First things first, I apologize that it has taken me almost a week to publish this trip report from our New Year’s Eve visit to Kings Dominion. Between the holidays and the other blogs and vlog I needed to finish, then getting the news about the demise of Blue Streak at Conneaut Lake Park, this one kept getting put on the back burner. But here we are and it’s time to give a recap of the few hours we got spent at Kings Dominion bringing in 2022.
As for that “ejection” in the title, don’t worry. No one got kicked out of the park. That is referencing the sweet ejector airtime we got on Twisted Timbers, which I got to ride four more times Friday after six on Monday. What a ride! More on Timbers in a bit.
Arriving in the Rain
During our 1.5 hour drive from Six Flags America (SFA) to Kings Dominion, we began driving into some rain. The closer we got to Kings Dominion, the heavier it began to fall. I was hoping it would end before we arrived, but that didn’t turn out to be the case. I dreaded the idea of walking around in drenched clothes for the rest of the night, even though it was 60 degrees. That certainly isn’t the norm for this time of year. I know Sam, Kaylee, and Bernard all felt the same way.
Thankfully, after walking into the park and making a quick bathroom stop, the rain began to lighten up. As we made our way to Dominator, we saw a bunch of people heading for the park exit. We kept our fingers crossed that the rain would subside and with all the people leaving, we’d have short lines for the rest of the night.
Dominator
Entering the queue for Dominator the rain wasn’t much more than a light mist at that point. I was so glad because all I could think about was riding Dominator in the rain back in June with Sam, Mindy, Mailyn, and Carley. That hurt my face so bad and was something I was hoping not to have to experience again. Thankfully, by the time we entered the station and boarded the back row, the rain was practically non-existent.
Once our ride was underway and we cleared the lift, we got pulled down the drop and man, oh man, did we get some amazing hangtime in that 135-foot tall vertical loop. All of were raving about it feeling a little more sustained than any of us remembered, so it wasn’t just me.
The rest of the ride had some extra pull being in the back row, but you could certainly feel some extra rattle too. It wasn’t bad, but certainly noticeable. I’ll take it over the headbanging I had a few hours prior at SFA on Firebird, another Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M) floorless coaster, albeit a conversion its former stand up iteration as Apocalypse and the former Iron Wolf at Six Flags Great America (SFGA).
Twisted Timbers
It was then time for some more Twisted Timbers goodness, or so we thought. We were treated a line outside the queue entrance upon arrival. The ride looked to be down. We waited around in line for about 20 minutes and saw the ride begin to test. Not long after, the ride was reopened and we were getting our first ride of the night. Well, after having to endure that terrible smell over that way. Both Monday and Friday the walkways between the Twisted Timbers shop and entrance smelled like a sewage plant. Anyone else notice this? All of us did. Yucky!
The four of us managed two rides together. After that, Kaylee ran off to meet up with a friend who was also at the park. Sam, Bernard, and I looked to see if there was another ride we might want to do, but we ultimately went back to Twisted Timbers. It was 11:45 p.m. and according to the Kings Dominion site, rides stopped at midnight before giving way to a fireworks show. We wanted at least one more ride. What we didn’t expect, however, was to be getting two rides after midnight.
We missed riding the coaster during stroke of midnight by only a couple of trains. That would have been cool, but alas, it wasn’t in the cards. Instead, we were ride just after midnight and get an immediate re-ride since the station was empty. Good times! I love re-rides and take them every chance I can get, especially on a coaster like Twisted Timbers.
Final Ride Counts
Dominator (1)
Twisted Timbers (4: Bernard, Sam, Patrick, 3: Kaylee)
Willow to the Rescue... Again!
With the rides shut down and New Year’s festivities taking place on International Street, I decided to use the time to run over to the photo building to claim some of our ride photos. On Monday, we ended up having to do this since the self-service kiosk at Timbers was not working. Sadly, we didn’t keep track of our ride times that night since our phones were locked away. That was when Willow came to the rescue.
Willow was working photos that night and was able to locate four of our six photos. She said she’d find the other two, but I felt so bad making her do all that work, especially since the park had just recently closed. On Friday, Sam and I saw Willow working once again and made sure we waited in her line. We had our ride times this time and were ready for her. She even remember us when we walked up to her terminal.
We managed to once again grab most of the ride photos, but I didn’t ask Willow to find the last few. I hate being that guy and since our last couple of rides saw us split up on different trains, I didn’t want to hassle her. That’s when Willow’s coworker, Chandlee, came over and we all got to talking. We had such a great conversation about Kings Dominion and several other Cedar Fair parks that I didn’t feel like going anywhere. I texted Kaylee and just told her to meet us at the photo building when they were ready to leave. A major thumbs up in the customer service department to Willow and Chandlee. I know dealing with the public isn’t the easiest thing in the world. I did it for 24 years. You two were awesome!
Getting Home at 4:30 a.m.
We didn’t end up leaving the park until close by time we all met up and began heading toward the exit. I had a few stops to make on the way home, including a stop at Sheetz, taking Sam to the park and ride where she left her car, taking Bernard home, and finally, getting Kaylee home. I was beat, but it was a night that was so worth it. Not bad for my second unplanned visit to Kings Dominion in less than a week.
Kings Dominon Photo Gallery - December 31, 2021
If you would like to use any of the images in the gallery above for your commercial and/or non-commercial projects, feel free to do so. I ask that you credit We Were Inverted whenever they’re used. I also ask that you do not alter the image or remove the watermarks. If you need any images/video resized or without the watermarks, please contact me directly.
CREW MANIFEST
The following flight crew members attended this park, & earned the respective credits below:
Patrick
CAG
New Credit(s): n/a
Sam
Admiral
New Credit(s): n/a
Kaylee
Commander
New Credit(s): n/a
