Once I was rising up in Virginia within the Eighties, Kings Dominion supplied me a few of my first and most memorable curler coaster experiences -- from Grizzly’s rumbling experience by means of the woods, to Insurgent Yell’s head-to-head duel, to the ahead and backward shuttle loop of the now-defunct King Kobra.
Throughout a latest go to to Kings Dominion, I anticipated the fleeting summer season reminiscences of my once-a-year journeys to my “residence park” to return speeding again to me. However principally I used to be taken by how a lot even the acquainted issues had modified. I remembered Grizzly being extra shrouded in timber, Insurgent Yell being quicker and Anaconda being scarier.
Looking back, I shouldn’t have been stunned at how unfamiliar the park was to me -- each of us are greater than a quarter-century older now. However, like long-lost mates, we grew to become shortly reacquainted, reminisced concerning the previous occasions and made a number of new reminiscences.
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With 14 curler coasters, Kings Dominion ranks simply behind North America’s coaster capitals: California’s Six Flags Magic Mountain (19), Ontario’s Canada’s Wonderland (16) and Ohio’s Cedar Level (16).
Situated simply exterior Richmond, Va., Kings Dominion traces its historical past to 1975, when the park was constructed by Ohio-based Taft Broadcasting, which had opened Kings Island in Ohio in 1972. Kings Dominion grew to become a part of Paramount Parks within the early Nineteen Nineties and was offered to Cedar Truthful in 2006.
Kings Dominion’s eclectic experience assortment ranges from basic picket coasters to one-of-a-kind metal behemoths to state-of-the-art thrill machines.
Earlier than my journey, I used to be excited to climb aboard a variety of uncommon rides, together with the top-billed Intimidator 305, the odd-ball Volcano and the not-long-for-this-world Shockwave. Whereas there have been a number of disappointments (I’m taking a look at you, Flight of Worry), there have been a number of sudden surprises as nicely.
Let’s take a more in-depth have a look at Kings Dominion’s prime 10 curler coasters:
1) Intimidator 305: At 305 toes tall and with speeds reaching 90 mph, Intimidator 305 is among the tallest and quickest coasters on the planet. The $25-million experience constructed by Switzerland-based Intamin is called a giga coaster, a designation for coasters over 300 toes tall. The experience pays tribute to the late NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, identified at The Intimidator, with trains themed to his black No. 3 race automobile. Following the primary season, a high-speed flip was widened to scale back the G-forces skilled on the coaster after riders reported greying or blacking out on the backside of the preliminary 300-foot drop. For the reason that experience’s 2010 debut, Intimidator 305 has remained within the High 25 of Amusement Right this moment’s Golden Ticket Awards for greatest metal coasters. Throughout my go to, I discovered Intimidator 305 to be relentlessly intense. The drop was steep, the turns have been excessive and the twists have been tight.
2) Volcano: The Blast Coaster: The $20-million experience constructed by Intamin in 1998 was the world’s first launched inverted coaster. Following the second of two launches, a vertical part of monitor simulates an eruption with the prepare taking pictures out the highest of the man-made volcano. A singular roll-out factor at 155 toes within the air stays one of many tallest inversions on the planet. For a first-timer like me, Volcano was filled with sudden surprises and near-miss components that left me questioning what’s subsequent.
3) Dominator: The Bolliger & Mabillard floorless coaster options 5 inversions, together with a cobra roll and interlocking corkscrews. The experience’s 135-foot-tall vertical loop stays one of many tallest on the planet. After beginning life in 2000 as Batman: Knight Flight, the coaster was relocated from Geauga Lake following the closure of the Ohio amusement park in 2007. I beloved the dual passes by means of the interlocking corkscrews.
4) Insurgent Yell: The racing picket coaster was designed by famend experience builder John C. Allen and constructed by Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters in 1975. Featured within the 1977 film “Rollercoaster,” the 85-foot-tall experience reaches greater than 50 mph over twin tracks every stretching almost 3,400 toes. Insurgent Yell was named an American Coaster Fanatics Coaster Landmark in 2003. Throughout my latest go to to the park, I discovered Insurgent Yell to be somewhat slower than I remembered from my youth however simply as enjoyable because it was a quarter-century in the past.
5) Grizzly: The picket coaster with the double-figure eight format races for greater than 3,000 toes by means of a wooded forest. Grizzly was constructed by Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters in 1982 with a design based mostly on the defunct Wildcat coaster at Ohio’s Coney Island park. Grizzly was the favored “new” experience once I was a child and nonetheless holds up fairly nicely in any case these years.
6) Woodstock Categorical: The 1974 picket coaster was additionally designed by John C. Allen and constructed by Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters. Woodstock Categorical was the most important shock of my go to, providing quite a lot of hop for somewhat experience. It’s a little bit of a decent match for many adults and somewhat tough on the knees, however the household experience stays the right first coaster for a lot of children visiting the park.
7) Hurler: The bizarre title references the 1992 Paramount movie “Wayne’s World,” whose characters typically used the phrase “hurl.” The experience initially featured a queue that handed by means of Wayne and Garth’s basement hangout. The three,100-foot-long out-and-back picket coaster was constructed by Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters in 1994. An an identical Hurler debuted at Carowinds the identical 12 months. I discovered Hurler to be jaw-rattling within the turns however nonetheless tons of enjoyable for an older picket tornado.
8) Avalanche: Constructed by German-based Mack Rides, Avalanche’s coaster prepare travels inside a trackless chute that mimics the expertise of an alpine bobsled run. The 1988 experience is among the final bobsled coasters nonetheless working on the planet, in accordance with Curler Coaster Database. Such coasters first gained recognition within the Nineteen Thirties however fell out of favor after the Eighties. The enjoyable household experience was full of loads of 90-degree banked turns and swooping S-curves that proved significantly better than anticipated.
9) Backlot Stunt Coaster: With trains designed to seem like sports activities automobiles, the Premier Rides themed coaster options particular results akin to pyrotechnics, water blasts and simulated machine gun fireplace from a hovering helicopter. The triple-launch coaster was briefly themed to the automobile chase scene from “The Italian Job” when the experience debuted in 2006. Related rides have been launched at Canada’s Wonderland and Kings Island the 12 months earlier than. Throughout my go to, the thematic components and particular results of Backlot Stunt Coaster appeared like they may use some TLC.
10) Anaconda: The 1991 Arrow Dynamics looping coaster options an underwater tunnel and 4 inversions, together with a 90-foot-tall sidewinder and a double corkscrew. The 128-foot-tall experience reaches 50 mph over a 2,700-foot-long monitor. The weather over, close to and even beneath the water assist hold the growing older coaster enjoyable for brand spanking new generations of riders.
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