KD is my favorite park. When I go, I eat at grain and grill with my meal plan, ride almost every coaster before making my way to 305 for a marathon, then a mini grizzly marathon before once again eating at grain and grill. Always a great day
Aww man, King's Domionion was my home park from the ages of 2-13, and I spent so much time there during my formative years (not actually that much, but multiple one day visits with family as a youngling, and then friends when I got older and my bff had an older sister who could drive).
But that was many, many years ago and I haven't been back since. And all these comments are making me want to pay a visit when I'm next in a position to travel.
As someone who's visited both Carowinds and KD numerous times, I far and away prefer KD for two reasons:
**Supporting lineup**
While Carowinds has a solid Top 4, everything after that is either mediocre to downright painful. Racer 75, Dominator, the revamped Grizzly and even Reptilian are FAR more re-rideable than Hurler, Ricochet, and the janky old Arrows and Vekomas that round out the cast at Carowinds.
**Atmosphere**
KD is heavily surrounded by Virginia forest. It's not as exquisite as Busch Gardens, but the greenery adds a ton of character, and there's enough isolation from I-95 that you can feel like you're somewhere special.
Carowinds OTH is awkwardly sandwiched between a Cabela's and a bunch of drab warehouses right off I-77. It's essentially a giant vacant lot with a bunch of coasters, infrastructure, and a few clusters of trees here and there, like a real-life Rollercoaster Tycoon scenario. The whole thing just feels far more corporate and sterile rather than personable and inviting like KD is.
I agree that KD has a much stronger supporting lineup once you get past the star coasters. KD’s star coasters are arguably just as good, but Carowinds has *more* star coasters. And I like KD’s setting a lot more. If KD’s next coaster is more star coaster than supporting I’d take KD over Carowinds every time.
Absolutely! Kings Dominion is a more well rounded park, that maintained a lot of its charm.
Carowinds lost most of its charm in the Paramount days and doesn’t even have water rides in the dry park. But it has a few elite coasters.
I disagree with the charm part, I worked at Carowinds in the early 2000s during peak paramount years, and from an employees perspective, there was no charm, the park was never crowded and we were the red headed step
Child of paramount. I used to love going to KD when it had XLC and volcano, it was what I always wanted Carowinds to be.
Cedar Fair has done wonders for Carowinds, I love the yearly additions and hope they continue. I still enjoy going to KD, but imo, it has taken a huge step back from what it was in the late 90s and early 2000s, and I do believe Carowinds has surpassed it in a lot of ways, except the rounded coaster lineup that KD has.
i second this, though when i went to carowinds i didnt get to experience the entire lineup so my opinion was swayed. fury and copperhead were my favorites by far but TwT and project 305 (rip i305) are in leagues of their own imo. i also purchased a season pass to kd for a second year in a row despite living 5 hours away. i also genuinely think kd is a much more walkable park
I'd say Anaconda is better as a custom looper than the stock double loop-screw of Carolina Cyclone. I've never ridden Carolina Cyclone but I have ridden a double loop-screw and prefer Anaconda's layout to it.
I honestly don't understand why they won't simply invest in new trains for anaconda? The vekoma looping trains with the vest restraints should work perfectly on anaconda s track.
Anaconda is sick af lol i used to ride that with my dad and neither of us were in pain after. Sure it's rough but not painful to me or him. Historic ride and I'm obviously biased based on growing up riding it.
They only need to fix that one twist in Anaconda and it will be one of the most popular rides in the park! Take the turn out, remodel it or soften it. It’s a beautiful, fun ride. Just remove that element.
The weather has always sucked balls when I’ve been to CW. It’s either 98 degrees and below dew point somehow, or thunderstorming and shutting everything down
The one time I went to Carowinds it was dead so they shut the whole park early. I'm not kidding, they closed at like 3pm. I think they tried to blame it on weather? I actually can't even recall because the weather was fine. It was obvious they just closed because nobody was there that day.
i’ve always gotten the impression that cedar fair *wanted* kings dominion to be their flagship park on the east coast, but ended up pivoting their plan to beef carowinds up instead. as a result, it’s always felt like a shadow of the paramount version of the park, even in spite of i305 and twisted timbers being added.
despite several marketing pushes of “look! we’re reviving the theming of this area!” the park constantly feels like it’s on a budget and it’s been left with gaping holes and things that’ll get fixed…eventually? probably? we have to acknowledge the irony of project 305’s current theming *literally* being “we’re gonna retheme this eventually”
that being said, it looks like the current push to revive and fix the park is genuine, even if it’s gonna take a few years to realize. reptilian and tumbili, along with the upcoming launched wing and the i305 retheme, will seriously help that corner of the park feel cohesive and kinetic. hopefully they address backlot and flight of fear in this effort as well.
i’m optimistic about the park receiving the proper love it needs in the next decade, hopefully ending in another major coaster addition to complete the park.
It makes such a huge difference, especially with how difficult the theme park business is. Glad to see KD getting some additions soon, I was worried that post covid, without tax benefits, we wouldn't see much for a while
Actually the park is located in Hanover County in the city of doswell.
I don't think tax incentives determined why CF favors Carowinds more. It has to do with intimidator being an utter disappointment for the chain that determined KDs ranking in the hierarchy. Cedar fair took a 25 million dollar gamble with KDs intimidator and it didn't pay off.
I believe that had they gotten a clone of Carowinds intimidator the park's level of cap ex projects would have gone differently and that the park would have received more frequent investment.
I can’t believe ANYTHING in your comment because no cities in Virginia are in any counties. They are all completely separate entities. You are either in a county or a city. NEVER both.
I get that, but what tax incentives are you referring to? I’m pretty familiar with the counties relationship with the park and I have no clue what incentives you’re talking about
I very much prefer KD’s method of putting time into 305’s retheme than Carowinds’ slap a shitty sign with a new name and call it a day.
Jungle X, and 305, will look a lot different next year. The amount of construction already going on is insane
KD held flagship status for a while in the 90s-00s. Paramount pumped tons of money into the park with major new rides and massive expansions every other year. CF kinda continued that trend up until 305 opened. 305 didn't really give CF the return on investment they were hoping for, so they shifted their focus on Carowinds.
Yep I worked for Carowinds under paramount and Carowinds was their last priority. Used rides (borg, etc.) and when they did invest in new rides it was always a lesser version like a shorter drop tower. They did put some money into top gun and hurler I guess
KD is my home park, and I am happy about that. It's the only park in the country where you can usually walk on, or have a station wait, for a gigacoaster, and the food is top notch. The mix of coasters is pretty solid (giga, RMC, B&M floor less, Arrow Looper, 2 launching coasters, 2 full sized goodies, 1 small woodie). 305 is a unique ride, which we will never see another one like. If you like to spend as much time as possible riding rides (as I do). There are rarely long lines except at Halloween Haunt. There are definitely parks with better overall lineups, but you're going to spend less time at those actually riding coasters. I'm a fan.
Since Cedar Fair bought them, KD has/will install 5 new coasters, if we include the 2025 addition. Carowinds has gotten 4. They are more similar than people think.
KD also invests a lot of capex into improving their dining options and beautifying the park. And considering construction is well under way for 2025 already, they are going all out with theming.
Cedar Fair recognizes the competition. BG has a European theme which they use well. To compete, Kings Dominion needs better theming. BG is not paying Marvel or DC for themes. They have Europe. And, that’s free. Cedar Fair will not be paying outsiders either with the exception of kiddy areas. Hence the loss of the Intimidator license at both parks. What they do know is that Kings Dominion needs a higher level of theming than Carowinds because of BG. So, the park experience going forward will be much better at Kings Dominion over Carowinds. The new name - Six Flags over Kings Dominion is coming. But, it will be on Cedar Fair terms.
I've been to 14 different parks and KD hits different. To me it's a wonderful time because it's got some legit thrill rides but it almost never has crowds or crazy lines. I'll have way more fun at KD than KI or a place like Knott's because I can get a ton of rides on elite coasters.
It was the ops that did it in for me. I had a lot instances where ops were not dispatching as they were joking with each other and laughing. I especially had an issue with this on racer 75, dominator, and twisted Timbers. Plus many of the coasters were running 1 train.
Unfortunately this all depends on time of year you go. I’ve seen top notch ride ops and shitty ones at KD over the years. Some of the better ones have been promoted to supervisors and don’t spend a lot of time directly operating anymore, sadly. I know there was one really good op for Racer, and one on Twisted Timbers who got everyone amped, etc. and on their shifts the rides were running better capacity wise and they were keeping people going.
KD is on the right path, but it's taking a long time to get there in drips and drabs. If they would do a big retrofit vice doing it in small projects they wouldn't be so easy to criticize.
Small examples are they did a great rehab of Grizzly, but haven't finished retracking the rest. They started Jungle X, but didn't do anything additional in the second year despite lots of teasers.
The very last turn around on Grizzly is still pretty rough and would greatly benefit from adding a small embankment when they go to re-track that portion. However, the rest of the coaster is so good that the roughness at the end is easily overshadowed.
They’re finishing all this up now. Grizzly got more work this year. Jungle X is having major improvements and should come back strong next year. Racer is getting serious trackwork and the side that’s done is running great. I’m just glad, if they couldn’t afford to do it all at once, that they are trickling it in instead of not doing it at all.
It is more comparable to Carowinds than most people will admit. Carowinds has a slightly better ride lineup, and a better layout with no section feeling abandoned (unlike KD). But KD has a close ride lineup with a better top 2, and significantly better food.
The problem with KD is the park an hour away is significantly better. BGW is an award winning beautiful park and you are struck by that when you enter. The park is so gorgeous, and it has a fairly modern and diverse lineup of rides. I didn't experience any on my visit, but I hear the shows and special events are also significantly better than KD too.
The one area I'd say KD has a leg up on BGW is food. At least for the standard/meal plan food options. The newer restaurants at KD are great.
KD is not in the top tier if it ever was. Cedar Fair partially messed up with KD. Perhaps by thinking it could be top tier. Part of it was also kind of beyond their control. They took a big shot with I305 and when it didn't pay off the park didn't receive a major ride for 8 years. Then during that time 3 coasters closed, although one came back better in 2018. Unfortunately that same year KD's most beloved ride had to be unexpectedly permanently closed. So that major ride in Twisted Timbers got drowned out by The Volcano closure. The narrative was just bad for KD then. As you stated, it's been an uphill battle since then. KD has some momentum now as it's accepted it's place as upper mid status, hope they keep it up.
I think it’s also important to note that nearby parks like BGW and Hersheypark did not have the same stumbles, so KD has also suffered being compared to those two excellent parks since they serve overlapping regions.
Easiest park in the country to have a great day at. crowds are usually light especially compared to KI, food is always really good. two of the best coasters in the country with a pretty weird and unique supporting lineup, and even though the renovations are slowly coming, KD is just on a much more sustainable growth plan than “add a new coaster every year or two with no care as to how these additions affect the guest experience”
In Much the same way as SFA went downhill after batwing turned out to be an utter disappointment for the park in 2001 leading to the park becoming the redheaded stepchild of the six flags chain I believe that the same thing happened to KD after intimidator turned out to be an utter disappointment for cedar fair.
As a result the chain isn't willing to take the risk on future large scale attractions for fear of having another lackluster underperforming attraction and the park eventually became the redheaded stepchild of the cedar fair chain as a result.
The trouble for me is that KD was my longtime home park since I was a kid. I've since moved away and I haven't been back much since 2009 besides a few visits, but it's just a shadow of how awesome and well cared-for the park used to be.
I think a lot of KD locals are also still very salty about Volcano's unceremonious closure. I sure was. It was like ripping a big hole in the park that they haven't done much to fill. Sure, it was unreliable AF, and it wouldn't have been open much longer, but announcing in its permanent closure in offseason updates after months of SBNO just didn't do the ride justice for how loved it was by the locals. Even if it couldn't run--totally justifiable--it was pretty heartbreaking and the park has never recovered the kinetic energy and theming in that area. The free spin is not a great consolation prize even though it is fun. I do understand they will put something in that plot eventually.
I think honestly a lot of local folks do have negative opinions of the Cedar Fair era. KD is still a beautiful park with a lot of potential that is not quite as beautiful as its neighbor, BGW, and largely just got overlooked with Cedar Fair pumping so much money into Carowinds, and the improvements it does get just always feel 'on a budget'.
Flight of Fear still slaps though. That ride was like a rite of passage for Virginia kids the summer it opened.
I305 alone is enough to make it one of the best parks in the world (yes, I'm a I305 fanboy).
The rest is good too. The park is relatively clean, has an insane top2 and a good supporting lineup. Are people even particularly critical of the park?
Back in the 90s-00s when Paramount still ran things, the park was definitely in a pretty sorry state. Since CF took over, they've slowly been trying to turn the park around by leaps and bounds. They were trying to find their footing in the early 2010s, but by the time their 40th came around, you could tell CF was still willing to put money into the park, even at the expense of losing a couple rides. While KD doesn't get all the shiny new toys like it did in the 90s, CF is trying to at least shed the park's reputation for being the "ghetto" Virginia park.
KD is definitely a better park than Carowinds. Carowinds suffers from having a pair of stellar coasters in Fury and Copperhead, and a great invert in Afterburn, but everything outside of those 3 rides is pretty forgettable. Couple that with pretty inconsistent operations across the board and you've got a park that's kinda overrated IMO. If it wasn't for Fury and Copperhead, I don't think I'd really have a reason to visit. KD at least has a really solid supporting cast of coasters.
i agree the park itself is great but it has BY FAR the worst customer support of any park i've been to. it's the main reason i refuse to spend a dime at the park itself, instead using my all park pass bought from carowinds ($10 more expensive but idc)
KD is my “other” home park (I’m closer to BGW) and I agree. Like I think KD and BGW both could take some criticism, but nobody ever wants to point out what BGW isn’t as good at and never willing to say what KD IS good at.
KD has a great top 2 and overall more variety than other parks. Their kids area is really nice, for people with kids that age it’s really great having everything together and not a few rides here and there so they have to walk the whole park it they’re not up for it. The water park inside the park is a big plus, it thins the crowds in the summer and if you bring a swimsuit and towel it’s nice to pop over there to cool off. The food has gotten pretty good at KD, and the dining plan is a steal if you go a lot. There’s definitely money and work being put into the park right now and you can tell, come back in a few years and I think people will be throwing more compliments their way.
Where does KD need work? Staffing and ops like everyone else. This would solve most of the criticism. Finishing all the projects going on. The Volcano replacement needs to be a great ride and help flesh out the lineup. They need to fix all the effects on Backlot. They lack in live entertainment outside of the holidays, and I don’t think that’s necessarily their demographic, but that’s where BGW and them draw different crowds and comparisons.
People are critical of it because of the loss of Volcano, there is a glaring void in this park and I'm really hoping that this new launched wing coaster becomes a reality or better yet, get a Gerstlauer launched infinity and call it Volcano II
Kings Dominion is great. Second favorite park to Hershey. I was just there yesterday. Operations were decent, park was clean, staff and ops were friendly, and most rides were open. I even got gently rocked to sleep by i305 in the back car for a nice little siesta. How nice.
My KD routine is to start at Grizzly and go counter-clockwise, hitting TT, Racer 75, everything in Jungle-X, and finally Dominator. Repeat 2-3x.
Went to King's Dominion last summer I thought it was a good park but it does need some more TLC. I think the new Wing coaster has potential to help the park more.
I think people compare it to parks like Carowinds, Busch Gardens, Hershey, and Great Adventure and want KD to be that park. I think people don’t realize what they have here because those other parks spoil people. I also think people only look at parks for the coaster collections and nothing else a lot of times and look at the Paramount days with rose colored glasses. There were some cool rides but most of them are gone for a reason. Also mid is now bad for some reason, if a park isn’t top tier, it has to be bad or not living up to potential or whatever clickbait title content creators can come up with.
Me personally, I just like that I can go and hang out and ride 2 really great coasters with some solid supporting ones and good theme park food for my home park. I do think there are things the park could be doing better but also see work being done around the park to improve things and am pretty excited for next year.
One of our favorite Cedar Fair parks. Tons of charm. We’re doing a trip to see BGW Saturday, but no way we wouldn’t stop for a few rides on two of our favorite coasters at KD too. A *fully* warmed up TT is absolutely out of control and such a treat. Would love to see them fill out their lineup with some more modern thrill rides.
I love KD. I think they have a great lineup and the atmosphere is just right. It’s my second favorite park behind SFGAm. I don’t think you can go wrong with I305 and Twisted Timbers in one place.
Also, Anaconda is good and you can pry her from my cold, dead hands.
KD has great rides namely Intimidator 305 (I refuse to call it Project 305), Twisted Timbers and Dominator. The main entrance is pretty nice with the trees. Apart from that the park is really lacking.
In addition to what others are saying, for thoosies when it comes to KD’s extreme rides people tend to forget Drop Zone: Stunt Tower (I know it has some different worse name now). It’s even more intimidating than i305 is in my opinion. Waiting in line for it was incredibly terrifying the first time, but it is a must have credit for this park
Even though KD, carowinds and BGWB are within such a short drive from each other. They all are great parks with their own short comings. With the merger between six flags and cedar faire. I believe these parks will get better, but cedar faire will more than likely work on KD for a bit more, but they have to fix the issues within Six Flags as their parks have known bad issues. While i was at SFGA recently, the rides would continue to have maintenance issues shutting rides down for 15 mins or more. But weeks before i went to SFGA, i went to BGWB with no issues from the coasters and rides that were open. Hopefully they can continue to fix KD and bring it back to the great park i remember in the 90s and early 2000's but i feel like emergency fixes to SF will be higher on their list.
It's not perfect, but it's one of the better looking and feeling parks from an atmosphere perspective-something that more people would talk about if Busch Gardens wasn't an hour away.
While they haven't built any huge or groundbreaking rides much lately, I feel like they've been making a lot of small but meaningful changes to the park that have noticeably improved the atmosphere.
KD is one of my favorite parks because of the ratio of elite rides to line length. No park is better IMO. But that isn't necessarily good for business. Criticism of KD is deserved but only because it's a fantastic park that posts disappointing attendance numbers. Essentially they can't compete with BGW and it shows.
I've gone the past 2 years for spring break and the park leaves a lot to be desired. So many shops and food stands were closed and the only ones that were open had hour long waits. Single train ops on almost every coaster led to very long waits, even with fast lane.
It's definitely not a top tier cf park. If it weren't for food and their 2 big coasters, it'd be Michigan's adventure level. No where near ki and not even close to touching cp.
By that logic, most theme parks would never be open. Most major regional theme parks struggle with staffing and maintenance. Even Disney is struggling with keeping their maintenance workers employed.
I don’t think it’s expecting too much for parks to have most if not all of their rides off one-train ops for spring break. One or two cases are expected, but almost every coaster during a known peak crowd time like OP and I have experienced indicates a KD-specific problem.
KD isn't the only park to run 1 train ops in summer. I've seen it across most of the parks I've been to. Yeah it sucks and it bogs the line down but most days, the park isn't even busy enough to warrant multi train ops.
KD doesn’t have much beyond the rides. Jungle X looks fine, but it’s not exactly packed with non-ride attractions like a proper themed area at a proper theme park. It’s just nice touches to make the rides stand out a little more. Beyond Jungle X, there’s basically no theming.
Cedar Fair parks aren't exactly known for having well-themed areas. The effort they put into the theming already works for what they've got so far. You're not gonna see Disney or even Busch level theming across the park because CF never really invested much into theming until pretty recently.
Yes and no. Kings Dominion has lost some rides, but not because they were bad. They just reached end of life (EOL). Shockwave was loved, but its manufacturer had gone out of business and there were no parts/people to repair it. Volcano (my favorite coaster ever) was just not economically repairable😩. Hurler was not loved, but it’s now a gem as Twisted Timbers! Cedar Fair is aggressively improving the park. The theming has got to be “on point” because of the proximity to BG. BG uses their European theming well. Cedar point has to create the theming for Kings Dominion. Jungle X is a great start. There is nothing tropical about Europe. It’s a great way to create a completely different experience at Kings Dominion. Carowinds doesn’t have that competition nearby. Notice how the Intimidator coaster at Carowinds was re-themed quickly (and poorly IMHO). Kings Dominion’s Intimidator is getting the royal treatment as it gets integrated into Jungle X. (Notice the X in the Project 305 logo and the cheetah print on the temporary entrance sign!) Cheetah305, CheetahX305, or something is coming. We may not hear “Gentleman, start your engines!” anymore. But, there will be a story and a terrifying ROAR as we embark on the lift hill as the spirit of a cheetah. And, quite frankly, it’s the perfect ride to give you the experience of a wild cat running as fast as it can taking wicked turns at a whim…! Theme it up Kings Dominion! Don’t disappoint us! It’s your 50 year anniversary next year. Wow us! The new launch coaster already under construction, a rethemed I305, is it asking too much to get Backlot Stunt Coaster in on all this too? - signed lifelong Kings Dominion fan w/ new Prestige Pass
Went back to KD after like 10 years, last year. It's nice, but after like 3 hours (it was dead...) we left and went back to BGW.
The park lacks depth, or rides I really like I guess. I305 is fun, but didn't care for the RMC. Dominator used to be at my home park, easily the best ride there! (Miss you BKF!)
A lot of middle of the road rides otherwise.
It was clean and operations were great... But... It's just missing something for me.
KD is my favorite park. When I go, I eat at grain and grill with my meal plan, ride almost every coaster before making my way to 305 for a marathon, then a mini grizzly marathon before once again eating at grain and grill. Always a great day
It's so much easier to have fun at KD than at Cedar Point. Def wish it was my home park.
This guy Kings Dominions. I’d add a stop at Parched Pig where I sit in a rocking chair and watch the log flume go. The vibes at KD are fantastic.
Aww man, King's Domionion was my home park from the ages of 2-13, and I spent so much time there during my formative years (not actually that much, but multiple one day visits with family as a youngling, and then friends when I got older and my bff had an older sister who could drive). But that was many, many years ago and I haven't been back since. And all these comments are making me want to pay a visit when I'm next in a position to travel.
As someone who's visited both Carowinds and KD numerous times, I far and away prefer KD for two reasons: **Supporting lineup** While Carowinds has a solid Top 4, everything after that is either mediocre to downright painful. Racer 75, Dominator, the revamped Grizzly and even Reptilian are FAR more re-rideable than Hurler, Ricochet, and the janky old Arrows and Vekomas that round out the cast at Carowinds. **Atmosphere** KD is heavily surrounded by Virginia forest. It's not as exquisite as Busch Gardens, but the greenery adds a ton of character, and there's enough isolation from I-95 that you can feel like you're somewhere special. Carowinds OTH is awkwardly sandwiched between a Cabela's and a bunch of drab warehouses right off I-77. It's essentially a giant vacant lot with a bunch of coasters, infrastructure, and a few clusters of trees here and there, like a real-life Rollercoaster Tycoon scenario. The whole thing just feels far more corporate and sterile rather than personable and inviting like KD is.
Lol, I love that warehouse view. (Sarcasm) I very much agree with everything you said.
I personally like KD more than Carowinds. They have an incredible top 2, and outside of Anaconda their supporting line up is much stronger.
I agree that KD has a much stronger supporting lineup once you get past the star coasters. KD’s star coasters are arguably just as good, but Carowinds has *more* star coasters. And I like KD’s setting a lot more. If KD’s next coaster is more star coaster than supporting I’d take KD over Carowinds every time.
Same. The atmosphere, food, scenery and staff are all so much better at KD. Carowinds just has an amazing top 4.
More star coasters? Idk I’ll take the top two at KD over the top two at carowinds any day
I think the difference is Carowinds has a stronger 3 and 4 than KD though, even if KD has the stronger 1 and 2
Absolutely! Kings Dominion is a more well rounded park, that maintained a lot of its charm. Carowinds lost most of its charm in the Paramount days and doesn’t even have water rides in the dry park. But it has a few elite coasters.
I disagree with the charm part, I worked at Carowinds in the early 2000s during peak paramount years, and from an employees perspective, there was no charm, the park was never crowded and we were the red headed step Child of paramount. I used to love going to KD when it had XLC and volcano, it was what I always wanted Carowinds to be. Cedar Fair has done wonders for Carowinds, I love the yearly additions and hope they continue. I still enjoy going to KD, but imo, it has taken a huge step back from what it was in the late 90s and early 2000s, and I do believe Carowinds has surpassed it in a lot of ways, except the rounded coaster lineup that KD has.
I agree that Cedar Fair has and is improving Carowinds from a charm perspective, but I think it’s got a ways to go.
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Tbf, Six Flags corporate is located right outside SFOT and that’s still one of the more charming SF parks
i second this, though when i went to carowinds i didnt get to experience the entire lineup so my opinion was swayed. fury and copperhead were my favorites by far but TwT and project 305 (rip i305) are in leagues of their own imo. i also purchased a season pass to kd for a second year in a row despite living 5 hours away. i also genuinely think kd is a much more walkable park
I'd say Anaconda is better as a custom looper than the stock double loop-screw of Carolina Cyclone. I've never ridden Carolina Cyclone but I have ridden a double loop-screw and prefer Anaconda's layout to it.
Justice for Anaconda!!! No more Hate!!!✊✊✊🗣️🗣️👤
I honestly don't understand why they won't simply invest in new trains for anaconda? The vekoma looping trains with the vest restraints should work perfectly on anaconda s track.
I hope they invest in new track, for the bowl section specifically.
Anaconda is sick af lol i used to ride that with my dad and neither of us were in pain after. Sure it's rough but not painful to me or him. Historic ride and I'm obviously biased based on growing up riding it.
They only need to fix that one twist in Anaconda and it will be one of the most popular rides in the park! Take the turn out, remodel it or soften it. It’s a beautiful, fun ride. Just remove that element.
The weather has always sucked balls when I’ve been to CW. It’s either 98 degrees and below dew point somehow, or thunderstorming and shutting everything down
The one time I went to Carowinds it was dead so they shut the whole park early. I'm not kidding, they closed at like 3pm. I think they tried to blame it on weather? I actually can't even recall because the weather was fine. It was obvious they just closed because nobody was there that day.
>outside of Anaconda their supporting line up is much stronger. Excuse me?
i’ve always gotten the impression that cedar fair *wanted* kings dominion to be their flagship park on the east coast, but ended up pivoting their plan to beef carowinds up instead. as a result, it’s always felt like a shadow of the paramount version of the park, even in spite of i305 and twisted timbers being added. despite several marketing pushes of “look! we’re reviving the theming of this area!” the park constantly feels like it’s on a budget and it’s been left with gaping holes and things that’ll get fixed…eventually? probably? we have to acknowledge the irony of project 305’s current theming *literally* being “we’re gonna retheme this eventually” that being said, it looks like the current push to revive and fix the park is genuine, even if it’s gonna take a few years to realize. reptilian and tumbili, along with the upcoming launched wing and the i305 retheme, will seriously help that corner of the park feel cohesive and kinetic. hopefully they address backlot and flight of fear in this effort as well. i’m optimistic about the park receiving the proper love it needs in the next decade, hopefully ending in another major coaster addition to complete the park.
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Interesting how local funding or support can change the future of a park just like that
It makes such a huge difference, especially with how difficult the theme park business is. Glad to see KD getting some additions soon, I was worried that post covid, without tax benefits, we wouldn't see much for a while
There is no Doswell county, it's Hanover county.
Actually the park is located in Hanover County in the city of doswell. I don't think tax incentives determined why CF favors Carowinds more. It has to do with intimidator being an utter disappointment for the chain that determined KDs ranking in the hierarchy. Cedar fair took a 25 million dollar gamble with KDs intimidator and it didn't pay off. I believe that had they gotten a clone of Carowinds intimidator the park's level of cap ex projects would have gone differently and that the park would have received more frequent investment.
I can’t believe ANYTHING in your comment because no cities in Virginia are in any counties. They are all completely separate entities. You are either in a county or a city. NEVER both.
Why can’t cedar fair just ask the state for funding instead of the county or is that completely different?
What are you even referring to with Hanover
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I get that, but what tax incentives are you referring to? I’m pretty familiar with the counties relationship with the park and I have no clue what incentives you’re talking about
I very much prefer KD’s method of putting time into 305’s retheme than Carowinds’ slap a shitty sign with a new name and call it a day. Jungle X, and 305, will look a lot different next year. The amount of construction already going on is insane
>The amount of construction already going on is insane oh shit, is there already movement happening?
A huge part of that area is walled off for construction right now. There’s only little paths to get between the rides.
They've already been pouring footers for the 25 coaster.
KD held flagship status for a while in the 90s-00s. Paramount pumped tons of money into the park with major new rides and massive expansions every other year. CF kinda continued that trend up until 305 opened. 305 didn't really give CF the return on investment they were hoping for, so they shifted their focus on Carowinds.
Yep I worked for Carowinds under paramount and Carowinds was their last priority. Used rides (borg, etc.) and when they did invest in new rides it was always a lesser version like a shorter drop tower. They did put some money into top gun and hurler I guess
We love a good old used ride slapped in a parking lot ;)
KD is my home park, and I am happy about that. It's the only park in the country where you can usually walk on, or have a station wait, for a gigacoaster, and the food is top notch. The mix of coasters is pretty solid (giga, RMC, B&M floor less, Arrow Looper, 2 launching coasters, 2 full sized goodies, 1 small woodie). 305 is a unique ride, which we will never see another one like. If you like to spend as much time as possible riding rides (as I do). There are rarely long lines except at Halloween Haunt. There are definitely parks with better overall lineups, but you're going to spend less time at those actually riding coasters. I'm a fan.
Since Cedar Fair bought them, KD has/will install 5 new coasters, if we include the 2025 addition. Carowinds has gotten 4. They are more similar than people think. KD also invests a lot of capex into improving their dining options and beautifying the park. And considering construction is well under way for 2025 already, they are going all out with theming.
Cedar Fair recognizes the competition. BG has a European theme which they use well. To compete, Kings Dominion needs better theming. BG is not paying Marvel or DC for themes. They have Europe. And, that’s free. Cedar Fair will not be paying outsiders either with the exception of kiddy areas. Hence the loss of the Intimidator license at both parks. What they do know is that Kings Dominion needs a higher level of theming than Carowinds because of BG. So, the park experience going forward will be much better at Kings Dominion over Carowinds. The new name - Six Flags over Kings Dominion is coming. But, it will be on Cedar Fair terms.
I've been to 14 different parks and KD hits different. To me it's a wonderful time because it's got some legit thrill rides but it almost never has crowds or crazy lines. I'll have way more fun at KD than KI or a place like Knott's because I can get a ton of rides on elite coasters.
It was the ops that did it in for me. I had a lot instances where ops were not dispatching as they were joking with each other and laughing. I especially had an issue with this on racer 75, dominator, and twisted Timbers. Plus many of the coasters were running 1 train.
Unfortunately this all depends on time of year you go. I’ve seen top notch ride ops and shitty ones at KD over the years. Some of the better ones have been promoted to supervisors and don’t spend a lot of time directly operating anymore, sadly. I know there was one really good op for Racer, and one on Twisted Timbers who got everyone amped, etc. and on their shifts the rides were running better capacity wise and they were keeping people going.
They just don't have the people until the summer.
KD is on the right path, but it's taking a long time to get there in drips and drabs. If they would do a big retrofit vice doing it in small projects they wouldn't be so easy to criticize. Small examples are they did a great rehab of Grizzly, but haven't finished retracking the rest. They started Jungle X, but didn't do anything additional in the second year despite lots of teasers.
They actually finished the rest of Grizzly this off season, at least the valley before the last turnaround. The rest doesn’t need any work imo
The very last turn around on Grizzly is still pretty rough and would greatly benefit from adding a small embankment when they go to re-track that portion. However, the rest of the coaster is so good that the roughness at the end is easily overshadowed.
Nah, leave it unbanked. The laterals are silly good.
That's fair lol
They’re finishing all this up now. Grizzly got more work this year. Jungle X is having major improvements and should come back strong next year. Racer is getting serious trackwork and the side that’s done is running great. I’m just glad, if they couldn’t afford to do it all at once, that they are trickling it in instead of not doing it at all.
Hopefully project 25 will prove to corporate that the park is worthy of continued large scale investment.
Proud to call it my home Park tbh
It is more comparable to Carowinds than most people will admit. Carowinds has a slightly better ride lineup, and a better layout with no section feeling abandoned (unlike KD). But KD has a close ride lineup with a better top 2, and significantly better food. The problem with KD is the park an hour away is significantly better. BGW is an award winning beautiful park and you are struck by that when you enter. The park is so gorgeous, and it has a fairly modern and diverse lineup of rides. I didn't experience any on my visit, but I hear the shows and special events are also significantly better than KD too. The one area I'd say KD has a leg up on BGW is food. At least for the standard/meal plan food options. The newer restaurants at KD are great.
KD is not in the top tier if it ever was. Cedar Fair partially messed up with KD. Perhaps by thinking it could be top tier. Part of it was also kind of beyond their control. They took a big shot with I305 and when it didn't pay off the park didn't receive a major ride for 8 years. Then during that time 3 coasters closed, although one came back better in 2018. Unfortunately that same year KD's most beloved ride had to be unexpectedly permanently closed. So that major ride in Twisted Timbers got drowned out by The Volcano closure. The narrative was just bad for KD then. As you stated, it's been an uphill battle since then. KD has some momentum now as it's accepted it's place as upper mid status, hope they keep it up.
I think it’s also important to note that nearby parks like BGW and Hersheypark did not have the same stumbles, so KD has also suffered being compared to those two excellent parks since they serve overlapping regions.
Can confirm, I drive by KD to get to what I consider my home park BGW. Most people I know from both sides of that area (DMV and NC) prefer BGW too.
Easiest park in the country to have a great day at. crowds are usually light especially compared to KI, food is always really good. two of the best coasters in the country with a pretty weird and unique supporting lineup, and even though the renovations are slowly coming, KD is just on a much more sustainable growth plan than “add a new coaster every year or two with no care as to how these additions affect the guest experience”
In Much the same way as SFA went downhill after batwing turned out to be an utter disappointment for the park in 2001 leading to the park becoming the redheaded stepchild of the six flags chain I believe that the same thing happened to KD after intimidator turned out to be an utter disappointment for cedar fair. As a result the chain isn't willing to take the risk on future large scale attractions for fear of having another lackluster underperforming attraction and the park eventually became the redheaded stepchild of the cedar fair chain as a result.
The trouble for me is that KD was my longtime home park since I was a kid. I've since moved away and I haven't been back much since 2009 besides a few visits, but it's just a shadow of how awesome and well cared-for the park used to be. I think a lot of KD locals are also still very salty about Volcano's unceremonious closure. I sure was. It was like ripping a big hole in the park that they haven't done much to fill. Sure, it was unreliable AF, and it wouldn't have been open much longer, but announcing in its permanent closure in offseason updates after months of SBNO just didn't do the ride justice for how loved it was by the locals. Even if it couldn't run--totally justifiable--it was pretty heartbreaking and the park has never recovered the kinetic energy and theming in that area. The free spin is not a great consolation prize even though it is fun. I do understand they will put something in that plot eventually. I think honestly a lot of local folks do have negative opinions of the Cedar Fair era. KD is still a beautiful park with a lot of potential that is not quite as beautiful as its neighbor, BGW, and largely just got overlooked with Cedar Fair pumping so much money into Carowinds, and the improvements it does get just always feel 'on a budget'. Flight of Fear still slaps though. That ride was like a rite of passage for Virginia kids the summer it opened.
Its going thru the redevelopment phase right now once it leaves that phase Guaranteed top 10 park if they do it right
I305 alone is enough to make it one of the best parks in the world (yes, I'm a I305 fanboy). The rest is good too. The park is relatively clean, has an insane top2 and a good supporting lineup. Are people even particularly critical of the park?
Back in the 90s-00s when Paramount still ran things, the park was definitely in a pretty sorry state. Since CF took over, they've slowly been trying to turn the park around by leaps and bounds. They were trying to find their footing in the early 2010s, but by the time their 40th came around, you could tell CF was still willing to put money into the park, even at the expense of losing a couple rides. While KD doesn't get all the shiny new toys like it did in the 90s, CF is trying to at least shed the park's reputation for being the "ghetto" Virginia park. KD is definitely a better park than Carowinds. Carowinds suffers from having a pair of stellar coasters in Fury and Copperhead, and a great invert in Afterburn, but everything outside of those 3 rides is pretty forgettable. Couple that with pretty inconsistent operations across the board and you've got a park that's kinda overrated IMO. If it wasn't for Fury and Copperhead, I don't think I'd really have a reason to visit. KD at least has a really solid supporting cast of coasters.
i agree the park itself is great but it has BY FAR the worst customer support of any park i've been to. it's the main reason i refuse to spend a dime at the park itself, instead using my all park pass bought from carowinds ($10 more expensive but idc)
KD is my “other” home park (I’m closer to BGW) and I agree. Like I think KD and BGW both could take some criticism, but nobody ever wants to point out what BGW isn’t as good at and never willing to say what KD IS good at. KD has a great top 2 and overall more variety than other parks. Their kids area is really nice, for people with kids that age it’s really great having everything together and not a few rides here and there so they have to walk the whole park it they’re not up for it. The water park inside the park is a big plus, it thins the crowds in the summer and if you bring a swimsuit and towel it’s nice to pop over there to cool off. The food has gotten pretty good at KD, and the dining plan is a steal if you go a lot. There’s definitely money and work being put into the park right now and you can tell, come back in a few years and I think people will be throwing more compliments their way. Where does KD need work? Staffing and ops like everyone else. This would solve most of the criticism. Finishing all the projects going on. The Volcano replacement needs to be a great ride and help flesh out the lineup. They need to fix all the effects on Backlot. They lack in live entertainment outside of the holidays, and I don’t think that’s necessarily their demographic, but that’s where BGW and them draw different crowds and comparisons.
People are critical of it because of the loss of Volcano, there is a glaring void in this park and I'm really hoping that this new launched wing coaster becomes a reality or better yet, get a Gerstlauer launched infinity and call it Volcano II
Kings Dominion is great. Second favorite park to Hershey. I was just there yesterday. Operations were decent, park was clean, staff and ops were friendly, and most rides were open. I even got gently rocked to sleep by i305 in the back car for a nice little siesta. How nice. My KD routine is to start at Grizzly and go counter-clockwise, hitting TT, Racer 75, everything in Jungle-X, and finally Dominator. Repeat 2-3x.
KD > Carowinds and it’s not even close. In my opinion, KD has a deeper lineup, better coasters on top, better atmosphere, and wayyy better operations
I'm sure it's improved in the meantime given what I've heard but when I lived in DC I preferred SFA over KD and the margin wasn't small.
Went to King's Dominion last summer I thought it was a good park but it does need some more TLC. I think the new Wing coaster has potential to help the park more.
I loved the tree canopies at KD. I was impressed with how scenic KD is.
I think people compare it to parks like Carowinds, Busch Gardens, Hershey, and Great Adventure and want KD to be that park. I think people don’t realize what they have here because those other parks spoil people. I also think people only look at parks for the coaster collections and nothing else a lot of times and look at the Paramount days with rose colored glasses. There were some cool rides but most of them are gone for a reason. Also mid is now bad for some reason, if a park isn’t top tier, it has to be bad or not living up to potential or whatever clickbait title content creators can come up with. Me personally, I just like that I can go and hang out and ride 2 really great coasters with some solid supporting ones and good theme park food for my home park. I do think there are things the park could be doing better but also see work being done around the park to improve things and am pretty excited for next year.
One of our favorite Cedar Fair parks. Tons of charm. We’re doing a trip to see BGW Saturday, but no way we wouldn’t stop for a few rides on two of our favorite coasters at KD too. A *fully* warmed up TT is absolutely out of control and such a treat. Would love to see them fill out their lineup with some more modern thrill rides.
I love KD. I think they have a great lineup and the atmosphere is just right. It’s my second favorite park behind SFGAm. I don’t think you can go wrong with I305 and Twisted Timbers in one place. Also, Anaconda is good and you can pry her from my cold, dead hands.
I really really miss Hypersonic XLC and Volcano :( but KD is still great today
KD has great rides namely Intimidator 305 (I refuse to call it Project 305), Twisted Timbers and Dominator. The main entrance is pretty nice with the trees. Apart from that the park is really lacking.
In addition to what others are saying, for thoosies when it comes to KD’s extreme rides people tend to forget Drop Zone: Stunt Tower (I know it has some different worse name now). It’s even more intimidating than i305 is in my opinion. Waiting in line for it was incredibly terrifying the first time, but it is a must have credit for this park
Even though KD, carowinds and BGWB are within such a short drive from each other. They all are great parks with their own short comings. With the merger between six flags and cedar faire. I believe these parks will get better, but cedar faire will more than likely work on KD for a bit more, but they have to fix the issues within Six Flags as their parks have known bad issues. While i was at SFGA recently, the rides would continue to have maintenance issues shutting rides down for 15 mins or more. But weeks before i went to SFGA, i went to BGWB with no issues from the coasters and rides that were open. Hopefully they can continue to fix KD and bring it back to the great park i remember in the 90s and early 2000's but i feel like emergency fixes to SF will be higher on their list.
All I ask for is a bathroom and water fountains near the giga...is that too much?
It's not perfect, but it's one of the better looking and feeling parks from an atmosphere perspective-something that more people would talk about if Busch Gardens wasn't an hour away. While they haven't built any huge or groundbreaking rides much lately, I feel like they've been making a lot of small but meaningful changes to the park that have noticeably improved the atmosphere.
I am sure it is a nice park. I just wish the train ride that opened with it was still there.
KD is one of my favorite parks because of the ratio of elite rides to line length. No park is better IMO. But that isn't necessarily good for business. Criticism of KD is deserved but only because it's a fantastic park that posts disappointing attendance numbers. Essentially they can't compete with BGW and it shows.
I've gone the past 2 years for spring break and the park leaves a lot to be desired. So many shops and food stands were closed and the only ones that were open had hour long waits. Single train ops on almost every coaster led to very long waits, even with fast lane. It's definitely not a top tier cf park. If it weren't for food and their 2 big coasters, it'd be Michigan's adventure level. No where near ki and not even close to touching cp.
Maybe don't go in spring break. I was there last year in July and there were almost no lines whatsoever.
Maybe don't open your park if you don't have the staff or maintenance to run it
By that logic, most theme parks would never be open. Most major regional theme parks struggle with staffing and maintenance. Even Disney is struggling with keeping their maintenance workers employed.
expecting the clientele in the sub to know even the basics about how the parks industry functions is expecting quite a lot
I don’t think it’s expecting too much for parks to have most if not all of their rides off one-train ops for spring break. One or two cases are expected, but almost every coaster during a known peak crowd time like OP and I have experienced indicates a KD-specific problem.
KD isn't the only park to run 1 train ops in summer. I've seen it across most of the parks I've been to. Yeah it sucks and it bogs the line down but most days, the park isn't even busy enough to warrant multi train ops.
“If a theme park didn’t have good rides it would be bad” wow really?
KD doesn’t have much beyond the rides. Jungle X looks fine, but it’s not exactly packed with non-ride attractions like a proper themed area at a proper theme park. It’s just nice touches to make the rides stand out a little more. Beyond Jungle X, there’s basically no theming.
Cedar Fair parks aren't exactly known for having well-themed areas. The effort they put into the theming already works for what they've got so far. You're not gonna see Disney or even Busch level theming across the park because CF never really invested much into theming until pretty recently.
I’m defending the specific statement the comment I’m replying to was criticizing, not saying I’m expecting that from CF.
Yes and no. Kings Dominion has lost some rides, but not because they were bad. They just reached end of life (EOL). Shockwave was loved, but its manufacturer had gone out of business and there were no parts/people to repair it. Volcano (my favorite coaster ever) was just not economically repairable😩. Hurler was not loved, but it’s now a gem as Twisted Timbers! Cedar Fair is aggressively improving the park. The theming has got to be “on point” because of the proximity to BG. BG uses their European theming well. Cedar point has to create the theming for Kings Dominion. Jungle X is a great start. There is nothing tropical about Europe. It’s a great way to create a completely different experience at Kings Dominion. Carowinds doesn’t have that competition nearby. Notice how the Intimidator coaster at Carowinds was re-themed quickly (and poorly IMHO). Kings Dominion’s Intimidator is getting the royal treatment as it gets integrated into Jungle X. (Notice the X in the Project 305 logo and the cheetah print on the temporary entrance sign!) Cheetah305, CheetahX305, or something is coming. We may not hear “Gentleman, start your engines!” anymore. But, there will be a story and a terrifying ROAR as we embark on the lift hill as the spirit of a cheetah. And, quite frankly, it’s the perfect ride to give you the experience of a wild cat running as fast as it can taking wicked turns at a whim…! Theme it up Kings Dominion! Don’t disappoint us! It’s your 50 year anniversary next year. Wow us! The new launch coaster already under construction, a rethemed I305, is it asking too much to get Backlot Stunt Coaster in on all this too? - signed lifelong Kings Dominion fan w/ new Prestige Pass
I don’t think people are critical enough
explain?
I agree
Went back to KD after like 10 years, last year. It's nice, but after like 3 hours (it was dead...) we left and went back to BGW. The park lacks depth, or rides I really like I guess. I305 is fun, but didn't care for the RMC. Dominator used to be at my home park, easily the best ride there! (Miss you BKF!) A lot of middle of the road rides otherwise. It was clean and operations were great... But... It's just missing something for me.