The highly anticipated Intimidator 305 opens to the public today at Kings Dominion (near Richmond, VA). At 305′ or about 30 stories tall, it is one of the tallest roller coasters in the U.S. and the World. Its little brother Intimidator at Carowinds opened last week. They both bear the nickname of the legendary NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt and feature racing themes. Intimidator 305 seems to emphasize speed and banked turns where Intimidator is packed with airtime camel back-shaped hills.
Intimidator 305 vs. Millennium Force
It only took a few hours for the obvious comparisons to Millennium Force to start. Millennium Force is a landmark roller coaster at Cedar Fair’s sister park Cedar Point. It’s also a giga coaster (300+ feet tall), but the layout’s seem pretty different. World-traveling coaster enthusiast Robb Alvey of Theme Park Review gave Intimidator 305 his thumbs up and an added one-on-one victory over Millennium Force. He states it in his own words at about 2:44 in the video below which includes POV footage and an on-ride review.
Note – This video was filmed by a professional with permission from the park.
For safety reason, please DO NOT take a camera on a roller coaster.
Another nice video by Robb and I especially like that he reviewed it. It’s just one opinion though so, check out KDFansite and Theme Park Review for more reviews as Intimidator 305 opens and more people get to experience it. Also, KDFansite posted images from the media day here.
After you ride it, feel free to rate it using my Rating System and leave a short review or comment below.
[poll id=”2″]
What’s Your Take?
How do you think Intimidator 305 looks? Have you ridden it? Leave a comment below.
Coaster Critic 
70 responses to “Intimidator 305 Opens: POV Video, Reviews, & a Poll”
looks great, and i think it will be better than millenium force.
Well, now that its only been open for 1 day (not even to the general public), lets compare MF and I305 so we can rip one of them to shreads!! 🙂
Category Millennium Force Intimidator 305
Height 310' 305'
Drop 300' 300'
Speed 93 MPH 94 MPH
Drop Angle 80 degrees 85 degrees
Length 6595' 5100'
Restraint Lapbar OTSRs
Est. Capacity 1300 rph 1350 rph
Number of Trains 3 2
Elements Cable Lift Hill Cable Life Hill
Drop Drop
Overbanked Turn High Speed Turn
Tunnel Air Time Hill
Air Time Hill High Speed Turn
Overbanked Turn Banked S Curve
Overbanked Turn Banked S Curve
Air Time Hill High Speed Turn
Tunnel Air Time Hill
Air Time Hill Air Time Hill
Overbanked Turn Banked S Curve
Brake Run Brake Run
Who Wins? You Decide!
I have a feeling this is going to turn out like the Kingda Ka vs. Top Thrill Dragster battle. Its going to be tough to decide.
Formating got a little messed up. EDITED:
Category____Millennium Force – Intimidator 305
Height:__________310′______________305′
Drop:____________300′______________300′
Speed:__________93 MPH____________94 MPH
Drop Angle:___80 degrees________85 degrees
Length:_________6595′_____________5100′
Restraint:_____Lapbar_____________OTSRs
Capacity*:____1300 rph___________1350 rph
# of Trains:_____3__________________2
Elements:_Cable Lift Hill____Cable Life Hill
________________Drop_______________Drop
__________Overbanked Turn____High Speed Turn
_______________Tunnel_________Air Time Hill
___________Air Time Hill_____High Speed Turn
__________Overbanked Turn_____Banked S Curve
__________Overbanked Turn_____Banked S Curve
___________Air Time Hill_____High Speed Turn
______________Tunnel__________Air Time Hill
___________Air Time Hill______Air Time Hill
__________Overbanked Turn_____Banked S Curve
_____________Brake Run__________Brake Run
*= Estimated
This should not be that hard! Sorry it looks so wierd. Its the only way I could format it.
awsome!!
I've posted this other places and i suppose i'll post it here. In almost every ride review I've read so far people have reported either graying out or blacking out during that first high speed turn on Intimidator. It seems obvious to me that either a trim will be added or they will slow down the lift hill. This means that not only will the train travel slower during that overly intense first turn, but it will travel slower for the rest of the ride as well. It's not like the train slows down for the intense part and then just magically goes at the speed it would have been going at without the trim. So the real question might be. Is a trimmed I-305 better than a trimmless MF? Montu got destroyed from its trimms, I hope that this ride doesn't!
Looks like a thrill. I've been on Carowind's Intimidator, which was great for airtime, and I like the different look of this one as well. Nice to see they are not just clones of each other.
Looks like Kings Dominion could have done a little more with the landscaping, but maybe they just ran behind schedule.
Hoss, they probablly will trim the turn. But it still looks awesome! CC, are you going to add the rating system/poll to more posts or maybe reviews? Seems like a good thing to have.
Giga-coasters should be longer. Have more elements. Steel Dragon 2000 is over 8100 feet long, and it's only a few feet higher than either MF or I305. B&M also need to create a giga-coaster that puts every other caoster in the world to shame!!!!
Good call. But on the topic of landscaping, remember in 2007 when Cedar Point opened up Maverick? It was like an industrial park. Now they landscaped it, and it looks really nice. I'm sure they'll fix it up by next year. 😉
don`t feel bad, you did realy well. i doubt most people would of thought about dividing it like that.
merful, i think they`re may be a problem whith your link, it says: PAGE NOT FOUND.
what would you say looks better?
errr… do you remeber last time B&M thought outside of the box, (for ride elements&size) we don`t want another mantis.
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Chris Wilcox. Chris Wilcox said: Intimidator 305 opened at Kings Dominion yesterday… Gotta go soon http://bit.ly/8ZrH08 […]
true Quil, true. But do you remember the Incredible Hulk at IOA? It has a spinning tire launch 1/2 way up the hill. B&M are also working on their version of a 4-D coaster. B&M takes the ideas of others, and perfects them. Besides, B&M learn from their mistakes. That's probably why stand-ups vanished from the production line.
Honestly, that seems a little unfair. B&M coasters have their faults, but thinking outside of the box is not one of them. Mantis was pushed to the limits, and pushed in the wrong directions in a few different ways, but a few facts remain, one of which was pointed out by The Coaster Critic himself just a few days ago.
Stand up coasters are very hard to make good. The whole design component came about just as a way to make a ride different before complex computer programs had been made to optimize the different effects of sitdown rides. I personally refuse to believe TOGO was using high end simulation software to test a ride.
B&M struck hard on there first few rides, the biggest early standouts being Iron Wolf, Kumba and Batman.
Iron Wolf is, at least in my opinion, the first tolerable stand up coaster. Is it fun to ride now? No. My goodness no. No. Was it fun to ride when a ride like the Great American Scream Machine was considered high end technology? Yes. With no doubt, yes. For that matter, compare, Corkscrew at CP to Mantis. The rides offer a similar amount of inversions, yet one offers an unconventional ride yet the other has one sitting down. Are either comfy? No.
Kumba I've never ridden. I take The Critic at his word and look forward to next spring when I will ride that big buck.
Batman though, Batman proves without a doubt that B&M does create. Batman was new, and that sucker went up less than twenty years ago. At the time, even other coaster builders thought it would fail, but other theme parks were already dirty dealing to buy in. Now, pretty much every builder has at least experimented with the ski-lift design. Most of them have built uncomfortable head-knockers.
Ask Kings Island. Or Kennywood. Or Busch Gardens Europe. All three had experimental coasters built by Arrow Dynamics fail, and fail hard. Every single one of B&M's risks has been a success. Even a failure like Mantis is still running, and that's a lot to be said for a coaster with issues.
Think of it this way, saying B&M is resting on it laurels by not creating more in the last fifteen years is like chastising Intamin for not making Kingda Ka have a loop on the top. Or be a stand up, or something else stupid. Bottom line is this, if I owned a park and I was shown a product virtually guaranteeing success via proven design, without a low propensity for fail, that's what I would pay for, and that's why B&M can be so prolific. Intamin succeeds in a similar way, and Vekoma had to just sell a couple of fixed patterns to make do.
B&M got the stand up as good as it's going to get, perfected the looper in the early nineties and invented the inverted. I also heard they make a darn good hyper. Do I want new stuff from B&M? Of course I do. Do I want a prettier TV? Of course I do. Are both things being worked on? I highly doubt that B&M is just counting money.
Perfectly said Prof.
OK so I just got back from Kings Dominion and would like to share my thoughts on Intimidator 305. First what I felt wasn't so good: I don't mind the OTSR but it does pin down tight on your legs and when you are going through the S Curves your neck, ears, head can rattle back and forth. When I rode it I would stick my head out during this part and it seemed to help with that situation. I rode Intimidator 305 a total of 10 times throughout the day. There is assigned seating so despite the pretty medium crowd I couldn't get a front row seat but I did sit in the 2nd car probably 4 times. People around the web have been talking about the black outs and on my 5th trip i did indeed black out which had never happened to me before. The next five rides I blacked out each time and it seemed to be longer each ride. As far as the blacking out I didn't hate it but I also felt I didn't enjoy the rides as much because of this. As for the good. AIRTIME on the 3 hills were sweet! This was my first INTAMIN coaster and I was afraid the airtime wouldn't be there like the B&M's but it was mos def there. The speed: 94 mph is incredible. I have never ridden a coaster this intense! I also loved the lift hill. It seemed we were getting up to the top in 15 seconds. This just added to the thrill zooming up to the top so fast. So overall I rated it a 9 (EXCELLENT). I'm not sure about the rating because I do feel like it is a 10 but I gave it a nine because of the leg pain, lil bit of roughness and blacking out but really these are MINOR MINOR things and if you are near the area or love coasters you need to go! It was worth the two hour drive each way for me! Hopefully I'll be back in May! I also have to say I loved VOLCANO and DOMINATOR (another B&M great!).
Legs hurt; neck hurts; blackouts. slow this puppy down on take off!!!
The oh so Elusive KDcoasterMAN, bringing to you his ride review of INTIMIDATOR 305!
I began my day with a long drive from the mountains of Appalachia to come to one place I wanted to be, Kings Dominion. Of course, like every time your in a rush, traffic intercedes. Delayed by over an hour by many places of Stop-N-Go traffic I finally found myself cresting the hill above The Meadows Park and viewing the beautiful Kings Dominion skyline.
The familiar sights of Eiffel Tower, Dominator, Drop Tower and the New Intimidator 305 greeted me. At this point, I had not seen I305 make its run around the track in person and couldn't take my eyes off of the Goliath in the sky. I drove until the trees blocked my view, crossed the tracks and took in the sight of the park from the front. I entered the park and got a parking spot as close as I could. I then proceed to purchase my pass and entered through the front entrance. The first sight that I beheld was Dominator stuck midway up the lift hill. Disappointing.
I began to "Speed-walk" my way over to my reason to visiting, I didn't want security on my tail for sprinting in glee. I passed under the Congo sign and sought with my eyes my the train cresting the lift-hill. I watched it slowly accelerate then disappear below the tree line. I'll admit it, my mouth fell open. It was unbelievable.
I quickly made the last few hundred yards to the entrance in less than a minute and about half-sprinted into the partially full queue. I never looked at the Dale Earnhardt replica 1998 Monte Carlo or the "Photo Finish" gift shop. I had only one focus.
I had a quick wait of 40 minutes then found that I would be "assigned" a row. I was like 'ghetto!' Oh Well. I complied to my row 15 (last car) which did excite me about a very forceful ride! I was paired with a single rider named 'Jeff.' As we waited I asked him if he ridden today. He suddenly got all giddy and simply stated, "It's.. good, really good!" His smile explained that his emotion was wordless. I barely could keep my placid exterior together.
Then, it was our turn! I had been waiting for this moment for months, many months! I took the right side of the train which Jeff said was 'more intense.' I sat down and pull the "highly controversial" restraint down and found it one of th most comfortable restraints I had ever used. The shoulder harnesses were soft like of those used on a B&M Looper. It had the one seat belt in the front which I buckled. First Ride, here I come!
The ride operator flew through the check and did it perfectly, 'check,' tug, and pull! We were set to go. I heard the round of "Clear" and here the Booth operator's "All Clear" I readjusted myself out of nervousness and took a deep breath. "Gentlemen, Start Your Engines" rang across the station speakers… Here we go, my first 300-foot coaster!
A firm tug and we were on our way! The first thing through my mind was, 'I knew It was fast, but holy cow!' We flew (metaphorically) up the lift hill. I had no more time. Time to race. The coaster reached its pinnacle and began its steep decent. We weren't pulled over the top, we were thrown. Airtime rock me out of my seat into a drop of oblivion. I began screaming for my life! What felt like a few minutes ended with the first turn. We had ascended and descended in about 18 seconds…
The First turn is not describable nor comparable to any coaster on this planet. The best way I can put it is pulling out of a dive in a small aircraft. Your stomach is pulled to your feet and you start to get lightheaded. The turn continued for what seemed to be for a few second then we began to climb the second 150 foot tall Airtime monster! It brings you back to reality with the best sustained ejector air I have ever experienced. This is the first moment I really noticed the restraints impact they have on the ride. They held me in tight with no leeway. then we began to drop with more floater airtime like we had experienced on the first drop.
The G's put us back down in our seats as we reach the bottom but we don't remain there. Intamin built a fun little thing I like to call "The Airtime Hump." This thing give a great lift of ejector airtime before throwing the riders into another g-ruled turn. This turn, though not comparable to the first turn, on its own could be a valuable asset to any ride. Through this turn is the rides first "Head chopper" which happens to be quite incredible. It made me put my hands down for a moment.
Now for the most "disliked' part part of the ride. The first of the three S-Transitional Curves is easily one of the best parts of this ride. The Shoulder restraints first come into use in this element. For those who have not ridden, this S-Curves are similar to those used on Maverick @ Cedar Point. There is a difference though. These have a design advantage by giving the riders a split second of airtime while transitioning. This reduces the impact against the Over The Shoulder Restraints (OTSR) by dulling th G forces involved. This is where the ever famous word "Twisty" was coined by the famous Robb Alvey. He was right.
The "Twistiness" is another great attribute of this ride. After the First S-Curves there is a sweep to the right then to the left, while going through another "head-chopper," then the rides second, least forceful S-Curve. After this S-Curves is the Third intense 180 degree turn. Its especially tight and gives off some great g's.
The Ride then heads up the trimmed Third Hill. The trims though significantly slowing the ride, provides some especially great floater airtime. The coaster goes down a valley into another hill, which happens to turn to the right after the crest. The coaster leads itself into the third, final and most intense S-Curve. It needed the trim brake.
The final act of this ride is a dive under the "air hump" then ascending, while twisting on to the steepest break run I have ever seen. We slowed to a slow crawl. I sat in my seat stunned.
Intimidator is my new number one. I have been to Kings Dominion, Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Seaworld Orlando (pre-Manta), All WDW Parks, Hershey Park, Six Flags America, Dollywood, Kings Island (pre-Diamondback), Carowinds, and Six Flags Over Georgia. I have gotten 77 coaster credits in the past 5 years. I hope to pick up all 17 at CP soon and the other Intimidator which has sadly lost its spotlight. I believe I have ridden enough to have a legit opinion on this coaster.
I can give a promise while riding this beast. It will be one of the most intense rides of your life.
This ends KDCM's excessively long review. I hope you enjoyed!
good review 🙂
Good grief, six people have given this a one on CC's rating scale. My question is: How? It deserves at least an eight, despite the blackout at the beginning.
They're most likely haters who haven't even ridden it. That's the problem with a poll like this. We have no way of knowing that the people who voted actually rode it.
Yeah, good point.
Sorry for the double comment, but CC, why don't you make it on polls like these so there's a page where we can see who made what rating and why? And maybe you can make it so they have to give a reason why they hate or love it. Just a suggestion.
And on the video, Robb Alvey goes "and we go into more TWISTY!'. LOL 🙂
Wow…I rode this Sunday the 16th and had two rides in the front row. I didn't black out at all but the curve is intense. The only thing bad about this ride is I thought the restraints hurt a couple of times on the S curves. Maybe I should have leaned back more? I can tell you after riding almost 100 different coasters in 4 years that i have never smiled all the way through a ride like this one….it is as fun as anything I have ever been on.
big news around here in VA is that the first drop as of this friday 5/21/10 has been trimmed and a lot of people are upset and stating that it is not as intense. i haven't been on it and probably won't go again until next season but if CC or any experienced rider can elaborate on how this will effect the ride? I hear it is slower and the first drop isn't a freefall like it used to be but people are still blacking out. is it to save the wheels? is it for the GP to not grey out?
Apparently they put trim brakes all the way down the first drop to counter the blackout. I hope they are just trying to find the right configuration.
I rode on 5/21, the day they supposedly added the trim. I wouldn't know the difference since it was my one and only ride. The I don't know if the lift hill slowed down, but it was still a whole lot faster than MF (which is very fast). I didn't grey out (although I heard of someone that did on that particular cycle) and i didn't bang my head on the restraints. In fact, I did not find it to be as intense as I expected. I could have done some re-riding if I had time (the break-downtime on the coaster killed our limited amount of time) and found it extremely smooth and fun. I didn't feel that it was better than MF, but it was very close (MF has overbanks, tunnels, and better views).
I got to ride on May 22 for a total of 4 rides. Our 3 rides in the morning were only 10 minute waits. It was probably over 30 min. for a front seat ride. If you don't want to wait for the front seat, stay on the left side of the queue line and keep encouraging people to move forward onto the platform. The ride operators were doing a good jobe of getting the crowd to cycle quickly. Very efficient, yet pleasantly courteous employees!
The lift is quite fast and adds to the anticipation. The drop alone is nothing out of the ordinary. The drop into a banked turn is quite spectacular! I did manage to gray out on my 2 mid-train rides, but did not gray out on my 2 back seat rides. I'm not sure what the difference was, but the g's are incredible. Both times, the gray-outs occurred on that first banked turn.
I like to ride with mny hands up, but found I had to modify that approach. My arms were tossed from side to side and ended up getting bruised from banging into the unpadded over-the-shoulder restraints. I learned after that first ride that if I kept my elbows low, I could still keep my hands up. We took an early evening ride in the rain and it was quite the painful experience. I tried to keep my eyes closed so they wouldn't be pelted with rain that felt like rocks, but with my eyes closed, I couldnt anticipate the side-to-side shifts and ended up banging my head until I decided to squint out of one eye.
Intimidator 305 is a very unique ride, but it won't make my top 10 unless the restraint system gets changed. (Millenium Force is sitting at #3 and Nitro at #9). We got the last ride before they shut down for the evening due to the rain, so I didn't get to try any seats near the front.
We continued to ride anything else that was open until the park closed. One of the most unique rides we had was on the Drop Tower in the pouring rain. There are very bright floodlights on the top of the tower which make for a unique visual. When the seats dropped, it caused almost hurricane-force wind that nearly knocked over the people standing in line circled around the ride. Does this normally happen? I have not ridden it before. The really weird visual was during our ride, when we dropped faster than the rain was falling. It made the raindrops appear to be falling UP. I recommend trying this ride in the rain after dark!
Nice speech, advais. I really hope you are right about them working on something new.
pre-trim. it jerks you around a LOT and gives you a headache. it ruined the other rides. but that was before the trim someone said they did on 5/21. i rode it the third day it was open. but i had the same problem w/ shockwave, but they fixed that 2. i hope to ride them again sometime. i guess it all depends on when you rode it. but i would give it at LEAST a 5. 🙂
According to Screamscape, the speed is now just 79.5 mph. Trims are all down the first drop, though trims on the 75ft airtime hill have been removed. Pictures can be found on Theme Park Review:
http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.ph…
agreed
Hey everyone. I just wanted to drop a note about my rides on Intimidator 305 with Trims. Today I rode I-305 6 times and once was a front row seat. In the front row you can see the trims really well and they must be 100 to 150ft down the coaster. They are very noticable especially if you rode I305 pre trims. The 300ft drop is no longer a free fall and it feels like a car hitting the brakes as you fall forward onto the restraints. For me I prefer the freefall. Also the 2nd hill is drastically different. Instead of great ejector air I felt no air time at all on the 2nd hill and you just cruise over it slowley. Before you would be launched into the restraints and it was incredible. I noticed that they have water sprayers in the station for the wheels and the track. I hope this is a temporary solution for whatever the problem is. I still found the s curves to be a little rough and greyed out every time so i guess the trims are because of the wheels. All of the people I was with today were first time riders and all seemed to enjoy the ride. Previously I would rate the ride a 9.5 or 10 and it was the MOST INTENSE and FAST coaster I had ever ridden. Now I would probably give the ride a 7 or an 8. Not much airtime, less speed, still a little rough, not as intense. I must say I am really dissappointed with Intamin and KD and hope this is a temporary solution and they can figure out something else to fix the technical issues they are having. It seems it would've been better if they built another MF instead of combining MF and Maverick for a GIGA coaster. Before I thought the ride was perfect except for the roughness and if they could have a more comfortable restraint the ride would be close to perfect. Now it seems they have many more issues to deal with besides restraints. I am highly anticipating what any of you guys think of the ride now and what Joel thinks of it when you ride it.
That's a bit of a shame to hear.. I'm going to KD tomorrow for my first I-305 rides and it sounds like the trims are a total buzzkill. I'm going to keep an open mind and try to stay as excited though. I'll post a little review tomorrow night to give a point of view from someone who doesn't have a pre-trim ride to compare it too.
Still wish I could have gotten down there earlier this year.
Brian,
I look forward to hearing what you think. Sorry to write up such a negative comment. The ride is still really good and like I said all of the people I was with Loved it and thought it was crazy intense. For me it just wasn't the same. I'm glad you are going with an open mind as no one will have the same ride experience. Hope you have a good day at KD. Sunday was great as it was a small crowd and we walked on to almost every ride. Ride on!
I was in D.C> and almos got the chance to ride but we were short on time so I ended up at sfa. is the first drop steeper than mellinuim?
Never mind i read vinces comparison
what exactly is a trim? i never ridden big coasters (except for disney ones like RnR) before KD but i am loving them, but not exactly an expert(unless you count building coasters on RCT3). so could someone please explain for me? Please?
a trim is a brake that dosen't slow the ride down to a complete stop. and don't worry about sounding stupid, mos people don't know the difference between a floorless and an invert. simply talking on this site proves that you have more knowledge of the coaster world than most. you'll learn these things quick.
thanks:)
have you ridden I305 pre-trim or post? if you have ridden it pre-trim you'll understand. 🙂
Mike (and anyone else who's willing to reading a lengthy post)-
Sorry it took so long to get this posted. Actual work has been getting in the way of what I usually do at work: browsing around here. But better late than never I suppose, so as I promised, here is my review of the I-305. Being relatively new to the site, this is my first review attempt, so I'll do my best…
I got to KD at around 9:30, and after enduring a painfully long and warbled rendition of the National Anthem, the gates opened at 10. Unfortunately, KD closes off everything but International Street until 10:30. Guess they want you to start spending money early. At 10:30 the gates opened to the rest of the park and a security guard led the group that had gathered with me down to the Intimidator 305. I am too out of shape to keep up with the speed-walking high school kids that were hot on our escort's heels, but I wasn't worried. I only had about a 10 minute wait, and that was only for one reason: FRONT ROW!!
I sat on the left side, pulled the OTSR down, buckled in, and looked ahead, with a $#!+ eating grin, at the huge lift hill ahead. "Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!!" rang out over the loudspeakers and the train shot up the lift hill. This lift hill made Millennium Force's feel like the Rebel Yell. So fast! The view is wild but you don't have much time to appreciate it because the cable yanks you over the top and into the drop. Initially you feel a bit of free fall, but then it's as if you're being suspended a little (trim brakes) and all you feel is the g's from the speed. The first turn is sick! You are slammed into your seat going around and the speed is intense. Then you shoot up the airtime hill where there is a good bit of ejector air on top. As the ride snakes around going through multiple overbanked s-curves and turns, you can only marvel at the speed and quickness of change in direction. A small hill toward the end offers a tiny bit of airtime, and then the ride's over.
I was totally blown away after my first ride and would encourage anybody to get on this intense monster. The height and speed are incredible. The g's are outrageous. The few head choppers are even great. After this ride I would give the I-305 a 9.
Now for my other rides..
I got to ride I-305 2 more times later in the day. (Longest wait time was only about 20 minutes btw.) Both times I happened to end up in the same seat. Row 2, right side. The experience from the second row and the right side was so different from my front row left side ride that I have to review it separately. The lift hill is WAY better on the right side because there is no rail or walkway next to you. Makes the ascent much scarier a.k.a. more fun! Plus the view is completely unobstructed, and since the rest of the park is to the right and behind the I-305 (when riding), it is much more interesting to look out over. Going down felt the same, but the first turn was where these rides really began to differ from front row. Both second row rides I greyed out on this turn. Halfway up the airtime hill my vision righted and I was ready to feel the ejector air… but it never came. Not an inch. When the s-curves came, the OTSRs played ping-pong with my head. My shoulders and upper arms got bruised a bit too from hitting the OTSRs but I guess that’s the price I pay for riding hands up. The high speed turns were still great and the speed was still awesome so the end of the ride was still excellent. However due to the discomfort and the lack of airtime, I would have to rate the second row ride at only a 7.5.
All said and done, the ride was still amazing and definitely the most intense rides you’ll find east of Sandusky. But now to answer the burning question…
Q: Are the trim brakes noticeable?
A: Yes. Absolutely. I never experienced the I-305 without the trims, so this is a totally unbiased answer. Does it ruin the ride? Not by any means, but any coaster enthusiast will feel the brakes hit hard on the hill. You free fall for maybe a second or two but then it feels like you’re being reined in. The speed is still great, but the trims really take away from a coaster that could have been a 10 in my mind.
Thus [finally] ends my I-305 diatribe. Thoughts?
Great descriptions and great review. I think you are spot on with your observations. Hopefully you will get to ride it without the trims as it is a totally different ride. The 2nd hill has great ejector air and the first drop is much better. I don't know if you know but they just took the OTSR off and put on straps so I've heard there is no more head banging. So it seems this ride is a constant work in progress. Next year I think I'm going to get VIP passes there to ride that and then be able to go to Cedar Point and KI too
Thanks for the praise Mike! No OTSR is awesome news. I hope to be down at KD again this fall so maybe by then they will have things really up to snuff. But its nice to see all the changes cause to me it really shows that they are striving to find the "sweet spot" so to speak on this monster and I hope they find it. It could get even better with age.
CC, you should have a comparison of Intimidator at kings dominion to the one at Carowinds. i've only been on the one at KD, but that was pre-trim :P. yuck did NOT feel good after that ride. but going again on the eighth, and i'm going to try and ride the 2 fixed rides: I305 and Shockwave. IF i don't spend all day at waterworks. 🙂
I hope to compare the Intimidators after I get up to Virginia (the best state in the union :)) to ride I305. Maybe this year, maybe not. We'll see.
I just watched an episode of Ace of Cakes on the Food Network channel, and the main cake in the episode was themed around I305 for the opening. On the cake there was a model of a coaster that was suppposed to represent I305. Poor Job. As we know, I305 was an Intamin giga-coaster, while the coaster on the cake was B&M style. I recognized the box-track, the four-across trains, and the "wings" over the wheels.
Well at least they tried to get a coaster close enough of on Ace Of Cakes for the cake. Anyway I rode I305 back in June like 10 times in one day and that is the one day I probably will ride I305 and I love it a lot better than Millennium Force. Even though they put trims on the hill I still blacked out 9 out of the 10 times, but after the first turn it turned out to be one wicked ride and I loved every part of it and it really does deserve a 10 on the scale, even though I would've loved to experience it without the first drop trims.
I hate how everyone always dose that. But you have to think about it. How are they supposed to make a cake look like a piece of tubular track?
P.S.- I love that show!
I think it can't be a 10 because of the lack of airtime. And as much as I hate to admit it (because I would love to aver that a park near home had the best of the best) Millenium Force was better. More air, more freefall on the initial drop, better view. Don't get me wrong, the I-305 is great, but after I rode MF, I needed a "post-sex" cigarette. And I don't even smoke.
Bear in mind that MF has 10 years on I-305. All I'm saying is it isn't a 10 yet. I still have faith that KD and Intamin can get it totally right.
coolio!
I last month and rode it about 8 times in one day, front row, back row, and all about the middle of the train, and its a great ride. the airtime is minimal and all floater, i didn't experience any ejector airtime in any sections of the train ( which for me is a letdown) the twists were great but if you weren't expecting them they were painful, some people complained about neck pain, it turns very sharpy and quickly toward the end of the ride on these odd little twist flips ( idk what to call them ). Almost everyone on the ride myself included grayed/blacked out on the first turn. It is so intense to go into that sharp turn right after the drop, 5/8 times I rode I experienced some sort of grayout. it was actually worse the closer I was to the front. It was a fantastic ride though, although I think no contest Millenium force is hands down a better ride, 305 just isn't as fun, maybe its because it is so much shorter. But 305 is still an excellent ride.
I rode the Intimidator 305 twice yesterday and I thought it was great. However, Intamin should have stuck to the lap bar restraint system used on Superman: Ride of Steel and Millenium Force because it seems like it provides more airtime; I guess because the cars are more openly designed…just a thought.
I finally got the chance to ride I305 during a little family vacation this week to Virginia and does it live up to the hype? In one word, mostly. Unfortunately I had the exact same feeling as when I rode Millennium Force, underwhelmed. While the twists were awesome and the restrains were very comfortable, there was almost NO airtime. I got 3 rides in the middle to back of the train each time and all I got was light floater. Even though the second hill is half the size of the first, we crawled over it. I would attribute this to the trims which are VERY noticeable. With such a fast lift, you'd expect to fly down the drop but you only experience free fall for a second before the trims kick in. The train speeds up again only when the drop starts to pull out. I wish I got to experience the ride towards the front to see if it was any different, but it's still a great ride. With more airtime, it would have crushed Millennium Force but with the trims, I'd have to say the two are equal. I give bonus points to the ride for getting stuck on the lift. While only for abut ten seconds, the view was fantastic and the screams on the train gave me a good laugh.
Finally got to ride this after being teased by TV commercials and all of the Internet hype. One word: INCREDIBLE! I've ridden hundreds of coasters over the past 54 years, but nothing ever was as intense as this one. Mf at Cedar Point and Superman at SFNE are still excellent rides but Intamin keeps the learning curve going. The aforementioned coasters are now tied for the second place slot and I still hold them in high regard. However, after waiting 30 minutes for my vigin (first) ride in the front seat (my rule), I was amply rewarded with the most intense endorphin and adrenaline rush of my life. Smooth but forceful with enough wicked turns to satisfy even the most hardcore of us, I was more than satified. Even though extremely aggressive and fast, Intimidator's transitions were almost creamy. Subsequent rerides in the back seat left me unbruised and exhilarated, not tired and battered. I'm proud now to have a new distinct, undisputed #1 coaster. And its only 2 short hours away. Kudos Intamin and Kings Dominion for another great addition to your park.
Sorry about all of the typos.
i rode it this weekend . it was fun but they need to take the trim brake out of the top of the hill.
i still think mf is better simply beacuse it was the first and it has longer ride time . the crew that runs it are more efficient as well. do not get me wrong . i love this ride but it doesnt compare to millineum but this debate will go on forever …. just glad that they continue to build coasters like this because i love speed… ride either one and you will leave the ride with a smile on your face.
We must have been on the same ride as you (Friday morning) when we got stuck on the lift. My daughter was one of those freaking out. I have to agree with you in that I was also underwhelmed (I also think MF is underwhelming as well… but I love Maverick). We live near Carowinds and I love the airtime on that ride, but I was so jealous about KD getting I305. After ridding I305 and getting no airtime, I know Carowinds got a much better ride. We rode both the back and the front and neither seat did much for me. As far a greying out, I felt nothing, even though I was mentally prepared for it. One last point is that I believe the trims must have killed this ride. I could just feel the train slowing down once we started down the first hill.
I rode I305 over the weekend for the first time. I was actually really surprised that a ride of that caliber was placed at Kings Dominion in Virginia, but then I remembered the park was owned by Cedar Fairs. They had to go big, because that's what they do best.
We got to the park around 3:30 in the afternoon and decided to leave I305 for the last ride of the night. We figured it be a shorter wait and let's be honest, all roller coasters are better at night.
Once it was about 9:15, we headed to the ride all amped up on Vault. I first noticed that the entire ride's line was filled and spilling out into the ride's entrance. GREAT. We got into line and once we were up to the entrance I asked the Kings Dominion worker how long the wait was and replied with a stern, "30 minutes." Confused, I asked, "You mean a hour and 30 minutes?" "Nope. 30 minutes. It loads 32 at a time very quickly." That made me all giddy and was the first positive part about the ride. They show Dale Earnhardt races on big TV's in the middle of the lines. I tried hard to watch them and get excited about NASCAR, but it was an epic fail. Which leads me to the theme of the ride: Dale Earnhardt. I respect what he did for the sport and it's tragic how he died. Although, I'm not sure why Cedar Fairs thought it was a great idea to name the biggest and baddest Giga Coaster on the planet after a NASCAR driver. Oh well, I'm sure there are millions of NASCAR fans who would disagree.
Sorry for the quick rant. Anyways, we got up to the loading bay after about 25 minutes of waiting. We selected the very back car (there was four of us) and me and my brother could not stop trembling with excitement. I mean, this is supposed to be the coaster that rivals my favorite roller coaster, the Millennium Force.
Once our train arrived and we hopped in, I was disappointed in the harnesses. Over the top restraints seemed a bit over the top (cue comedy drum piece). Millennium Force used just a pull down bar that provided full upper body movement while being very comfortable and safe. Although I have to admit, the trains do look pretty sweet.
Finally when we were all locked in, they cued the "Gentlemen, start your engines!" and we were off. And by off, I mean launched up the lift hill. Took about 10 seconds in my opinion to get up and crest the hill. Then the next minute seemed like a blur. High speed turns, "twisties" galore, airtime hills (first was "grrrrreeeeat!" as Tony the Tiger would say), and S-curves all included in this wonderful, fast, intense… surprisingly short ride.
Yes, I said SHORT. Which is in my opinion, the biggest downfall of the ride. Soon after the first drop, you seem to be back at the loading bay wondering if you flew over half the track and luckily (used loosely) landed at the end of the track.
Now, don't get me wrong. I really enjoyed the ride. Especially the first drop and high-speed curve. I just wish it would have been longer. At least as long as Millennium Force is. It has more intense features of it's ride than MF, but the actual ride time really hurts it's overall rating.
So, with all that said… Millennium Force > Intimidator 305.
It still get's a 9/10 from me. But MF gets the 9.5!
– CP Junkie
Yes when we got stuck on the lift it was on Friday morning. What a small world. Anyways, I've never been to Carowinds but since my homepark is SFGAdv I've been on Nitro quite alot. It's my third favorite coaster after Bizarro at SFNE and El Toro and the airtime on it is great. Carowind's Intimidator looks like a great ride and I probably would have preferred that one also. I would have to agree with you with preferring Maverick to Millennium because although it's a small coaster it's pretty intense. The first turn on I305 was intense but not THAT intense like I was expecting, and like you said greying out was nonexistent.
Intimidator is pretty good, but it doesn't hold a candle to Millenium Force.
I rode it for the first time yesterday…and I was not prepared.
I had taken about a dozen coaster rides at the park before hand, and was ready to try the best. Actually, it turns out I wasn't.
The G forces on the hard right turn after the first hill caused me to gray out. My vision faded for several seconds…and if it lasted much longer, I may have completely blacked out. In all my years of coaster riding, I have never experienced anything like this. Frankly, it wasn't pleasant. I got off the ride and walked away feeling rather unsettled. I was pretty much ready to go home at this point, but since we had brought kids, I toughed it out…and ended up riding more than a dozen more coasters…but not this one. Never again. If it has trim on it, it needs to stay.
$0.02
this ride is amazing
Sure is fun BUT there is a shoulder restraint so this guy's comparison to MF is silly there is no comparison and well the length is about half MF
I've never been to Cedar Point, but I think Mantis looks really fun! Is it really all that bad??
😦 😦 And I love B&M and Intamin I can't really give a specific preference they both offer stunning quality roller coasters!
I went on this ride it it STUNNING! 🙂 Its actually my favorite roller coaster so far (I havent been to Cedar Point yet) its so much fun that raw speed and the turns they are so fun. 🙂 I give it like a 9.2. I'd give it a ten if there were more hill ejector airtime occasionsor more curves lol. Volcano is my second favorite roller coaster of all time that launch is just so much fun. I gave it like a 9.0 or 9.1. It would have surpassed I305 if only it had been LONGER! 🙂
Thank you for the good writeup. It actually was once
a amusement account it. Glance advanced to far brought agreeable from you!
However, how could we communicate?