Photo TR: Kings Dominion Dominator Media Day

Stormy skies didn’t stop Kings Dominion’s Dominator Media Day. Despite a rather wet, windy drive up from Williamsburg, the rain let up, making for a fine day for a pretty damn fine ride.

Yes, Dominator! It dominates the front of the park. It makes Scooby-Doo’s Ghoster Coaster tuck its tail between its legs and run. Even Volcano has to assume the position. Dominator is now KD’s dominant ride. Ohio’s loss is Virginia’s gain.

KD’s vice president and general manager, Pat Jones, said in her welcoming remarks that Dominator, the park’s 14th coaster, helps to keep KD on the “cutting edge of our industry,” with a ride that’s “unique to our market.” I’ll go along with that. I think Dominator is just what the park needs—a first-class, smooth B&M floorless ride that’s forceful enough for enthusiasts, yet enjoyable for, well, non-enthusiasts.

Here are the vital statistics:

4,200 feet of track (the world’s longest floorless coaster)

161-foot-tall lift hill

157-foot first drop

A record-breaking, 135-foot vertical loop, followed by four other inversions

A top speed of 65 miles per hour

A ride time of 2 minutes, 6 seconds

Ms. Jones also commented that placing Dominator in the front of the park was “key,” because it puts front-and-center what KD is all about: “Kings Dominion is known for having one of the country’s widest varieties of roller coasters.” That’s true enough, as the park’s offerings range from the launched Volcano: The Blast Coaster all the way to classic wood, as in the Rebel Yell.

"If you can speak (after your ride), we think you're gonna say it's one of the best coasters you've ever ridden," she said.

As for me, I liked Dominator a lot. There’s nice airtime in the back seats (you’re just hurled into the first drop). But I really think this is a front-seat ride--it’s quite cool the way you just fly over the track with nothing underneath. It does “lug” a bit through the loop, but the cobra roll is amazingly smooth. You could bang your ears a bit in the corkscrews, though.

This year is significant for KD for other reasons, too. It’s also the 10th anniversary of Volcano and the 20th anniversary of Avalanche (the only Mack Bobsled coaster in the U.S., I think).

Here’s a look at Dominator Media Day.

Hmm--time to find a better vantage point for photos. More to come.

"Do you feel my wrath now! Pathetic fool! Bwa-ha-ha-ha!"

Prepare for the fangs of the Cobra!"

"Dominator will soon fix that!"

"So, you're still semi-coherent, eh?"

"Behold my Loop of Lunacy! You'll soon be a drooling idiot!"

"Very well, slave! First comes my Plunge of Peril!"

I live for bondage and domination! Me next!

Note the how the camera rig dominates the front row.

Consider yourselves dominated!

Happy riders, ready for domination.

Phew! Confirmation at last! Let's take a closer look, shall we?

Oh, is that it?

It has to be around here somewhere.

Hmm--maybe if I go this way.

OK, but where the heck is Dominator?

"Bah!" says Dominator. "Nature rain! Dominator run!"

Mother Nature seemed intent on dominating Dominator's Media Day.

More from Dominator's Media Day.

Hmm--looks like it speech time. Best head down. More to come.

They put on a second train later that morning.

. . . I don't think it could take that curve very well.

Yeah, my car's nice and all, but . . .

I know I do.

Yes, you'd probably find Dominator's midcourse brake run far more interesting than a 2004 Saturn Ion.

Well, maybe my Saturn would rather look at a cobra roll than you, eh?

Aw, you don't wanna look at my little blue Saturn.

Look! There's my car!

Here's what Dominator would look like to a bird--if the bird had a zoom lens.

Let's head topside and get the real lay of the land.

. . . and here.

You might want to protect your ears here . . .

One great thing about Dominator--there are plenty of excellent vantage points for photos.

"Where did all these trash cans come from, Scoob? Yoiks! Looks like the Ohio Dominator Ghost has followed us to Virginia!"

Aliens, people, and speeches--more from Media Day.

. . . at Dominator. Thanks for reading.

. . .we take a few last looks . . .

But on our way out . . .

Thanks for a great day, Kings Dominion!

. . . Daddy never sleeps at night!"

"Mama's got a squeezebox . . .

Here's where Dominator squeezes your train like an accordion.

There's a nice pop of air here--especially if you're in the back row.

Relax--the net is there for your protection. Not theirs.

Especially if you're sitting in the back.

This loop is pretty forceful.

"Berserker! You will kneel before Dominator!"

Well, let 'em jam. We need more domination!

A local Christian rock band was jamming away, too.

. . . and chocolate fountain.

. . . an ice sculpture . . .

. . . the buffet! Hmm--bit of a line, but it was for a very nice spread, which included . . .

Then they opened the ride for all guests. But first, . . .

We also heard from Ken Moore, the assistant regional representative of the American Coaster Enthusiasts.

Pat Moore, KD's vice president and general manager, welcomes the crowd.

"Relax everyone! They're just the media reps from Rides on the Moon.com. They come in peace!"

Looks like Dominator has attracted alien media!

Thanks for the pics Chuck, Dominator is a sweet addition to KD.

The new paint job looks good, it's a shame they didnt paint the rails though, that overspray looks average.

BTW, I think i'll never be able to ride a floorless now without singing Squeeze Box to myself......

Whys the loop yellow. It looks like it changes colors.

Aww! I forgot about the media day! I was invited, but you know how school is...

Anyway, it actually looks like the loop is rough from when I saw it testing.

Awesome P:TR! I love Dominator (Got a chance to ride it back in 2000 when it was Batman Knight Flight and Geauga Lake was then Six Flags Ohio). Very awesome ride, smooth and its speed is fluent throughout! You had a lot of great photos! I like the Orange better than the tattered yellow!

The reason the painted the loop bright yellow is to initial the tallest loop, and also the loop is very smooth with A LOT of air, this is one of the best B&M's I've ever been on. I rode it 20 times yesterday, and my friend rode it 34. I hope I didn't ruin my the experience, lol.

I thought for sure that media day would be postponed when I woke up to rain in my neck of the woods yesterday morning but it looks like the park did a great job of pulling it off.

Only problem for me is that I've gotta wait about two months before I'll be able to ride it.

Thanks Chuck! I really enjoyed all of the angles of Dominator. It almost looks like they did a Six Flags type landscape under the coaster. Did they use rocks or something under it? Was Dominator built in the old parking lot? Thanks again.

Great photos Chuck! It was great hanging out again.

I have added videos of Dominator in action on my thread as well as a video of the 2nd half from a stand still in the MCBR.

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=43781&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

JEFF

Why is that portion of one turn also painted yellow? ...or is it just cuz of the angle?

Thanks Chuck! I really enjoyed all of the angles of Dominator. It almost looks like they did a Six Flags type landscape under the coaster. Did they use rocks or something under it? Was Dominator built in the old parking lot? Thanks again.

KD is putting in lots of "green" I was told under Dominator. (In fact, that green, mulch-like stuff you can see in some of the pics comes from "hydroseeding.") The landscaping should look pretty nice once it's finished (we've had a lot of rain in Virginia lately, and that slowed down the work).

^^Good to see you and Chris yesterday, Jeff--awesome pics and video in your thread (as usual).

Great TR as usual, Chuck. You've been busy lately with all these media days.

Any PTR with reference to the Who's "Squeeze Box" is alright by me!

It sounds like Dominator rides exactly how it did at Geauga Lake. I loved the first half of it, but those corkscrews at the end were a bit bruttal.

Awesome photos, Chuck! My family and I are looking forward to our visit of your fair city. In fact we leave Friday AM driving from Birmingham, Alabama. It will be my family's first visit to Busch Euroburg and first trip since the park opened in 1975. My son and I are anxiously awaiting our Domination @ KD as well. Thanks for all your recent updates and I dig the Who reference as well!

Thanks for the report. I'm really looking forward to riding Dominator this summer since I wasn't with the group that went to Geauga Lake during the midwest trip.

Nice job, Chuck.

It's actually really great to hear that both relocated beemers survived their transitions pretty well this year. Also, I really like the new sign for Dominator.

Glad to see that my baby is doing great!!

When I heard the rumors of the park closing, so I decided go give the ride a proper going away present: The last weekend that the Geauga Lake was ever open, I rode Dominator over 20 times! I also shouted "Don't sent it to Virginia!!" after every circuit.

I'm gonna miss one of my favorite coasters. Maybe I'll visit it again sometime...

Great pics!

Hopefully next summer I can make the trip down to KD and try out Dominator for myself, since I didn't ride it when I went to Geauga Lake a few years ago.

Thanks for sharing all of the nice photos.

1. It looks like it is missing some supports.

If you look at the 3rd group of pictures posted, in picture number 13. You can see in two spots on the track where I would think supports were once installed, but they did not install them here at KD. Why?

Does anyone know why they are missing, or if there was ever supports put here?

2. Also I like how they kept the old Batman colors on the loop. I guess it is some kind of tribute of where it came from and what it looked like?

3. Also I think they should have change the color purple on the trains to the same shade of blue that is used on the coasters supports.

The color scheme looks great! Fantastic PTR. As a big fan of B&M (obviously) it's nice to see this ride go to a park that will properly market it.

2004 Saturn Ion = fail

2008 Saturn Astra = pass

that is all...

Dominator looks great! In most cases the mismatched colors would look rather half-a$$, but here it kinda works. I've always liked floorlesses, and I'm happy that I now have two within reach!

Thanks for the photos!

Great photo tr! It looks like Cedar Fair has brought along it's rose colored glasses of how big some of the American public is with that new coaster if I ever tried getting onto it at my current weight the seatbelt would be at least 7" away from locking but that's just another excuse for me to lose the weight.

^Actually, the seatbelts are pretty standard for B&M (not just Cedar Fair).