed the entire time we were there, which is a shame because I wanted to ride it

Eiffel Tower
Great view, good for pictures

General Observations
I love Kings Dominion as a park, its such a nice atmosphere. The park was very clean and well kept, and all of the employees were very nice and extremely helpful (even when my friend lost his wallet, which from working at an amusement park ourselves, we know how rarely such things are recovered successfully)

Campground
We stayed at the campground during our trip. If you're into camping, I would recommend staying there. Its a beautiful and clean campground, very level and shaded, and the office, pool, lodge, and bathroom facilities are very nice. The only downside is the railroad tracks that run right next to it, as they are very busy at night and you can hear the trains, but if you're a heavy sleeper, it shouldn't be a problem.

Overall a very good trip, and I can't wait to go back again

I guess Grizzly was recently greased up when I went, because it was glass smooth and one of my favorites.