With my friend Jen becoming one of my coaster buddies the last few months I’ve been telling her time and time again that we needed to visit Kings Dominion. Since last year we’ve visited most of the parks in this region, but until this week, Kings Dominion had eluded us. With how much she enjoys Wildcat’s Revenge at Hersheypark, I’ve been itching to get her on Twisted Timbers. Well, that itch was finally scratched on Monday, June 24, 2024.
Jen, Sam, and I made the trip down to Kings Dominion during the midst of a heatwave and found the park empty. Although it was hot, it didn’t quite reach the temperatures listed in the forecast and luckily for us, there were a bunch of clouds in the area. It wasn’t bad at all. With the exception of Flight of Fear, we found every ride to be a walk-on, or at worst, a one or two train wait.
Riding Again and Again and in Some Cases, Again and Again
When I introduced Sam and Jen to one another I told them that the three of us are good ride buddies because all of us enjoy going ride to ride and cramming in as much as we can during our park visits. We love staying open to close and making use of our time. That being said, we did arrive a few minutes after the park opened and left with about an hour before close. Why? Well, we managed to do 24 total rides throughout the park and by that time and were more interested in getting something to eat. We considered some pizza, but at $17 for a single slice of with two bread sticks, we said we’ll leave early and eat outside the park instead. I kid you not!
Before getting into some of our rides, let me just say that I know things are more expensive across the board everywhere. But there has got to be some sort of limit when it comes to how much you can raise prices on items that are already overly expensive to begin with. Are parks trying to discourage people from buying food or drink at the park to limit staffing? I only ask because this year I’ve really begun to go without eating due to ridiculous prices like this pizza/bread sticks combo. Knoebels is the only park I will go out of my way to find something to eat these days. Not only is the food good, but I don’t feel bad about how much I spent afterward.
Sorry about the soapbox, but it needed to be said. Now, onto the rides.
Twisted Timbers
As usual, we made our way straight to Twisted Timbers to start the day. I wanted to make sure Jen rode the coaster and since we had no idea how lines would get throughout the day, we wanted to get there before the park filled up. It never did, but we didn’t know that this early on.
We rode two times back-to-back in the back and then in the front. The ride felt a little slow, but we attributed that to the ride just having opened. It certainly felt punchier later in the day when we went back for two more back-to-back rides. Both those came in the back and had a lot more attitude. My thighs were sore walking off after that fourth ride of the day.
With four rides in on her second-ever Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) coaster, I asked Jen how it compared to Wildcat’s Revenge. Without hesitation she admitted that she prefers Wildcat’s Revenge, but also enjoyed Twisted Timbers. Wildcat’s Revenge has a wider variety of elements that she enjoys whereas Twisted Timbers focuses heavily on the airtime pops. I totally get that, and I feel the same.
Project: 305
This one scared Jen a little as we approached. She didn’t back out, though. Nope! She got on and rode it. And just like I predicted, she liked it and wanted to ride it again later. Funny how that happens.
Our first ride came toward the back. Overall, it was a better ride than I’ve had in a while. This ride has never been a favorite of mine, but I don’t hate it. I love the start with the massive drop, turn around, and first airtime hill. It’s just what comes after that I don’t really care for. At least it no longer chops my neck, though. That’s a plus. I hated those older restraints. But yeah, the fast-paced turns are neat, but I’d much rather have a few airtime moments tossed in there instead.
If I’m being 100 percent honest here, this ride looks like ass. I’d say it resembles a rundown carnival ride in its current state. So much faded and chipped paint can be seen throughout the ride’s course. It’s a good thing this ride is getting rethemed soon. New paint is already a few years overdue, and it just looks sad back in the corner. When Anaconda looks fresher, that’s a problem.
Anaconda
Speaking of Anaconda, last year I bought myself an Anaconda T-shirt while at park. During that visit, I put it on and had a ride operator on Anaconda come over the loudspeaker and ask me if I’m actually wearing an Anaconda shirt. She had never seen one before and thought it was awesome.
Of course, I wore that shirt on Monday too. I wasn’t even in the park yet when I got my first of many compliments on my shirt. I figured I’d be the only person in the park wearing one, but alas, I wasn’t. Someone else with good tastes was wearing one exiting the ride after our first ride of the day. That’s right, multiple rides on Anaconda! It’s such a premium ride experience. I don’t care what anyone says.
All kidding aside, I do think this coaster gets too much hate. While it’s far from my favorite coaster, like it was back in 1991 when I was 12, I still enjoy riding this classic Arrow looper every time I visit the park.
Final Ride Counts
Anaconda (2: Jen, Patrick, 1: Sam)
Apple Zapple (1)
Backlot Stunt Coaster (1)
Boo Blasters on Boo Hill (1)
Dominator (2)
Flight of Fear (2)
Grizzly (2)
Project: 305 (2: Jen, Patrick, 1: Sam)
Racer 75: North (1)
Racer 75: South (1)
Reptilian (1)
Shenandoah Lumber Co. (2)
Twisted Timbers (4)
Tumbili (1: Jen, Patick)
Woodstock Express (1)
Kings Dominion is Stepping it Up
Aside from the food prices, I love the changes that have been put in motion at Kings Dominion. The Jungle Expedition area looks amazing, even with all the fencing up while the park’s new wing coaster is built. Heck, even the fencing is themed with engraved scratch marks found all over. Check out the photo gallery below as I took a few photos to showcase the area.
Even though we rode so many rides this visit, I do hope to return a time or two before the end of the year. I will try to take some more photos of the new coaster once more of it is built. Right now, we only saw some straight track in place with other pieces out in the parking lot. I love the green track and can’t wait to see how it all blends together in that section of the park. Until then, thank you for checking out this trip report and the photos down below.
Kings Dominion Photo Gallery - June 24, 2024
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
