Intimidator 305 is the Intamin giga coaster at Kings Dominion.
This ride is wild. It has blistering speed, crushing forces, and breakneck transitions.
I305 has a case as one of the most intense coasters in the world.
But is it too intense? Find out in this review of Intimidator 305.
Cedar Fair built the first full-circuit giga coaster in 2000 at Cedar Point with
Millennium Force. This Intamin creation was a massive success.
It’s still one of Cedar Point’s most popular rides to this day. It has won the Golden Ticket Award
for the best steel coaster 10 times and never placed lower than second in that annual poll.
After purchasing Kings Dominion in 2006, Cedar Fair wanted to bolster the park’s coaster lineup.
They relocated Dominator from Geauga Lake in 2008, but that was just the beginning. Just
one year later, Kings Dominion announced they would be adding Intimidator 305.
It would be and still is the park’s largest investment ever, costing $25 million.
Opening in 2010, I305 would be just the third full circuit giga coaster ever built.
Like Cedar Fair’s first giga coaster, I305 would be built by Intamin. The ride would stand 305
feet or 93 meters tall, forever changing Kings Dominion’s skyline. This ride should
have been the unquestioned headliner at this Virginia theme park. And from day one, coaster
enthusiasts loved this coaster’s intensity. But reception among most guests was mixed.
All other full-circuit giga coasters have a giant overbank or camelback after their first drop.
Intimidator 305 instead treated riders to a high speed, low-to-the-ground turn.
Almost every rider would greyout on this element and a few would even blackout.
While some enjoy that display of power, others found sustained forces like that
unpleasant and uncomfortable. Some people were even going to first aid after their ride.
As a result, Kings Dominion added a trim brake on the ride’s first drop midway through the ride’s
inaugural season. This reduced the ride’s top speed from 90 mph or 145 kph to 79 mph or 127 kph.
While it slightly reduced the forces on that first turn, most riders were still
greying out. And it was also negatively impacting the rest of the ride too.
During the 2010-2011 off-season, the trim brake was removed and Intamin reprofiled the first turn.
It would start to rise upwards sooner to lesser the G-forces.
While it’s a little less intense than the ride’s original form,
most riders are still going to greyout. There were two other changes during
the ride’s first year. Unlike the other giga coasters that have lap bars, I305 has
over-the-shoulder restraints consisting of a thick cylinder over the thighs of riders and straps over
their shoulders. While I would prefer the freedom of lap bars, I completely understand the need for
over-the-shoulder restraints considering how violently the ride throws you side-to-side.
The original restraints had hard straps. During the ride’s rapid maneuvers, the heads and necks
of riders could smash into the restraint, which wasn’t very comfortable. Just 2 months after
opening, the hard straps were replaced with soft straps, dramatically improving guest comfort.
Other Intamin coasters have underwent similar changes such as Maverick at Cedar Point
and Storm Runner at Hersheypark. The coaster also blew through wheels
daily in its opening year. The temporary trim helped mitigate this issue, but it was resolved
by changing the wheel compound and adding water sprayers on the brake run to cool the wheels.
So between the ride’s opening year issues and relentless intensity, it’s possible Kings Dominion
didn’t get what their money’s worth. As long as I don’t wait for the front,
I have never had to wait more than 1-2 trains for Intimidator 305. This includes visits on
weekdays and weekends in both the spring and summer. This always seems to be one of the
shortest waits at Kings Dominion. And that’s even with Intimidator 305 running just one
train sometimes. I haven’t visited during Haunt though, which is the park’s busiest season.
While many find I305’s intensity difficult to experience multiple times, the low waits are also
explained by the ride’s high capacity. The ride can run two trains, each seating up to 32 riders.
So when this ride runs two trains, it accommodate over 1000 riders per hour.
That helps explain why this ride can still be a walk-on even on a busy weekend.
As for which seat you want, I strongly recommend experiencing both the front and back.
I think I slightly prefer the front, but I ride in the back more since the front requires me to
wait an extra 4-6 cycles. Every single row on this ride is intense. The forces are pretty
consistent throughout the train. However, the sense of speed is accentuated up front
and in the back, you really get whipped over that first drop.
Before delving into the ride experience, I want to talk about this coaster’s appearance and theming.
This ride looks enormous. The lift can be seen throughout the park
and it looks especially daunting as you walk towards the ride’s dedicated plaza.
At a micro level, the ride looks great. The bright red track really pops
and the ride’s theme is fitting. The coaster is themed to and named after Dale Earnhardt,
a NASCAR driver nicknamed the Intimidator. There is some signage approaching the ride’s queue line
and the trains have some thematic decals. Then the wild ride is worthy of Earnhardt’s name.
But at a macro level, the ride’s theme is a bit weird. Intimidator 305 is part of the
Jungle X-pedition area. Half that area looks great with cohesive architecture
and a safari aesthetic. But half the land is a hodgepodge of individually themed attractions.
NASCAR does not fit in with the rest of Jungle X-pedition, but this thankfully doesn’t impact
my ability to enjoy the ride. Once the trains are checked,
you hear an announcer excitedly yell… “START YOUR ENGINES”
You then rapidly ascend the gargantuan lift hill. The cable lift pulls you to
the top at roughly 13 mph or 21 kph, so you reach the top in roughly 25 seconds.
The view isn’t all that great since you’re facing away from the park and looking towards fields and
forests, but these surroundings make you feel even taller. And you’re already pretty high up.
The first drop is excellent. It’s nearly vertical at an 85 degree angle. If you’re in the back, you
get some strong ejector airtime. The airtime isn’t as sustained as other giga coasters though since
you reach the max angle of descent sooner and the pullout starts roughly halfway down the drop.
But you’re forcefully lifted out of your seat for half the drop, which certainly satisfied me. Then
if you’re up front, you don’t get the same pull, but you do gracefully float out of your seat.
You then rip around the ride’s infamous 270 degree turn. This turn is fast and takes no prisoners.
The current form is still a guaranteed greyout. My entire field-of-view goes blurry from the
sustained positive Gs and I don’t regain my vision until the top of the second hill.
I love a show of power like this. The second hill is arguably the most underrated
element of I305. It’s roughly half the height of the first drop, so you fly over this hill.
Everyone gets strong and sustained ejector airtime. It’s extra shocking since I’m still
disoriented from the prior greyout. Maybe that’s why this hill doesn’t get as much
love as it deserves, but I think it’s stronger than any individual hill on Twisted Timbers.
You then charge over this low, drawn out speed hill. With all that speed, you get
some nice sustained floater airtime. It’s a nice contrast from the prior two ejector moments.
After the break from trying to kill you, I305 again tries to kill you.
It starts with this intense turn. While this one doesn’t cause me to greyout,
the positive Gs feel stronger than the first turn. Those Gs just aren’t as sustained.
There’s also a great headchopper with a support, but if you blink, you’ll miss it.
This turn travels to the left and then it suddenly flips riders to the right.
This sudden change of direction is one of Intimidator’s signature features. Your body
is mercilessly tossed sideways. This transition is so abrupt and violent that it somehow causes
a surprise ejector pop. I’m very grateful for the soft straps given this element’s tenacity,
and there are more transitions like this coming. You then zoom through this elongated s-bend.
And this ends in another crazy transition that rapidly sends the train to the right.
The lateral and airtime combination is identical to the prior one.
Intimidator then zips around a decently forceful low turn.
This culminates one of the best sequences of any coaster for pure speed. Intimidator floors
it from the first drop through this point. The next camelback does have a magnetic trim
on the ascent and it almost always hits, very noticeably sapping the ride of some speed.
But there’s still some satisfactory sustained floater airtime on this hill.
You then rise up another hill, getting some decent floater airtime, before turning to the right.
And I305 has two more crazy transitions before crossing the finish line.
That right turn abruptly turns into a left turn, which tosses rides both out of their
seat and sideways. After one final forceful turn, I305 rises into the brake run sideways and then
viscously uncorks at the last possible instant. This transition again delivers a lateral and
airtime combination. The way Intamin designed these transitions was downright masterful.
Every inch of Intimidator’s 5100 foot or 1554 meter long track is intense. This is one of the
best paced coasters in the world. This coaster absolutely hauls through 3/4 of its layout,
throwing some underrated airtime, crushing positive forces, and snappy transitions
at riders. That aforementioned trim does sap the ride of a little speed, but the final few
elements still deliver so it’s no issue for me. As for smoothness, this coaster tracks flawlessly.
The back car did have an audible rattle, but it didn’t translate to any discomfort
or tangible vibration during the ride for me. So what would I rate Intimidator 305? I would
give this monster a 10 out of 10. This has a case as the most intense coaster on the planet.
Intamin was mad to design a layout this crazy. Building a coaster this fast that
features a low-to-the-ground layout with sudden transitions is absurd.
I love it. I gained more of an appreciation for this ride in my recent visit because it’s so
unique. I don’t think we’ll ever see another giga coaster quite like I305. It’s intensity isn’t for
everyone, but the ride’s power and pacing make it a standout attraction for thrill-seekers.
Of the gigas, I still prefer Fury 325 since that coaster has a more airtime centric layout,
but I think Intimidator 305 is now my second favorite giga because of its strength.
So those are my thoughts on Intimidator 305, the Intamin giga coaster at Kings Dominion. What are
your thoughts on this beast of a coaster? How do you compare it to the other gigas? Let me
know your thoughts down in the comments. If you enjoyed this review, I’d appreciate it if you
gave this video a like and you considered subscribing since there will be a lot
more roller coaster and amusement park videos here at Canobie Coaster. Thanks for watching!