Six Flags/John Reilly: Sell KD Now

[SweetBabyJames]

This might be the most idiotic rant about Kings Dominion I’ve ever read. Uh, Kings Dominion is getting new rides, new live shows (8 of them this year) and has been getting much upgraded restaurants and venues since they hired an Executive Chef! In the last FIVE years they received Tumbili and Rapterra. Grizzly was re-tracked. That’s maintenance. If you think that Rapterra is worst than “the big rides - Anaconda and Shockwave”, you are delusional. The #1 most ridden coaster in the park is Rapterra. You have no idea who the land is being sold to. They don’t need it. They have plenty of room for expansion. They are well aware of their electrical needs. They at one point had more launch coasters using more electricity than any other park on the east coast. You ABSOLUTELY cannot rationally say that it’s been clear since 2015 that Kings Dominion was not valued. Cedar Fair has continually invested in it. It was the first park in the chain to have an executive chef in order to improve the food. One can eat in Kings Dominion even if they need gluten free, are vegetarian or even vegan!
Busch Gardens is suffering. The neighborhoods around want no more thrill rides that are loud. They can’t build anything over the tree line with a vibrant color. They have no more land to expand and their parent company is in almost as dire of a situation as Six Flags. Hence the last few years have been refurbishments of existing rides (Darkoaster, Verbolten), family coasters like Big Bad Wolf that stay low to the ground and Rides with a absolutely no theming (looking at you Pantheon!). And, the Drop ride had to go away. Please come with a take that is actually educated and reasonable.

With the exception of some entertainment and food upgrade, everything you mentioned was decided pre merger. I think Kings Dominion is a phenomenal park and I believe Cedar Fair did a fantastic job with it. However I have much (much, much) less faith in the new Six Flags post merger putting the same kind of care into the park unfortunately. I want to see the park grow and flourish. It might do better in the hands of a different operator who will prioritize the park and show it the love it deserves.

 

[AmyUD06]

With the exception of some entertainment and food upgrade, everything you mentioned was decided pre merger. I think Kings Dominion is a phenomenal park and I believe Cedar Fair did a fantastic job with it. However I have much (much, much) less faith in the new Six Flags post merger putting the same kind of care into the park unfortunately. I want to see the park grow and flourish. It might do better in the hands of a different operator who will prioritize the park and show it the love it deserves.

Would I love to Herschend take over the park? Absolutely, that would be a best-case scenario for the park.

But would KD becoming the shining jewel, being "prioritized," by any other currently-existing park operator, Herschend included? Not a chance.

 

[Avalancher]

This might be the most idiotic rant about Kings Dominion I’ve ever read. Uh, Kings Dominion is getting new rides, new live shows (8 of them this year) and has been getting much upgraded restaurants and venues since they hired an Executive Chef! In the last FIVE years they received Tumbili and Rapterra. Grizzly was re-tracked. That’s maintenance. If you think that Rapterra is worst than “the big rides - Anaconda and Shockwave”, you are delusional. The #1 most ridden coaster in the park is Rapterra. You have no idea who the land is being sold to. They don’t need it. They have plenty of room for expansion. They are well aware of their electrical needs. They at one point had more launch coasters using more electricity than any other park on the east coast. You ABSOLUTELY cannot rationally say that it’s been clear since 2015 that Kings Dominion was not valued. Cedar Fair has continually invested in it. It was the first park in the chain to have an executive chef in order to improve the food. One can eat in Kings Dominion even if they need gluten free, are vegetarian or even vegan!
Busch Gardens is suffering. The neighborhoods around want no more thrill rides that are loud. They can’t build anything over the tree line with a vibrant color. They have no more land to expand and their parent company is in almost as dire of a situation as Six Flags. Hence the last few years have been refurbishments of existing rides (Darkoaster, Verbolten), family coasters like Big Bad Wolf that stay low to the ground and Rides with a absolutely no theming (looking at you Pantheon!). And, the Drop ride had to go away. Please come with a take that is actually educated and reasonable.

1. Rapterra is worse than VOLCANO. Delirium is certainly not an adequate replacement for a major coaster like Shockwave. Anaconda has not been replaced.

2. “You have no idea who the land is being sold to”
I seem to remember a brochure being posted somewhere on this forum which explicitly showed they were marketing the land to developers of AI data centers.

3. “You ABSOLUTELY cannot rationally say that it’s been clear since 2015 that Kings Dominion was not valued.”
It hasn’t been valued at the rate it was in the early 2000s. They only build a major new attraction about once a decade (major as in Rapterra, not Tumbili). They don’t retain their best people (see the park GM getting rehired at Carowinds).

4. “It was the first park in the chain to have an executive chef in order to improve the food.”
I’m almost certain this is false

 

[Avalancher]

KD has added three new adult-oriented coasters in the past decade. Comparing to the major legacy CF parks, that’s just one less than CP, one more than KI and CW, and two more than Carowinds and Knott’s received during the same timeframe. OP’s contention that KD has been uniquely neglected by the parent company doesn’t hold water.

OP’s argument is largely based on comparing KD’s current rate of adding attractions to what it was adding during the early 2000s, not to what other parks have been adding lately. It’s a bit of a disingenuous comparison because the entire industry is so different now than it was then. And we have two data points (2000s-era KD and current BGW) that suggest that focusing on investing in rides comes at a direct trade-off to investing in the park experience. I believe they’ve struck a more sustainable balance.

What is an “adult-oriented coaster”? You can’t seriously be comparing Tumbili to coasters like Copperhead Strike or Siren’s Curse.

Imagine a massive Vekoma tilt coaster in Shockwave’s old spot. Or a flying coaster in Anaconda’s old spot. Those would have been reasonable suggestions back around the time the park added Volcano, Hypersonic, Dominator, or Intimidator.

 

[Zachary]

Rapterra is worse than VOLCANO.

In what way? Ride experience? Disagree. Capacity? Disagree. Uptime? Disagree. Aesthetic? Agree.

Delirium is certainly not an adequate replacement for a major coaster like Shockwave.

A solid, large thrill ride replacing a horrible coaster everyone clowned on for years? There are definitely far worse sins than that...

Anaconda has not been replaced.

Good. Leave our lake alone.

It hasn’t been valued at the rate it was in the early 2000s. They only build a major new attraction about once a decade (major as in Rapterra, not Tumbili).

The degree to which a park is or is not valued has little to do with how frequently said park receives major thrill rides. Would you say Cedar Fair/Six Flags doesn't value Knott's because of how infrequently they receive major thrill attractions?

The experience at KD has improved astronomically since the days of stacking random thrill rides into the park every couple years. KD in 2026 is a VASTLY better place to be than KD in 2006.

 

[Mushroom]

What is an “adult-oriented coaster”? You can’t seriously be comparing Tumbili to coasters like Copperhead Strike or Siren’s Curse.

Do you think Tumbili is a kiddie ride? Is it meant for small children? I would think the definition is pretty obvious, and I held that definition constant across the numbers I cited, including coasters like CP's Wild Mouse.

Frankly, it seems like you're bitter that the entire industry isn't in the coaster-wars arms race of the 90s-2000s with coaster after coaster being installed in rapid succession. That's a change that's happened across the whole industry, not just KD.

 

[Mushroom]

1. Rapterra is worse than VOLCANO. Delirium is certainly not an adequate replacement for a major coaster like Shockwave. Anaconda has not been replaced.

2. “You have no idea who the land is being sold to”
I seem to remember a brochure being posted somewhere on this forum which explicitly showed they were marketing the land to developers of AI data centers.

3. “You ABSOLUTELY cannot rationally say that it’s been clear since 2015 that Kings Dominion was not valued.”
It hasn’t been valued at the rate it was in the early 2000s. They only build a major new attraction about once a decade (major as in Rapterra, not Tumbili). They don’t retain their best people (see the park GM getting rehired at Carowinds).

4. “It was the first park in the chain to have an executive chef in order to improve the food.”
I’m almost certain this is false

1. Outside of the mountain itself (whose infrastructure was known to be crumbling for YEARS before its removal), I don't see how Volcano was objectively better than Rapterra and how that claim could be anything more than just your personal opinion. Delirium (a flat) did replace Shockwave (a coaster), but Tumbili (a coaster) replaced The Crypt (a flat). I would argue that Shockwave and Tumbili are coasters of a similar scope and scale, so that seems like a wash to me. Anaconda was literally removed last year. How many coasters that were demolished with Six Flags' 2025 mass ride removal campaign have been replaced so far?

2. The only brochure that's been posted here doesn't say anything about AI data centers. It says the land is suitable for "modern manufacturing, logistics, and industrial operations."

3. The GMs across the entire company were let go last year. That wasn't unique to KD. Now that some of them have been brought back, they haven't all gone to the same park they were at before. Is Carowinds not valued by the company since their former GM was moved to Magic Mountain?

4. It's hard to say for sure, but I do remember KD's original executive chef (Chef Paul Maloney) making waves when he arrived in 2014 because it was a novel concept at the time for a Cedar Fair park to have an executive chef. Not having the time to research this whole thing myself, I did use ChatGPT deep research to see if I could pull a timeline together -- obviously AI needs to be taken with a grain of salt, but the sources it found do suggest that KD was the first Cedar Fair park outside Knott's to get an executive chef. Here's a link to the exact chat log for details and so you can see that the initial prompt didn't include any bias towards Kings Dominion.

 

[GASM]

Do you think Tumbili is a kiddie ride? Is it meant for small children? I would think the definition is pretty obvious, and I held that definition constant across the numbers I cited, including coasters like CP's Wild Mouse.

I hated Tumbili (happens when you don’t get a single flip and end up riding a rocking chair on wheels) but you’re right in that it’s very clearly a coaster intended for adults. Not liking a coaster doesn’t mean it’s not a thrill ride.

Free Spins serve a purpose in that they’re GP magnets. Enthusiasts may not generally care for them, but they keep some people out of the queues for rides we DO care about, and for that alone, they’re worthwhile in the parks that have them.

 

[bill s]

KI also got an executive chef in 2014, I think a little earlier than KD.

New executive chefs add flair to local food offerings

Three new executive chefs have been named at local organizations and while each have a hand in preparing menus and overseeing kitchen staff, the customers they serve vary widely.

www.journal-news.com

Ticket to Dine

Sitting down with the man behind the menu redesign of Richmond's nearest theme park.

richmondmagazine.com

KD Eateries - Interview with Kings Dominion's Chef Paul

Coaster Crew did a very nice interview with Chef Paul at Kings Dominion. There was some interesting tidbits thrown out by Chef Paul about the upcoming Haunt Dinners and a little on 2015 (nothing too specific at this point). Seems to be a nice guy. The interview was a tad drawn out and the audio...

parkfans.net

 

[Mojosdad]

Apparently Carowinds had executive chef in 2014 as well.