KD/BGW/SFA TR 5/7 and 5/8

[gad198]

Overview:

I'm going to start taking online classes to get a professional certification here within the next few days. The process will take a little less than a year to complete, which will leave me with a lot less time going forward to do park trips. I decided to have one last big impromptu park fling before starting up, and I decided to do Kings Dominion, Busch Gardens Williamsburg, and Six Flags America.

Kings Dominion:

I arrived at the park right around 9 am. The parking lot was just opening, so I got parked and then waited for the gates to open at 9:30. The gates opened, I handed my Platinum Pass to the attendant and…wait for it…the pass was…declined! Instead of the big red X, however, I got a big yellow ?. I personally prefer the or FAIL signs but that's beside the point. The attendant told me that I had to go to Guest Relations.

I headed over to Guest Relations, and while I was waiting I noticed three other people behind me who looked a little agitated, people whom I imagined probably looked like how I was feeling at the time. I asked, "Are you all Platinum Passholders?" Each of the three nodded and showed me a Cedar Point PP. Guest Relations took each of our passes, filled out a sheet and then gave us a General Admission ticket (which, interestingly enough, said Michigan's Adventure on the park heading!). Guest Relations was actually very nice about this, even going as far as indicating they would call the IT department to share this. Still, someone has yet to explain to me why this is currently an issue.

I know that there are Cedar Fair representatives who read these boards so I'm going to take the time to say my piece about this Platinum Pass situation.

**BEGIN RANT**

Dear Cedar Fair:

Platinum Passholders have been very patient towards how you've handled your season pass system. However, the time has come for you to finally bring your season pass systems up to speed technologically and make it easier for the people who spend the most money on their season passes each year to enjoy your parks with a minimum of aggravation. You advertise that a Platinum Pass is valid for admission into each Cedar Fair park. As it stands, the advertisement may as well read this way:

Platinum Pass is valid for admission into each Cedar Fair park. However, we cannot guarantee at the time of your arrival that the Platinum Pass will work at our turnstiles, nor can we guarantee that you will be admitted into the park with said pass even after visiting Guest Relations. Any annoyances this may cause are the sole responsibility of the passholder.

We've given you three years to be able to figure this out. There is simply no reasonable explanation as to why this continues to be problematic. Interestingly enough we believe that this is an issue only at the former Paramount Parks. Of the three Cedar Fair parks I have been denied admittance to in the last year all three have been former Paramount parks (Kings Dominion, Carowinds, and Canada's Wonderland). We'd like to remind that you that our spending is on a discretionary basis only; therefore, your services may not be demanded by many current customers in the future. Our decision to renew Platinum Passes in the future will largely be determined by the experiences we have now so we strongly recommend that you bring the quality of the Platinum Pass experience up to par with the premium dollars being asked for the passes. I believe that you'll find that updating your systems will be a benefit both to you as well as to your Platinum Passholders.

**END RANT**

We quickly learned that the back of the park (I-305, Volcano, etc.) would not open until 10 am. Hum, don't remember seeing that listed anywhere. The rope dropped just shy of 10 and I headed to Volcano as the first ride.

Volcano - the Blast Coaster (two-train wait for the front seat): the first launch is awesome. I couldn't really feel the second launch at all, but the blast out of the mountain was cool. The rolls were OK but redundant IMO. I hadn't seen a POV of this ride beforehand, but I honestly was expecting more out of the ride. It's not bad by any means, but it felt like it lacked a little in the variety of elements department. I wasn't feeling an itch to immediately re-ride which means I can't grade it out higher. Grade: B

Flight of Fear (walk-on to the back row): you know the drill here. This one does the same ridiculous stopping on the MCBR that the one in Ohio does (a fact that would be confirmed by riding Joker's Jinx just 24 hours later). Both the VA and Ohio versions ride about the same, except for some light that escaped into the building of the VA model. I probably like it a little better with the lights off IMO. Grade: B-

Intimidator 305 (one-train wait for the third-to-last row): there really aren't any comparisons to this ride in terms of ride experience. It's way more aggressive than anything else I've ridden and that has its pros and cons;

Pros:

* Awesome first drop. The difference between the drop between the front and back is pronounced, though.

* Really good air on the first airtime hill. I actually thought the air on this hill was better in the back, which was quite a surprise.

* Airtime on the twists. There was more air going through the twists than there was while traversing the two low to the ground airtime hills.

* Small footprint. It's amazing that they fit an almost mile-long coaster into this space. Quite impressive.

Cons:

* I felt more force going through the first turn than speed. I had to keep fighting off the grayouts using the fighter pilot technique, and IMO, that does take away from the enjoyment of this part of the ride.

* The trim KILLS the last portion of the ride. This should be the best airtime hill in existence, but the trim takes away all of the fun. You can feel it in every part of the train and it grabs hard. I disagree with all of those who say the trim is necessary to bleed speed from the last part of the ride; because that last twist transitions quickly but not overly so if you're anticipating it.

* The OTSRs force you to ride defensively. They don't intrude on the ride experience as long as you lean with the transitions, but the quick snaps do force you to ride in a way that minimizes the chances of you getting your neck and shoulders whacked.

I-305 has got a lot going for it, but at the end of the day it just wasn't my cup of tea. I can think of six or seven steels that I'd rather ride immediately off-hand. I did ride six times in all different seats and each seat left me with the same impression, that it's very good but not a top-shelfer. If I can immediately think of at least two things wrong with the ride then it's not a top-5 ride IMO. Grade: A-/B+ depending on the ride

Dominator (one-train wait for the front row): a really cool floorless. It doesn't have a zero-g roll (the only floorless to my knowledge that doesn't) but it feels like it's going much faster around the course due to the two highly banked turnarounds taken in succession. It's very smooth and quite forceful. I still like Kraken and Bizarro at Great Adventure slightly better, but this is still very solid. Grade: B+

Grizzly (walk-on to the second-to-last row): a very fun wooden coaster. I can see where people who rode it when there were more trees surrounding are upset, however. This was my surprise coaster of the trip. The airtime on the first drop in the back is fantastic, and the drops throughout the course are very cool. I'm sure night rides on this before some trees were removed were awesome. Grade: B

Kings Dominion is a really, really nice park. Assuming we could keep Diamondback (in place of I-305) I would take everything else in Kings Dominion's collection over Kings Island's. I also like Kings Dominion's park atmosphere better than KIs. I managed to get on every coaster except the two kiddies, Anaconda (didn't want to mess with the headbanging) and Backlot Stunt Coaster (one train op and too long a line). Once the initial aggravation passed I had a great day here and I'm already making provisions to stop back in the not-too-distant future. If they can make Hurler a great ride then I'll be on the bangwagon all the way, but we can't have everything Park Grade: B+

Busch Gardens Williamsburg:

I left Kings Dominion around 2:30 and arrived at BGW at around 4. I was met at the front gate by what seemed like dozens of school groups. Uh oh. I hadn't waited in a line more than 5 minutes all day and figured that would be coming to an end shortly. The good news is that all of Busch's rides move people pretty well so the longest line I encountered here was 20 minutes. I headed to the right for Europe in the Air.

Europe in the Air (ten minutes): the park's new ride simulator. The pre-flight briefing was cute but never really explained what an air sled is! The part just before take-off was cool (the plane doors closing). The experience itself was quite well done. The ride simulated the movement very nicely, and the transitions were done in a way that was at least semi-believable (going up in the clouds and re-emerging in another destination). It would have been nice to see a little bit more of each destination but that's a minor thing. I never knew Rome had such a beautiful backdrop. It's a cool experience. Grade: B+

Griffon (20 minutes for the last row): for the record I absolutely love the two US dive coasters. They are a little on the short side but they are fun, re-rideable coasters that have the best first drops on any coaster I've ridden to date. I think the best rides on these are had in the back due to the extra time you get on the drops. The only drawback to this one vs. SheiKra is the fact that the splashdown isn't in a very interactive area. Did I mention I love the dive coasters? Grade: A-

Alpengeist (10 minutes for the last row): I caught a break here and bypassed a good 10 minutes of the line by catching an open single seat. This ride is much more powerful than I would have expected. I love a good powerful B&M inverted (Montu, Afterburn, Raptor) so this ride was a nice treat. I like the setting of the ride and the dive under the bridge. The only thing that keeps this from being better than Montu or Afterburn is the comfort level. I can ride Montu and Afterburn all day where I would need a break from Alpengeist after two or three rides because of the intensity and the very slight but still noticeable headbanging. A very pleasant surprise otherwise. Grade: B+

Loch Ness Monster (10 minutes for the third to last row): this was more fun than I thought it would be. The first drop was nice and the transitions weren't nearly as bad as they are on Vortex at KI or GASM at Great Adventure. The helix/tunnel combo in the middle of the ride was a surprise. I loved the setting of the ride and all of the trees around the ride. One of the better Arrow loopers out there. Grade: B-

Apollo's Chariot (15 minutes to the last row): behind I-305 this was the coaster I wanted to ride the most this trip. I loved the setting of the ride, but unfortunately the setting of the ride was much better than the ride itself. In the back it's a better than average ride. The airtime is much better in the back, but it's not as powerful as it is on some of the other B&M hypers out there. The airtime in the front is non-existent. Someone mentioned that this was like riding a giant simulator with fans and I'd agree with that. However, this ride did complete my US B&M hyper collection! I'd rank 'em as follows (including Behemoth):

Diamondback/Intimidator/Goliath(SFOG)/Behemoth/Nitro/Apollo's Chariot/Raging Bull. Grade: B

Busch Gardens is a beautiful park very worthy of the acclaim it's received. I love the way that each of the themed areas blend well from each area to the next. The views from the taller coasters are simply amazing. I am a little disappointed I missed Big Bad Wolf but that didn't detract from my day here at all. I did see Celtic Fyre, which is a fun show and is worth seeing if you're at the park. The park was really smart with how what coasters they put in the park; high capacity coasters which even on busy days will move people through lines quickly. I'll definitely be back later on in the year. Park Grade: A-

Six Flags America:

I arrived here just shy of 10:30 on Saturday morning. I had heard that this park usually wasn't busy but when I noticed only 200 or so people waiting for the park to open I knew I'd have a short line day here. The park is laid out a little weird as some of the paths seem to be random in nature, but I managed to find my way back to Batwing for the first ride of the day.

Batwing (walk-on to the front row): this was my last Vekoma flyer credit that I needed. The ride layout is the exact same as Firehawk. Maybe it was just me or maybe it was the time of day, but it was quite a chore to keep my head up and focused on the track. I've never had any problems doing that on Firehawk, but on Batwing my eyes were really straining by the time the ride was over. Firehawk also runs a little smoother. This is just a one and done coaster for me. Grade: C

Superman – Ride of Steel (walk-on to the front row): I'd imagine this ride will serve as a great preview as to what Bizarro holds up at SFNE. The first drop is OK but you really get some nice speed going into the second hill. Unfortunately, there's only a very small float at the top of that hill. The third hill delivered, however, as there was a very nice pop of air there. This was the ultimate "what if?" ride for me. What if they put two more airtime hills in instead of the long stretches of straight track? What if they took out the second helix and added a twisty hill there instead? The ride as constructed is fun, certainly above average, but this ride could have been a top 5 ride for me with some minor tweaks to the layout. It's probably in my top 15 but, man, this really could have been better. Grade: B

Jokers Jinx (walk-on to the front row): this ride reminded me as to why I hate the Flight of Fear complete stop on the MCBR. This ride is better than both Flight of Fears IMO for that reason. The second half of the ride is just that much better when you fly right through the middle part of the ride with no interruption. Grade: B

Wild One (walk-on to the second to last row): perhaps the best wood coaster of the trip. Good first drop. The out run is OK but the return run is very nice; plenty of air to be had and some unexpected drops. The laterals on the helix at the end were very reminiscent of Legend at Holiday World. The ride tracked very well and was just a fun time on wheels. I find it amazing that this ride is almost 100 years old. Grade: B+

Roar (walk-on to the last row): I actually liked the front much better than the back, which is unusual for me on a wooden coaster. The first drop is very good. The part of the ride which looked like it could be the best was the big airtime hill in the middle, but it actually turned out to be the least exciting. I liked the two quick pops of air just before the end of the ride. A good solid GCI. Grade: B

Six Flags America is a nice mid-sized park that exceeded my expectations. The operations were good for the most part and they have a nice collection of rides. I do worry a bit about their viability long-term, because as I mentioned everything was a walk-on or a one-train wait on a 75 degree Saturday in May. I'm sure it picks up in the summer, but I can't remember visiting a park on a May Saturday and having it be this dead, especially with nice weather. I hope they make it. Grade: B-

[frisbeefan]

It sounds like you had a good time at all three parks with short wait times!

[pkiboy]

Well when i was at Worlds of fun on sunday My pass scaned but KI plat passes did not They really need to get this problem fixed. My friends and I didnt pay 160 bucks to go to GR every time we visit a Different CF park. I will be at Cedar Point this weekand Hopfully my pass Scans it has at the other parks I have been to this year. Glad you had fun.

[DaveStroem]

Gad, have you been in my head again. I completely agree with everything you posted. With the possible exception of Jokers Jinx. I think if your going to give FOF a B-, JJ should get at least 1 full letter grade better.

This was the same parks that we did for our first multi park coaster trip. I felt that SFA is a very under rated park. While it doesn't have a large collection of coasters it does have some very solid ones.

[KI Kevin]

Busch Gardens Williamsburg:

I left Kings Dominion around 2:30 and arrived at BGW at around 4. I was met at the front gate by what seemed like dozens of school groups. Uh oh. I hadn't waited in a line more than 5 minutes all day and figured that would be coming to an end shortly. The good news is that all of Busch's rides move people pretty well so the longest line I encountered here was 20 minutes. I headed to the right for Europe in the Air.

Europe in the Air (ten minutes): the park's new ride simulator. The pre-flight briefing was cute but never really explained what an air sled is! The part just before take-off was cool (the plane doors closing). The experience itself was quite well done. The ride simulated the movement very nicely, and the transitions were done in a way that was at least semi-believable (going up in the clouds and re-emerging in another destination). It would have been nice to see a little bit more of each destination but that's a minor thing. I never knew Rome had such a beautiful backdrop. It's a cool experience. Grade: B+

Griffon (20 minutes for the last row): for the record I absolutely love the two US dive coasters. They are a little on the short side but they are fun, re-rideable coasters that have the best first drops on any coaster I've ridden to date. I think the best rides on these are had in the back due to the extra time you get on the drops. The only drawback to this one vs. SheiKra is the fact that the splashdown isn't in a very interactive area. Did I mention I love the dive coasters? Grade: A-

Alpengeist (10 minutes for the last row): I caught a break here and bypassed a good 10 minutes of the line by catching an open single seat. This ride is much more powerful than I would have expected. I love a good powerful B&M inverted (Montu, Afterburn, Raptor) so this ride was a nice treat. I like the setting of the ride and the dive under the bridge. The only thing that keeps this from being better than Montu or Afterburn is the comfort level. I can ride Montu and Afterburn all day where I would need a break from Alpengeist after two or three rides because of the intensity and the very slight but still noticeable headbanging. A very pleasant surprise otherwise. Grade: B+

Loch Ness Monster (10 minutes for the third to last row): this was more fun than I thought it would be. The first drop was nice and the transitions weren't nearly as bad as they are on Vortex at KI or GASM at Great Adventure. The helix/tunnel combo in the middle of the ride was a surprise. I loved the setting of the ride and all of the trees around the ride. One of the better Arrow loopers out there. Grade: B-

Apollo's Chariot (15 minutes to the last row): behind I-305 this was the coaster I wanted to ride the most this trip. I loved the setting of the ride, but unfortunately the setting of the ride was much better than the ride itself. In the back it's a better than average ride. The airtime is much better in the back, but it's not as powerful as it is on some of the other B&M hypers out there. The airtime in the front is non-existent. Someone mentioned that this was like riding a giant simulator with fans and I'd agree with that. However, this ride did complete my US B&M hyper collection! I'd rank 'em as follows (including Behemoth):

Diamondback/Intimidator/Goliath(SFOG)/Behemoth/Nitro/Apollo's Chariot/Raging Bull. Grade: B

Busch Gardens is a beautiful park very worthy of the acclaim it's received. I love the way that each of the themed areas blend well from each area to the next. The views from the taller coasters are simply amazing. I am a little disappointed I missed Big Bad Wolf but that didn't detract from my day here at all. I did see Celtic Fyre, which is a fun show and is worth seeing if you're at the park. The park was really smart with how what coasters they put in the park; high capacity coasters which even on busy days will move people through lines quickly. I'll definitely be back later on in the year. Park Grade: A-

I LOVE THIS PARK! Griffon is an absolute blast. And IMO Big Bad Wolf is fun but out of their coasters I'd choose it to leave. I agree about Alpie. You really can't ride that twice in a row, you almost get a queesy feeling after riding. It's extremely intense. I also wasn't expecting LNM to be that great but it was the best Arrow Looper I've ridden. By the way, try out the Griffon SRL. I did it every time I rode and never waited more than 5 minutes, while the regular line was upwards of one hour. The real advantage of the SRL on Griffon is that it's much harder to fit an even 10 people into a row than it is 2 or 4, resulting in the SRL moving much quicker. I slightly prefer the front on it to the back because you're hanging there with nothing in front of you except your restraint. However the back is really awesome too cause you get that airtime falling down the drop.

After you add the awesome rides to the spectacular theming, food and atmosphere it really makes for a great experience.

[The Interpreter]

The nice lady at Kings Dominion had explained to me that this would not happen once Kings Island opened for the season. At least Kings Dominion made things right for you and tried hard. I wish I could say the same thing for Carowinds, which not only all but called me a low class tramp and a thief, but also offered no apology and in fact accused me of having already entered the park (at 9 am in the morning).

This is getting old. Really old.