Six Flags Darien Lake - May 25th and 26th, 2024

 On May 25th and 26th, my Mom and I made our annual visit to Six Flags Darien Lake! During this visit, I was able to get my Mom's Six Flags pass processed for when we travel again this summer.

While the weather was quite rainy on Saturday, we still had a great time regardless! Sunday on the other hand was very sunny and warm! Over the two days, I managed to get on many rides at the park, including the roller coasters. Be sure to enjoy the photos of our time at Six Flags Darien Lake!

Saturday, May 25th:

After a short two and a half hour drive, we were the first to pull up to the parking lot at Six Flags Darien Lake on Saturday morning of the Memorial Day long weekend. Luckily for us, we were able to cross into the US at the Fort Erie/Buffalo border rather quickly!

The day started with over-cast skies and heavy periods of rain.

Just before the park opened at 11am, the rain poured down causing everyone to run into the nearby shops.

After the rain had passed, my first ride of the day was on the 25 year old Ride of Steel! I was on the first train of the day. Ride of Steel continues to ride very well, offering tons of airtime as per usual!

After a ride on the Ride of Steel, I lined up for The Predator. During this past off-season, more titan track was added to The Predator, making it even more enjoyable!

If you look closely, you can see smiles on the faces of the riders on The Predator! The continuous additions of steel titan track are greatly appreciated!

Up next was a ride on the Boomerang!

The Boomerang rode at lot better than last August thanks to the recent re-tracking of vertical loop! Improvements likes this can make a world of a difference! I couldn't believe how smooth it was! No more potholes! 😂

The Pirate still offers an abundance of airtime! I was glad to see this classic ride saved a few years ago!

The Six Flags Skyscreamer had opened briefly before being closed down due to an incoming thunderstorm that lasted for over 30 minutes.

After the thunderstorm passed, my Mom and I walked around the midway, waiting for the rides to open. A lot of rain came down during that time!

While I was having lunch, the rain started to come down hard again.

As seen from the canopy in the Boardwalk area, you can see parkgoers riding Blast Off in the pouring rain!

While I really enjoy the Six Flags Skyscreamer, I would not want to ride it in the pouring rain as it would feeling like hail hitting your face at those speeds!

While it continued to rain, I decided to take a spin on the Bear Valley Bumper Buggies bumper car ride. Once the rain stopped, I then took a ride on the Six Flags Skyscreamer. Afterwards, I was going to ride the Moto Coaster, but it was closed due to a minor technical issue, so we walked across the covered bridge and captured this photo of the Tin Lizzy's. 

Earlier in the day between the rain showers, my Mom and I took a relaxing ride on the Tin Lizzy's.

As you may have heard, the Mind Eraser will be closed for the 2024 season as it undergoes an extensive renovation. In 2025, it will reopen with two new trains, making the ride experience a comfortable one as the trains will feature vest restraints! I am really looking forward to this!

In the mid-afternoon, I took a spin on the Tantrum. Luckily this year it is operating with two trains unlike last year, causing less of a wait!

It continues to be a fun roller coaster with its twists and quick turns!

After a ride on Tantrum, I decided to redeem some of my rewards points for a small dish of Dippin' Dots. With my points, I ordered a dish of Banana Split flavoured Dippin' Dots. It was surprisingly good!

Unfortunately during my visit, I did not get a ride on the classic Corn Popper, but it is great to see this classic Huss Swing Around still operating!

Just as we were leaving to our hotel for the day, the skies started to clear!

I really like the look of the new banners on the main pathway!

Here's my Mom and I just before heading over to our hotel in Batavia.

Hopefully the work on the Mind Eraser begins soon as it desperately needs some attention!

Sunday, May 26th:

Sunday morning was slightly cool, but sunny!

I started off Sunday with a ride on the classic Viper!

It provided a decent ride through its five inversions. One thing you have to remember when riding the Viper is to not get stapled in your seat as you can feel your spine compress as you go through the batwing inversion!

The trees around the Viper hide a lot of its track.

After the Viper, I rode the Moto Coaster. One can still never truly prepare for its flywheel launch!

The Six Flags Sky Screamer was offering a thrilling ride as the winds picked up in the late morning!

My Mom and I then took another spin on the Tin Lizzy's followed by a ride on the Grand Carousel.

Here we are before the ride began!

Given how smooth the Boomerang now is, I took another ride on it after a ride on the Ride of Steel.

With the temperature warming up, many visitors took a ride on Shipwreck Falls. It was quite odd to me to see the front row on Shipwreck Falls still being blocked off, like it was last year. I wonder the reason for that.

The Corn Popper is quite vibrant under the sun!

Many were enjoying a ride on Viper in the afternoon!

I was going to take a ride on Silver Bullet, but the line was too long!

Instead I took one final ride on the Six Flags Sky Screamer before we headed home!

Here we are before heading out! Thanks for taking a look at our photos of our weekend getaway to Six Flags Darien Lake! 🙂

Kings Dominion - June 18th, and 19th, 2023

 On Saturday, June 17th, my Mom and I drove down to Virginia to visit Kings Dominion and Busch Gardens Williamsburg from June 18th to June 21st, 2023. We had an amazing time visiting both amusement parks! This road trip was a great way to celebrate my mom who had beaten breast cancer last year and wrapped up her immunity booster treatment in May. 🙂 During this amusement park road trip, I was able to ride a total of 21 different roller coasters, moving my count up to a total of 116 different roller coasters to date!

Below are photos from our two days spent at Kings Dominion on June 18th and June 19th. Kings Dominion was not at all busy both days, allowing me to get many re-rides in on the park's rides and roller coasters! Be sure to enjoy photos of our two days of fun and thrills at Kings Dominion!

The morning after our 12 hour drive down to Doswell, Virginia, we woke up at a nearby hotel and headed over to Kings Dominion for our first day at the park on June 19th. We had arrived a little early, so we waited in the driveway until they opened up the parking lot.

Just afterwards I took this photo, the gates to the parking lot opened for the day shortly after 10am with the park opening at 11am.

Kings Dominion opened its gates on March 5th, 1975.

Here is the front gate at Kings Dominion. It has a slight castle motif, making it different from the front gates found at its original sister parks Kings Island and Canada's Wonderland.

The International Street at Kings Dominion is well shaded and features large trees along its Royal Fountain, leading up to the Eiffel Tower.

My first ride of the day was on the last-remaining Intamin Looping Starship operating in North America, The Berserker.

The Berserker is a pirate ship themed Looping Starship ride that debuted at Kings Dominion in 1984.

Over the past few decades, parks had began to remove Looping Starship rides due to the lack of popularity and maintenance that some of the units had faced. Luckily for me, The Berserker at Kings Dominion is still operating!

This was my first time on an Intamin Looping Starship ride, so I was really looking forward to the insanely slow hangtime it produces! The ship slowly rocks back and forth before slowly going upside down at approximately 100 feet in the air two or three times throughout the duration of the ride. I managed to get 5 rides on Berserker during my two-day visit to Kings Dominion!

My first roller coaster ride of the day was on Dominator, a B&M Floorless Coaster that has been at the park since 2008. Dominator is quite large and thrilling with its five inversions within the 4,210 feet of track. 
Prior to arriving at Kings Dominion, it had previously operated at the former Geauga Lake from 2000 to 2007.

Up next was Tumbili, my third time experiencing an S&S 4D Free Spin Coaster. While these coasters have limited capacity, they can be quite forceful as the seats flip passengers head-over-heels as they move over the hills of the track! Tumbili was beautifully themed to the Jungle X-Pedition area of the park, having the supports look like bamboo shoots.

Afterwards I ventured over to Reptitlian, a rare Mack Rides Bobsled coaster. Reptilian had originally opened in 1988 as Avalanche and was renamed and rethemed in 2022 to fit in with the new Jungle X-Pedition area. I found it to be quite fun and unique!

Passengers sit in bobsled-type cars as they snake through the steel trough.

The theming in Jungle X-Pedition area was really good!

There was even a small plane in the area too, adding to the overall atmosphere of the area!

Up next was Backlot Stunt Coaster. The one at Kings Dominion still operates with fire!

Thankfully the line for Backlot Stunt Coaster was non-existent on Sunday, so I immediately walked on.

Up next was the classic Arrow Dynamics manufactured Anaconda. While many people somewhat dislike the classic Arrow looping coasters due to their somewhat rough rides, I really enjoyed Anaconda! Its under water tunnel followed by its four inversions were quite forceful and thrilling! It seems to be doing quite well for a now 32 year-old coaster!

Anaconda reminds me of the former Vortex at Kings Island which was also a customer Arrow Dynamics Looping Coaster.

Of note, Anaconda was my 100th roller coaster!

My 101st different roller coaster would be Intimidator 305. This massive giga coaster was manufactured by Intamin and opened at Kings Dominion in 2010!

In case you couldn't tell, Intimidator has a height of 305 feet with a drop of 300 feet, leading into a banked curve that causes many to grey out, myself included! The rest of the coaster after the banked curve after the first drop was great, but I found that banked curve to be quite forceful and not very enjoyable. With how forceful Intimidator 305 at Kings Dominion is, it was a one and done for me.

There was quite a bit of airtime throughout the course of the ride!

The turns featured here were quite fun and enjoyable.

From the path to Intimidator 305, you can see the lift hill of Anaconda which stands 128 feet tall, with a drop of 144 feet as it heads underwater!

Pictured here is the a train going through the somewhat hidden sidewinder inversion on Anaconda.

In the early afternoon, my mom and I ventured over to Candy Apple Grove, a section at Kings Dominion which is a throwback to the original Candy Apple Grove that existed at the park.

Throughout the rides and midways are large Candy Apples.

Within Candy Apple Grove is Racer 75, a dual-tracked racing roller coaster similar to that of The Racer at Kings Island. Racer 75 opened with Kings Dominion in 1975 as Rebel Yell and was renamed Racer 75 in 2018. It is a fun racing wooden coaster!

Up next was the ridiculously fun and insane Twisted Timbers. Yes, that train is upside down as it heads down the first drop!

Twisted Timbers at Kings Dominion opened in 2018, utilizing the former structure of The Hurler, which was a wooden coaster that operated at the park from 1994- 2015. Twisted Timbers was manufactured by RMC, making this my second roller coaster by RMC.

That 109 foot tall barrel roll drop down inversion was just amazing! It's a great way to start the ride, especially with your hands up!

After the amazingly insane ride on Twisted Timbers, I rode Apple Zapple, a Mack wild mouse coaster that has been at the park since 2002 (originally known as Ricochet from 2002-2017).

It is a Large Park Model Wild Mouse coaster, just like The Fly at Canada's Wonderland, which was the first of its kind when it debuted in 1999. When ever see a wild mouse coaster of any kind, I give them a ride as I love the tight turns and steep drops!

Here's a view of the 1917 PTC Carousel at Kings Dominion, located in the Candy Apple Grove. It had originally operated in Rhode Island prior to arriving at Kings Dominion where it would open with the park in 1975. My Mom and I gave it a spin.

I feel more amusement parks should have shaded tunnels like the one at Kings Dominion. It was a great place to get out of the sun!

Up next was the Blue Ridge Tollway, fuel powered antique car ride. This antique car ride was really nice as it meandered through the forest of Old Virginia. My Mom and I really enjoyed this one!

The Blue Ridge Tollway is one of the original rides from opening year at Kings Dominion.

Here is my mom after riding the Blue Ridge Tollway. It was only one of two rides she rode at Kings Dominion. 

Up next for me was the Shenandoah Lumber Company Log Flume. It too is located in the Old Virginia section and has also been around since 1975. Log Flume rides have become quite rare, so I always try to ride them whenever I see them!

Afterwards, I took a ride on Kings Dominion's version of White Water Canyon! It opened in 1986 and features a lot of rocking and spinning as the raft navigated the rapids, making it more intense than the one at Canada's Wonderland!

Here is another view of the Blue Ride Tollway as a car travels through the wooded area.

Unfortunately the Eiffel Tower at Kings Dominion was closed during our two-day visit at the park. It would have provided some great views of the park as it stands 300 feet tall. The 300 foot tall Drop Tower located across the park was also closed during our visit.

All three International Streets at Kings Island, Kings Dominion, and Canada's Wonderland all have a similar layout with the buildings representing various countries and nationalities.

The Berserker is quite photogenic as it loops around 360°, 100 feet above the ground! It is now one of my favourite looping rides! I can see why some people love it!

The International Street at Kings Dominion had some nice landscaping and statues along the Royal Fountain.

The Planet Snoopy section at Kings Dominion was quite huge, featuring some equally large artificial Peanuts characters topiary. Featured here are Charlie Brown, Lucy, and Linus. 

With me being the flat ride enthusiast I am, I just had to take a ride on the Flying Ace, a rare Aviator ride manufactured by Chance Rides and has been operating at the park since 2000.

While it may not look like much in this photo, the ride's tower telescopes to 100 feet in the air, offering riders a view of the surrounding area. Each car holds two people and features a control that allows the wings to move side to side as the ride spins around. While that didn't really add to the experience, it was a neat ride nonetheless.

Kings Dominion features this beautiful floral clock that is tucked away off the main path.

The next roller coaster ride for me was on Grizzly, a wooden roller coaster nearly identical to that of Wilde Beast at Canada's Wonderland, but placed in a forest! The Grizzly opened in 1982.

In late 2022 through early 2023, Grizzly had received quite a bit of retracking, making it a rather enjoyable coaster ride! I managed to ride it a couple of times during my two-day visit.

With the return of Candy Apple Grove in 2014, a very once-popular attraction, a new version of the signing mushrooms came back! These signing mushrooms are a throwback to the ones that Kings Dominion had decades ago. It was quite neat to watch them sing once every 15 minutes or so.

Kings Dominion is also home to a classic Zierer manufactured Wave Swinger that has been operating at the park since 1975.

Later in the day I headed back over to Jungle X-Pedition to ride Flight of Fear, an indoor launched looping roller coaster that has been operating since 1996, just like its twin Flight of Fear at Kings Island. 
I personally found Kings Dominion's Flight of Fear to be more enjoyable and well maintained compared to Kings Island's version.

With the introduction of Jungle X-Pedition at Kings Dominion in 2022 saw the retheme of the park's classic Scrambler ride. It is now themed to Spiders and is known as Arachnida. It fits in very well with the area!

From Jungle X-Pedition you can take a path through Planet Snoopy which then leads to a path that goes near the Kingswood Amphitheater and Catered Pavilions. This path allows you to get some great views of Woodstock Express and Dominator.

Here's an almost silhouette view of Dominator later in the evening on a beautiful Sunday.

Berserker is still looping strong after 39 years of operation!

Some of the loops on Berserker feel like an eternity! haha

Kings Dominion's International Street comes to life once the sun begins to set!

The Carousel has some charming lights that bring out its beauty.

Here's a look at Anaconda's loop that is right after the underwater tunnel!

Here is my mom and I after a great first day at Kings Dominion!

The lights on the Royal Fountain at Kings Dominion change colours, but the purple lights look the nicest in my opinion!

As we were leaving for the night, here is a view of Dominator from the parking lot!

Day Two: Monday, June 19th, 2023:

Monday, June 19th marked our second day of fun at Kings Dominion! While it became a little bit rainy in the afternoon, we didn't let that dampen our spirits!

Day two at Kings Dominion was filled with many rerides on many rides and roller coasters I greatly enjoyed, including the classic Flying Eagles (pictured) and the Bad Apple in Candy Apple Grove.

In the mid-afternoon on June 19th, it poured rain for a little while, causing the rides to close down for a while.

Once the rain had stopped, some performers came out in the Jungle X-Pedition section playing some African jungle beats on the drums. The were great!

The first roller coaster I rode after the storm was the Anaconda. I managed to ride it a total of three times during my two-day visit at Kings Dominion. Here is a train load of passengers heading into the underwater tunnel!

It is difficult to get great photos of the coasters at Kings Dominion as many are surrounded by trees. Here's a close-up view of one of the corkscrews on Anaconda.

The Berserker, looping upside down as seen from underneath the Eiffel Tower.

Racer 75 was mostly racing during my visit to Kings Dominion, which was great to see!

Here are some more statues placed nearby the Royal Fountain.

After another great day of fun at Kings Dominion, it was time to leave and head to Busch Gardens Williamsburg the following day!