Kings Dominion
This
floorless coaster, originally known as Batman:The Knight Flight before being
transplanted from Geauga
Lake, dominates the landscape from the Kings
Dominion parking lot, as it’s the closest ride to the park’s entrance. It was therefore my first and last ride of
the day. When the all clear signal is
given, the floor drops out from the loading platform and the train makes a
right turn out of the station (after a small dip similar to the one on Nitro) before
ascending a 157-foot lift hill. It then
descends 148 feet at a right angle, shoots up into a 135-foot vertical loop, makes
an upward right turn, swoops down and goes up into a cobra roll. The ride features a substantial length of
track (4,120 feet) and a total of 5 inversions, the other two of which are
interlocking corkscrews. It’s very well
laid out and nicely paced, with good airtime and a strong thrill factor.
Although I enjoyed my rides, I found them to be a bit rough in spots and would
advise riders to keep their heads back to avoid an ear boxing. Dominator is as good as if not better than
most coasters of this type. 4 out of 5
stars. For more information about rides
at Kings Dominion, visit www.kingsdominion.com
Kings Dominion
Being
turned upside down in total darkness without any warning is something that has
never particularly appealed to me, which is why I skipped Flight of Fear on my
previous visit to Kings Dominion.
However, on the second visit I decided to give it a go and am glad that
I did. The entire ride takes place inside
an unprepossessing building designed to look like a military fort. Like Volcano the Blast Coaster, Flight of
Fear has separate areas for unloading and loading the train, so that riders on
the loading platform see a completely empty train. Once the train is loaded and cleared for
dispatch, it’s launched from zero to 54 mph almost instantaneously, with no
preamble or period of anticipation.
(This is a linear induction motor launch coaster.) The riders go zooming
off into the darkness with little idea of what awaits them. What awaits them is a pretty wild ride with
four inversions, the first of which is a cobra roll. The other two are a sidewinder and
corkscrew. Inbetween these are multiple
twists and turns. The corkscrew comes up
after the first brake run, following a downward curve. Although there is faint illumination at
times, allowing the riders to see some of the turns, there is no illumination
during the inversions. These take place
in total darkness and I must say that going through a cobra roll in the dark
was a really freaky experience. I
should mention that the restraints consist only of a lap bar and seat belt that
fastens on the far side of the seat but does not go across the rider. Even so, it works. Flight of Fear is a novel and vastly
entertaining coaster. 4 ½ out of 5
stars. For more information about rides
at Kings Dominion, visit www.kingsdominion.com
Kings Dominion
This wooden
duelling coaster features two tracks with red and blue trains although both red
and blue trains run on both tracks. From
the side on which I was riding, the train makes a right turn out of the loading
station and ascends an 85-foot lift hill.
(From the other side, the train presumably makes a left turn out of the
station.) It then drops 81 feet before
going through a series of turns, drops and bunny hills which afford some nice
pops of airtime. As a result I found
myself repeatedly sliding forward in my seat and couldn’t use my feet to brace
myself because there was an open space between my row and the row in front of
me, with nothing to offer resistance.
Duelling coasters are always fun and this one is no different. In my opinion Rebel Yell is not as good a
ride as, for instance, Lightning Racer, but not at all bad. 3 out of 4 stars. For more information about rides at Kings
Dominion, visit www.kingsdominion.com
Kings Dominion
Because
Grizzly is mostly hidden in the woods, I had little or no idea of what to
expect. The only thing I expected was a
ride on an aging wooden coaster and that is what I got. From the loading station, the train turns
left and navigates a switchtrack before ascending an 87-foot lift hill. The lift hill proved to be a precursor of
what was to come. While on the lift
hill, the train struck me as unstable to the point of feeling rickety. After the initial 84-foot drop, the train
underwent a noticeable loss of acceleration upon reaching the first turn. From there it went through a series of drops
and turns. It was a very rough ride,
even from the 3rd row. At
one point the train goes through a tunnel and although this is probably the high point of the ride, I
thought that it was also the roughest part.
This coaster features 3, 150 feet
of track and a figure 8 layout. Grizzly
isn’t a bad ride if you like it rough. 2 ½ out of 5 stars. For more information about rides at Kings
Dominion, visit www.kingsdominion.com The second photograph is courtesy of Coaster
Image, a great site for coaster photographs: www.coasterimage.com
