Tag: Geauga Lake

Having a great time at Kings Dominion

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Kings Dominion

International Street

When you enter the park, you immediately find yourself on International Street with the large fountain in front of the Eiffel Tower. To the right and left of the fountain, a number of shops and cafés invite you to take a stroll. All around are the entrances to the individual areas of the theme park. The Eiffel Tower, built by Intamin, towers above everything and offers a marvellous view of the entire park.

Berserker

While the Kings Island theme park has a large pirate boat from Intamin, Kings Dominion goes one step further and transports passengers overhead. Beserker is one of the most powerful looping starships I have ever had the pleasure of riding. It only takes three full swings to reach an upside-down position. What a ride! It’s just a shame that this type of ride has become so rare.

Dominator

The Dominator roller coaster dominates the left-hand side of International Street. The coaster owes its rather unusual track layout to its location at the now closed Geauga Lake theme park, where it was in operation between 2000 and 2007. The coaster has been at Kings Dominion since 2008.

The ride on the Dominator starts with a small drop out of the station. This is followed by an S-curve and a turn before entering the lift hill. Once we reach an exit height of 157ft, a pre-drop is followed by an immediate descent. We pick up speed in a very steep right turn before entering the huge loop. At full throttle, we go through a right turn close to the ground and a big steep turn high above the station to the next element: a cobra roll. We also enter this element with a lot of speed and pressure. A long ramp then leads us into a block brake. After another drop, we enter the interlocking corkscrews, where we’re tossed back and forth nicely. A steep banked turn and a couple of ground hugging banked turns lead us into the brake section of the ride.

Dominator is a very intense coaster. The layout, which is rather untypical for B&M, has a few highlights, including the Cobra Roll, which is really interestingly placed here. Thanks to the quick turnaround I was able to do a few laps on this coaster.

Planet Snoopy

As in Kings Island, the Planet Snoopy children’s area in Kings Dominion is remarkably large. Originally opened as the Happy Land of Hanna-Barbera, this area has been entertaining its target group since the 1970s. Over the course of time, this area was expanded again and again before the children’s channel Nickelodeon claimed large parts of the themed area for itself with Paramount. In the year of the takeover by Cedar Fair, the remaining Hanna-Barbera rides were also remodelled. When the licence agreement with Nickelodeon expired in 2010, the decision was made to use the well-known Peanuts characters, as in the other parks in the group.

Great Pumpkin Coaster

The Great Pumpkin Coaster is located in the centre of the Planet Snoopy themed area. This is a small family roller coaster built by E&F Miler Industries in 1997, which has a fairly compact layout and is only suitable for families with small children. For this reason, and because of the somewhat longer waiting time, I decided not to take a ride.

Woodstock Express

Next door is the Woodstock Express, the smallest of the three wooden roller coasters at Kings Dominion. The ride through the compact layout of the completely blue painted coaster starts after a short right turn with the ascent of the lift hill. Once at the top, it’s straight into the first drop. At around 35 miles per hour, we speed through the first valley before taking a turn. After another descent, we race over a small speed bump before crossing the wooden structure and taking another turn on the other side of the track. It’s all uphill and downhill for a while before we dive into the wooden structure below the first bend and follow its course. Back out in the open, we enter a small dip before reaching the coaster’s braking section where the fun and excitement of the wooden roller coaster comes to an end.

Boo Blasters on Boo Hill

The interactive dark ride Boo Blasters on Boo Hill was originally opened in 2004 under the name Scooby-Doo! and the Haunted Mansion. Back then, the ride in the Mystery Machine still took you through two-dimensional scenes with the characters from the well-known Hanna-Barbera series, in which you could trigger your own effects and unmask the villain at the end. Now there are only ghosts. It’s still very kitschy and nicely done, but unfortunately Boo Blasters on Boo Hill doesn’t capture the spirit of the original attraction, although the queue through the swamp is really well done and gives the ride an eerily beautiful atmosphere.

Jungle X-pedition

The new Jungle Expedition themed area shows just how well Cedar Fair can design its areas if they want to.  The main attraction in this area is the new Tumbili roller coaster – a free spin roller coaster from S&S – which was only doing a few test rides in the afternoon during my visit and was otherwise closed all day.

Reptilian

The Avalanche roller coaster used to run in typical Swiss bobsleigh track style with trains from different nations through a white channel decorated with rubber abrasion. Today, the ride is called Reptilian and the track is bright orange. The trains are now also standardised.

After the lift hill, we slowly pick up speed in a helix. With a little speed, we first go over a long ramp and through a block brake. This is followed by several left and right turns in quick succession. Finally, we race through a downhill helix, which is immediately followed by an uphill helix. After this brilliant finale, we reach the final brake and our fun ride unfortunately comes to an end.

Backlot Stunt Coaster

Passing Arachnidia – an Eli Bridge Scrambler from 1976 – we head to the backlot stunt coaster. Opened as Italian Job: Turbo Coaster in the days of Paramount, the coaster is a special effects coaster from Premier Rides and, as the name suggests, boasts a number of special effects. The compact ride also offers a few other surprises.

The first is right at the beginning of the ride. The launch into the car park, where you then spiral upwards in a tighter and tighter helix, is a brilliant and above all breathtaking start. Never before have I been pressed so hard into my seat. After the 900° helix, there is only a short breather as the descent is immediately steep. In the valley, we take small, gentle bends past police cars, advertising billboards and containers. At the end of the passage we change direction in an Immelmann bend before climbing a hill. After a short right-hand bend, a wide left-hand bend brings us back down into the valley. Shortly after this we come to the big special effects scene. A helicopter is attacked with a lot of noise and a fire effect is triggered, at least in theory. Shortly afterwards we are accelerated through a tunnel. This is followed by a steep turn to the right before changing direction and heading towards the light at the end of the tunnel. We then pass through a dried-up pool of water and after another turn, the end of the ride awaits.

The Backlot Stunt Coaster is a very interesting roller coaster with nice ride elements and a lot of effects that are unfortunately no longer used in the park. The ride is very fast and surprisingly intense due to the start in the triple helix. In any case, the former Blockbuster coaster is great cinema at Kings Dominion!

Anaconda

I love big Arrow looping coasters and was very excited to ride Anaconda after riding Kings Islands Vortex. From the outside at least, the big looping coaster looks very promising.

After climbing the 128-foot lift hill, the ride descends in a long, steep turn. The ride then enters a tunnel just above the water surface. After the very pressurised valley we climb a long ramp followed by a very intense loop. Still at high altitude, we then enter a sidewinder. Then we reach the coaster’s block brake. Now the track gets a bit weird as we make our way through an interestingly curved figure of eight with rather strange transitions. In a long right turn we approach the coaster’s two corkscrews, which are taken very slowly. After a short hill and a left turn we reach the brakes.

Anaconda is a very uneven coaster, where the beginning of the ride is really strong, the middle part is bizarre and the end is a bit too slow. The loop and sidewinder are the highlights of the ride and are great fun. After the block brake the coaster loses some of its momentum. The figure of eight element is a bit strange to ride. The corkscrews are slow and almost uncomfortable. Conclusion: Great start, mediocre finish.

Flight of Fear

In the same year as Kings Island’s Flight of Fear, Kings Dominion opened the same coaster. Both coasters are pioneers in the use of LIM modules on roller coasters. Again, the queue is a good introduction to the space flight that follows.

As at Kings Island, the launch takes place directly from the station. Now at full speed, you immediately enter the powerful Cobra Roll, before hurtling across the floor of the hall after two headstands. After a powerful valley, we immediately enter a sidewinder before cruising through the upper part of the track. After a couple of turns, we are slowed down a little in a block brake before heading into the lower part of the course. In a constant up and down, we spiral further and further down before changing direction after a wide left turn. We now quickly approach the floor of the arena, where we change direction again. After two more steep bends close to the ground, we unexpectedly find ourselves upside down in a corkscrew, whereupon we reach the braking section and shortly afterwards the exit station of the ride.

Flight of Fear is a very solid roller coaster with a really nice track and great scenery. Fortunately, the ride is a lot smoother than the one at Kings Island, which is why I always enjoy getting on this ride.

Intimidator 305

Probably the most spectacular roller coaster at Kings Dominion is Intimidator 305. Built by Intamin, the ride has a drop of 305 feet and sits very close to the ground.

The ride on the Intimidator 305 starts with a very fast lift, where the height of the ride becomes apparent as soon as you pass the nearby Drop Tower. The first steep drop then sends you hurtling at almost 90mph through a relatively tight radius turn, with the view becoming increasingly limited until all you can see is grey. But before our eyes go black, we regain height and immediately race over an airtime hill. Now we take a long left-hand turn close to the ground. After a short straight we continue to the left. This is followed by a series of fast turns. A long right-hander is followed by the second airtime hill of the circuit. Another hill leads us into a right-hander, which quickly turns into another left-hander. Shortly afterwards we enter the braking section of the coaster.

It’s not for nothing that the Intimidator 305 is Intamin’s knock-off machine. Although the first bend was softened after the first season, it still severely restricts your field of vision, but you regain full consciousness before the first crest at the latest. The following bends are taken quickly but very smoothly, although the final bends are somewhat unimpressive. All in all, the Intimidator 305 is a really good roller coaster, which scores points above all for the speed rush created by the close-to-ground layout.

Candy Apple Grove

The Candy Apple Grove is the large midway of Kings Dominion with numerous rides to the right and left of it. Here you will find the classic Dodgem bumper cars, a carousel, the Wave Swinger, the HUSS Troika Mad Apple and the large Ferris wheel Americana.

Delirium

Another highlight in this themed area is the Mondial Revolution Delirium. Compared to the swing ride of the same name in Kings Island, the ride here is much more dynamic, which is also due to the pleasingly faster rotation of the gondola. Unfortunately, the monotonous rotation in only one direction is present here too.

Drop Tower and Windseeker

Together with the Windseeker, the Drop Tower towers above Candy Apple Grove. While the Windseeker allows a wild flight over the area on windless days, the Drop Tower offers a free fall from a height of 83 metres for up to 56 people at a time. As always with Intamin, the drop is very, very good.

Racer 75

When Kings Island opened, the two-lane wooden roller coaster The Racer was the star of the park, being the longest, highest and fastest roller coaster in the world at the time. So it’s no surprise that it was also included in the opening of Kings Dominion, albeit under the name Rebel Yell. With the opening of the Candy Apple Grove themed area, the name was changed to Racer 75.

The ride on the two tracks of Racer 75 starts with the front turn, after which the two tracks meet a few metres down the track and climb the lift hill together. Meanwhile, riders have plenty of time to cheer each other on, which also helps to build team spirit within their own train – after all, everyone wants to win together. As is so often the case, the first train plunges into the abyss while the second has just reached the top. After a steep valley, the track leads over a rather low hill, followed by a bunny hop, before the two trains separate on the next ridge. As one train heads left, the other turns right. With a lot of momentum and airtime, we now head through another valley with a hill, at the end of which the rear turn awaits. While it was easy to follow the other train up to this point, it becomes a little more difficult on the way back to the station. After another descent and a wonderful airtime hill, we reach the section we have already travelled. Parallel to this, we now race over a series of smaller airtime hills before finally disappearing into the support structure of the first drop and even being confronted with a dark tunnel on our way to the braking section. Shortly afterwards we return to the station.

The ride on the Racer 75 scores points mainly for the great view over the park, at least when only one of the two tracks is in operation, as was the case on the day I visited. The ride on the Racing Coaster with its many airtime bumps and out-and-back design is just as much fun, but without the second track something is missing.

Apple Zapple

At the very end of the Candy Apple Groove themed area is the Wild Mouse Apple Zapple. Right at the beginning of the ride, visitors experience a big drop before going through hairpin bends and over hills again towards the end. All in all, a pretty fast-paced family rollercoaster.

Twisted Timbers

The Hurler roller coaster was long regarded as one of the worst wooden roller coasters in the world. The ride through the layout characterised by ground-level turns had no real highlights to offer in addition to the rather poor ride characteristics. In 2018, the roller coaster was converted by RMC into Twisted Timbers.

The ride on Twisted Timbers begins directly with a right-hand turn that takes us up the ride’s lift hill. Once at the top, the ride initially takes a left-hand bend, which then leans more and more to the side and finally turns into a roll. With momentum, we then head through the first valley, over a speed bump and through a steep turn before heading over three airtime hills. A skilful change of direction in a cutback element leads over another series of airtime bumps. Then it’s through another turning curve and another roll. After a Bayernkurve, it’s back to the station via some more airtime bumps. Shortly afterwards, we hit the brakes.

Twisted Timbers is a fantastic roller coaster and finally an RMC with inversions that I could ride all day without any problems. This is mainly due to the fact that the roller coaster here doesn’t race over the numerous airtime hills as aggressively as other comparable rides. Without almost breaking your thighs, the ride is simply more fun. In this respect, Twisted Timbers is currently the best RMC roller coaster I’ve had the chance to ride.

Old Virginia

The Old Virginia themed area is mainly characterised by the two large water rides Shenandoah Lumber Co. and White Water Canyon, which are located right next to each other. Unfortunately, both rides had not yet started their season, so I was unable to test them on the day of my visit.

Grizzly

Located in the woods of the Old Virginia themed area, the Grizzly wooden coaster is hard to spot. After entering the ride through the gift shop, the expedition can begin. We approach the lift hill of the ride in a long left turn. At the top we immediately take the drop and turn left. After a climb, we go through a long left turn. The second drop takes us straight into an airtime hill and shortly after into a tunnel with another airtime hill. We then change direction in a big turn. A hill then takes us next to the track we have already experienced. Here we go over another airtime hill before taking another turn. Finally, a series of airtime hills leads us to the braking section of the ride.

Grizzly is a very good wooden roller coaster. The ride is so out of control that it is hard to believe. Although the ride’s statistics are not that surprising, the layout has a lot to offer. It’s just a very wild roller coaster ride.

Pictures Kings Dominion

Conclusion Kings Dominion

As with its sister park, I really enjoyed my visit to Kings Dominion. Although the park is not quite as big, it also impresses with a really strong portfolio of rides and rollercoasters. Due to the relatively low crowds on the day I visited, I was able to try out all the rides without any difficulty and got through everything relatively quickly. It was just a shame that the new Tumbili rollercoaster had problems on the day I visited. I will definitely be back again at some point.

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Kings Dominion / The Stumbled Runner Day 1

Goodbye America, Hello Germany

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After the quite exhausting and exciting day in Kings Island I luckily did not have to drive very far, because my hotel was practically next door. I stayed overnight in Baymont Mason, where the staff gave me the tip to go to Cedar Point. Too bad that this one starts one month after my roller coaster trip into the season. But somehow this is a peculiarity of the inhabitants of Ohio. Everybody misses Geauga Lake, most people think Kings Island is kind of outdated and everybody loves Cedar Point. At the same time Kings Island is one of the most perfect theme parks around.

After the night at the hotel I was drawn to the road for the last time, where I found myself once again at the airport in Akron after a four hour drive. Here I returned my rental car with a slight delay, which was also inspected immediately. Shortly after that I checked in my luggage and for whatever reason my suitcase was a bit too heavy this time. So I got rid of an old towel and stuffed as much as possible into my hand luggage.

After the security check I spent some time in the small food court. After a much too crowded hamburger at Arby’s, which I found hard to hold with both hands, I spent the rest of the time at the bar of the Great Lakes Brewing Company. One or two good beers later it was time to say goodbye again.

Now I took a small plane directly to Philadelphia, where I changed to my flight to London. Since the flight this time was not as tightly seated as the flight from London to New York, I can highly recommend this route, besides the PHL is a really nice airport.

Early in the morning I landed at Heathrow and had to kill some time before my flight to Hamburg. So I decided to take the underground into the city, where I had breakfast in a wetherspoon at Leicester Square. A few hours later I took the plane to Hamburg, where my brother was already waiting for me.

With him I first went to the Reeperbahn, from where I continued by bus and train to my aunt and told her about the whole trip. Until the evening everything was fine, but the jet lag should not be too long in coming. The very next day I went back to work and I was exhausted.

Nevertheless, the effort of the last nine days was absolutely worth it. Texas Round-Up was my first tour through America and a very special one at that. Of course I wouldn’t have done it in this form if I hadn’t spent a month with my colleagues in Akron before, as the period itself is not really ideal for roller coaster trips through the USA as most parks were still closed. Nevertheless, I made the most of my opportunities and gained a lot of experience, which I still like to share. Texas at least was great and the rest of the country too!

Texas Round-Up Day 9 and 10

The Steel Eel

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History of SeaWorld San Antonio

What hasn’t one already heard about SeaWorld Parks. The park in Orlando has been one of the most famous amusement parks in the world since the 1970s, and the park in San Diego, California, has been offering a successful – albeit still rather critical – mixture of animal and amusement park since 1964. The most exotic park in 1970 was the one in Ohio, which, in agreement with the nearby amusement park Geauga Lake, only featured marine animal shows. Shortly before the takeover by Anheuser-Busch, the fourth and last SeaWorld Park in San Antonio followed in 1988.

First of all, it is important to note that only people who come to the park especially for the marine animals will be satisfied. Thanks to the current expansion offensive on the part of the amusement park, this may change at some point, but without the shows, SeaWorld San Antonio undoubtedly offers far too little for the extremely high admission price.

Tour of the park

Super Grovers Box Car Derby

Now that that has been cleared up let’s start our tour through the theme park. Right at the beginning we come across the large children’s area Sesame Street Bay of Play. Here you’ll find an oversized playground and a handful of selected children’s rides, including the Super Grovers Box Car Derby roller coaster. Known as the Shamu Express until 2018, it featured an orca-shaped train. After the recent rebranding, Grover guides us in his soapboxes through the oval-shaped layout by the manufacturer Zierer.

Steel Eel

Since some areas of the park were closed for annual ticket holders, I was forced to head for the park’s biggest roller coaster, the Steel Eel.

This roller coaster from Morgan has been in the park since 1999 and features the typical out & back layout of the manufacturer. The Steel Eel is the smallest representative of its kind – which fortunately doesn’t mean anything, because the steel eel knows how to entertain its riders very well.

After a short dip out of the station, the train immediately enters a curve, which releases the train into the lift. Arriving at a starting height of 46m, you immediately rush down the increasingly steep first shot. With a speed of65 mph and a good pinch of positive G-forces, the train goes straight through the valley. On the following camelback hills we are lifted out of our seats twice in the most beautiful floating airtime manner, before we head for another valley close to the ground. Immediately afterwards we are already approaching the intermediate brake. With noticeably reduced speed we turn into a steep turn, which serves as a prelude for the brilliant bunnyhop finale. The speed rush takes us over several smaller and smaller hills, which can tear you out of your seat. Last but not least we cross a supply track in a wide S-curve before we reach the braking track of the layout.

The Steel Eel is a great roller coaster with a good amount of floating airtime, which probably gets even more when the coaster is run in and under the (more normal) Texan temperatures. At least I had a lot of fun on this ride, but unfortunately the dispatch was very slow, because first the seatbelt and then the bar are checked, which means you only saw the train rolling over the track every 5-10 minutes.

Wave Breaker – The Rescue Coaster

At the nearby Wave Breaker, fortunately, things looked a bit different and after a short wait, it was possible to go on a rescue mission sitting in the first row. After a short turn you get your mission briefing in a hangar, before you accelerate via a friction wheel launch. Immediately you go up a hill in a slight turn, which you leave in a wide steep turn. After two ground-near swings, you’ll make a right turn, followed by some ground-near maneuvers. A steep left turn leads us to the second launch section, which presses you into the backrest as usual. This is also followed by a high hill, which you leave in a steep left turn. Once again on the ground, we whizz across the lake in slight swings before we make our way back after a left turn. This takes us over a multitude of very flat hills and pressure-laden passages before we even reach the braking section of the layout.

Wave Breaker: The Rescue Coaster is a very cool roller coaster with a beautiful pacing and a good flow. It is a lot of fun to ride over the high hills and ground level passages. Of course the ride is not comparable to Djurs Sommerland’s Juvelen or Le Pal’s Yukon Quad, but this roller coaster is an excellent and welcome addition to the otherwise rather meager portfolio of the amusement park.

Great White

A good nine years after the amusement park opened its doors for the first time, SeaWorld San Antonio presented its first roller coaster to visitors. The Great White is the seventh delivery of the popular Batman layout from the manufacturer B&M and at that time the only ride of its kind in Texas. Compared to the rides at Six Flags Fiesta Texas and Six Flags Over Texas, the Great White is the one where the park took the most effort and adapted the terrain to the ride’s layout. The result is a wonderful ride, which even after more than 20 years of operation is largely without any parallel. The ride through the two loops, the Zero-G Roll and the two corkscrews is simply timeless and mercilessly intense.

Rio Loco

An equally timeless classic are rapid rides. The ride through the rapids is always a refreshing experience, especially since there is also a waterfall here that catches everyone in the boat. The Rio Loco was my first rafting ride through a waterfall and is therefore especially memorable. As well as the Arab family, who entered here with a big suitcase. I have seen a lot of things in amusement parks, and it remains a mystery to me that the employees let them ride.

Sea Swinger and Riptide Rescue

This year, a new area is being created with Turtle Reef, where the rescue of sea turtles will probably be the theme. However, the aquarium was still under construction. The two associated rides Sea Swinger and Riptide Rescue could already be tested. These are a Zamperla Discovery and a HUSS Airboat.

Journey to Atlantis

The last attraction on our trail along the central lake is the Mack Rides SuperSplash Journey to Atlantis. The water roller coaster is similar to the Atlantika SuperSplash from Europa Park, but does without the small hill during the final descent, making the ride more like a classic Shoot the Chute. The wetness level of the ride is however very manageable.

In the end, all that remains is the animal shows and show feeding. Since the combined entrance ticket with the water park Aquatica San Antonio was a little bit cheaper online than the regular entrance ticket, I was drawn to the neighboring water park until the show One Ocean.

One Ocean

Just in time for One Ocean I got myself a tasty beer at the Food & Wine Festival and then watched the orca show. Generally I’m glad to have seen a whale up close, but the show itself was a waste of time and largely consists of soaking the visitors in the front rows with salt water. This was well received, after all it has been part of the concept since the 70s, but honestly, you don’t have to see the show.

Pictures SeaWorld San Antonio

Conclusion SeaWorld San Antonio

SeaWorld San Antonio is a huge theme park, but it lacks attractions. Fortunately, the original concept has been heavily criticized nowadays, forcing the park to expand massively in order to survive at all. The animal shows will give way to another range of attractions over time, so you can look forward to the future of the amusement park with great anticipation.

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SeaWorld San Antonio / Texas Round-Up Day 4