Twisted Timbers is the Rocky Mountain Construction hybrid coaster at Kings Dominion.
This is the Iron Horse conversion of the former Hurler wooden roller coaster.
To call Twisted Timbers an upgrade is an understatement.
RMC took one of the worst roller coasters in Virginia and transformed it into arguably
the state’s best ride.
Find out what makes this ride so awesome in this review.
Kings Dominion opened Hurler in 1994 back when the park was owned by Paramount.
Hurler was the only ride ever built by International Coasters, Inc and an exact clone of this coaster
was built at Carowinds as well.
And to the coaster’s defense, I think it had a good layout.
Inspired by Kentucky Kingdom’s Thunder Run, the coaster featured a large drop followed
by a low-to-the-ground turn and a series of bunny hills.
My first rides on this coaster occurred in 2006 just after Hurler was retracked and they
were very good.
The train flew through the layout and the ride had lots of floater airtime.
But when I returned to Kings Dominion in 2012 and 2014, the coaster was much worse.
It was running rougher and a trim brake was installed after the first drop sapping the
coaster of its airtime and power.
Kings Dominion originally planned to refurbish the coaster, but they decided to instead hire
RMC to transform Hurler into Twisted Timbers for the 2018 season.
A clone of Hurler still stands at Carowinds today and it rides much like it the Kings
Dominion Hurler did in its final years.
Check out my review if you want to learn more.
Twisted Timbers has an odd theme.
Placed in the Candy Apple Grove section of the park, the ride is themed to a 1950s apple
orchard that was devastated by a mysterious force.
The ride itself has a similar look to the older RMCs with the brown wooden supports
and maroon track.
It looks pretty mundane to be honest.
But the ride’s story elevates the presentation.
The premise is that riders are touring the Hanover Hill Orchard.
You have some mangled trees in the queue line and apple items in the station.
This is a cut above your average Cedar Fair ride, but there’s no theming along the main
course, which is fine because of how strong the layout is.
Twisted Timbers is 28 feet or 8.5 meters taller than Hurler, as it stands 111 feet or 34 meters
tall.
And it’s one of the few RMC conversions to add length to the original ride, as Twisted
Timbers is 3351 feet or 1021 meters long.
The ride features nearly 20 airtime moments plus three inversions.
I have to give Alan Schilke and RMC a lot of credit for packing that much into a ride
of this size.
Twisted Timbers was one of two RMC hybrids that Cedar Fair built in 2018 along with Cedar
Point’s Steel Vengeance.
And from day one, both rides had issues with loose articles coming free.
Neither ride allows for items to be stored on the ride platform, presumably to speed
up dispatches and boost capacity.
Midway through the ride’s inaugural season, lockers became mandatory for all metal objects.
But unlike the ones at Universal, these ones cost $2 for two hours.
This essentially turned Twisted Timbers into an upcharge attraction.
The ride was still undoubtedly worth it, but it was a nuisance.
In 2019, Twisted Timbers and Steel Vengeance added zippered pouches to the trains that
could store small metal objects like cell phones, keys, and wallets.
There were two drawbacks.
One, it did slow down load times slightly.
Two, there was no guarantee guests would actually use them.
In 2021, Twisted Timbers and Steel Vengeance added free lockers right before the station.
This is the best compromise.
Riders can keep their small belongings with them for a majority of the wait.
Cedar Fair gets the fastest possible dispatches since all belongings are safely tucked away
before riders reach the platform.
Guests must pass through a metal detector just to reach the ride platform.
And these lockers are free.
The lockers are two-sided, but the area on Twisted Timbers is extremely congested.
You can tell this wasn’t the original plan for the ride.
There was usually a logjam after each cycle.
Steel Vengenace’s lockers have far more space for comparison.
Twisted Timbers usually has one of the longest lines at Kings Dominion.
On a busy day, expect to wait an hour for this coaster.
This ride usually doesn’t start building a line until the early afternoon.
Because this coaster is in the back of the park, you can usually marathon it with zero
wait even on a busier day if you head there first.
The ride features the familiar RMC rolling stock, except the lead car is themed to look
like an old truck.
The ride always seems to run two trains, each seating up to 24 riders across 6 cars.
Operations are about as good as they can be for an RMC.
These are not easy rides to check.
The crew often had the next train ready to go once the prior one stopped on the brake
run.
Riders have a seatbelt and lap bar combination.
I have never had an issue with RMC restraints since the lap bar contouring doesn’t inhibit
my ability to experience the airtime, but I know larger guests can find the shin guards
cramped and uncomfortable.
My favorite seat on Twisted Timbers is definitely the back.
Every row gives great airtime, but I find almost every single moment to be stronger
in that back car.
Usually I don’t have much of a preference if I’m sitting on the left or right side
of the train, but a few of the elements seem to pop more on the left.
Once dispatched, you turn out of the station and ascend the obnoxiously loud lift hill.
Good luck maintaining a conversation with your riding buddy as you head up the lift.
At the top, you travel down a tiny dip, round a corner, and traverse a barrel roll down
drop.
This was the third RMC to forego the standard first drop in favor of an extra inversion.
You get some fantastic sustained hangtime while spiraling towards the ground.
While I prefer to see a standard first drop, this is still a great inversion.
I think Iron Gwazi and Twisted Cyclone do it best where they have a standard first drop
off the lift and then they mix in a barrel roll down drop later in the layout.
You then hurtle over a little speed hill.
It doesn’t given traditional airtime.
Rather it throws you forwards and the sensation seems more pronounced on the left side of
the train.
The train then flies through an overbank around the station.
It didn’t have the positives of the one on Wicked Cyclone, but the one on Twisted
Timbers felt very fast.
Then there’s another speed bump that tosses you forwards like the first one.
But Twisted Timbers is done messing around.
It then subjects riders to three consecutive camelbacks.
This is the ride’s signature sequence.
All three hills deliver strong and sustained ejector airtime.
I find the second and third hills a little stronger than the first, but no matter where
you’re sitting, you will be launched out of your seat for a few seconds.
These are three of the best airtime hills on any RMC since you have the usual airtime
strength; it’s just sustained this time.
This ends with a surprise little dip downwards that gives a faint pop of airtime.
Next is the cutback.
On the left side of the train, you get a little bit of float.
But it feels more like an overbank on the right side of the train since you don’t
invert quite as much, nor do you leave your seat.
You then navigate one of the most underrated hills on the ride.
You have this bunny hill that subtly turns to the right, so you get the usually good
pop of ejector airtime paired with a sudden lateral jerk.
Then comes a bunny hill giving everyone a good ejector pop.
Then there’s this elevated section of trick track that shoots riders out of there seat
two more times in rapid-fire succession.
The drop off this element catches you off-guard in the back and it sustains the ejector airtime
for a bit.
Next is another bunny hill with an equally powerful burst of ejector airtime paired with
some awesome headchoppers with the lift supports.
Then comes this bizarre turnaround.
It’s basically an overbank to the right that snaps outwards at the apex.
This maneuver pins riders to the side of the train while also delivering ejector airtime.
RMC never fails with this outward banked hills.
You then hit another bunny hill that again delivers an ejector pop and let’s take a
moment to reflect on what you experienced.
You just charged through 7 straight hills all delivering thigh-crushing pops of ejector
airtime.
This ride is tenacious.
You then get a break and navigate a slow zero-G roll ripe with hangtime.
I think the slower speed helps the element to be honest.
By this point, Twisted Timbers is out of speed sort of like Wicked Cyclone on the final lap.
You then navigate back to back overbanked turns.
The first delivers a quick sideways pop of airtime.
The second isn’t banked as sharply and is pretty tame.
That’s followed by a little hump that fails to offer anything.
But Twisted Timbers saves two final airtime pops.
The last bunny hills delivers strong ejector pop for everyone.
Then you rise into the brake run, which delivers a solid pop up front and a weaker one towards
the back.
Twisted Timbers has good pacing.
A few of the smaller humps and turns aren’t too strong, but the ride mostly just keeps
throwing powerful airtime hills at riders.
The ride doesn’t have the best sense of speed.
This is one of the slower RMCs and it definitely feels that way, but the elements still deliver
so it’s only a minor issue.
As for smoothness, Twisted Timbers is glossy smooth like most RMCs.
The ride throws you about, but that’s deliberate and from the forces, not because of any track
imperfections.
So what would I rate Twisted Timbers?
I would give this airtime machine a 9.5 out of 10.
The quantity of ejector airtime is what makes Twisted Timbers special.
Few rides offer as many airtime hills as this ride, and most of them deliver very strong
pops.
You also have that standout three camelback sequence and some nice inversions for variety.
This places towards the middle of the RMCs for me.
It more airtime than usual.
And it has good pacing, but the ones ahead of it are a little better in that department.
This ultimately was my favorite coaster in the state for a while, but I think I now prefer
Intimidator 305 since it offers such a wild ride you cannot get elsewhere.
So those are my thoughts on Twisted Timbers at Kings Dominion, the RMC conversion of the
old Hurler.
What are your thoughts on this coaster?
Do you think it’s the best coaster in Virginia?
Let me know your thoughts down in the comments.
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