Geauga Lake Today Forums - View topic - Kings Dominions new ride - THE place to chat about The Lake and much much more! - Free Message Board Hosting by FreePowerBoards.com

www.intimidator305.com

A giga with OTSR's....sucks!
_________________
Katie

Quote:

Kings Dominion to Introduce $25 Million Steel Giga-Coaster In 2010
Intimidator 305 will be the Biggest, Baddest and Meanest on the East Coast

Doswell, VA. (Aug. 20, 2009) – The most exciting ride in Kings Dominion’s 35-year history will
debut in the spring of 2010, as the amusement park introduces a mammoth 5,100-foot long steel
Giga-coaster. Intimidator 305 takes it name from one of stock car racing’s most beloved and
tenacious drivers, Dale Earnhardt, “the Intimidator™” along with the height of the coaster’s lift hill,
305 feet.

Intimidator 305, only the second Giga-coaster ever built in North America, will be the tallest and
fastest roller coaster of its type on the East Coast. The lift hill will stand a towering 305 feet at its
highest peak; descend 300 feet at an 85 degree-angle and thunder along the track at speeds in
excess of 90 miles per hour during its three minute race to the finish. The trains, fashioned after
Dale Earnhardt’s signature black car, will roar through six airtime humps plus three high-speed
turns and the experience will have guests screaming for another lap around the track.

“Intimidator 305 will break records as the single largest capital investment in the history Kings
Dominion,” said Pat Jones, Kings Dominion’s vice president and general manager. “The numbers
speak for themselves, at a cost of $25 million, a lift hill and first drop close to the height of the
park’s landmark Eiffel Tower; you’ll have to see it to believe it.” Intimidator 305 will be located in
the park’s Congo section and becomes Kings Dominion’s 15th
World-class roller coaster.

Dale Earnhardt, Inc. will partner with Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, owners of Kings
Dominion, to bring the massive coaster to life. “We’re excited to see this new roller coaster
celebrate the speed and intensity of the legendary career of Dale Earnhardt,” said Jeff Steiner,
executive vice president and general manager of Dale Earnhardt, Inc. “there are millions of fans
that still honor their racing hero and this is a very real way for them to connect with the spirit and
passion of the Intimidator™.”

Guests will have the opportunity to see the ride being built from the ground up during the
remainder of the park’s 2009 season, as well as follow its progress by watching the online
webcam, set up to overlook the entire work site. Those who cannot wait until 2010 may take a
virtual ride on Intimidator 305, access exclusive updates, features, virtual renderings, ride
statistics, and more at www.intimidator305.com.

Intamin AG of Wollerau, Switzerland, a recognized industry leader in roller coaster development,
designed Intimidator 305. The ride is scheduled to open in the spring of 2010.

Kings Dominion is owned and operated by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, a publicly traded
partnership that is listed for trading on The New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “FUN.” In
addition to Kings Dominion, Cedar Fair owns and operates ten other amusement parks, six
waterparks, one indoor waterpark resort, and five hotels. Cedar Fair also operates the Gilroy
Gardens Family Theme Park in Gilroy, Calif. under a management contract. Cedar Fair specializes in the removal of all traces of history.

http://www.intimidator305.com/

Can't say I'm too impressed. What kills it for me is the over-the-shoulder restraints. They hurt on Maverick and Storm Runner, and this has a high-speed s-section, so it might even hurt more.

EDIT: Beat to the punch. Fee free to delete this.

Ray says something about how horrible Kings Dominion is in 5...4...3...2...

Smile

- Jeff
_________________
Kings Dominion: Really the best amusement park in Virginia.

That park blows! Wink

The OTSR's are a head scratcher. I really don't understand that particular feature. It doesn't invert... so why do we need OTSR's?

Regardless, the ride does look interesting despite the lame NASCAR theme and I'm sure the rubes in Virginia will flock to it in droves.

I wish I could see the reaction of the guy I rode Anaconda with back in June. He wondered what all the construction was and I told him it was going to be a 300-foot tall roller coaster. He laughed and said "300 feet? That's as tall as Drop Zone. They ain't buildin' no 300 foot roller coaster. You're crazy!" Who's crazy now, slapnuts? Smile

_________________
http://rayp.smugmug.com

On Cue Ray! Nice!

I had just read something regarding intamin's newfound terror of lap-bars on megas and gigas, saying that following fatal accidents on SFNE's Superman, and Darien Lake's RoS, they were including OTS restraints on ALL new coastersm mega,giga, or strata. (which explains Kingda Ka's OTS restraints)

Did you tell your car mate that CP has a 310' tall coaster? He'd have peed himself.

I feel that the layout has a slight lack of elements... my knock on SFA's Superman. Too much riding around... at least MF has the overbanks, the pretzel thing on the island... Seems pretty low and level. Even the big cammel back is stretched so you won't get the air you get on MF.

I'm sure it will make me smile... but with the OTS, plus a fairly circular layout... hmmm.
Maybe it is to make it feel more like nascar? Really fast in a circle...

I'm just surprised the Earnhardt family allowed CF to use earnhardt's nickname for the coaster. Looks like Teresa needs some extra money. To me, and yes I'm a BIG Dale Earnhardt fan, they could have just called it 'Intimidator' instead of added the 305 on the end of it.

The OTSR do suck, especially on the quick transitions. Love the color scheme of the cars to match Dale's black #3.

They'll get a lot of traffic when NASCAR comes to town for the spring and fall Richmond race, but BGW is still a BETTER park.
_________________
"What we do in life, echoes in eternity."

The "305" is just for the web site. The ride itself is simply "the intimidator". It is 305' tall.

^That's good to know. I was thinking that it could be just for the web site, but then with CFs way of naming coasters, you never know.
_________________
"What we do in life, echoes in eternity."

I think there is at least some theme tie in, w/ Chevy's popular 305 V8 from years gone by...

I always hated Magnum XL-200 name. Isn't Magnum good enough? Jeez.
It's amazing we didn't get Top Thrill Dragster XLR8-120-410
Ich.
Hopefully they won't start re-using names all the time... wait... Thunderhawk...

Just what the world needs - another McDonald's coaster. Come on, CF, it's bad enough you come up with some of the lamest names for the Paramount rides but there are more colors than this to choose from. Blue track and yellow supports I could deal with but I am soooo sick of red coasters.

I have never, and I mean NEVER, been so disappointed in a ride announcement in my life. I had to scratch my head as to why they have to have OTSR's. Yes the two S:RoS's had accidents but there has to be a better way of restraining riders on a non-inverting coaster. Have they ever thought of creating their own version of the B&M clamshell restraint? Those are freakin' awesome restraints.

While it's interesting to have the world's first giga twister (okay CF I know you are going to throw that into your promos next year) but my first look at the layout and it immediately reminded me of Intamin's Mega Lite coasters. Big drop, low to the ground turn. It's almost as if the coaster is a supersized clone of Kawasemi at Tobu Zoo in Japan and Piraten in Europe. Look those up on RCDB to see the similarities.

I'm also very disappointed in that it's all low to the ground. One big freakin' drop and no other big hills in the mix? At least MF has large overbanked turns and a couple of hills crossing Millennium Island. Those turns are going to be brutal with OTSR's at that speed.

I am not surprised that they didn't make this bigger than MF. It would be almost sacrilegious to the fanboys of the flagship if it would have been taller. The people of the East Coast will eat this ride up but as for me it does not make me want to go to Doswell.
_________________
On September 21, 2007, a historic 119-year old amusement park had been secretly murdered. Never forget it.

Gunkey Monkey wrote:

Have they ever thought of creating their own version of the B&M clamshell restraint? Those are freakin' awesome restraints.

Best restraints I have ever experienced. No seat belts either. Those B&M Hyper seats are pretty freakin' comfy! Smile

Quote:

I am not surprised that they didn't make this bigger than MF. It would be almost sacrilegious to the fanboys of the flagship if it would have been taller.

That's exactly what I thought. God forbid they upstage themselves...

And I still don't get the 3 minute ride time. They must be counting time sitting in the brake run and loading in the station as this is a shorter ride than MF and that's only a 90 second ride.
_________________
http://rayp.smugmug.com

There are no OTSR's. It clearly says in the media kit that its a "open design with overhead lap-bars (no over the shoulder harnesses)"
_________________
Cedar Point: The BEST amusement park on the planet for 12 years in a row!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dm1jeYY0yEo

I too am over all of Cedar Fair coasters being red and yellow..they must have bought paint in bulk quantities!

I think this coaster could be a lot of fun. The lift structure is INSANELY minimal, the first drop will be great, the second hill looks to be about 150'+ tall and lots of low to the ground turns which will make you feel the speed definitely!

As for everyone's comments about the restraints: you are not taking into consideration that the T lap bars have failed in other instances outside of the USA. I can think of the death in England on the hyroflume and if my recollection is correct the Aquatrax death in Asia was in a small part related to the T bar. Add to these the 2 deaths and one passenger being injured from ejection in the USA and I am pretty sure we will no longer see the T bar used on coasters in the USA. With this steep of a drop, high speed and numerous ejector air speed bumps it only makes sense for the OTSR to ensure a safely secured rider....as much as we enthusiasts dislike them.

The one blessing about Cedar Point that has allowed the safe operation of TTD and MF with only T bars is the average ride operator age is 18+ with all the college students working in Park Ops. I hate to say it but age is a factor in ensuring a safe operation; Cedar Point ride operators by far are more attentive than any other seasonal amusement park that I know of.

^^They are the same restraints as Maverick's. If I have to pull it down over my head it's an OTSR no matter what they call it.
_________________
On September 21, 2007, a historic 119-year old amusement park had been secretly murdered. Never forget it.

AmusementFan123 wrote:

There are no OTSR's. It clearly says in the media kit that its a "open design with overhead lap-bars (no over the shoulder harnesses)"

The kid is clueless. If you even bother to look at the ride animation videos or the pics they have up, the restraints are just like the ones on Storm Runner, Kingda Ka, and Maverick. Now, if they take a page out of Pilgrims Plunge overhead design, those were nice.
_________________
"What we do in life, echoes in eternity."

Page generation time: 0.2636s (PHP: 100% - SQL: 0%) - SQL queries: 21 - - Debug on

Park Maps . Rides & Attractions . Links . Parkitechure . Park Views . Park History