coasterf42
Posts: 626
Registered: 10/3/2005
Rank: Gold Critic
|
 4/7/2007 1:48:53 AM
I've been a member here for over a year and still haven't posted a TR. Well, here is my first. This is about a week old, and I had it on some other sites, so you may have read it. I was at Kings Dominion for there opening day and overall I think the park is in (fairly) good shape. It'll be interesting to see what CF has done to Water Works especially since the major additions of 07 were in that section.
Well, I just got back from an action packed opening day at KD. (a week ago) Overall it was a very good day, and I only stayed for six hours. My main goal for today was to get my season pass processed, and buy my parking pass. I really needed to get that park processed in case I get the chance to go to another Cedar Fair Park soon.
I'm pretty impressed with the way CF seems to be running things as of right now. The park was a lot cleaner than last year (duh, it's opening day) especially in the bathrooms where they now have a cleaning employee stationed in most bathrooms at all times. The bathrooms were really crap last year. Grizzly is really running well, and that horrible whistling noise is gone. Volcano is running better than it was at the end of last year. Other than that, not much has changed, but there weren't a lot of ride breakdowns, and the staff seemed pretty enthused. They were polite and tried to do things quickly. A few even greated people instead of just yelling, "PLAY MY GAME" and so on. Construction looks pretty much done. Tornado is up, as is Zoom Flume. Zoom Flume looks like it consists of a 90 degree turn followed by two 180 degree turns, and some bumps down the last slope. It looks pretty good. The inter-tube will be huge for this ride (they showed it on the map). I couldn't see Tidal Wave Bay too well, but that could be done too. I did see a bunch of cars parked behind Rebel Yell and a big clearing back there. Everything looks right on schedule for when Water Works opens on May 26. I also saw a trailer back behind Hurler. The landscaping looked nice, with many Bradford pear trees "out" as well as many pansies planted all around the place. They haven't done much to remove the Paramount branding. Still, a lot of merchandise they sell says "Paramounts Kings Dominion" and even one of the games workers said "Today is the first day of the season at Paramounts Kings Dominion." At least the prerecorded ride messages don't say Paramount. Also of note, there seemed to be a lot of "executives" (guys with dress shirts and ties on) walking around the park. Cedar Fair hasn't butchered much themeing, but they haven't added much either. ; ; The billboards and things related to Paramount movies are still around the Eiffel Tower. I just hope that Cedar Fair tries to make the place look a little better somewhere down the road. The park looks great accept for the GROVE. It looks more like a driveway. Also, it would be nice if Cedar Fair would put signs by the section entrances. They can do that much can't they?
Now, for the TR:
Day began at 7 oclock. Warmed up my car at around 8:05, but by the time I cleaned it out and got all my stuff together, it was 8:25. Made good time and got to the parking lot at 9:45. There was a huge line at the entrance, and I went to the ticket booth to "process" my season pass. I already had a temporary Maxx Pass from last year, and all they did was give me a better looking card that had the same stuff on it. Then I bought my parking pass. That was rather painless, and I got in the long line at the entrance.
They weren't letting people anywhere else but International Street for a while, but they finally opened the park up, and to my delight, they opened it up to season pass holders only for a few minutes!! Well, they let me in, and I rushed over to the Congo section to ride Volcano. It was a walkon. The ride was strong, and the mild headbanging that had developed at the end of last year was pretty much gone. After I was done, I ran back in line and got a second lap in. Again, a gr
|
Timberman
Posts: 845
Registered: 9/21/2004
Rank: Gold Critic
|
4/7/2007 10:52:52 PM
Nice trip report, coasterf42. I'm especially glad to hear the Grizz was in good form after its winter hibernation. My melon also bounces all over the place on Hypersonic XLC, but, oh baby, that launch.
|
Cyclonic
Posts: 2636
Registered: 7/19/2002
Rank: Experiment 626
|
4/11/2007 1:53:32 PM
I always seem to bounce my head around on Hypersonic as well. It is a shame, really, as the launch and airtime is spectacular.
I am interested to see that you find Hurler and Rebel Yell to be better then The Griz, as I think that is probably the best coaster in the park, between the airtime, laterals and the roar of that tunnel, I think it far out shines every other ride there.
|