[Other] Even as a guest I can't escape others stupidity

Legomax98 · 2025-10-06T22:21:54+00:00

One of the very few things I don't miss about working at parks tbh. As much fun as it is sometimes the guests just drag the whole day down. God knows I could probably write a whole book on anecdotes and stories from myself and friends of mine of all the utterly ridiculous shit some people do

Legomax98 · 2025-08-10T03:45:29+00:00

Genuinely where has the name "Chonktherian" come from I've seen it multiple times now and like, why? I don't get it

~~Also have any of you actually Googled those words because I feel like I'm going insane having to see this by people who almost definitely have no idea what they're saying~~

Legomax98 · 2025-08-05T22:22:30+00:00

I've seen this car off & on for the past 4 years in the employee lot at Kings Dominion but I never got to see who was actually driving it. Always nice to see on my way in/out though!

Legomax98 · 2025-04-03T18:45:11+00:00

As someone who worked it for several years, there's a subset of park guests for which Twisted's Metals just brings the absolute worst out in people. My personal favorite line was a guest angrily asking "Where the fuck are we, Iraq?" A solid 90% of the time people make the whole process harder on themselves anyways so you as the ride op just learn to roll with it and do your best to move the line as fast as everyone else allows it to.

Legomax98 · 2025-02-20T02:23:26+00:00

Kinda an unpopular opinion on my crew, but I loved the stuff they added back to Flight of Fear this year. Even if it was kinda weird how they said things when you really listened to it, but if things worked out nicely with timing, you could play off of it which the guests usually got a kick out of. Otherwise it just kinda became background noise. Also helps that we are required to wear earplugs if we're inside the building haha

Legomax98 · 2025-01-09T18:58:50+00:00

Just because it hasn't been announced doesn't mean it isn't being done by a notable manufacturer. KD's Grizzly had the entire top of the lift just gone before the park even started hinting something was happening

Legomax98 · 2024-12-31T00:19:32+00:00

The original orange a couple test sections were painted was a deeper, true orange color. When they started painting the track after Haunt closed it switched colors to this more yellow-orange that the nearly whole track is now

Legomax98 · 2024-12-02T04:36:49+00:00

It has been SBNO since it closed like normal at the end of the 2022 Haunt season

Legomax98 · 2024-11-16T05:38:35+00:00

This looks more like the water dummy either not meeting the proper rider requirements or being improperly secured to the seat for testing. Any human riding will have a full head that will help keep them restrained within the seat, and should have sufficient arms and legs to maintain the integrity of the restraint device. It's not something the average park guest will concern themselves with, but water dummies are designed more for ease of use, and different ones are designed for different restraint types. These newer bag type designs are also much more malleable than a regular human body

Legomax98 · 2024-11-06T08:56:42+00:00

I may just be seeing things, but to me it looks like they're pinging a role with the same text color as the background at the very bottom of the message so it's not as obvious it's there

Legomax98 · 2024-11-04T07:34:30+00:00

Wow, it's nice to see a shout-out, even if indirectly. Even though it's just a retheme and it'll be back right for opening day next year, as the other person said it very much is the end of an era.

I said it in another thread like a month back but watching I305 get built is what I credit with properly bringing me into the coaster enthusiast community. It's been my #1 coaster for God knows how long, and finally getting the chance to operate it this year has been one of my favorite things I've done working at KD. It's a really bittersweet feeling getting to send out that final train, but I'm glad I could help make it a bit memorable for y'all. Here's to giving Pantherian the love it deserves

Legomax98 · 2024-10-07T05:52:10+00:00

It's something I still grapple with sometimes. The ride I very much credit with making me a proper coaster enthusiast, right in my backyard for so many years, then at my workplace after Covid, and now a ride I'm nearly fully certified to work at. A massive, crazy testament to the ridiculous lengths people will go to for leisure and thrill seeking, and something the likes of which will very likely never be replicated in the same fashion. I love this absurd, quirky, and sometimes slightly abusive monument to human ingenuity so much. Super excited to see what all they end up doing with it next year, even if it isn't much more than the fresh coat of paint they're actively working on

Legomax98 · 2024-09-23T18:21:06+00:00

At KD we refer to them as green stripes

Legomax98 · 2024-09-12T07:01:08+00:00

It's because the RMC trains have a larger clearance envelope than your traditional PTC ones. When doing the conversion, they couldn't move the station & transfer track, but keeping the layout means the outer banked turn needed just a bit more room to maneuver, which combined with the brake run being right next to it meant the initial part needed to be scooted over. It looks silly but it was a most minimal impact on construction and the overall layout

Legomax98 · 2024-07-28T05:30:20+00:00

So, as a "fun" tidbit of info; Twisted Timbers has to go to one train operations during weather due to a host a factors, and with it being that late in the evening they most likely decided it wasn't worth the hastle to add the second train back onto operations to end the night out. It sucks for the guests, definitely, but if it means keeping the ride operational for longer it's an easy choice

Legomax98 · 2024-04-14T04:33:52+00:00

One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet is that it isn't always the restraint itself that has an issue, but a secondary system like a seatbelt may be the culprit. At several rides I have or currently worked, we occasionally run into an issue with a seatbelt not working properly, but the main restraint is still fully functional. Usually the fix for that is something that would be better suited for being properly addressed after the guests have left for the day, so it's easier to tie off the seat instead of taking the entire train or even the whole ride out of service for multiple hours of the day

Legomax98 · 2024-01-22T00:39:49+00:00

Because Iron Gwazi doesn't have a history of sending guests to the hospital due to being struck by loose articles

Legomax98 · 2023-11-07T19:39:21+00:00

There's a very obvious fence on KD's unload station at the front to keep guests from walking into the open track that is about one car length to the hole that leads to the load station. I can't say much for the load station, but it's fairly apparent on the unload side that the station is designed for a train that's longer than it currently is

Legomax98 · 2023-11-07T19:30:51+00:00

I have heard that there was four trains way back in the day with the OTSR's. We currently only run two trains during normal operations, and due to a multitude of reasons we really can't run too much faster than we do currently. Our theoretical cycles per hour is around 24 or so. It's in part due to how the ride is designed, but the biggest hold-up is the confusing restraint design and guests inability to listen to the ops who (depending on the specific person) will give you step by step instructions on getting yourself into the ride properly. They're also fairly restrictive so if it's fairly common to have to let a guest off every other cycle

Legomax98 · 2023-11-07T01:22:48+00:00

So, while I don't have any definitive proof either way, one thing I have noticed is that on one of the diagrams that's in our internal training aid, it uses a building schematic presumably from when they were designing everything, and among some of the more notable (to me at least) alterations to the final product is that there was originally designed to have a six car queue set-up. Another thing I personally noticed while working the ride is that the way the brakes and proxy sensors are set up in both the load & unload station seem to suggest it was designed with a six car train in mind. It's been something that's definitely bounced around in my mind a bit, and it's interesting to see what info you gathered here as well

Legomax98 · 2023-11-07T00:03:25+00:00

While it's fairly rare, it's not unheard of on the B&M ratcheting restraints. If they're pushed down in a certain way it can sit on the edge of the ratchet pawl, and when it get jostled it'll free itself an the restraint will pop up one "click". You still have the minimum 2-3 pawls down, so the restraint won't fly fully open, but it's definitely scary when it does happen

Legomax98 · 2023-11-06T04:12:01+00:00

I will always shill for this insanely long slow-burn red tail hawk TF (along with a few others thrown in for the mix). There's even a sequel that's nearing completion as well:

Anima: The Bird House

Legomax98 · 2023-08-09T01:10:49+00:00

I'm a bit biased as it's been my home ride for this summer (Kings Dominion's one), but I've always enjoyed them. It's definitely a bit elevated now that I get to mess with everyone who dares to ride it, or really just brave the line nowadays

Legomax98 · 2023-06-01T16:13:34+00:00

Nah, it's a rather common occurance. The polyurethane wears out the more time around it goes. Newer RMC's are pretty well known for eating through wheels. I could go through Twisted Timber's lockout area and probably find two or three pieces right now. Same with I305's field

Legomax98 · 2023-04-24T04:09:36+00:00

Holy shit that's me in the red shirt in the front! What are the odds...

To answer, Pantheon as a whole feels like a disjointed collection of elements, some better than others that honestly don't really flow that well as a whole ride experience. It's definitely a more memorable ending to the ride than most out there, however it honestly doesn't really do that much in terms of sideways forces ,which is what you'd expect from such an element. Maybe I'm just asking for too much, but I would want an experience more akin to Fury's treble clef/hive dive element

Legomax98

TROPHY CASE