IAmA worker at the amusement park Kings Dominion. AMA!

We were there yesterday! Do you get free park admission for working there?

Cool! I can visit the park whenever I want. I also get 8 free one day tickets for friends/family after I work a certain number of hours.

How often do you go to the park for recreation?

As someone who worked at several parks in years past, while one can go 'for free' on their days off... the novelty wears off real fast when you work there 5+ days a week.

EXACTLY

Probably once every 10ish days. I don't like too many coasters, so I mainly walk the park.

They still got that coaster that launches you into a pitch black warehouse essentially? Went on that as a kid like 15 years ago.

Yep. Flight of Fear. Best ride IMO. We had a "Ride Night" for associates and I got to ride it with the lights on. 20x worse lol

What is the worst job in the park?

Probably the lifeguards. They're ALWAYS in the sun, plus they want them to be barefoot most of the time. #2 is food and beverage. I heard it STINKS in the restaurants... all the food in there lol

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Park service (janitors lol) isn't a bad job. They don't really clean too much, unless it rained. Plus they start off making $9 an hour I think...

Do they still have the crooked house that Yogi Bear built? Sorry, I was last there in the '70s.

No. I'm not sure what is in its place. Was that in the kids area? We've changed are kids area so much recently. It looks totally different now. It looked way different from even when I went as a kid (2004-2010).

Is it a very incestuous work environment? I imagine a bunch of bored college kids working at an amusement park tend to pass the time by hooking up with each other.

Not really. I know a few couples, but they've been together for a decent amount of time. Two of my supervisors have been dating since last year and I didn't know until a few weeks ago lol. Most couples act professional. A lot of our workers are in HS anyway.

Where is the best spot to sneak a smoke? Asking for a friend...

Smoke, or SMOOOOKE? Lol

How do you feel about people trying to do the "float in your chair" thing on drop zone (i think that's what it's still called.) where you only secure to one click?

That's so dumb in my opinion. I would ride the drop tower, but I need EVERYTHING secured lol

What's the stupidest thing you've ever caught a guest doing?

I doubt OP's ever caught anyone doing anything remotely stupid compared to the dumb shit security sees on a constant basis.

When I worked there they had "sky gondola's" as a conveyance laterally across the park. People were constantly using it to smoke weed in (leaving a trail of skunk smell on the ground below them...they were easy to catch), have sex in the gondola (they almost never finished in time as back then KD was much smaller than it is now), and throwing shit at people from up there.

They were removed in '95

People liked to sneak into the employee canteen as the same food served in the park was available there, and was also much cheaper.

Hurricane Reef was known for people occasionally shitting in the pools (they usually said they knew they didn't feel right, but they still got in anyway), having sex in the changing rooms, sneaking glass items into the pool area.

Employees who worked rides got the great job of cleaning up a lot of vomit (gotta love Voban), but they also had the perk of gathering loose change that fell out of pockets, or wallets or etc, etc...

Games people usually witnessed agressive behavior as idiots competed over overpriced bullshit.

Merchandisers were victims of shoplifters, and you wouldn't believe the shit I saw people trying to steal. I mean, c'mon lady. You weren't pregnant with a misshapen, asymmetrical lump when you walked in...you're also like 12.

People are dumb

This guy knows!!!

A woman got upset cause they wouldn't let her 4/5 year old ride the Intimidator (our biggest ride). She said "He'll be fine!". That's about it. I'm lucky lol

Do y'all still have klingons walking around the park? Because that shit will fuck you up if you're not expecting it and have a head full of acid.

Lmao nope

Had a friend that worked there in the summers when we were in high school. Thought he was gonna work at cool roller coasters, ended up working at one of the shitty pizza places.

What's the worst job you had to do there? And when is the best time to go to the park?

We have a Ride Photo booth-type thing that floods when it rains, one day I had to clean it out by myself. Took 45 min, a buch of paper towels, and a fan. My feet were soaked.

Best time of day is either around 10:30 or near close, around 9:00. It's best to go on days it "might" rain. Most people don't go when it's cloudy, but most rides stay up.

Y'all still got blue smurf soft serv?

Yes!!! We don't call it "spurf", just blue soft serve... or something like that. It is DELICIOUS.

Do they make you watch the movie Rollercoaster during training?

No, I wish! We just watch a super cheesy video about an active shooter situation.

What's the best newer ride at the park? I moved away from VA like 15 years ago and one of the things I miss is King's Dominion. I want to know what the "must do" ride is when I come back to visit.

The Dominator is about 9 years old. Its pretty cool, top 5 in the park. Delirium is new, got it last year. Really cool looking, I've never got on it though. Our main ride is the Intimidator. It's about 7 years old. It's CRAZY.

Top 5 Rides (In my opinion) Volcano Intimidator Dominator Delirium Flight of Fear

Did they rebrand all the rides after it stppped being Paramount's Kings Dominion ?

Yeah. Our theme is now the Peanuts Gang. I hate it.

I grew up ten minutes from there and had a lot of friends and teachers who worked there over the summer. Are there any secrets of the park that only employees would know about? What is your favorite ride? Do you think they will ever make one side of the Rebel Yell go backwards again (it was my favorite, and I haven't been back since)?

•Secrets? Fast lane passes are more expensive on certain days (weekends and some Mondays). Also, most of the Halloween Haunt "monsters" are really nice teenagers lol. Rides get stuck a lot, but they don't like it when we tell customers. A lot of the food you guys pay $8 for employees can buy in our canteen for $1.50.

•Favorite ride is the Flight of Fear.

•The Rebell Yell probably won't go backwards again, unless we upgrade it. Sometimes we only run one train. It's a shame.

•The Rebell Yell probably won't go backwards again, unless we upgrade it. Sometimes we only run one train. It's a shame.

Wait, what? Why?

IIRC, it's old as hell. It's an incredibly long wooden roller coaster. Big + old = lots of problems

Yup

I used to live really close to KD. There was a time when they had a monorail safari with lions and everything. A friend of mine was a vet there. He took us into the lions' fields and that was really cool. Then he let us into the park through a small path and we got in for free.

It's really gone down hill lately.

Do you think they have any interest in updating the old faded fixtures? The place has 30 year old decor.

I wish they still had the safari. They don't update many fixtures, probably cause they don't wanna spend money. They probably call it "classic" lol

Whats the worst ride in your opinion? I was there a month or so ago and my neck is STILL jacked the fuck up from riding the Grizzly. Rattled the shit out of me and gave me whiplash. I finally healed up and then went white water rafting and hurt it all over again. Fuck the Grizzly, never riding it or any other wooden coasters again, waaaaay too much rickity rattling!

Easily the Grizzly. It's too old. It looks like it's about to break.

how many times a day do you say "Ride on"?

I don't have to cause I work in merchandise. I can only imagine...

I've lived like 40 minutes from KD for most of my life. I've been there probably 25+ times throughout the years. I've always wondered if the stories are true about the people who've died in the park?

When I was a kid I heard about a guy who somehow stood up on the Scooby Doo (not sure what it's called now) and got his head knocked off. Also I heard a story about someone who slipped out of the stand up restraints on the Shockwave and died.

Also, have you been there through a Halloween season for fearfest? I remember this one costume that made the person like 9 feet tall, had glowing eyes, and look kind of like the Scarecrow from Batman. That shit was scary and had to be a really expensive costume.

The thing with deaths is, we cover it up like Disney. The last death I've heard of was around 2001 I believe. The shockwave death is real. Scooby doo, not sure. A couple people have tried to commit suicide by jumping from the Eiffel Tower, but we don't know if they jumped or not. KD tries to hide that stuff.

We do have a guy during haunt that stands on stilts, but he has a clown face now. The makeup for the Haunt monsters is awesome.

The last death was actually in 2012. A woman had a brain aneurysm on the Dominator. Source

Told you they don't tell us anything. Lol

What's your favorite kind of cheese 🧀?

Mozzarella all day

OP, why have you only answered two questions in 2 hours?

I'm here now. Had a non serious emergency lol

How common/uncommon is it to black out on Intimidator at the bottom of the drop? Those positive G's almost got me and I'm a full grown man. The 8 year old girl in front of me was full-on ragdoll mode for half the ride.

People black out on the Intimidator all the time. That poor girl lol

Wow! This is pretty sweet, I used to work there in the summer of 2015, also in Merchandise, mostly on Ride Photo in Dominator and Intimidator :) Is there a lot of Europeans in the park this year? Who's your supervisor, maybe I know her? Do you know a Catie Harris who works on those carts that sell toys? Did you just make this thread because you were really bored at work and couldn't stand it anymore? I know that feeling haha :) What's the shittiest interaction with a customer that you've had?

•We don't have that many Europeans in Merchandise this year. We don't have THAT many International people this year. Mostly people from Taiwan or Jamaica.

•The name Catie Harris doesn't ring a bell.

•I'm actually not working today, but I work tomorrow lol. It DOES get boring sometimes lol.

•I've never really had a bad interaction with a customer, but one of my supervisors once had a guy get mad because she didn't know when a ride was gonna start working again. He yelled "How do you not know, you're just sitting here not doing anything!". I'm glad I've never had a bad customer lol.

I worked there in '93 & '94 costume department.I did the smaller shows and the jugglers/magicians and the like. IOW Not at the main stage show.

My question is how much do all y'all hate us?

p.s. I married someone who worked rides at 6 Flags GA. It was a point of bonding for us.

I'm not gonna lie, some of the performances are annoying! It's just cause the music in our park now is sooo loud. We have singers and dancers now. The performance is good, but it's so loud lol

You two are a match made in amusement park heaven lol

Any nasty events occured at your park?

People throw up, ALOT. Not just after rides, either. Heat+Food=Vomit

I worked the main store in the children's (Planet Snoopy?) section back in '00-'02 (it was Nickelodeon themed back then)!

Is management still all over the place in competence?

Also, I haven't visited the park in a LONG time... are non-employees still able to use the shortcuts if they know them without really being called out? (In other words, are you able to use them off duty in plain clothes?)

You can only use the shortcuts if you're a current employee. But security guards won't notice though lol.

Management is.... something lol

I miss the Nickelodeon theme.

Shortcuts? Please elaborate

Cut through "Authorized Personnel" areas. Some places don't even look like you can cut through.

VA resident here, used to come to KD all the time in the summer, still visit occasionally. My friend used to steal little gifts from the shops or grab one of the big stuffed animals hanging from the stands and book it. My question:

Do you notice people stealing very often there? Any incidents you'd like to share?

I've only noticed one person steal a poncho. I was far away so I didn't say anything. I looked for the dude later in the day, but I didn't see him. It's only $5, cmon man!

Do you know Dale the ride op? I've seen him at Intimidator 305 and the Volcano. He is the nicest and most energetic old person I know. Here is a poor quality pic of him (it's the only one I could find): https://thedalelovers.files.wordpress.com/2016/04/dalepic1.jpg

I've seen him! I've never talked to him though. I'll speak next time I see him.

Why doesn't the Rebel Yell go backwards anymore?

Too old. It would have to be upgraded.

What happened to the model of the Enterprise?

I have no idea.

I went there a few years ago on a really rainy day, the park was mostly empty which was good, but lot of the rides were closed, which wasn't good. I've lived in Virginia most my life so been there quite a few times over the years. Anyway on to my questions

1)kings dominion use to have a safari drive through with live lions I believe, do you know why they stopped doing that(think was 80's,early 90's)
2) what's the work environment like there, do employees hook up a lot or not really, are manager hardline or relaxed?
3) There's been some deaths there, has paramount done anything to improve rollercoaster safety? and is there any rides you wouldn't get on because of safety concerns?
4) The dinosaur walk through thing was awful, had to pay extra money, most of the fake dinosaurs didn't work and that seemed to take up a tremendous amount of space, do you know if paramount plans on replacing that with something enjoyable? like a new rollercoaster?
5) what are the worst type of visitors to deal with? Other employees for other theme parks usually say Brazilians because they're loud, cause messes, etc...
6)What's some things visitors aren't suppose to know?
7) what are some perks you get for working there? and do you enjoy it overall?

•Not sure, but I'm pretty sure it had something to do with money.

•No Hookups, but we do have some long-term couples. Managers are relaxed, but tough when needed to be.

•They claim the rides are safe, but I'm not sure how much they did, safety wise. I wouldn't get on the Dominator because I've seen it get stuck a couple times. Everybody was fine, but I'm not taking any chances.

•Dinosaurs Alive is gonna be here for a while... I wish we had another coaster.

•Worst visitors are anyone who is loud or think we know EVERYTHING about the park.

•Fast Lane is more expensive or certain days. If we say "We don't have any in the back", most times that means we don't wanna look.

•We can visit the park whenever we want, plus we get free tickets for friends/family. We get 20% off of anything in the park.

Overall it's a fun job.

What's your favorite ride in the park?

Woodstock Express or Flight of Fear.

Do y'all ever get park envy with six flags, Disney, or universal? Like compare yourselves?

KD likes to think we're better than we are lol. I think we're as good as six flags, but nowhere near Disney. Customers usually compares us. "Six Flags has this", "Disney has more of these". YOURE AT KINGS DOMINION!!! Lol

Visiting DC with my family next week and plan on visiting the park! What are some must-do's and must-rides in the park that you would suggest?

Either pack a lunch (you can't bring food in the park, but we have picnic tables outside), or bring a lot of money for food. Try the fried Oreos. Visit the water park. If you have young kids plan to be there for a long time. Our kids area "Planet Snoopy" is huge. Go on a day with fireworks. Try to be there all day, It's really fun. Bring money for games.

Best Rides Intimidator Flight of Fear Volcano Dominator Woodstock Express (Kids)

Enjoy!!!!

I'll be heading there in towards the end of July. We are planning to go on a Monday. Are Monday crowds significantly smaller than the weekend or isn't not that big of a difference?

Mondays are only a little less crowded. Try going on a cloudy day. Days it "might" rain. The rides only close if it rains ALOT. The park isn't that crowded on cloudy days. Make sure you go on a day with fireworks!