When Volcano first opened, there were tons of people comparing it to Alpengeist even though the only similarities they had were the inverted style seating, and despite that we saw it become the most popular steel coaster in the KD's history.
Project 2025/Caldera: Rapterra (Launched B&M Wing Coaster)
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When Volcano first opened, there were tons of people comparing it to Alpengeist even though the only similarities they had were the inverted style seating, and despite that we saw it become the most popular steel coaster in the KD's history.
Also honest question, what percentage of KD and BGW guests could we even estimate "frequent" both parks.
I’d imagine this number is pretty high for guests in Virginia. It’s not hard to get to both from much of the state. The once a year out of towers visiting BGW, not so muc.
Does that only have one train? It looks like it is limited to one train. Maybe not ideal, though it does look fun.
Because it’s swing launched (through the station) it’s on 1 train
Also hi I’m back from the dead everyone
I would assume Gerstlauer can do full layouts with this model. All it takes is a check and an engineer. This was just their first one.
Kings Dominion more than anything else needs a GP pleasing ride. From what I've seen, Dominator, a 20+ year old bottom-tier B&M Floorless, is consistently a GP favorite, and gets waits comparable to Twisted Timbers, one of the better RMC's in the country from 2018. As much as a lot of enthusiasts don't wanna hear it, I think the best option is some B&M floater airtime machine, preferably a wing. It seems like a safe bet the park would (and should) take.
I think Dominator's popularity is in part due to its location in the park. Right near the front gate.
They do need another coaster that pleases the general public but if they’re using a wing coaster it would be smaller than average, probably up to the size of X-Flight. There was literally a leak for a potential new wing coaster where Volcano was and we all know how that turned out with enthusiasts.
I think what they truly need is an attraction that is both general public friendly and somewhat punchy for enthusiasts. If they did get a launch B&M wing coaster that would be something. But Thunderbird was $22 million, even though it’s only 35 feet longer than X-Flight. How on earth did THAT cost so much.
I disagree with Dominator being a bottom-tier floorless, but I 1000% agree that they need another big GP-pleaser at KD. The coaster enthusiasts have their crazy positive/negative g's with I-305 and TT respectively; let's get a big, smooth B&M (launch preferred)! I-305 is my all-time favorite coaster, but as an enthusiast myself, I'd prefer a more tame, large coaster addition.
FYI, the general public is the vast majority of who rides the intense rides, and all rides, not enthusiasts.
I concur with a more “crowd friendly” attraction being needed. After my visits to Kings Island, Cedar Point, and Carowinds in recent years, it’s certainly more illustrated to me because those parks have quite a few of these. KD has a far more “quirky” lineup compared to these (however I will state I STRONGLY prefer KDs supporting cast to Carowinds by MILES it’s not close for me).
That perception is certainly derived for me from the presence of 3-4 B&Ms, Copperhead Strike, Mystic Timbers, and Millennium Force at those parks all very smoooooth relatively graceful (Fury is not but certainly more graceful than our Giga and its quest to remove our faces and Vortex is the biggest piece of sh*t B&M in the east) rides that a lot of people really seem to enjoy riding. KD you’ll hear a lot of comments from parkgoers about “Twisted Timbers (or the “wooden one in the back”) hurts my thighs” “I305 jerks me too hard and made me black out” while the rides at the other parks, I’m sure get a few complaints, it’s not “pain” “jerking” or “blacking out” okay maybe at the bottom of the Giga drops for some with certain health issues or just certain conditions in general.
All that said when it comes to this hobby I just hope whatever they decide to add is really fun and awesome and I will try my hardest to let go of any “disappointment” I feel about the result because at the end of the day I’m just happy a major new attraction is going up. There are certainly exceptions like I wouldn’t be thrilled if we received a surf coaster but I’d be there the first day to ride it almost certainly.
That perception is certainly derived for me from the presence of 3-4 B&Ms, Copperhead Strike, Mystic Timbers, and Millennium Force at those parks all very smoooooth relatively graceful (Fury is not but certainly more graceful than our Giga and its quest to remove our faces and Vortex is the biggest piece of sh*t B&M in the east) rides that a lot of people really seem to enjoy riding. KD you’ll hear a lot of comments from parkgoers about “Twisted Timbers (or the “wooden one in the back”) hurts my thighs” “I305 jerks me too hard and made me black out” while the rides at the other parks, I’m sure get a few complaints, it’s not “pain” “jerking” or “blacking out” okay maybe at the bottom of the Giga drops for some with certain health issues or just certain conditions in general.
All that said when it comes to this hobby I just hope whatever they decide to add is really fun and awesome and I will try my hardest to let go of any “disappointment” I feel about the result because at the end of the day I’m just happy a major new attraction is going up. There are certainly exceptions like I wouldn’t be thrilled if we received a surf coaster but I’d be there the first day to ride it almost certainly.
Now this would be interesting. If they could get like an actual thrill layout with this ride. That could be epic
I also think something GP friendly is NEEDED. A fast intense launch ofc but the rest of the ride be graceful with larger elements and floater airtime. The combo should be a home run.
There’s this thing about a feline temple and a hawk temple both of which are still undiscovered. We all know about those. But at Flat Rock landmark there’s also a labyrinth pattern filling the middle and phases of the lunar cycle adorning the outer ring. As mentioned in the article by KDFans about the hidden details of the jungle, it is most uncertain what these two details could mean. Are they alluding to something coming in the future? Maybe something to fill the caldera between the reptile temple and the building housing the Bureau of Paranormal Activity?
Fair, I am a little biased considering I am right at the perfect height for head-banging on old-school B&M restraints, so this one especially is rough for me haha. But I also personally would love to see a smooth ride with generally unrestricting restraints and a unique sensation for the park. I am an enthusiast who loves variety, quality, and theming more than anything else, and those three things are what KD desperately needs in their upper-tier of coasters IMO.
Omg I rode gate keeper for the first time ever today and I was pleasantly surprised. I wasn’t expecting it to be bad, but wasn’t expecting to have as much fun on it as I did. Smooth graceful and pure fun. Wasn’t expecting the bit of floater airtime on the one camel back especially in the front. So I say all this to say I would be more than happy if kd got B&M wing, just as long as it has a longer layout than what was leaked. Oh! and a launch pretty pls
After my experience with Thunderbird and GateKeeper last year I developed a strong liking for Wings. No they’re definitely not your Hyper and Inverts, but they provide a very fun relaxing ride experience. The first time I rode Wild Eagle I remember thinking I was going to go flying into a support at one point during the ride. I’d probably slot Wings at my 3rd or 4th favorite B&M model which is why if one ever did come to KD, and in my opinion one would fit nicely I would be ecstatic. Even with the leaked layout from before, hell yeah we’d have a wing coaster here! Not a minimum 6.5 hours away!
Other Wild Eagle comment……..it’s a f*cking wing coaster on top of mountains. In no world is that a “weak” ride. “Oh it’s slow and graceful? Weird I usually like flying over mountains and being tricked into thinking I might hit trees and stuff. A hell of a lot better than Excel.” I mean the list of roller coasters I like more is longer than a lot of rides out there, sometimes rides like this one you just gotta enjoy a ride for what it is…….ya know unless you waited HOURS for it and it’s meh or sucks then the fun blinders definitely come off. *cough DarKoaster cough cough*
Other Wild Eagle comment……..it’s a f*cking wing coaster on top of mountains. In no world is that a “weak” ride. “Oh it’s slow and graceful? Weird I usually like flying over mountains and being tricked into thinking I might hit trees and stuff. A hell of a lot better than Excel.” I mean the list of roller coasters I like more is longer than a lot of rides out there, sometimes rides like this one you just gotta enjoy a ride for what it is…….ya know unless you waited HOURS for it and it’s meh or sucks then the fun blinders definitely come off. *cough DarKoaster cough cough*
Something is arriving in crates…
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