Intimidator 305 - Kings Dominion Giga coaster
- Thread starter Ben
- Start date
- Status
rollermonkey
Strata Poster
RollerCoasterFanatic said:
I'm impressed.
You can hear magnets?
:shock:
Anyways.
The guy in front of me in line (local, GP) said between Friday and Saturday, he'd gotten in 5 laps. His words sum it up well:
"You can put your hands up for the first drop, the big turn and the first hill, but after that, if you don't hang on, she'll beat you up pretty bad."
I dashed up yesterday, grabbed a lap and left. (No time to wait through that line for a 2nd lap.)
They seem to be having a bit of issues with the trains, as the silver train was off the course quite a bit on Friday, and they pulled the red one a few times yesterday.
With 2 trains, the line moves well. With one, not so much.
The lift is fast, the drop is epic, and the turn made me see purple and orange spots. If they don't trim the first drop, then a lot of people are going to black out.
I'm 5'9" and 180 lbs. (AKA average build and height.) Maverick and Stormrunner beat me up. I braced for impact, and I'm glad I did.
When the track rolls from vertical to banked, it's fine. When the track rolls from left banking to right banking in the same distance, it's unpleasant. I was able to keep from getting neckchopped because I was prepared.
IMHO, the ride is good, but needing to ride defensively is a detractor for me. Kawasemi is FAR more enjoyable, and I'll probably rank this somewhere between #30 and #50 out of 700+ steel coasters.
I'll be back up on Monday for a couple more laps, but I don't see my opinion being drastically adjusted from that.
gerstlauer
Mega Poster
rollermonkey said:
You can hear them well on the off-ride shots from TPR.
Snoo
The Legend
After watching some offride, you can definitely see the proof in rollermonkeys statement.. as many people do not have their hands up in any way. As he mentioned, even in Maverick or Storm Runner's transitions, people keep their hands up the whole ride (myself included), but this might be a bit different.
CreditCrazy
Hyper Poster
I think I can deal with not putting my hands up for the whole ride because of those transitions. The ride definitely looks like it's worth it.
rollermonkey
Strata Poster
SAW_gameover said:
This strikes me as humorous.
Maybe the wheels make more noise during that stretch, but magnetic forces are silent.
:?
andrus
Giga Poster
Well on drop towers you clearly can hear the magnetic brakes. Don't know whether it's the magnetics themselves or the airflow, but you can definitely hear them loud!rollermonkey said:
On coasters with magnetic brakes you can hear them as well, not just as clearly. So I guess it is quite plausible that you could hear magnetic brakes on very strong trims too (altough me myself couldn't hear them in the video).
rollermonkey
Strata Poster
andrus said:
I worked at Giant Drop at 6FGAm a LOT in 2008.
Magnetic brakes are silent.
The wheels make noise.
As the cars approach, the volume goes up because they get nearer.
'Nuff said.
Dunno what that 'whuddering' sound is, unless it's related to air resistance between the fins... Kind of like when you talk through turning fan blades?
I'm still calling it wheel noise.
andrus
Giga Poster
^Hmm, well it's the exact same sound on drop tower brakes as on magnetic brakes on roller coasters. Could be the wheels, could be airflow, as I said it's hard to judge where the sound come from. But it's definitely a unique sound that only appears when the train/gondola is approaching a magbreak.
And as for the "as the cars approach, the volume goes up because they get nearer" aspect, I can only say that when you're on a drop tower you can clearly hear the "'whuddering" sound when you hit the magbreaks and only when hitting the magbreaks (not on the upper bit of the tower).
I completely have no idea what makes the sound
but it is a unique sound that only appears when hitting a magbrake :wink:
And as for the "as the cars approach, the volume goes up because they get nearer" aspect, I can only say that when you're on a drop tower you can clearly hear the "'whuddering" sound when you hit the magbreaks and only when hitting the magbreaks (not on the upper bit of the tower).
I completely have no idea what makes the sound
but it is a unique sound that only appears when hitting a magbrake :wink:
bob_3_
Giga Poster
OHHHH so you knew he was on about the whole time, you were just being pedantic. Obviously you can't hear magnets, but you can hear the effects. So when someone says they can "hear the magnetic brakes" I'm sure you can figure out they can hear the effects of them. Jeez *rolls eyes*
A
Anonymous
Guest
Well I rode Timmy305 around 8x's on Friday, opening day, and I have to say that it is the best ride in the park, duh lol It's without a doubt the best thing that KD has. The lift is the same as MF, since it's using the cable lift, actually it seemed a little faster to me. The drop was great, especially since I hate the "stomach in your throat" feeling, and the elements were great. What I didn't like is that I got beat up pretty badly lol On the banked turns that came soon after the first airhill, I had my arms up and it jolted me like hell. When I got off the ride my arms were hurting, and I actually got bruises from where my arms where up against the OTSR while they were up. The speed on this ride is also phenomenal. I was told that the ride was clocked at going 103 MPH on the test runs on Thursday before the park opened. And I blanked out at some portions of the ride lol most notably after the drop going into the curve and over the first airhill, omg, I couldn't see **** lol
Also something good about the ride is that they have two separate lines for single riders and double riders. It makes the line go quicker. What I DIDNT like was the fact that you couldn't choose which row you wanted to sit in, they pretty much gave you assigned seats. The crew seemed to be on it as far as getting the breakdowns fixed, it happened only twice out of the 8 times while i was in line for the ride, so that's not bad. They did take the silver car off the track later in the evening when the park started to get more crowded, which didn't make sense to me. It did slow load time down.
The other rides in the park did seem to take a backseat to Timmy305, as expected. Volcano only operated with one train and short staff. I waited longer to get on that than I did on Timmy. But I had a hell of a time, I'll be going back to KD in May to ride it a couple more times
Also something good about the ride is that they have two separate lines for single riders and double riders. It makes the line go quicker. What I DIDNT like was the fact that you couldn't choose which row you wanted to sit in, they pretty much gave you assigned seats. The crew seemed to be on it as far as getting the breakdowns fixed, it happened only twice out of the 8 times while i was in line for the ride, so that's not bad. They did take the silver car off the track later in the evening when the park started to get more crowded, which didn't make sense to me. It did slow load time down.
The other rides in the park did seem to take a backseat to Timmy305, as expected. Volcano only operated with one train and short staff. I waited longer to get on that than I did on Timmy. But I had a hell of a time, I'll be going back to KD in May to ride it a couple more times
CreditCrazy
Hyper Poster
I'm really hoping they change the assigned seating policy. From what I've heard, i305 is a completely different ride in the front, and I'm really hoping I'll be able to experience it there...
- Status