Tales of the Flowers: Summer Coaster Tour - Day 09 - Kings Dominion

Today we go to the last big amusement park on our Summer Coaster tour. It's Kings Dominion!

We spent the morning in Washington DC at the Smithsonian Zoo looking at the pandas, then took the drive over to Kings Dominion.

We're here!

Parked in a relatively empty lot for being a Friday.

And headed into the park! They've got a scale model of the Eiffel Tower back there that looks pretty cool.

And it was here that we'd meet back up with Jacob! We split back at Carowinds earlier in the trip for him to visit his brother and us to continue to a couple more coaster parks.

Might as well get some fun pictures from the photographers here since I paid for them.

Jacob got here a day early, so he's been on all the big rides, knows the layout of the park, and knows which ones we should head to first. Off we went to Dominator!

Theresa catching our ride from the ground, as we take the back row.

Having just come from Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey, it gave us strong Medusa vibes, but it was a fun coaster and a good way to start our day.

Since it's getting to be lunchtime, we grabbed food from the Grain & Grill before heading to the back of the park for more.

Theresa and Alli enjoyed their vegetables and chicken that was grilled instead of fried.

My Crispy Hoisin Pork was a bit tough and greasy.

Eating lunch right by the Eiffel Tower, just like we were back in Paris.

How about we start using that drink pass we paid for and get some Icees to walk around the park with. Which flavors should we choose?

Walking to the back of the park, they had was looked like a big mouse coaster, just like Goofy's Sky School or the many other clones that exist.

This one though had a lot more track to it, plus a bigger drop on the lift hill, and the kids especially loved it.

When we visited Carowinds, we rode on a coaster called "The Hurler". Kings Dominion had a copy of that ride, up until 2018 when it was converted into wood and steel coaster, similar to some of our favorite coaster like Steel Vengeance, Twisted Colossus, and Twisted Cyclone.

This is a ride that's so wild, you have to go through a metal detector before getting on, to make sure you don't have anything in your pockets.

Twisted Timbers was so much fun. It's especially exciting because you're doing inversions and you don't have any shoulder restraints.

I wasn't expecting the inversion right away from the lift hill drop, which was a really fun surprise.

The one downside about having no shoulder harnesses, especially for Jacob and I who have more mass, is that during all these whips and inversions, the tops of your thighs are taking the brunt of the force holding you into the seat. Going to feel that tomorrow.

Next we headed to a big pendulum ride called Delirium.

It was a lot smaller than the rides we typically go on that look like this with names such as Crazanity, Pandemonium, Wonder Woman Lasso of Truth, or Harley Quinn Spinsanity. Fun, but always over too quickly considering how long the load time takes.

Next up, the Drop Tower.

This 305 foot tower takes us to the top and drops us 272 feet. Fun ride, but always over too quick.

Next, we headed to Flight of Fear. I wasn't sure what to expect as we walked into this military looking hangar and were surrounded by alien technology.

It was a quick launch, similar to Rockin Roller Coaster at Disney World, and it was inside and in the dark. But boy was it rough. We were all happy to be off that coaster and didn't need to go again.

I have a video from YouTube with the lights on, but for our ride, this was entirely in the dark.

Shall we head to Rapterra next?

This line was starting to get backed up, so it was nice to have the FastLane pass.

Rapterra was great! I loved the launch at the beginning, throwing you up and over the first big hill.

Pantherian was our next coaster to tackle. I've heard some things about this giant coaster and I'm excited to ride it.

Earlier on this trip we rode Fury 325, which was a 325 foot lift hill with big drops and smooth transitions. It was an amazing coaster.

Pantherian is a 305 foot lift hill and instead of being "smooth" I'd consider it more "aggressive". Not shaky or rattley like a wood coaster, but quick and sharp. Instead of floating into a turn like Fury 325, you whip into it.

It's a whole lot of fun regardless, and I can see now why that first wide loop after the first drop makes people gray out.

Sitting in the back row, it was a surprise to see someone's phone flying over our heads during one of the mid-ride hills. We saw them after the ride talking to the operators, and unfortunately it was right by the section with the pond/water, so who knows if they'll get it back. Secure your stuff! I don't want to be hit in the face by a phone either!

Next coaster on our list is the Backlot Stunt Coaster.

(presented by Skittles for some reason)

It's themed like we're driving the streets of Los Angeles. It almost feels like we're right back home.

I liked how the launch shot you up a 720 degree spiral. From what I see though, this ride is a shell of its former self. There are stationary props, like police cars and helicopters around. Not sure what's so "stunt" about it.

This ride used to feature flashing police lights, a helicopter, simulated gunfire and gasoline spills, actual fire, and a splashdown at the end.

As it was, it was fine, but could have been better.

The sun is particularly strong today and giving us a great shadow silhouette that Theresa noticed and wanted to get a picture of.

Our next stop is Tumbili, the coaster we've seen many times already as The Joker at a few other Six Flags parks. Jacob and I have flashbacks with this style coaster to "the worst coaster ever" that we've ridden together The Green Lantern.

This one whips you back and forth a bit, but not nearly as bad as Green Lantern.

Our next coaster was something completely unique for me, that I've always wanted to ride. Have you ever been on a "trackless" roller coaster? No rails, just wheels on the bottom of the coaster, like a bobsled.

And like a bobsled, you're sharing a seat!

Riding in the front row was a lot of fun!

Next up, another coaster called Grizzly.

Bumpy and rattley like all wood coasters are.

For dinner, everyone is going to whatever they want.

Remember when Disney used to have a burger toppings bar? I was surprised to see this here at the Juke Box Diner. You could put an entire salad on top of a burger if you wanted. And they had tasty onion rings here too!

The kids really liked Apple Zapple, so we sent them off to ride it themselves.

Theresa has to do at least 1 attraction today, right?

Over to the Eiffel Tower elevator taking us over 200 feet into the air.

This 1/3rd scale model of the Eiffel Tower is the centerpoint of the park (similar to the castle as Disney) and you can see for 18 miles from the observation deck.