Paramount King's Dominion: The Park

Ok, so our training starts only on Sunday (US time). The system here works like this: orientation are conducted on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Trainings are held every Tuesdays, Thursday and Sundays. I didn't know that, otherwise I would've chosen a better date to arrive. So, given this situation, we have our Saturday free. And since we already got our security cards made, we are allowed to enjoy the facilities of the park. The rest of this entry is going to be me going on and on about how fun the rides are...wahahaha!

It's a Saturday, yes, and that means the park will be crowded. And it was crowded! Another reason for the crowd was the weather. The weather was exceptionally good, meaning it was sunny. I got quite a tan while queuing for the rides, but it was an ugly one since I was wearing a t-shirt. Tan line you know. On most other days, it would be raining. And when it rained, our breath would fog and the wind merciless...

We started with a mild ride: the Nickelodeon Space Surfer. It was those rides that just spins round and round, ascends and descends. We were able to control the height to which it would rise, only to a bit. Mind you, this is a kids ride, but KJ and I were scared to death because it rose to quite a height, and it was spinning at quite a fast speed. It got me rather dizzy when the whole thing ended. But, it's all good.

Then we went on to Rebel Yell, a wooden roller coaster. From what we could see, the Rebel Yell seemed like a fast (in terms of the duration that we would spend on the ride) ride and it seemed pretty harmless. I went on the first carriage and when it went over the top of the lift and revealed the rest of the track, I was like "Oh my God!!!" because the track is very long and scary. The initial dip is almost vertical, and I could hardly see the track when we were going down (this should tell you how steep it was). Following that was a series of ups and downs bent on flinging me out of the coaster. I tried to raise my hand up but it wasn't a good idea; wooden roller coasters, as I discover, are very jerky. If you don't hold on tight, you are going to lose your place, literally. So, as much as I wanted to raise my hand in the air and scream, I could only hold on tight and scream.

Rebel Yell was our first wooden coaster. Subsequently came Hurler and Grizzly. Hurler did not make that much of an impression on me, but the Grizzly did. It is the first wooden coaster of King's Dominion, and trust me, it was the most violent. My glasses almost fell off when it bumped me from side to side. The thing that separates the Grizzly from Rebel Yell were the violent twist and turns of the Grizzly, and you definitely have to hold on tight for this one. Definitely. Up till this day, I have been on the Grizzly 3 times and still loving it. Oh, I forgot to add that the unique thing about Rebel Yell is that 2 coasters simultaneously run together; one forward and one backwards. I've only been on the backwards coaster once because I didn't really like it, since I wasn't able to see where I was going. I am not the type to close my eyes during a ride so I'd prefer to see where I'm going. It adds to the fun of it all.

Right now, I am just reviewing the rides that we went on, in no chronological order, because at this time I have already forgotten the sequence in which we rode.

Ricochet, a mild steel roller coaster that has multiple twists and turns, but the twist and turns are sudden and it seems to throw you off the coaster ala Panasonic of Downtown East, except this is an outdoor ride. I suspect that's how the little girls were flung out of their seats, oops! It took a few screams from me so I would recommend it.

Tomd Raider: Firefall. This ride is kinda like the Cadbury Inverter of Downtown East. It spins the people like nobody's business and I tell you, if the restraints are not working well, I dunno how far one will be flung off to. The cool thing about this ride is the fire and the spurts of water that accompanies the ride. I dunno how to descride to you guys lah but I will just show you the video when I get back. It is a very exciting ride, KJ had a headache when he got off. "Hahaha!" says he when he saw my entry.

Shockwave. This is a standing coaster. Yes, we are standing on the coaster. And, there is a 360 deg loop. Wow! But, the truth is, it didn't really feel any different from the other coasters since there was support, and it just felt like I was seated. But the thing was, when we (my sis, her fren and me; KJ and WL at this point in time has gotten too tired of the rides) went on this ride, it was evening time and the temperature dips at this time of day. When the lift brought us up to the peak, the winds were freezing, and I was wearing only a t-shirt and a 3/4. But when we went down that drop and go up the 360 deg, all that just cold just went right out the window. It was a great experience, but not that thrilling.

Anaconda. This should be the longest coaster in the park. It is built over the lake, and one part of the ride brings the passengers through the underwater tunnel and then back up again. Oh wow, for this ride, I couldn't scream long enough because the drop was so lengthy! There is a corkscrew at the ending part of the ride. Overall, I am impressed with this ride, that is, until I rode on the Volcano and Hypersonic XLC. I will review these rides next time since I rode them on a later date. Basically, we all agreed that after being on Volcano and Hypersonic, all the others pale in comparison. That is why these 2 have a rating of 5. All the others have a rating of 4 and below.

Yup yup, so that is about all for the day. We also went on a few (maybe only about 2?) other kiddy rides, but the main thrill rides were about it.