For the last year Sam had been itching to visit Kings Dominion for the first time as an enthusiast. She had visited once before during our annual workplace trip in 2018, but she only rode Avalanche and the south side of Racer 75. That was well before her hunger for all things coasters, which only started in mid-2020.
It’s needless to say, with credits like Hersheypark’s Skyrush, her favorite coaster, and Six Flags Great Adventure’s (SFGAdv) Bizarro, Sam was really looking forward to riding both Intimidator 305 (i305) and Dominator. As much as she desired those credits, however, there was another coaster that she found herself wanting even more. That coaster was Twisted Timbers.
Until this Memorial Day visit on Monday, May 31, Sam had yet to ride a Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) coaster. She’s seen one being built at SFGAdv in Jersey Devil, but that’s as close to one as she had come. Well, not anymore. Sam now has her first RMC credit as well as her first giga – both of which are now found in her Top 10 coasters listing. Here is an overview on this much anticipated day.
Getting Almost All of Sam's Needed Credits
When we walked into Kings Dominion, our plan was to head straight back to Twisted Timbers. Being it was Memorial Day, the fact that park had been closed all last year, and most parks seem to be facing staffing issues early into 2021 operations, we assumed we’d catch long lines all day. We figured that Twisted Timbers would be one of the worst too. That turned out not to be the case for our first two rides of the day, although we did find ourselves waiting 20 minutes to just under 75 for every ride thereafter.
Twisted Timbers
Walking into the Timbers queue for our first ride, I noticed there wasn’t a line at all. It was a station wait. We quickly made our way through the queue and placed our phones and keys into the brand new mini-lockers. These things are great! They’re free and double sided to parse out the crowds going up to and coming off the coaster. They won’t fit your bags, so those still need to go into the ones outside the ride’s entrance. These are designed for phones, keys, wallets, glasses, etc.
Leaving the lockers, we made our way up to the station and saw there was only two people waiting for the back row. We jumped in behind them and waited for our turn. It took a few minutes for both trains to load, which has always seems to be the case with Twisted Timbers, even with past visits. Oh well.
It was pretty evident how much Sam was in love with her first RMC as soon as we crested the lift hill. From start to finish, she was laughing, yelling, and emoting how much she was enjoying herself. I knew she would. She loved it so much that we ran right back in line for another station wait and a front row ride.
As a matter of fact, Sam loved this coaster so much, she decided to risk not getting her Dominator credit in order to ride it one last time. There was about an hour left before the park closed and she made the call to get her missing credits next visit and ride Timbers one last time. We figured it would be our last ride of the day, but luckily, we were able to enter the Dominator queue with about 15 minutes left before the park closed, making it our last ride of the day.
Anaconda
As regular visitors of this site may know, I used to rank Anaconda as my favorite coaster. Sure, I was 12, but it was still my favorite. If you never had the chance to read my Anaconda entries into the Influential Coasters of My Childhood series, I’ll leave the links for you down below.
- 12.12.2020: Influential Coasters of My Childhood – Anaconda
- 12.14.2020: Modern Take on Influential Coasters of My Childhood – Anaconda
Intimidator 305
If there was a coaster I figured Sam might get nervous about, it was going to be i305. Those nerves did surface as we sat down for a Row 7 ride after a 15 minute wait. Thankfully it wasn’t the 45 minute wait the app had showed.
Just like with Timbers, I could immediately tell that Sam was digging this Intamin giga. Just check out how happy she looks in the ride photo we grabbed down below. I’m glad she liked it. I had another mixed feelings ride, as I always seem to do with it, however. While I don’t hate this ride, i305 has never been among my favorites. With how much Skyrush grew on me in 2020, I was hoping that i305 might do the same. After one ride here in 2021, that’s not the case yet. It might actually slide down a couple spots, but I’m going to go back and ride it a few more times to see.
It’s not that it’s a bad ride, or two intense. I just have always felt like after the drop, turn around, and a moment or two of airtime, the ride isn’t that interesting. Sure, it has the speed, but I have always been left wanting more.
Final Ride Counts
Anaconda (1)
Apple Zapple (1)
Dominator (1)
Flight of Fear (1)
Grizzly (1)
Intimidator 305 (1)
Racer 75: North (1)
Twisted Timbers (3)
We'll Be Back for the Rest
As you can tell by the Final Ride Counts above, we weren’t able to ride Backlot Stunt Coaster, Woodstock Express, or the Great Pumpkin Coaster. The park wasn’t running the south side of Racer 75, but thankfully, Sam has that credit. And of course, Avalanche is down for the year, but she has that one too.
I’m expecting Sam will be able to grab her missing credits and some of the park’s flat rides easily during our next visit. There’s a certain log flume that Sam now wants to ride since she found out how much fun they can. She found that out the following day, as a matter of fact, when we made our way up to Knoebels for the first time in 2021. That trip report is coming soon.
Kings Dominion Photo Gallery - May 31, 2021
If you would like to use any of the images in the gallery above for your 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
Captain
New Credit(s): Anaconda, Apple Zapple, Dominator, Flight of Fear, Grizzly, Intimidator 305, Racer 75 (North), Twisted Timbers
