And after 11 days of amazing coaster riding, show watching, and hiking, we come to our last leg of the trip: King’s Dominion. We would be riding 11 of those world-class, Cedar Fair coasters that day and would get my coaster count of the trip up into the 40’s. That’s right, 40 different coasters that trip. And they were some of the best coasters I have been on and will definitely remember for the rest of my life.

We arrived early in the morning and headed straight to the newest kid on the block, Intimidator 305. This beast was awesome; I almost blacked out on the first turn, and the airtime was incredible. I just wished the trims weren’t on. Then the airtime would be as awesome as Skyrush. Because there was little wait time, we rode twice before heading to other attractions.

Next up was Flight of Fear. I really like this ride for the theming and the twistiness of the layout. I can never resist riding spaghetti bowl coasters; I just wish there were more from Premier. After Flight of Fear, we headed to a snake that would look better if it had a fresh coat of paint, Anaconda. I loved this ride, the head-banging was kept to a minimum, and the underwater tunnel was amazing. I just wish they would finish the repaint. Hurry up, Cedar Fair!

After Anaconda, we did Backlot, which didn’t have a huge wait. The difference between this ride and its King’s Island brother is that the last hill gives so much airtime that your stomach slams into your restraint, which hasn’t really happened to me before. After that we did Volcano, which had a pretty lengthy wait. It was worth it, however. My brother and I had the front row seat and an amazing ride. It is glass smooth, and the barrel rolls are amazing.

Next we did Avalanche, which I put with Mystery Mine in the “weird” category. It’s really the only thing I’ve been on that has a bobsled track. I don’t really count Disaster Transport, as it’s in the dark and you can’t really tell whether or not you’re on a track or trough. Hopefully Knoebels will open up Flying Turns soon, but I shouldn’t get my hopes up.

Next we went to the front of the park to experiene our favorite Boo Blasters and the Dominator. Boo Blasters was so much better than the one at King’s Island, since our fingers weren’t sore after getting off the ride. My brother and I both got high scores because of our boss shooting skills.

Now Dominator was amazing. It, in my opinion, has what should be the best inversion count for a floorless. Most floorless coasters are inversion after inversion after inversion, while Dominator throws in a couple turns in between elements. And I absolutely love the loop and the finale.

After Dominator, we did Berserker. This ride was awesome, great for thrill seekers. It is a lot like Meteor at Dorney Park except it’s more like a pirate ship. A great ride that I’m surprised I didn’t do before.


Next thing we did was get a pretty good meal at the country place in Old Virginia. I ordered a BBQ sandwich with mac n cheese, which I put hot sauce on; great meal. After that my brother and I did Shockwave. All I have to say is: what was TOGO thinking?!?! The loop was really weird, the helix was incredibly rough, and the turn after the first set of bunny hills had way too many lateral forces.

After that giant piece of Japanese coaster junk, we went to Rebel Yell. This is a very good ride with nice airtime and a classic feel of the old woodies. I also love the surprise tunnel at the end; I always forget about it. Hurler was next, which made my internal organs slap together much more than Mean Streak ever did. It might have been the lunch, but I didn’t enjoy the ride at all. We also did Grizzly, which I enjoyed much better than Hurler. It also has the same feel of classic wooden coasters, with some modern twists, like the one turnaround after the tunnel.

After Grizzly my brother and I rode the flyer ride they have. I love these types of rides, where you can control how high you go by just turning a rudder. It’s an amazing concept which transfers to an amazing ride.

My brother and I did one more go on Dominator, and then we headed home.

These two weeks of my life were some of the best I have experienced, with the night rides on Beast, twisting around on Thunderhead, meeting up at Busch Gardens, and flying down the first drop of Intimidator 305. But these two weeks were much more than that, as it helped us grow more as a family and helped us make some new friends. Two weeks can either make no difference in one’s life or a whole ton of difference, and those two weeks were definitely the latter of the two.