We left our Williamsburg hotel on Wednesday afternoon and drove one hour north to Kings Dominion, another of our favorite parks. We had booked the hotel that we thought was in the Kings Dominion parking lot. Karen and I had stayed there many times, and it had changed hands frequently over the years. We picked La Quinta because it claimed to be "at Kings Dominion". Other hotels were further away. But as it turned out, La Quinta was across the highway from the park entrance. If it weren't for the highway, we could have walked to the park. But the hotel in the parking lot that we really wanted was a Red Roof which inexplicably had advertised itself as being a half-mile from the park. When we arrived at La Quinta, there were two clerks behind the counter. One of them had just started his job that day. They were friendly though. When we went to check in, we showed them our reservation. We had booked two rooms, one for us and one for Heather's family. But they had only one room for us. They couldn't find any reservation for Heather. They did accomodate us, though, and were able to get us rooms next to each other on the third floor. They also warned us that there was a local dog show and the hotel was filled with dogs. In fact, as we stood there lots of owners were bringing all manner of breeds in and out of the lobby. We got our keycards and headed for the elevator. The stainless steel door was etched with all manner of graffiti. The halls looked worn out, with paneling popping off and shredded carpet. We arrived at our room to find it just as worn as the hallways, with furniture that looked as if it had come from a yard sale. We were warned by one of the workers to be careful because some of the dogs were relieving themselves in the hallways. The tissue box in the bathroom was empty. I went to the reception desk to get another but was told they were all out. We only had half a roll of toilet paper and so I asked for another one but was told that housekeeping would bring it in the morning. They never did. At least the shower was nice. It rained heavily overnight, but the next morning brought clearer skies and cooler temperatures. Karen and I got up early and went downstairs for the complementary breakfast. They had a waffle maker along with the usual assortment of bagels, muffins, eggs, cereal and yogurt. I made myself a waffle that was quite tasty, and I also had a yogurt. Karen had eggs and a bagel. When the grandkids woke up we took them downstairs for breakfast. They didn't like the vibe of the breakfast nook, so we sat at a table in the lobby but were shooed away by one of the receptionists who said we couldn't eat there. After breakfast we got in our cars and headed across the street to the park entrance. There were several cars already waiting there. In the distance I could see some green track sections sitting in the parking lot. I assumed it was for a new rollercoaster that was being constructed. Within about ten minutes, the parking gates were opened. Since we had a Cedar Fair pass, we didn't have to pay for parking nor for admission. We were able to park right near the entry plaza. The replica of the Eiffel Tower towered over the vista. I was excited to bring the kids up to the top of the tower, which offered spectacular views. When the park opened, we strolled down International Street, past the giant fountain that ran the street's entire length and over to the Eiffel Tower. But it was closed and, strangely, fenced off. I would check back periodically during our two days at the park, but it never opened. Instead, we continued along the west side of the park into the shady Old Virginia section. The first attraction we encountered was Blue Ridge Tollway, the antique car ride. Since no one else was in line, we queued up for that. It was a pleasant trip through a heavily wooded area, like a peaceful country drive. When that was over, some adrenaline pumping was called for. So Andrew, Ben and I queued up for Grizzly, the aggressive wooden coaster. The ride was nearly impossible to see (even from the Eiffel Tower), hidden among the trees. The station was nearly empty. As usual, Ben and I queued up for the front seat with Andrew behind us. The train rolled out of the station, curving to the left and gliding up to the lift hill. The park had replaced a lot of track, and the work paid off. The big first drop was smooth, rising up into the first turnaround. The rest of the ride was similar -- fast, but comfortable, with nice pops of airtime. Ben enjoyed it, as did Andrew. We followed the path east from there and came to a 1950s-themed area with the Juke Box Diner and more rides, including Windseeker, a tall swing ride nearly identical to the one at Cedar Point. Ben and Isabelle took a ride on that. When that was done, Andrew, Ben and I queued up for Twisted Timbers, a relatively new steel coaster from Rocky Mountain Construction, built upon the foundation of the old wood coaster Hurler, which in the Paramount days was themed to the Wayne's World movie. Hurler was a problematic ride, with a lot of maintenance issues. RMC fixed that, plus added their usual exotic elements. This coaster now sported an unnervingly slow inversion on the first drop. As with the other rides, there wasn't much of a queue line and we were seated quickly with me and Ben in front and Andrew behind us. On this ride you weren't allowed to have anything in your pockets, so we left it all with the ladies. We rolled out of the station, around a sharp right turn and the into the lift hill. At the top, the track turned 180 degrees and then we encountered that weird inversion as we dropped down toward the ground. We went over a small speed bump, into a sharp and heavily banked right-hand turn and headed back toward the lift structure. The rest of the ride was a blur, with plenty of RMC's helical inversions and severe airtime hills. They usually included one or two fake-out turns, where you think the train is going one direction but it suddenly veers in another. This ride had lots of those, including one of the most surprising I'd ever encountered. Both Ben and Andrew liked the ride. I did too, but it was a one-and-done for me. From there we walked north into the Candy Apple Grove area, a holdover from Kings Island that was meant to replicate the old-style midway of Cincinnati's Coney Island. It featured the Singing Mushrooms, small animatronic figures that were installed for the park's 40th anniversary several years ago. Every so often they'd come to life and give a short musical performance. Every time we walked by that area though, they were silent. We continued on toward the Jungle X-pedition section. One of my favorite coasters in the park, Volcano: the Blast, used to be there. It was a one-of-a-kind ride that blasted you up out of the mouth of a flaming volcano. But it was removed to make way for a stock Premier Rides coaster that was in nearly every Six Flags park, a "4D coaster" that they named Tumbili. It had an absurdly low capacity for such a large park, and there was a long line. So Andrew passed on that one. Instead we headed over to Reptilian, a Mack bobsled coaster that I hadn't ridden in decades. The cars were styled like actual bobsleds, and passengers sat in tandem, one behind the other. Andrew and Ben went for a middle seat; I waited for the front. The seats were comfortable and in a few minutes I was being pulled up the lift hill and deposited into the trough, which was made of layers of thin pipe. The train felt like it had hexagonal wheels. There was an odd vibration that shouldn't have been there. I bounced along through the course, which was basically one heavily banked S curve after another. I was glad when we finally hit the brakes. At the back of the Jungle X-pedition section, where Volcano used to be, there was a tall wood fence with signs posted on it telling guests that something big was coming in 2025. I peeked through the fence and could see a lot of construction equipment and a lot of new footers. That was where the new coaster was going (the one that was out in the parking lot). Rumor was that it was going to be a B&M wing coaster, like Gatekeeper at Cedar Point. We doubled back down the Candy Apple Grove and made our way to the park's beautiful antique PTC carousel. It had a pretty large band organ, though it wasn't running. It was a relaxing ride just the same. Nearby was Americana, the park's big Ferris wheel. So we queued up for that. Although there weren't many people in line, it took a while to board because of how they were cycling the ride. When we were finally seated, we were treated to a long ride with plenty of panoramic views of the park (though not like what we would have gotten from the Eiffel Tower). When that ride ended we headed back toward the north end of the park, passing through the Planet Snoopy children's area. There was a ride that I wanted Ben and Isabelle to check out. It was Joe Cool's Driving School, and I had always wondered how it worked. There were 8 small colorful cars on what appeared to be miniature city streets, complete with dotted lines in the road, stop lights and traffic islands. The ride operator would check the cars after the kids sat down and then flip a small switch on the back of each car. Then she'd go to a central island, press a button and all the cars would get power. Kids could drive them like really slow go karts. I'm glad Ben and Isabelle did it, because it would probably be the last year that they'd fit into those cars. That was a ride that, if I were still a kid, I'd probably stay on the whole day. We walked back toward the Jungle X-pedition area again because Andrew wanted to experience Project 305. I rode it when it was called Intimidator 305, themed to Dale Earnhardt, the race car driver. That theming made perfect sense because the ride was all speed. And it caused me to grey out on. The "305" stood for its height. It was on a fairly small plot of land. When the train plunged down the 300-foot drop, it immediately was sent into a 250-degree turn at ground level, pulling enormous G forces. The rest of the ride was a tight knot of track with one turn after another, all taking at high speed. After greying out, I hadn't any desire to ride it again. So I watched Andrew and Ben queue up for it. As was the case all day, there were hardly any people in line. (I later realized that this was normal for the park. Because of the usual heat during the day, locals came out in force after 5 pm.) I met them at the exit gate after the ride. Andrew nearly greyed out. Ben thought it was "coo-coo-cray-cray". Since it was next door, Andrew and Ben were going to ride Flight of Fear. But the queue was packed and it would have been over an hour wait. So instead we all went for dinner to the Outpost Cafe (formerly Bubba Gump's). There was only one concession in the park that served veggie burgers, Dogwood's Grille in the Old Virginia section. Every other eatery offered chicken, pork or beef. We had our Cedar Fair dining passes, so food was free anyway (but not drinks). So I got sides of macaroni and cheese and roasted vegetables. The vegetables were actually quite good. After dinner we called it a day and headed back to the hotel. Our night was spent listening to dogs run up and down the hallway outside our room. The next morning we had another breakfast at the hotel. I had to ask again for toilet paper. The manager inquired as to whether housekeeping brought some. I told him that housekeeping seemingly never entered our room. So he went and got me a roll. After breakfast, we headed back to the park. Andrew wanted to take Ben on Dominator, the giant B&M "floorless" looping coaster that had been relocated here from Geauga Lake in Ohio. So they queued up. It was a bit too intense for me, so I passed on it. Andrew and Ben both enjoyed it though, with Andrew saying it gave a surprisingly smooth ride. We made our way back toward the Jungle X-pedition area. Andrew and Ben wanted to try Tumbili. Since it was early in the day, there was a good chance the line would be short, and it was. I passed on it, since I'd ridden the one at Six Flags New England and wasn't impressed. As it turned out, neither were they. Since it was nearby, Andrew and Ben next took a ride on Anaconda, one of the oldest rides in the park. It had a unique first drop that dove under a pond, and nearly the entire ride happened above that pond. It was revolutionary when it was built. They found it to be pretty rough though. It was lunchtime, so we headed over to Candy Apple Grove and Victoria's Pizza. Karen and I each got a slice of cheese pizza and a small salad. I splurged and got myself a small bottle of strawberry milk for six dollars. The food was okay, especially considering it was "free" with our passes. When we finished eating and went back out onto the midway, the Singing Mushrooms were performing. So we paused to watch their amusing act. They all decided to go to Soak City, the water park, for the afternoon. So in the meanwhile, I shot another walk-thru video. It didn't take me too long, so afterward I decided to take a ride on one of the prettiest flume rides ever built, Shenandoah Lumber Company. This had the longest wait of any ride in the park, about a half-hour. Even so, that wasn't too bad. It was a beautiful sunny day and the temperature was in the low 90s with low humidity. I finally got in one of the log boats and was sent along the quiet course. Unlike many other flumes, this one mostly stayed at ground level, curving through a heavily forested area. It was basically the Blue Ridge Tollway, but with water. The big hill and drop at the end produced a mild splash that didn't soak me. Then I headed over to a nearby coaster I hadn't ridden in a long time: Racer 75. It used to be called Rebel Yell and had a north track and a south track, which made sense given its name. But the park recently changed its identity. It was a copy of the Kings Island Racer that launched the wood coaster renaissance in the 1970s. There was hardly anyone in the station when I arrived. I was glad to see that the park was actually racing the trains, rather than just randomly dispatching them. I got in the front seat of the south train. We left the station and the trains (red and blue, as you might expect) split, one going left and the other right. After a long stretch of straight track, the trains joined back up at the lift hill. Then a surprising thing happened: as we were pulled up the lift, the train I was in began to slow down and the other train sped up. Then they slowed down and our train sped up. The trains "raced" like that all the way up the lift, which I thought was a nice touch. We all reached the top together and then rolled down the first drop. The coaster was still remarkably smooth for its age. And it was the kind of coaster I loved -- one airtime hill after another all the way out, then the big turnaround, then one airtime hill after another all the way back to the station. The blue train won the race, but everyone had a good time. After relaxing by the giant fountain for a bit, where the air was much cooler, we all met back up and went to the Juke Box Diner for dinner. Again, there weren't any entrees that I could eat. So I got sides of roasted veggies and mashed potatoes. As before, it was decent. After dinner, Andrew wanted to ride the Racer with Ben. So we queued up for it. I took the north train this time, and we sat in our respective front seats. It was another fun ride. Andrew and Ben won. After that, they headed back to the hotel. Karen and I finished the day by taking a ride together on the Shenandoah Lumber Company. My only real disappointment at the park was the closure of the Eiffel Tower. But other than that, I really do like the park. It has a lot of shade, beautiful landscaping and fun rides. All along it's been a real family park, with plenty for kids to do but also lots for families to do together. I hope that trend continues. I know that giant thrill rides make for better press releases, but it's the quieter details (like the cooling tunnel of vines) that make me want to return to the park. The only disappointment on the trip was La Quinta. So next time we visit, I'll have to remember to stay across the street at the Red Roof and hope they're not housing a dog show.

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