Today was a great day for CoasterFusion, the state of Virginia, The Earnhardt Foundation & Family, and of course Kings Dominion as news outlets, coaster sites & clubs, friends and family celebrated the opening of Intimidator305, the meanest coaster on the east coast.
The ride from far away doesn't look like it lives up to the height of 305, but when you get closer, it totally does! And all you can see is the lift and first air time hill. The rest is low to the ground!
Yes, we are definitely die hard coaster enthusiasts because we were the first ones to arrive at the parking lot, first ones to get our passes and first ones to arrive on site! There was no one there!
But then it was like BAM, tons of people decided to come out of no where! We ran into CoasterZombies, SFAFANS, and ThemeParkReview! It was nice meeting everyone we have been talking to on forums or through Twitter!
If any of you watch the Foodnetwork, Charm City Cakes aka Ace of Cakes was there. They created a special cake just for the occasion. It even had a Coaster Dynamix coaster running through it!
The entrance is beautiful with a BIG sign and under pass. Once you make it through we were taken away by the great scenery including a picture of Dale on the gift shop, a stock car with all the races Dale won and a centerpiece in the ground!
It was finally time for the ceremony to begin! We heard from Ed, President of Marketing, the Lieutenant Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia Bill Bolling, Kings Dominion General Manager Pat Jones, son of Dale Earnhardt Carey Earnhardt and daughter Taylor Earnhardt.
It was finally time for Snoopy & friends to cut the ribbon for the first official rides on Intimidator305!
The lift hill has to be the quickest lift hill I have ever been on with a speed of 8 meters per second you get to the top in no time!
The first ride was official as VIP attendees including those mentioned above took the first ride on the huge intimidating coaster!
The front of the train is even decked out in sponsor stickers to give the effect of a real stock car!
Then finally, we were in the front row, ascending the lift. We crested over the lift and dove down a 300 foot drop at an 85 degree angle! At the base of the drop you are reaching a maximum speed of 94 miles per hour making you almost black out completely! Your over the first airtime hill then back down and this is where the fun begins! A turn here, a turn there, a dip here, a dip there, the ride speeds through turns and airtime hills at a constant speed of around 85 miles per hour. Then it was time to breath!
As soon as we got off, I came to the conclusion that this coaster is no joke! It is the best roller coaster I have ever been on! From the moment you leave the station and ascend the 305 foot lift to the moment you hit the break run you are enjoying the ride of your life! The shoulder restraints do not take away from the ride in my opinion, however, I do feel that they are a little painful when going through the quick directional changes and airtime hills.
After our first ride, we wanted to check out the catered lunch. Plus we were REALLY hungry! The food was amazing! Sparing no expense they dished out BBQ chicken, ribs, potato salad, beans, jumbo shrimp, rolls, fresh citrus salad and beverages. It was delicious, I think Joe ate like 5 racks of baby back ribs! Me on the other hand stuck to the shrimp which was amazing!
The photos below were taken throughout the day as VIP/Media Members raced!
If you have anytime off, make sure to make your way over to Kings Dominion to ride Intimidator305! It is the BEST coaster in the world! It beats Millennium Force & Superman Ride of Steel in heartbeat! I would like to thank John Pagel for inviting us as well as the Kings Dominion crew for hosting an amazing event! Best time of my life!
Thanks for posting the pics! Intimidator 305 looks great, so many curves ! When I first saw the layout of this ride, my main concern was the first curve...I couldn't see how people could go down that drop and straight into that curve without greying-out (and throughout the ride), it seemed like riders would have some intense positive g's there for quite a bit of time - which is something that scares me especially if I go to a park myself (and I have low blood pressure)...what did you think at that point of the ride (or any other point of the ride), do you think it was extremely intense or similar to the grey-out areas during helixes on some hypercoasters?...heard from others that it was VERY intense, which is not surprising...but that's the only thing that freaks me out A LITTLE. Glad to see that both Intimidators are getting great reviews though!
Wow really nice photos guys! I can't wait to ride this as well as the other Intimidator this summer! -Posted CF's 1000th post! 2010 Roller Coaster Laps=220 My CREDITS: 303 My Amusement Parks Visited: 68
You definitely blackout or should I say gray out. The bottom of the hill is so intense it's hard not to. During the rest of the ride you are just bracing for the quick directional changes. When the train comes back around near the first drop you do gray out again, then the ride really slows down due to trims. Which raises a question, if they new the ride was too fast, why didn't they just extend the ride. It would cost more, but it would keep the ride from getting trims which totally stop the adrenaline towards the end of the ride. If you are scared or nervous about this coaster, you should be, IT'S CRAZY!
WOW the ride looks amazing! I saw the update on ScreamScape and it mentioned your site! What was the overall feel of other media members and enthusiasts about the ride?
For people like me who are not so lucky of riding 305 anytime soon... .BTW looks an amazing ride, maybe a little longer would be perfect, but you can't ask too much I guess lol ##SANITISED## width="640" height="385">##SANITISED## src="http://www.youtube.com/v/0WpNSImh6Z8&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385">##SANITISED##>##SANITISED##> The best things in life... go upside down.
2010 Season ------------------------------------------- [size]May 20th Cedar Point (Physics Day) May 29th Cedar Point ------------------------------------------- June 16th Cedar Point June 22ndCedar Point -------------------------------------------- July 10th Cedar Point July 11th Cedar Point
Wow! I had imagined this coaster would NOT live up to its hype and Thirteen would; I was terribly wrong! I am very impressed. I hope i can ride this sometime this year!!
! When I first saw the layout of this ride, my main concern was the first curve...I couldn't see how people could go down that drop and straight into that curve without greying-out (and throughout the ride), it seemed like riders would have some intense positive g's there for quite a bit of time - which is something that scares me especially if I go to a park myself (and I have low blood pressure)...what did you think at that point of the ride (or any other point of the ride), do you think it was extremely intense or similar to the grey-out areas during helixes on some hypercoasters?...heard from others that it was VERY intense, which is not surprising...but that's the only thing that freaks me out A LITTLE.
Great shots Louis! Why no pics of Joe's bruises? 
