Kings Dominion announces Intimidator 305

[ICe101]

Today King's Dominion announced there new 2010 coaster: Intimidator 305. At 305 feet tall, this nearly mile long coaster, will wind, jump, and maneuver through several turns and drops as it goes through. Set to open in April 2010, this is sure to be one heck of a thrill.

Intimidator 305 will begin with a 45 degree, cable lift hill as it descends upward. Slowly it begins its decent by dropping 85 degrees, over 300 feet, downward into a massive high speed turn. This point of the ride will exceed 90 mph, making it one of the fastest coasters on the East Coast. The Dale Earnhardt themed train then makes its way up and over 6 airtime hills, 6 high speed turns, and 3 s-bends.

Intimidator 305 will be the second Giga coaster in North America, the only other being Millennium Force at Cedar Point. Intimidator will cover over 5 acres, and is built by Intamin AG of Switzerland.

Check out the on ride video

This is exactly what I was hoping for. I wanted to the now known Intimidator 305 to have a few high hills, before dropping below the tree line. Intimidator 305 does exactly that with several high speed turns and smaller hills that will provide great floater airtime. Not only that, but it seems to be a great addition to the skyline topping out at 305 feet, which is higher then nearly everything in the entire park.

One thing I noticed, that I found odd was the supports, or lack there of on the lift hill and drop. Notice how there is only two, yeah that will be frightening however the track that we did see in the parking lot is similar to B&M track where it is so bulky that it is much stronger then other companies more flimsy track.

I am still confused by why they chose a new track design. If it was for cheaper cost, improvement in terms of maintenance, or some other reason. I don't understand why they just didn't go with the old 4 tie design.

From: Park Thoughts dot com

[The Deadman]

This is pretty epic

[tloolgb]

After Carowinds announced their expected B&M hyper, I decided to join these two topics. Because I though Intimidator 305's announcement was that of an awesome looking ride. But everything I've read has been fairly negative. ANd yet Carowinds' equally-fun but not unique ride has been getting lots of love in the day since it was announced. So I want to say that I think 305 looks amazing.

And while I too was on the "Over the shoulder harness...WTF?" bandwagon when it was announced, after riding Rip Ride and Rockit wishing for OSHRs...I see why 305 has them. Those tight turns will need OSHRs.

At least this ride made me go "WHAT?" when I saw the layout. Carowinds' ride...not so much. And I think that is important. So I want to share the love...while Carowinds B&M is getting praised for walking on water (though I do think it is funny it is being built over the children's areas), I want to make sure King's Dominion's ride gets praise too. Because it looks awesome.

[PeoplemoverMatt]

Originally Posted by toolgb

Those tight turns will need OSHRs.

Um, exactly when did turns start requiring OTSRs? Most inversions don't "require" them in the sense of preventing people from falling out. Why are getting so insane that we're thinking turns require them now?

That said, DEI has gone from the company Dale created to help provide for his children to the company his widow & 2nd wife now uses to mooch off Earnhardt's name. It's so very sad.

[tloolgb]

Originally Posted by PeoplemoverMatt

Um, exactly when did turns start requiring OTSRs? Most inversions don't "require" them in the sense of preventing people from falling out. Why are getting so insane that we're thinking turns require them now?

After I rode Rip Ride and Rockit and realized that sometimes, shoulder restraints are good. This isn't one of those "help prevent lawsuits" commercials. I know what technically does and doesn't require what type of harnesses. However, Intimidator's twists look tight. That can be fun, but depending on how open you are in the seat, it would be nice to have something extra keeping you in place to not whip you around. HRRR has open seats, and it could have used shoulder restraints to be more comfortable.

But I am not nessesarily thinking the Rock N Rollercoaster type restraints, but maybe more like the new boomerang restraints. It might kill the airtime more than a lapbar, but it might make the twists better. We can't say that it will or won't make it better until we ride it...but as it stands now, I don't think they can hurt it.