My father and I continued a 30+ year tradition of visits to my favorite park, Kings Dominion.
The day got off to a great start with the Platinum Pass renewal process. I went to a regular ticket booth to order a 2010 Pass. The girl asked if it was a renewal. I said, yes, well last year I had one from Dorney (it says Dorney on the card itself). She said that's ok, I need to scan that card. I handed it to her, paid, and asked, "Can I process it today?" She said, I just did.
That was it. She scanned this year's card and it is now valid through the end of the 2010 season. It can't be any easier than that. My father scanned his much cheaper Senior Platinum Pass and we are both set for Intimidator 305 and whatever Dorney does next year.
Anyway, the park wasn't crowded to start at all, which was great since we hadn't planned on staying beyond 6:00. Gates opened at 10:00 am and I went right to my favorite steel roller coaster, Dominator, which I honestly think was running at its best rate since maybe its third season. Smooth and no brakes at the block means plenty of airtime. As much as I'd personally prefer the ride were running at Six Flags Worlds of Adventure, KD is really taking care of it.
We flashed our passes behind the Eiffel Tower, which affords the only season pass perk I use at KD...early access to the main part of the park. Usually, the rides still don't open until the ropes drop at 10:30, but Volcano was running at 10:28 when we got there. I got 2 rides on my second favorite steel roller coaster before moving on. Its a blast...pun intended.
Next up was Flight of Fear, which was a walk-on. Lights were out in the bowl and it was smooth. That's all FOF needs to deliver an awesome ride. From there, I stopped quickly at Backlot Stunt Coaster, which I think is an great "fun" coaster. I swear every time I've ridden it I've been on a train with someone who laughs throughout it (in a good way). This was the case on Saturday. My dad skipped it and when I met him at the exit I must have still been smiling because he said, "you really like that ride, don't you?". Sure do.
I rode Shockwave, the Togo Standup, for the first time in maybe 3 years. I usually only skip it for line purposes, as I actually kind of like it. Still, its far from my favorite ride there and I only did it because it was a walk-on. Not bad. I also snuck on Ricochet, the wild mouse, which I try to do once a year.
Grizzly, my favorite overall roller coaster, was running great. We did it once in front and once in back. The work they did over this past offseason has the grizzly running about as great as ever, and I'm not just saying that as a KD shill. I mean it.
We also did Hurler and Rebel Yell. Hurler was running ok, but Rebel Yell seemed faster than normal. We sat in front of two ACErs (I think there was an event there that day) and they complained about both RY and Grizzly, confirming my belief that ACErs are jerks (generally).
Non coaster rides we took in throughout the day included a trip up the Eiffel Tower, antique cars, swings, carousel (are traditional end-of-day ride) and the Americana. I have to say, I'm so glad KD got this from Geauga Lake. Again, I'd prefer it to be running at Six Flags Worlds of Adventure, but it a great addition to KD.
Overall, it was an awesome day at my favorite park. The park looked great, especially the Halloween decorations, and I'm pretty certain this is the most holiday activities they've ever had at the park. My Dad was pretty certain this would be his last year with a season pass, but the introduction of I-305 has him excited. Its the one ride type he's wanted at KD for years and will mean that we'll make the trip from PA to VA at least a couple of times next year.
On a bit of a sad note, this was my last trip to KD while the park still featured Scooby Doo. I really don't care about the business decisions behind the move and in the end it won't mean anything to my personal enjoyment of the park (unless they remove the cave), but Scooby and friends have been a fixture at the park since it opened and I will miss them. I wanted to buy a Scooby souvenir to remember it all by (they had a 50% off Scooby souvenir sale going on...and Nick stuff, too). I ended up getting a child's t-shirt. It was the one that all the CF parks have, usually with Charlie Brown and Snoopy, with Shaggy and Scooby looking back at the park with the slogan "Oh What A Day". I thought it was a fitting way to say good-bye to Scooby.
Thanks for reading.
Jeff
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Kings Dominion: Really the best amusement park in Virginia. |
