King's Dominion & Six Flags America TR [No Pics]

(Saturday 7/18) King's Dominion Ride Count:

Volcano x1
Avalanche x1
Dominator x1
Drop Tower x1
Windseeker x1
Grizzly x2
Hurler x1
Rebel Yell x1
Intimidator 305 x3
Flight of Fear x1


I arrived at the park at about noon due to heavy traffic on the way. I took the general advice of heading straight to Volcano, and the wait was about 2 hours because I arrived so late. The tv's in the queue made the wait a bit less mind-numbing. The station was pretty empty though so we waited for the front. The launches were a lot better than expected, and I loved the part after the second launch where you go inside the Volcano and you can see all of the supports inside. Overall: 8/10 Dispatches: Relatively quick

At this point I knew that If I didn't buy a Fastlane I would get maximum 3 coasters so I went ahead and bought it once I saw I305's line extending way out of the queue all the way to the entrance plaza past the gift shop. I walked right up to the entrance and hopped on the 4th row (I hate how you can't get front row access with the Fast Lane). It was great, but not as great as the last time I rode it. The drop was really lackluster and really stood out as forceless. I blacked out the first turn though. I would ride a few more times later in the day. Overall :8.5/10 Dispatches: Fast

I decided to try out Avalanche next since it looked like a cool concept. It was also my first bobsled coaster, and it was a fun experience. Overall: 6/10 Dispatches: Fairly quick

I headed over to Dominator next. Walked right on and got the second row. It was very smooth, even smoother than the last time I rode it. I got lots of air on the drop after the (really high) MCBR. Overall: 7.5/10 Dispatches: Relatively slow

I was thinking of going on Shockwave for the final time but I saw the line extending way out of the queue and knowing Shockwave's historically slow dispatches I figured it was a 2+ hour wait due to there being no Fast Lane entrance. I skipped since I rode it last year

I headed to Drop Tower after that. The drop had tons of air and it provided a nice view. Dispatches: Very slow

Windseeker was next. I had already been on SFGadv's Skyscreamer so I was a little prepared. It's a very pleasant ride; great view, a nice entrance area, relaxing music, and very comfortable seating. I loved it, not too thrilling but a very nice breather in my day. The metal bar feels much more "secure" than the chain on the Skyscreamers so that takes away from the thrill of it a bit. Dispatches: Extremely slow

I saw Grizzly nearby so I went on (had a little difficulty locating it with the gift shop in the way). It was completely empty, no need for the Fast Lane! The ride ops kept warning people not to touch the fence on the catwalks (and even joked that she would stop the lift if she saw anyone doing it!) but people still did it anyway. It had some great air and lats too. I went on twice because of the non-existant lines. Overall: 6/10 Dispatches: Mediocre

I decided to see if Hurler really was as bad as everyone keeps saying. Short answer: Yes. Long answer: It had some airtime, but the turns were absolutely brutal, especially the first one (which was like illegally rough). #RMCHurler2017 (I actually heard someone who seemed to be a GP mention that they should bring in RMC to upgrade the ride. Maybe an enthusiast? ) Overall: 3/10 Dispatches: Decent

Rebel Yell had some pretty decent airtime, but the dispatch was really off sync so the other side ended up destroying us in the race XD. We made it first back to the station though so technically we won! Overall: 4.5/10 Dispatches: Slow

The lines for all of the other rides were really long so I decided it was time for some more rides on I305. I hopped on the third row just to see if the previous ride was really as stange as the one before and it was. I blacked out again after the first drop, which was again forceless for some reason. Overall 8.5/10

Right after that I would discover the secret of I305. I discovered it's definitely a back seat ride. I hopped on the back car right after, and the cable lift was much more nerve-racking because by the time you exit the station the lift is at full speed. Now the drop: It was 10000x better in the back. With all that speed from the lift and being in the back, you get absolutely DRAGGED over the crest. I got so much airtime I slammed into the OTSR's and I had the most insane blackout on that ride I had ever experienced. (Did I mention it was 90 degrees with the RealFeel at 105 degrees and I had not that much to drink that day?) I could see *nothing but black until the bottom of the first hill. It was definitely the best ride on I305 I've ever gotten and the best ride I've ever been on. It blew my expectations away in all honesty. Overall: 10/10

I had a few minutes left so I decided to try out Flight of Fear. I didn't know much about it at all and didn't expect anything. The launch was pretty intense and the ride was infinitely better than I had expected. The trains though were very cramped. Overall: 7.75/10 Dispatches: Fast

After that it was time to leave. I had an absolute blast at the park, and the Fast Lane was definitely worth it. I loved the park itself and the rides were great. I hope to come back really soon!

*Note. It was so hot that day that our car overheated and wouldn't start. We were lucky enough to find a really nice policeman who helped us jumpstart it!

(Sunday 7/19)Six Flags America Ride Count:

ROAR! : x1
Apocalypse: x1
Wild One: x1
Superman Ride Of Steel: x1

We arrived at the park on the way back from VA for a very quick stop. I decided to go on ROAR! since it's clone at SFDK is being RMC'd so I'd know the layout firsthand.The park was pretty empty so there was no line at all. Aside from the PTC's and the ride ops not allowing you to push down your own lapbar, I saw nothing that was *that* bad about it. It had some speed, some decent airtime, and great lats. Overall: 6.25/10 Dispatches: Slow

After that it was time to experience some history by going on Apocalypse, B&M's first coaster. The trains were really different,but everything else was largely the same. The ride op put my restraint too tight so it was painful on my collerbone. It's not *too rough* with not that much headbanging, and the positive g's aren't enough to really hurt your feet/legs like the newer ones. The corkscrew and S-hill were atrocious though (for B&M's standards at least) Overall: 6.5/10 Dispatches: Very slow

I was taking a liking to wooden coasters so we went on Wild One next. No line at all, and it had some pretty good airtime. The double up/down were a bit forceless though. The lats were crazy, and the unusual seat divider on PTC's were really useful. Overall: 5/10 Dispatches: Very slow

I was running out of time and I knew I had to get my ride on Superman: Ride of Steel, the main reason I came. It was only a station wait but the 15 minute dispatches combined with the 1 train ops made it 45 minutes. Since I was already late, I just rode the row with the shortest wait which was the third row. This ride is severely underrated. The first drop was actually great, the helixes had a great of mix of positives and laterels. The first airtime hill didn't have too much air, but every airtime hill after that delivered ejector air. The straightway didn't detract from the ride at all, but didn't really add much to it. It felt sort of pointless. Overall: 8/10 Dispatches: Ridiculously slow

After that we headed out, stopping by the bridge over the giant flume, getting soaked despite only being on the stairs. This park has a really nice, friendly environment, and though the park was empty I feel that a great, knockout coaster will bring this park back to glory

Great trip report! I always thought that Intimidator 305 would be rather unforceful after they trimmed so much, it's only now that I know (from you and many others) that while it isn't as extreme... It's definitely still intense.

mrcrolly wrote:

Great trip report! I always thought that Intimidator 305 would be rather unforceful after they trimmed so much, it's only now that I know (from you and many others) that while it isn't as extreme... It's definitely still intense.

The airtime hill was originally trimmed, but the drop was only trimmed for a short while before the modified the turn. Now the airtime hill is trimmed again and the drop is not.

Great trip report! I agree S:ROS is really great even though its counterpart at Darien Lake is way better.