I took a break from my drive from Brooklyn, NY to Pompano Beach, FL at Kings Dominion for a couple of hours. I arrived at 12:30 and left at 4:30.

Kings Dominion is a clean, family oriented park. What else would you expect from Cedar Fair?? I got to ride all of the coasters. All were operating, and I saw no downtime.

Their wood coasters are all rough rides. I thought I would need a chiropractor after I got off of them. Anaconda is just your traditional Arrow looper a la Great American Pain Machine at SFGrAdv. Needed two Excedrin after that one. Shockwave was a bit un-nerving. Getting on that Togo Stand Up was not a comfortable feeling after what happened a few months ago with that Togo derailment. Avalanche...although not a traditional coaster per se, was an interesting ride.

I think Kings Dominion has a lot of potential. My argument with the park is that there are WAY TOO MANY Launched coasters. Volcano was nice....just a bit short. Flight of Fear was good. I can only imagine the headbanging when it had the OTSR's. Italian Job was cute. Hypersonice XLC...well...I wonder if CF will get any buyers. It was intense...after the launch and top hat...big deal!!?!

I think, and I hope you agree, that a B & M Hyper, or Intamin Hyper, would start to bring this park up to par with their coaster collection. I was disappointed in the fact that they had so many launched coasters.

IMO, I wouldn't go back until they brushed up on their coaster collection to satisfy my thrill needs. However, when my daughter is old enough (She is just 1), I would definitely go back for her. I was impressed with the Nickelodeon area, as well as all of the smaller rides.

For families with young children, the park is excellent. For thrill seekers, I think you will like it, but may not be willing to go back just yet.

Sorry you werent satisfied with your visit. KD happens to be my favorite park. I liked it better than BGE,more thrills IMO. I agree that the woodies are rough, all except rebel yell, you cant get any smoother than that. Anaconda is a headbanger-Arrow-. You didnt mention Drop Zone- Were you able to ride that?
I would love to see a B&M hyper or invert go in at KD, that would be an awesome addition.

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Yea, and mostly short launch coasters at that.

I agree, B&M/Intamin Hyper would increase their coaster quality by a lot. Anything by B&M would, and a couple things by Intamin would IMO.

I agree, I went for my second time (first time that I rode everything) in early April, and don't care to go back until their quality thrill coaster count goes up. They had a couple of nice rides, but not enough to make a nearly five hour trip to.

Very well said, that's exactly what I would say about the park.

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I agree. KD is a park with great potential. Hopefully with the CF buyout, they will be able to bring it up to par!

Rebel Yell beat the hell out of me! That ride is NOT smooth. You want a smooth woodie? You gotta check out El Toro. Smooth as steel...on wood!

Didn't get to ride Drop Zone...not a fan of drop rides. My preference for drop rides are the S & S towers.

I am glad that most of you (at least the ones that replied to this thread) have the same feeling as I do regarding Kings Dominion.

Did you ride Hurler or Grizzley, now thats what you call rough. Im sorry but there is nothing rough about Rebel yell at all IMO.

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Depression sets in-its the off season!!

Rebel Yell gave a shaky ride this year. While riding it I knew I loved Racer at KI and did not recall Racer being like Rebel Yell in roughness. I felt even better on Hurler. Grizzly has the insane jerk in the tunnel but is just wild and fun.

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Thrillnetwork Moderator - Rookie Year CHILLERLC1
Philadelphia Phillies - the 2008 World Champions!!!
LZ to SFA?

I agree, I thought Rebel Yell was the smoothest, normal wooden coaster (considering El Toro is prefab. and not normal). Grizzly was rough during and after the tunnel... very rough...

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It really depends greatly on where in the train you ride,at least on Rebel yell it does.For some reason the front of the train on the forward side tends to catch some major air when cresting the hill going into the turn around,riding in the middle of the train doesn't seem to have that effect thus producing a more tolerable ride.

Hurler is just a flat out waste of wood & needs to go but how can you not enjoy the Grizz?Sure it's a little on the "rough" side,but in a good way & I just can't get enough of it.Now I do agree that they've got one too many launchers & a hyper is desperately needed....I can't understand why they never installed one seeing as both BGE & SFA added hypers to their respective lineups & the rides have each proven to be very popular.

I swear if KD adds yet another launcher I'm gonna scream....and not in a good way.Come on CF,give KD something good for once with a lift & a decent ride length already!

I do agree about KD needing a hyper but if they want to steal another launcher to bring it to the park of all launchers like Steel Venom, they can go ahead and unload Dorney Park.

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Thrillnetwork Moderator - Rookie Year CHILLERLC1
Philadelphia Phillies - the 2008 World Champions!!!
LZ to SFA?

Gizzly....VERY Rough.
Hurler...VERY Rough.

To answer everyone...

I rode all of the woodies, and didn't enjoy them. Hard to enjoy these rides that cause you pain after being on woodies like El Toro and Lightning Racer and Dania Beach Hurricane. Maybe I'm just too old!?!

I rode Rebel Yell forward 2nd row. Caught air...just too rough for my taste...similar pain threshold to that of Rolling Thunder at SFGrAdv. Mind you...I work practically up the block from the Coney Island Cyclone, and I find that to be smoother than Rebel Yell and Rolling Thunder.

I hope CF has some grand plans for Kings Dominion.

I do not see how anyone would ever like KD more than BGE. BGE is a world-renown park while KD is just another crappy Cedar Fair park. I would say that they have a nice kids section but other than that the park sucks. They have Top Gun in their commercials and don't have a B&M coaster. One of their photo frames has Alpengeist on it. They are the kings of false advertisement. I would never waste my time going to KD when I could go to BGE or even Carrowinds.

Not only KD does it, a lot of parks use pictures from other parks in their advertisements or merchandise. BGE has a snowglobe with Kumba in it, SFGAdv has a magnet with X, Goliath (SFMM), Deja Vu, and several other rides that are not theirs on it. Carowinds has things that say Kings Dominion on it as well.

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So you rode in car #1 row #2? Like I mentioned earlier you should've tried riding in the middle of the train for a smoother experience....say in car #3,row #1 for example.

Hey hey hey, I have to disagree on the KD vs BGE aspect. I went to BGE back in June, while yes it is a fun park but doesnt have nearly enough thrills, I found myself bored after a few hours,I even enjoyed Carowinds more . I hate to know what the park was like before they got Griffon. They need more coasters and a Drop ride of some sort. While KD is much cheaper than BGE, KD definatley gets my vote. Although I do agree with what someone said about all the launch coasters, I'll scream if they add another launcher too. I would love to see a B&M invert. And something with a good ride length.

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Depression sets in-its the off season!!