Knowing that the Volcano replacement is a ways off still, the thing that I'd most like to see in the short term is the return of a sky ride. Every park should have one. Especially one that can be used to get from point A to point B.
Bring Back the Skyride
- Thread starter Crunchewy
- Start date
The removal of the skyway and the train or two of the biggest pieces of damage the Paramount did to the park. The removal of both of these rides keep them from fully competing with Busch Gardens. Both are great family rides and both would be great Winterfest rides
Are Von Roll systems readily available at reasonable prices for parks nowadays?
I'm aware Disney did their whole mega-cabin thing (name escapes me for the moment) the other year ago, but is that a cheap ride any manufacturer has available off the shelf?
I'm aware Disney did their whole mega-cabin thing (name escapes me for the moment) the other year ago, but is that a cheap ride any manufacturer has available off the shelf?
Von Roll is defunct and their systems are not readily available or easily acquirable for parks to maintain their current rides under their name, let alone a new one.
Skyliner was made by Doppelmayer Garaventa and was estimated to cost in the neighborhood of $33 million for the whole project
I did not know that Von Roll was defunct. No wonder if the Skyride at BGW does down for maintenance it takes forever!
I feel like if you want to ride a skyride at Kings Dominion you’re gonna need a time machine or a contact at the TVA from Loki just based off how businesses do things the last 25 years. I mean that would be a wild temple to find for Professor Whey for one.
I do agree with the general thought of a transport ride, but can't see how any of those would work.
I think CAG's midway was fine for an out-and-back design, but pretty much anything else would either require redesigning pathway flows alongside working around/through/over/under existing structures or all of those park sections designed with the transport ride in mind.
I think CAG's midway was fine for an out-and-back design, but pretty much anything else would either require redesigning pathway flows alongside working around/through/over/under existing structures or all of those park sections designed with the transport ride in mind.
Doppelmayr bought out Von Roll, and still sells parts and service. The Oakland Zoo built one for $8 million back in 2017 from Doppelmayr. A basic lift isn’t really that expensive, and that’s before even getting into the used market.
The Oakland Zoo example is a super interesting one. That's a long gondola system (about 1/3rd of a mile according to Google Maps) and it travels over some real terrain. Not to mention the fact that building regulations in California typically cause projects like this to cost quite a bit more than they do in a place like Hanover County, VA. Maybe returning a sky ride of some sort to Kings Dominion isn't entirely out of the question....?
Might be time to split this discussion off into a Concept thread though...
The main issue with a Sky Ride style ride at a park like Kings Dominion is that unless it's a round trip style one (ala Hersheypark's, Dutch Wonderland's, Great Escape's, et al.) that it'd serve little to basically no transportation purpose in the park unless it was built between i305 and FoF and WWC and Shenandoah Lumber Company.
Parks have gotten rid of them more recently because of the added maintenance costs and the reduced ridership because guest traffic prefers to walk to their destinations instead of save the energy and take a ride across.
I'm gonna quote a youtube series I follow but any transportation aspirations KD could have in the future would be best serviced by a train, and not anything else.
Parks have gotten rid of them more recently because of the added maintenance costs and the reduced ridership because guest traffic prefers to walk to their destinations instead of save the energy and take a ride across.
I'm gonna quote a youtube series I follow but any transportation aspirations KD could have in the future would be best serviced by a train, and not anything else.
I'm glad I took my last ride on the train. It was boring and pointless after they got rid of the shows along it, which I can't remember experiencing. Not a transportation ride. The skyride wasn't a lot of help getting around either.
Lore at Brumfield's site:
www.dalebrumfield.net
www.dalebrumfield.net
Lore at Brumfield's site:
Part 24: Kings Dominion’s Old Dominion Line: Just a nice ride through the woods
On May 3, 1975 Kings Dominion formally opened to the public with a grand total of 16 rides and attractions after a “soft opening” the year before to introduce Lion Country Safari, the Scooby Doo roller coaster and a preview center. A quick review of the rides opening that year – the Rebel Yell...
www.dalebrumfield.net
Part 11: Sky Ride: Raw bacon and another billion moving parts to carry 900 people 250 yards per hour
A mainstay of 1970’s amusement park boom was the ubiquitous Skyride (also known as Skylift and Sky Gondola). They took many shapes and forms at parks around the country – some parks used them strictly as aerial novelties; the kind that carried people up in the air just to give them a birds-eye...
www.dalebrumfield.net
I agree that a train or monorail type transport ride would probably be the best, but per my earlier post, either would require a lot of reworking existing park infrastructure/structures to be a truly useful transport ride.
Yeah, they could bring back the trains as a show within a ride sorta thing, but it wouldn't serve as transport.
Honestly, I have a hard time thinking past RCT2 transport rides to fill this void, but are there any other ride types out there that could realistically fill KD's void?
Yeah, they could bring back the trains as a show within a ride sorta thing, but it wouldn't serve as transport.
Honestly, I have a hard time thinking past RCT2 transport rides to fill this void, but are there any other ride types out there that could realistically fill KD's void?
TLDW; you don't want one of these.
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I believe a couple of years ago when I was riding Grizzly, I was able to look down from the first turnaround and saw some tracks from the train still there. Idk if they’re still there or not, but it was still cool to see nonetheless.I'm glad I took my last ride on the train. It was boring and pointless after they got rid of the shows along it, which I can't remember experiencing. Not a transportation ride. The skyride wasn't a lot of help getting around either.
Lore at Brumfield's site:
Part 24: Kings Dominion’s Old Dominion Line: Just a nice ride through the woods
On May 3, 1975 Kings Dominion formally opened to the public with a grand total of 16 rides and attractions after a “soft opening” the year before to introduce Lion Country Safari, the Scooby Doo roller coaster and a preview center. A quick review of the rides opening that year – the Rebel Yell...Part 11: Sky Ride: Raw bacon and another billion moving parts to carry 900 people 250 yards per hour
A mainstay of 1970’s amusement park boom was the ubiquitous Skyride (also known as Skylift and Sky Gondola). They took many shapes and forms at parks around the country – some parks used them strictly as aerial novelties; the kind that carried people up in the air just to give them a birds-eye...
KD's train was a moving entertainment auditorium for the shows that were performed over approximately the first 10 years of the park operations. For the last 8-10 years of the train's existance, it was a 12-15 minute ride through the woods. Just to catch a little breeze and rest a spell. It was never originally designed as an in-park transportation system.
Course, any chance to modify the former steam train ride into an in-park transport system is long gone. It would have been feasible to try in the late 80's or early 90's. But, that did not happen.
With the expansion of CAG to the west, the waterpark to the south, and I-305 being built, I don't see much chance of the steam train making a comeback.
The former 2-way Vonn-Roll skyride was an in-park transport system. The only short-coming it had was it did not cover much distance. Many times, the wait in line to ride it was longer than to just go ahead and walk the same distance. But, it was a nice 3-4 minute ride with a view.
You went from the west CAG skyride station, next to the Rebel Yell/Racer '75 entrance, to the south HB kids land entrance where the junction of the Safari Village entrance and the east CAG entrance were located. The reverse happened if you caught the skyride from the HB skyride station.
There could be a possibility of bringing back a 2-way skyride of some sort to the park. One route I thought of would have a station where the skyflyer up-charge attraction is located (west CAG / south Old VA). The other station would be in the X-pedition area, south of the hungry hippo restaurant, somewhere across from BLSC. The new skyride would be 25%-30% longer than the old one and might be worth the wait for the distance covered. The only drawback I see with a new skyride is liability and emergency evac.
The last possibility for an in-park transport system, (and has the best chance of possibly being built in my opinion), would be an elevated monorail train system of some sort. It gives you the most flexibily as far as the number stations and where they would be located. The train track would be elevated 20-25 feet above ground. That would not impact pedestrian traffic and most vehicle traffic on the walkways/service roads.
There could be 3-4 stations in the park and, depending size/capacity of the trains, a fleet of 4 or 5 trains (probably one train as a spare for when another is off-line for maintenance or repair). The main drawback here is the cost of building and maintaining all of that track and the stations.
Course, any chance to modify the former steam train ride into an in-park transport system is long gone. It would have been feasible to try in the late 80's or early 90's. But, that did not happen.
With the expansion of CAG to the west, the waterpark to the south, and I-305 being built, I don't see much chance of the steam train making a comeback.
The former 2-way Vonn-Roll skyride was an in-park transport system. The only short-coming it had was it did not cover much distance. Many times, the wait in line to ride it was longer than to just go ahead and walk the same distance. But, it was a nice 3-4 minute ride with a view.
You went from the west CAG skyride station, next to the Rebel Yell/Racer '75 entrance, to the south HB kids land entrance where the junction of the Safari Village entrance and the east CAG entrance were located. The reverse happened if you caught the skyride from the HB skyride station.
There could be a possibility of bringing back a 2-way skyride of some sort to the park. One route I thought of would have a station where the skyflyer up-charge attraction is located (west CAG / south Old VA). The other station would be in the X-pedition area, south of the hungry hippo restaurant, somewhere across from BLSC. The new skyride would be 25%-30% longer than the old one and might be worth the wait for the distance covered. The only drawback I see with a new skyride is liability and emergency evac.
The last possibility for an in-park transport system, (and has the best chance of possibly being built in my opinion), would be an elevated monorail train system of some sort. It gives you the most flexibily as far as the number stations and where they would be located. The train track would be elevated 20-25 feet above ground. That would not impact pedestrian traffic and most vehicle traffic on the walkways/service roads.
There could be 3-4 stations in the park and, depending size/capacity of the trains, a fleet of 4 or 5 trains (probably one train as a spare for when another is off-line for maintenance or repair). The main drawback here is the cost of building and maintaining all of that track and the stations.
Cost is really the most limiting factor, but the other is space and views - it's hard to plan a refresh of a new section with a monorail in the picture, and depending on the route it may also need certain new ride layouts or positioning wouldn't be feasible.
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I love monorails, but monorails are the most expensive to instal and maintain between them, skyway and railroad. Disney chose a skyway over a monorail for that reason.
It’s a shame KD and KI once had all three and Carowinds had all three plus a sternwheeler. And now all of its gone except KI railroad.
It’s a shame KD and KI once had all three and Carowinds had all three plus a sternwheeler. And now all of its gone except KI railroad.
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Dumb thought, but could they use a coaster as a transport ride, assuming cost wasn't a constraint?
Not sure how it could be done without block brakes everywhere and not having that interesting of a layout or elements so that it'd be just as likely that kids would be able to ride alongside grand parents and pretty much everyone else.
Not sure how it could be done without block brakes everywhere and not having that interesting of a layout or elements so that it'd be just as likely that kids would be able to ride alongside grand parents and pretty much everyone else.
VB06Hokie
Mostly wit & sarcasm, but contributes occasionally
Does ODU still have that old maglev train hanging around?
