Reptilian is the Mack bobsled coaster at Kings Dominion.
This coaster originally opened as Avalanche, but it was transformed into Reptilian for
the 2022 season.
While the ride certainly looks different with its bright orange paint scheme, it rides identically.
So how does this bobsled coaster compare to the others?
Find out in this review of Reptilian.
Mack built their first bobsled coaster in Schweizer Bobbahn at Europa Park in 1985.
Mack would only go on to build six different bobsleds, but their second would go to Kings
Dominion.
Avalanche opened in 1988 with the prototypical white trough.
This would be the only Mack bobsled ever built in America and there are only three other
bobsled coasters total in the United States.
When Safari Village was rethemed to Jungle X-Pedition for the 2022 season, Avalanche
was painted orange and renamed Reptilian.
I was unsure how I’d feel about a bobsled coaster having such a flashy paint scheme,
but it looks pretty good in person.
I also really like the scaly-looking trains and the jungle paraphernalia in the station.
Reptilian is a wise coaster to ride early in the day.
This coaster has one of the lower capacities at Kings Dominion.
The ride usually runs two trains, seating up to 14 riders across 7 cars.
However, the ride usually dispatches with far less people.
Since seating is inline style, the only way to fit two riders in a bobsled is for someone
to sit in another person’s lap.
Understandably, not everyone is comfortable with this so a lot of people prefer to ride
alone.
The crew can check the trains quickly though thanks to the simple lap bar restraints.
This is a coaster where I don’t have too much of a seat preference.
The forces feel identical throughout the train.
The front does have a slightly better view, so I would say it’s worth riding there if
all rows have an equal wait.
Once dispatched, you turn out of the station and ascend the lift hill, which stands roughly
60-70 feet or 18-21 meters tall.
The ride starts with an elevated helix.
It’s not particularly fast since you have little speed going into it, but it gives you
a taste of what’s to come.
You the rise up a gradual incline and crawl into a mid-course brake run.
The entry into the brake runs on the Intamin bobsleds are brutal, as the cars bang side-to-side
rather violently.
The transitions into the brakes on the Mack ones are far more comfortable.
You still tap the side rails, but the transition occurs over a much larger distance so it’s
less jarring.
The second half begins with a series of downwards s-bends.
Each one induces more swinging than the prior one and due to the oversized trough, you lose
all sense of direction.
This leads into a fast downwards helix.
This element has the best swinging on the ride.
You really slide up the trough, which is always a neat sensation.
This clockwise helix is followed by a counterclockwise helix.
The transition between them is rapid and can cause a faint feeling of weightlessness.
You then twist upwards, losing speed along the way, before meekly crawling into the final
brake run, ending the coaster.
One of the most important things with Reptilian is to lean forwards.
Since the trough is slatted, the cars vibrate down the track like a car down a cobblestone
road.
If you’re sitting against the seat back, the vibrations are especially prominent.
If you lean forwards, they’re not too noticeable.
This shake is one of the biggest differences from the Intamin ones.
However, this allows the coaster to operate in the rain and dry faster after precipitation,
so it improves the ride’s uptime.
So what would I rate Reptilian?
I would give this Mack bobsled coaster a 5 out of 10.
This is an ok coaster.
It’s a rare model and it is cool how the trains slither down the oversized trough,
but none of the elements really standout.