5 Tips for Your Visit to Kings Dominion

While we were on vacation last week – no wait – 2 weeks ago! MAN, time flies!
Anyways, while we were on vacation at Deep Creek Lake, MD, we made the trek down to Kings Dominion. Derrick was dying to visit another amusement park and so we made it work! It was about a 3 1/2 hour drive and we did it all in one day. We took 3 of my siblings along too – so we had a packed car – but that just made things all the more fun!

Derrick rode his 150th roller coaster while we were there – so it was quite monumental! Can you believe that my husband has ridden 150+ roller coasters? That makes him quite the authority on roller coasters, am I right? So, if you didn’t already know, my husband is obsessed with roller coasters. He has been ever since he was little & his affection for them simply grows. He started an Instagram account (go follow him here!) as an outlet for his roller coaster knowledge and he also has a YouTube channel (go subscribe to it here!) that he posts to & has big plans for!

Because of this obsession, now when we go to amusement parks, my camera has to come along so I can shoot images for him to use. I must admit – it’s actually a ton of fun! Don’t get me wrong, I love shooting & documenting a wedding day, but there is something so different & alluring about the challenge of photographing roller coasters!

Since I wanted to post a few of my favorite shots from the day, I thought it would also be fun to put together a little “tips & tricks” for visiting Kings Dominion! So, here are Derrick & I’s top 5 tips for getting the most out of your day at Kings Dominion!

Take A Park Map & Use It

If you have never been there before, grab a park map & use it! At first glance, the park may seem easy to navigate, and generally speaking it is, but there is very little signage pointing out the different attractions for you. It was probably the most frustrating part of the whole day – just trying to figure out where certain coasters (and the bathrooms) were. We’ve been to a lot of parks (I used to work at Disney World and obviously Derrick has been to a few with over 150 roller coasters under his belt) but we both agreed that getting around Kings Dominion was challenging.
INSIDER TIP: there are several super fun attractions that due to lack of signage, you could walk right by & never know they were even there! I say that from experience, because I actually did! Flight of Fear (I didn’t even know that was it’s name until I looked it up to write this post!) and Grizzly are two of Kings Dominion’s roller coaster lineup, and without the park map, you will walk right past them. You have to walk thru a gift shop in order to get to Grizzly and Flight of Fear sits right outside of Intimidator 305.

What Should You Do First

Derrick suggests riding Dominator & Volcano first. We were there on a super slow day, but from what he has researched – those are the 2 lines that get longest the fastest and never get shorter. Dominator is at the front of the park, so he suggested riding that one first, and then head to the “back” of the park & ride Volcano and the slew of other coasters nestled together back there!

Intimidator 305 Tips

If you have a tendency of greying or blacking out on intense roller coasters with strong G’s, ride Intimidator 305 in the front. Not sure if you have this tendency? Trust me, sit at the front of the train – especially your first time riding it. It’s much smoother up there & the G’s are slightly less intense. I still greyed out in the 2nd row, but the further back I rode it, the closer I got to blacking out (we rode that coaster 4 or 5 times). The coaster seems to be smoothest first thing in the morning, before the heat of the day heats up the track. Also, do your best to stay very hydrated with food in your stomach before riding Intimidator 305.

When To Plan Your Trip

We went to Kings Dominion at the perfect time. If you love empty amusement parks, we stumbled across the best time to visit! The week before Labor Day – kids in the surrounding area are back in school, but the park is still open every day – from talking with ride attendants & other park employees, this week is notorious for being dead. Of course, because the park was so empty, some of the food stands were closed, and most of the shows were not being preformed, but if you are going to the park to ride rides & would love to walk on to every single ride – this is the time to go!

A Warning About Rough Coasters

If rough roller coasters are not your thing, you can go ahead and avoid Rebel Yell and Grizzly. If you are over 6ft. tall (like my husband), he also suggests thinking twice about riding Anaconda and Flight of Fear. He actually had to move rows on Flight of Fear because he didn’t fit within the restraint and Anaconda gave him a pretty bad headache. Being a roller coaster nerd, it’s one of those things that you shake off and don’t let bother you, but for normal every-day-joes, it might put a bad spin on the rest of your day at the park!

Bonus Tip

Definitely take some time & go up the Eiffel Tower! Once you ride the elevator up, there is a lookout platform you can get out on to! It provides beautiful views of the entire park & is a very unique & fun way to see everything from a bird’s eye view!

What do you think? Do you have additional tips or tricks or pieces of advice you’d like to share? Leave me a comment below sharing your own experience at Kings Dominion!

Overall, we had a great time at Kings Dominion! We had the perfect day & made a lot of memories! Enjoy some of the photos I took!