Analyzing Kings Dominion’s 2018 Teases

Something big is happening at Kings Dominion in 2018. We’re going to analyze each tease the park puts out, and see what we can figure out! (Keep in mind that we’re not treating this as science, just having some fun speculating the details of what could be happening.)

October 2016

Back in October, Kings Dominion posted a video on their Facebook page, confirming the demise of Hurler.

https://www.facebook.com/kingsdominionva/videos/10153796391506875/

Following the image of a gravestone during Kings Dominion’s 2016 Halloween Haunt, the text “Rest In Peace…For Now.” is followed by the year 2018. Obviously, we’re going to see something happen with Hurler in 2018.

Week One (6/20/17): 

On all forms of social media today, Kings Dominion posted a mysterious image, which leads us to believe that we’re starting to get teases from the park for 2018.

But what does this matrix-esque image mean? Let’s take a look at a few elements here.

First, what does 816 signify? It could easily be referencing an announcement date of Wednesday, August 16. That feels like a safe bet, as it was around the same time last year that all Cedar Fair parks made their 2017 announcements.

EDIT: Our friends over at CPFoodBlog have noted that August 16 is also National Roller Coaster Day. No better time to announce something about a new roller coaster than on National Roller Coaster day, right? (I need to consult my Coaster101 Calendar more)

However, it could also be a reference to Hurler. It’s all but officially confirmed at this point that the park’s former Hurler coaster is going under the Rocky Mountain Construction knife, based on images that have come from inside the park, as well as the confirmation that Cedar Fair will be adding four new coasters in 2018, two of which are re-imagined versions of two classic wooden coasters. (Hurler and Cedar Point’s Mean Streak).

Hurler’s drop could be re-profiled, and either slightly grow from it’s former 80′ to now be 81’6″ tall, or descend at an 81.6º angle.

And while we’re speculating, how about a wild and off the wall guess? 816 is the area code for Kansas City, Missouri, where fellow Cedar Fair park Worlds of Fun is located. Is Kings Dominion getting a new Kansas City style barbecue restaurant featuring Beef Burnt Ends? Could an attraction from Worlds of Fun be on its way to Kings Dominion? (Like I said, these are both super long shots where I would be shocked if they ended up happening.)

While there is a lot of gibberish in the image, several words (and the year 2018) can be made out.

-Apple (Multiple Columns, Noticeable near the right side of the 8)
-Grove (Left side of the image)
-2018 (Right side of the image, in the Eiffel Tower)

(Sharp-eyed redditors have also found the word “Candy,” but we’ve yet to find it — if you’ve found it, let us know!)

This clearly refers to changes coming to the Candy Apple Grove area of the park, where Hurler is located.

But, there’s another word hidden in the graphic; the word “Snoopy” which bisects the 6. Kings Dominion just expanded to their Planet Snoopy area this year, with the additions of Sally’s Sea Plane, Peanuts 500, and the Kite Eating Tree. Could more Planet Snoopy attractions be in the works for 2018, as Kings Dominion tries to unseat sister park Kings Island and their 16 consecutive golden ticket awards for “Best Kids Area?”

Week Two (6/27/17): 

We have another sinister-looking image from Kings Dominion.

The caption on all versions of the image is “20. BE⊥TER than 4.” Great. More numbers to figure out. And why is the first T upside down?

What could 20 refer to? Airtime hills? Seconds of Airtime? Could “20 Better Than 4” refer to the number 24 for either of these?

The upside down T could also be a few different things. The “⊥” symbol signifies perpendicularity in geometry, meaning that Hurler’s first drop could actually be 90º. It could just be a stylized upside-down T, meaning that this new attraction will have inversions.

If you look closer at the image, there are several hidden words. We found:

  • “Candy” below the T in “Than,”
  • “Orchard” above the E in better
  • “Wood” near the top center
  • “Snoopy” on the top right.

The ghosted image on the right side the photo also appears to be Snoopy. Does this look familiar?

Looking at the above information, I have two theories here.


First, one way I’m choosing to interpret the information is that Hurler 2.o will have 3 inversions.

(You, reading this: “Why 3, though? It clearly says better than 4. 3 isn’t better than 4, that’s wrong.” — just an assumption, because that’s how I’d react.)

Here’s why: 20 is a number that could signify the total number of inversions at Kings Dominion. Currently, Anaconda, Flight of Fear, and Volcano each have 4 inversions. Dominator has 5, for a total of 17 inversions in the park. Add the hypothetical three for Hurler 2.0, and that’s 20. By adding another coaster with inversions, it will give Kings Dominion 5 coasters with inversions, which, I feel like many can agree is better than 4.

(Also worth noting that Rocky Mountain Construction, under the all-but-officially-confirmed assumption that they are working on the new Hurler, has never produced a roller coaster with more than 3 inversions.)

Second theory, I think Snoopy might be a “red herring” this year. When Hurler closed in 2015, speculation arose during much of 2016 that Kings Dominion would announce something new for the coaster, for a debut in the 2017 season. The rumors were fueled on social media with posts from the park like this.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BI-38GyAz6Z/

As Kings Dominion announced that a Planet Snoopy expansion was their 2017 plan (which, in looking back at the above Instagram, really makes so much sense now because Snoopy was clearly looking at the billboard rather than the coaster track), I think Kings Dominion may be flipping the script on this year’s teases, getting people to focus more on Snoopy this time around, despite the fact that it was mentioned in last year’s Snoopy Announcement that there was Really More Coming later on.

Though I’m probably looking way too far into it at this point, it’s also worth noting that the upside-down T or “” symbolizes a logical constant denoting “false” in logic. Perhaps the continued references to Snoopy are “false” when it comes to what is coming to Kings Dominion in 2018.


Week 3 (7/4/17)

The folks at Kings Dominion clearly didn’t take the day off for Independence Day, as another tease was posted on social media today.

“3. BE⊥TER than none.”

The perpendicular/false logic symbol returns this week, along with a new set of values.

I think this tease gives more legs to our theory from last week that Hurler 2.0 will have 3 inversions. (That we may have accidentally stumbled upon by looking too far into the numbers.)

I’m basing this on a Screamscape theory from Saturday, where they mentioned that “20 better than 4” could mean that the first number could be an improvement on a former element of the original Hurler. (In this particular case, the Screamscape theory was that there would be 20 banked turns on Hurler 2.0 compared to the original’s four banked turns) — I’d take this a step further, and instead of turns, say it would be banked elements — which still holds true.

With this logic, 3 better than None refers again to Inversions — which the original Hurler did not have, and Hurler 2.0 will have 3.

Another theory would be that Kings Dominion is adding 3 attractions in 2018. Hurler 2.0, and maybe two Planet Snoopy additions, anyone? Worth noting that this tease was the first of three with no mention of Snoopy.

Part of the fun of these teases is going blind trying to find words in the image, which appears this time to be a ghosted bushel of apples (hinting more at the Candy Apple Grove location)

Words we found:

  • Candy (Far Right)
  • Apple (Between the two T’s in “better” and A and N in “than”
  • Grove (Above the E in “Better” and surrounding the H in than

Funny how that works out, right? Kings Dominion definitely has an area in their park named Candy Apple Grove. We also found:

  • Up (Twice, near the bottom center of the apple picture)
  • Down (Seven Times, left of the apple picture)

Could Hurler 2.0 feature a layout with a “double up,” along with “quad down” and “triple down?” Probably not all of that,  but nothing wrong with a little fun in our speculation. Maybe it will have some version of the signature “up” and “down” elements that Rocky Mountain Construction (again, all-but-officially confirmed at this point) typically uses in their coasters.

One more word we found gives us a theory towards Hurler 2.0’s name.

  • Rotten, immediately to the right of the 7 Downs.

Hurler’s original name (at both Kings Dominion and Carowinds) came from the Paramount Parks days, when both parks installed a Wayne’s World area in 1994. The name, while based on a line from the movie, was nondescript enough to survive the re-branding of many Paramount-themed attractions when Cedar Fair took ownership of the Paramount Parks in 2006.

By renaming it Rotten or (Rotten Apple), it ties in with the location in the Candy Apple theme of that area of the park, and also provides a bit of a sinister name, which would somewhat tie-in with the theme of these teases. Already located in Candy Apple Grove is Kings Dominion’s Troika, Bad Apple, which would also provide a decent name tie-in to bring the area together.

We’re probably off on the name, but Cedar Fair has a recent history with false leads on names. Anyone else remember that Fury 325 was going to be both White Lightning and Centurion before it was officially announced in 2014?


Week Four (7/11/17)

We’re back again, and Kings Dominion has given us their weekly Tuesday post!

“28. Makes it BE⊥TER.”

This weeks image only has one number, but the image on the right side of this image makes it feel like an easier hint this week. If you look closely, it’s feet, which leads us to believe that the new version of the coaster formerly known as Hurler will be adding 28 feet to its height. (h/t to C101 writer Larry for the quick insight!) This will push the coaster over the 100′ threshold to 111′ tall.

In a bit of a call-back to week two’s tease, if Hurler eclipses the 100′ mark, it will also give Kings Dominion a fifth coaster (Anaconda: 128′, Dominator: 157′, Intimidator 305: 305′, Volcano: 155′) over 100′ tall, which again, is “Better than 4.”

Another bit of history to solidify this theory is that when Roar at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom was converted to Joker, the height of the lift hill had to be increased in order to accommodate the angle of the drop. If the continued use of ⊥ is to signify a 90º drop, then the height will have to increase in order to increase the drop angle.

To throw another suggestion out there for fun, maybe the shoes are symbolizing running, and adding 28 mph to Hurler’s old top speed of 50mph, for a new top speed of 78mph. It’s worth noting that at this speed, Hurler 2.0 would become the fastest Rocky Mountain Construction project ever created, so we don’t necessarily feel like this is happening, but want to cover ourselves just in case.

Hidden Words in This Week’s Tease

  • Apple and Candy make their continued appearances with “Apple” appearing around the 8, and Candy on the far right side.
  • “Rotten” makes another appearance this week, in between the words and the image of feet.
  • New words this week: “Good” (one time, in the shoes), and “Spooky” (near the T)

(As always if you see more, let us know)

I still stand by some version of Rotten or Rotten Apple being a great name for this new project, and the sinister nature of the teases lends itself well to “Spooky.” Not sure where “Spooky” fits in though. Maybe we’ll learn more next week!


Week Five (7/18/2017)

“The force RA⊥TLED the windows.”

No numbers this week — just a simple statement, that could really go in any number of directions, and to be honest, it stumps me a little bit. Of course, roller coasters are forceful, but I’m doubting that Hurler 2.0 will reach speeds that create a sonic boom to shake windows.

The ghosted image appears to be a six-paned window. Six of something coming?

Could Hurler 2.0’s former “Soundstage” station be on the way out, and replaced with a structure that has some windows in it? Is it a nod to Cedar Point’s Millennium Force as well as to an early RMC, Iron Rattler at Six Flags Fiesta Texas, alluding that the initial drop will be somewhere between Millennium Force’s 80 degree first drop, and Iron Rattler’s 81 degree first drop? Is Kings Dominion switching to all Apple products in their park, and therefore rattling Windows? Tough to tell!

Lots of words in this week’s image –“Wood” appears multiple times, along with “Candy,” “Apple,” and “Grove.”

Rotten also makes another appearance, as does Spooky.

Two new words this week are Cedar and Pine, which could be tied in with the wood, or are maybe the type of wood being used to improve the supports?

If you see anything else, let us know!

This week’s tease has thrown me for a loop — if you have any ideas, let us know in the comments below!

Week 6 (7/25/17)

If the Week 1 tease (816) is to be interpreted as August 16 (which ties in well with other Cedar Fair parks — Knott’s Berry Farm, California’s Great America, and Cedar Point — making announcements on that day), then we’re coming down the home stretch with Kings Dominion’s teases for what’s happening at the park in 2018.

“It left everything TA⊥TERED and torn in its wake.”

My question this week…what is “it?” Cedar Fair is loving their generic pronouns with their 2018 teases, between Cedar Point’s “They’re Coming” teases for Mean Streak, and now Kings Dominion referring to “it” in this tease. Why is “it” so destructive? Is “it” forceful? Does “it” refer to Crabby Appleton from the classic Tom Terrific cartoon? This is another hint that leads me down a dead end as far as words are concerned.

In the image, I think we may have a look at what Hurler 2.0’s new trains will resemble. I may be on the wrong track here, but to me, it looks like there’s a headlight in the matrix-styled image, and that means we’ll have a car-themed train, similar to Mystic Timbers at Kings Island. This wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility for RMC either, as both Lightning Rod and New Texas Giant have car-themed trains.

Looking at this week’s image, some new words have appeared.

“Wood,” “Apple,” and “Orchard” all make return appearances, along with “Rotten.” (Something involving “Rotten,” presumably with the stylized upside down T — RO⊥TEN — like all the teases, is still my bet for the name)

“Tattered” appears on the left side of the image. If you see anything else that we missed, let us know in the comments below!

The phrase that I was most excited to see was near the bottom center. It’s Coming”

That’s the best news of all really, even though its not really news. Something new is coming to Kings Dominion, and I’m excited about it. Hopefully we’ll find out the final details soon!

Here are the six teases together — if you see anything inside, let us know!


Week 6.5 (7/26/17) – “Safe” The Date

Writing for a second time this week, as yesterday, we received a package from Kings Dominion. A larger cardboard box, that was marked “Top Secret” on the outside.

Upon opening the box, which was pretty heavy. I found a safe. Yes, an actual safe. Kings Dominion mailed us a safe. What.

After some effort to get the safe cracked (the batteries had fallen out in transit, rendering the numerical code useless, luckily there was a spare key taped to the bottom of the safe). The numerical code, as suggested on the sticker on the safe was 0816, National Roller Coaster Day.

We got in and found some top secret documentation.

There are some interesting things about the cover page of this document. First, there are two instances of the “⊥T” double-T pattern that has been used in five of the six teases. Kings Dominion is trying to build a BE⊥TER amusement park, and there is a sticky note telling you to BE⊥TER turn here if you prefer the TL;DR method of summarizing.

On the front cover, we’re also presented with a checklist for the park that mentions several tasks that Kings Dominion has been able to cross off their list in the park’s 42 years of operation. Interestingly enough, 1994 is completely redacted, almost as if it were to be stricken from the record. What a coincidence that in 1994, Hurler opened at Kings Dominion. Funny how these things work out.

Inside the book, we have an inside cover page with more of the ⊥T pattern, followed by a bit of a park timeline, adding to the cover page’s to-do list. We have Kings Dominion being constructed, and Grizzly, the park’s second wooden coaster opening in 1982.

On the next page, we have Kings Dominion’s water park, which opened in 1992, along with Hurler, which is considered classified, and crossed out multiple times on the page.

On the next page, we have two of Kings Dominion’s coasters that feature launches, Flight of Fear and Volcano. Pure speculation: Could we be seeing another launched RMC? Doubtful, but still fun to think about.

We skip a decade and then get to the next page, highlighting Dominator and Intimidator. Could the new coaster have a name that ends in “-ator?”

Next up, we have Snoopy and Delirium.

Hey wait a minute. That Snoopy looks familiar.

Finally, we get to the tabbed page in the book, which gives us a little more information about an announcement on National Roller Coaster day, August 16, keeping with the 816 of the first tease, and in line with other Cedar Fair announcements that day.


Week 7 (8/1/17)

We’re a little late with this week’s update, but Kings Dominion hit us with another tease on Tuesday.

“It can be a bit KNO⊥TY.”

I can’t be the only one who read this with an Austin Powers accent, right?

This an excellent wood-focused pun. Knotty. Naughty. I get it. I love it.

Based on the image, it looks like we have the rings of a tree, furthering the mentions of wood-related things. I’m wondering if the new track path will cross over itself, effectively creating a knot in the track. Definitely a feasible design element given the capabilities of Rocky Mountain Construction.

Not a lot of words to be found this week. The only new word, is actually numbers, and that’s 816, hidden in the message. A call back to the first tease, the safe code, and the date of the announcement. There’s also “Its Coming” and “Candy,” “Apple,” and “Grove.”

Whatever “it” is, it’s coming to Candy Apple Grove, and we’re going to find out on August 16.


Week 8 (8/8/17)

Crazy 8’s today. The eighth tease on 8/8. I should buy a lottery ticket.

“Do you see a PA⊥TERN?”

Well. Yes. There’s been a pattern of “⊥T”s in 7 of the 8 teases. What if this means something?

Not sure of this is the intention, but if you bring the two T’s together, it forms a shape similar to the shape of the I-Box track.

Other patterns:

  • The continued mentions of Candy, Apple, and Grove — Makes sense, because this is where Hurler is located at Kings Dominion.
  • Continued references to wood and different types of wood, clearly referring to the addition of more wood to Hurler’s structure.
  • The word “Rotten,” which I’m still speculating plays a role in the name of Hurler 2.0.

Based on this week’s image, we feel that this will be the last tease before Kings Dominion makes their announcement on 8/16, because all of the previous teases are hidden in this tease.

We found:

  • Knotty (Week 7) above the D
  • …And Torn (Week 6) right of the “O” in Do, under the second “E” in See
  • Rattled (Week 5) between the “Y” and “A” and between the “T” and “E” in Pattern
  • 28 (Week 4) between the “O” and “U” in You
  • Better Than None (Week 3to the right of “U” in You
  • 20 Better Than 4 (Week 2) in line with the question mark
  • 816 (Week 1) to the right of “Do You”

Along with:

  • 2018 (Far Left)
  • Candy (Far Right)
  • Apple (Left of Candy)
  • Grove (Left of Apple)

The image in the background is more apples. As we suggested in weeks 3 and 4, could Rotten Apple be the name of Hurler 2.0? We’ll find out next week!

Our Final Predictions (For Accountability’s Sake — we’ll compare these later to the final product)
Name: Rotten Apple
Manufacturer: Rocky Mountain Construction
Trains: Themed to some sort of vehicle. 
Height: 111
Drop Angle: Somewhere between 80-90 degrees.
Inversions: 3
Banked Track Elements: 20
Additional Elements: Double Up and/or Triple Down & some sort of “knot” (which could also be one of the three inversions)


We plan to be at the park on August 16 to see what Kings Dominion has in store for 2018. Until then, we’ll keep updating this post until Kings Dominion makes their announcement!

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