It's never too early to begin thinking about next season...
As everyone knows, this season is not the park's real 40th operating year, but it is 40 years since the preview opening back in 1974. 2014 was also the "off year" for Kings Dominion, even though it brought many changes to the inside of the park. That brings us to 2015.
Our last coaster was introduced as being a record breaking roller coaster standing at 305 feet tall and running at a max speed of 94 miles per hour, Intimidator 305, which was brought to us in 2010.
So that means its been 4 years since we have had a "big" attraction to say. So what will we see next? In 2012, Canada's Wonderland brought to life the first B&M giga coaster, Leviathan. In 2013, Cedar Point received Gatekeeper, a wing rider coaster which altered the park's entrance for the signature key hole element, Also in 2013, California's Great America opened up a new wooden ride, Gold Striker. This season, Kings Island is soaring to even bigger heights by opening their newest thrilling attraction, Banshee.
Is Kings Dominion next in line for the big attraction for the Cedar Fair parks? But if it is a roller coaster, who will be the manufacturer? And would it be steel or wood?
Last season, we saw 3 months + downtime by Intimidator 305 due to a believed faulty motor as well as a boat flipping over trapping riders under water briefly on Shoot the Rapids located at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. Both as these attractions built by Intamin AG. I305's extended downtime is not the only issue this ride has faced, but the ride received trim brakes shortly after opening and the first turn had to be re-profiled due to a miscalculation in forces which consequently melted the ride's wheel rapidly.
Personally, I think it's safe to say that Intamin AG will not be providing us a new coaster next season(if it is a coaster). That leaves us to another big coaster designer... Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M). Though it's been a rumor in that past that there was a contract between Busch Gardens Williamsburg and B&M that they couldn't build any of their products within a certain radius of BGW, that rumor may have slipped. In 2012, BGW launched Verbolten,a brand new launch coaster that travels indoors and out with a surprise "drop" element inside. Could this have broken the contact between the two companies? We obviously will never know. However, Kings Dominion's only B&M ride is Dominator, which was acquired in 2007 after Geauga Lake & Wildwater Kingdom closed to become strictly a water park and all their roller coasters and other attractions were relocated to other Cedar Fair parks. Then of course, various other designers such as Mack, GCI, ect. could all be choices depending on the ride.
So there's a few things to think about if we even receive a new coaster at all. I certainly wouldn't rule out any flat rides as well.
As everyone knows, this season is not the park's real 40th operating year, but it is 40 years since the preview opening back in 1974. 2014 was also the "off year" for Kings Dominion, even though it brought many changes to the inside of the park. That brings us to 2015.
Our last coaster was introduced as being a record breaking roller coaster standing at 305 feet tall and running at a max speed of 94 miles per hour, Intimidator 305, which was brought to us in 2010.
So that means its been 4 years since we have had a "big" attraction to say. So what will we see next? In 2012, Canada's Wonderland brought to life the first B&M giga coaster, Leviathan. In 2013, Cedar Point received Gatekeeper, a wing rider coaster which altered the park's entrance for the signature key hole element, Also in 2013, California's Great America opened up a new wooden ride, Gold Striker. This season, Kings Island is soaring to even bigger heights by opening their newest thrilling attraction, Banshee.
Is Kings Dominion next in line for the big attraction for the Cedar Fair parks? But if it is a roller coaster, who will be the manufacturer? And would it be steel or wood?
Last season, we saw 3 months + downtime by Intimidator 305 due to a believed faulty motor as well as a boat flipping over trapping riders under water briefly on Shoot the Rapids located at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. Both as these attractions built by Intamin AG. I305's extended downtime is not the only issue this ride has faced, but the ride received trim brakes shortly after opening and the first turn had to be re-profiled due to a miscalculation in forces which consequently melted the ride's wheel rapidly.
Personally, I think it's safe to say that Intamin AG will not be providing us a new coaster next season(if it is a coaster). That leaves us to another big coaster designer... Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M). Though it's been a rumor in that past that there was a contract between Busch Gardens Williamsburg and B&M that they couldn't build any of their products within a certain radius of BGW, that rumor may have slipped. In 2012, BGW launched Verbolten,a brand new launch coaster that travels indoors and out with a surprise "drop" element inside. Could this have broken the contact between the two companies? We obviously will never know. However, Kings Dominion's only B&M ride is Dominator, which was acquired in 2007 after Geauga Lake & Wildwater Kingdom closed to become strictly a water park and all their roller coasters and other attractions were relocated to other Cedar Fair parks. Then of course, various other designers such as Mack, GCI, ect. could all be choices depending on the ride.
So there's a few things to think about if we even receive a new coaster at all. I certainly wouldn't rule out any flat rides as well.
