Kings Dominion (KD) Discussion Thread

Wait a minute. Did you really mean 47 times?

... I rode I305 47 times in a single day.

I'd be dead. I highly doubt my body could handle that!

Wait a minute. Did you really mean 47 times?

Yup, 47! I guess you could say I quite enjoy I305. The Day of that visit in 2017 I only rode Volcano a few times, Dominator a few times, Flight of Fear, Grizzly, and the rest of the day was spent riding I305. I told myself that was going to be my only KD visit for 2017 so I better get these laps in!

This makes me so sad to hear!!! When I rode Dominator it BLEW me away!! It was such an amazing ride!!

Hey, good to know there are other Dominator fans out there! I think it might actually be my favorite ride there, and that's especially impressive in a park that contains I305 and Volcano. Hard for me to believe some folks have been saying it's rough. When I last rode it a couple years back, I couldn't say enough good things about it; velvet smooth, the huge loop, the overbanked turns, the pops of airtime on the second half of the ride, the fact that the corkscrews and cobra roll don't send my head banging like a superball between the OTSR's, and I also really dug the low, high-speed banked turn after the loop. Made me wish more B&M loopers had them.

Yup, 47! I guess you could say I quite enjoy I305. The Day of that visit in 2017 I only rode Volcano a few times, Dominator a few times, Flight of Fear, Grizzly, and the rest of the day was spent riding I305. I told myself that was going to be my only KD visit for 2017 so I better get these laps in!

Holy hell, dude. Are you... human!? That's legit impressive and has gotta be some kind of record. I've only managed 9 spins on I305 in one day (might have to try and break that if/when I make it down there this coming Saturday), and my record for any coaster is 14 on Fury 325. I sincerely hope your planning to donate your body to science after you die... assuming you actually CAN die at all. Wow...

Oh, one other question for you KD frequenters, whenever I visit, I seem to have a knack for picking the worst places to eat, apparently, as I don't recall ever having a good dining experience there. What are the best places to grab grub at the park?

Yup, 47! I guess you could say I quite enjoy I305. The Day of that visit in 2017 I only rode Volcano a few times, Dominator a few times, Flight of Fear, Grizzly, and the rest of the day was spent riding I305. I told myself that was going to be my only KD visit for 2017 so I better get these laps in!

Holy hell, dude. Are you... human!? That's legit impressive and has gotta be some kind of record. I've only managed 9 spins on I305 in one day (might have to try and break that if/when I make it down there this coming Saturday), and my record for any coaster is 14 on Fury 325. I sincerely hope your planning to donate your body to science after you die... assuming you actually CAN die at all. Wow...

Thanks! as far as rides straight in a row. I've pulled 28 in a row on Ravine Flyer II and 34 in a row on Raptor in 2014 (very slow day for both parks) When I visit parks farther away like KD that's a 7.5 hour drive for me, I always try to get the most out of my trip, for me that's getting in as many rides as I can. I have a handful of friends who don't like going on coaster trips with me because I prefer to basically non-stop ride all day with a quick break for food midday.

^Yeah one time I went to Dollywood with some friends and they couldn't believe how much I wanted to keep riding Thunderhead. I wanted to ride Wild Eagle a few more times but my friend did not want to ride it more than the 3 times we got on it because it was "giving him a headache" it was Wild Eagle!

Yup, 47! I guess you could say I quite enjoy I305. The Day of that visit in 2017 I only rode Volcano a few times, Dominator a few times, Flight of Fear, Grizzly, and the rest of the day was spent riding I305. I told myself that was going to be my only KD visit for 2017 so I better get these laps in!

Holy hell, dude. Are you... human!? That's legit impressive and has gotta be some kind of record. I've only managed 9 spins on I305 in one day (might have to try and break that if/when I make it down there this coming Saturday), and my record for any coaster is 14 on Fury 325. I sincerely hope your planning to donate your body to science after you die... assuming you actually CAN die at all. Wow...

 

Thanks! as far as rides straight in a row. I've pulled 28 in a row on Ravine Flyer II and 34 in a row on Raptor in 2014 (very slow day for both parks) When I visit parks farther away like KD that's a 7.5 hour drive for me, I always try to get the most out of my trip, for me that's getting in as many rides as I can. I have a handful of friends who don't like going on coaster trips with me because I prefer to basically non-stop ride all day with a quick break for food midday.

You're doing it right lol.

Ahhhh.... To be mid twenties again.

Ahhhh.... To be mid twenties again.

the post/av on this one though.

Oh, one other question for you KD frequenters, whenever I visit, I seem to have a knack for picking the worst places to eat, apparently, as I don't recall ever having a good dining experience there. What are the best places to grab grub at the park?

Unfortunately, this is one of the few areas where KD could probably step up its game a bit.

Ask anyone if they have tried the new gourmet mac and cheese place as that sounded interesting. If no one has, why not try it out and give us a report?

We have had the pizza at Victoria Gardens and the one on International Street - if you get it fresh, it's not that bad. Plus they both have beer, which is always a bonus.

Oh, one other question for you KD frequenters, whenever I visit, I seem to have a knack for picking the worst places to eat, apparently, as I don't recall ever having a good dining experience there. What are the best places to grab grub at the park?

The Mac Bowl and Chic-Fil-a restaurants are good. But yeah I agree they could step it up. I always wanted to see them add a NASCAR cafe in between anaconda and I305.

Whatever you do don’t ever get a cheeseburger at a Cedar Fair Park. I have struck out every time I tried.

The Mac Bowl was pretty good. I've had it once so far. You get to choose between white and orange (cheddar?) cheese, and then you can add unlimited toppings - there's at least 15 toppings or so. I think I got white cheese mac and cheese, bacon, spinach and buffalo sauce.

The meals at Outer Hanks are new this year. So far I've had the crab cake sliders, which I enjoyed. There wasn't too much crab meat, but I wasn't expecting a lot either.

At the two burger places, Hungry Hippo and Jukebox Diner, I was super impressed at how fresh all the burger toppings were. The burgers were meh though; they reminded me of something a high school cafeteria would serve.

At the very front of the park, Border Burrito is good for a decent burrito or burrito bowl.

Finally, yes, I intend to get my money's worth out of my dining plan this season.

I enjoyed the pot roast at the place behind delirium

Ahhhh.... To be mid twenties again.

THIS!!!

Source: am late twenties.

Ask anyone if they have tried the new gourmet mac and cheese place as that sounded interesting. If no one has, why not try it out and give us a report?

I tried it last Thursday. They start by giving you a huge base of mac and cheese for the price. It would have been better if the base was a little cheesier. I added grilled chicken, bacon bites, deep fried shoestring onions and jack cheese. I really liked my concoction but wish I cold have added more of the base cheese versus a second cheese. In the end I could only eat half of the macaroni because the portion was too big.

I'm sorry I can't remember all the possible items you could add besides the pulled pork and plenty of veggies. You could also top it with ranch, buffalo or BBQ sauces, but I don't like mixing sauces.

The big eatery at KD is and always has been Country Kitchen and any discussion of their offerings is incomplete without it. I had the roast chicken once last year at lunchtime when it's fresh and it was amazing. Later in the day it may be a bit dry. However this year they have omitted chicken tenders, which are a silly choice when you have real fried chicken but sometimes were fresher, but maybe without them they'll get more turnover on the other chicken. Pulled pork has also been discontinued in favor of the pot roast. Except for the topping at the Mac Bowl, Wayside Grill is now the barbeque place. I hear it's good this year, it was last year but I'd rather have mashed potatoes and the option of air conditioning at CK.

Panda Express is also good.

Thanks again, everybody. The reason I asked was because I think I ate at Sharky's once and paid nearly $20 for the most pathetic chicken "strips" meal I ever ate in my life. When I last visited, I think I even left the park several times to go eat at a nearby truck stop and Fuddrucker's because the park food was that damn bad.

Once I grab my platinum pass this year, I'm hoping to see if they, along with Cedar Point and others have stepped up their game in the food department, because places like Busch Gardens were blowing them out of the water.

Ask anyone if they have tried the new gourmet mac and cheese place as that sounded interesting. If no one has, why not try it out and give us a report?

 

I tried it last Thursday. They start by giving you a huge base of mac and cheese for the price. It would have been better if the base was a little cheesier. I added grilled chicken, bacon bites, deep fried shoestring onions and jack cheese. I really liked my concoction but wish I cold have added more of the base cheese versus a second cheese. In the end I could only eat half of the macaroni because the portion was too big.

 

I'm sorry I can't remember all the possible items you could add besides the pulled pork and plenty of veggies. You could also top it with ranch, buffalo or BBQ sauces, but I don't like mixing sauces.

Thanks to Larry and others for their reports on the mac and cheese bowls - definitely something that I plan to try the next time we go!

So there is unconfirmed info from a few different people on reddit that says Twisted Timbers has been running much faster than expected causing the sensors on the break run to stop the train, creating much of the down time the ride has been having. Supposedly, the park tried using a different wheel combination which caused the train to valley that one morning a few weeks ago.

I have heard about it running faster than expected for a little while now, but this is the first time I have seen someone mentioning it being an issue. Can anyone verify the accuracy of any of this?

I spent a couple hours in the park this past weekend. Just wanted to give everyone an update on Twisted Timbers. I rode it on the opening Saturday when it was 40ish degrees out. I was very impressed and didn't really feel like the ride was "sluggish" when I rode it then. Saturday it was in the high 70s/low 80s and TT was delayed in opening. I wasn't sure that I was going to get a chance to ride it before I had to leave at noon but they started testing it around 11. After a few runs they opened the ride and we were on in the first 10 or so trains.

I don't know if it will be the norm going forward, but they have actually slowed the lift down at the top to slow down the train. It was just barely creeping over the apex. That being said, the first half of the layout felt just as fast as it did opening weekend. However, the second half... Mother of Pearl this thing was absolutely hauling through every element after the cutback. Even knowing the layout I was caught off guard by the quick succession of the elements. This thing is nuts, even more so than I originally thought!

I think they're still having issues with the second row. I think it was blocked off. I rode in the back so I didn't get a great look. They have installed the screens that show the restraints along the train and a dispatch timer. Hopefully that will help the crew.

Also, Rebel Yell's retracking is glass smooth and I'm still wondering if the back row on Volcano is ever going to carry riders again.

One more thing of note. If you are arriving for early entry, the only way to access the rides is by going straight by the Eiffel Tower. You cannot access Twisted Timbers via Old Virginia even though they let you go back that way. Just word to the wise...

Yeah, I went Saturday as well. Twisted Timbers was down for several large chunks of the day, it seemed like. I was also one of the first in line and was there when some woman passed out in line and laid on the ground for a good 15 minutes with her eyes twitching. Scary stuff, but I digress.

TT was my first RMC, and I have to say... damn. That ride is good. Really, REALLY good. Glass smooth, great airtime, lots of fun and unique elements, and it kept up the frantic pace all the way to the brake run. Think it might be my new favorite in the park. Since the park's app wasn't working properly and because the coaster itself is, for the most part, shrouded by trees and other rides, it doesn't attract enormous crowds when it reopens, so I managed to squeeze four rides in the day.

Also yeah, during the latter half of the day, rows 2, 3, and 4 were closed off on one of the trains. Not sure what the deal was there.

As far as food goes, the Mac Bowl was pretty solid (bacon, popcorn chicken, and buffalo sauce FTW) though I agree with one of the earlier posters that more of the base cheese would be a huge improvement.

I was pretty disappointed with the park's other offerings, though. The only place I could find a milkshake was at the Juke Box Diner, and I later spent an age waiting for a lukewarm brisket sandwich meal that hardly had any brisket on it at all. That, plus a bottle of water came out to nearly $20, even with the Platinum Pass discount. I was borderline FURIOUS. I know that kind of pricing coupled with mediocre food isn't limited to Cedar Fair, but they seem to epitomize the whole "we've essentially got you trapped here, so you have no choice but to pay our obscene prices" approach towards their guests.

I'm sure I'll be visiting the park a few more times before the year's up, but I seriously doubt their concessions will see much more money from me. Maybe the burrito place or the Chick-Fil-A, though the latter is typically insanely crowded. Time to pack the cooler and also make trips to the Popeye's and Fuddruckers in Ashland, methinks.

^ Thanks for the update about the mac and cheese bowls.

I will either choose this place or grab a slice of pizza and a beer if we get there this season. We typically eat a big breakfast/brunch before we go into a park, so we usually only get one "meal" at a park per day.

I also went to KD this past weekend. Rode Twisted for my 35th time. Rebel Yell is as running as smooth as a B&M. Only bad part about this weekend is that it was packed. Food was average as normal, pizza is one of the best food items at the park. Staff was very kind and awesome to work with, I usually feel this way, and overall KD (other than Twisted's downtime) is off to a great start this year!!!

Huh... so the pizza's that good, eh? Would this be near the front of the park or the big parlor by the drop tower?

Oh, one other thing I noticed: no southern rock being played around I305 and no fire/eruption sounds at Volcano. Too early in the season maybe?