I rode the I305 July of 2016 and did experience a blackout. I was definitely glad when the blackout didn't last long. I thought the ride was awesome and would do it again.

I am a pretty hard core coaster rider having grown up at cedar point and other parks, and was excited to ride this ride. I went down the first hill and it was quite fun, but completely blacked out to the point I felt like I was dreaming and woke up disoriented having missed almost the whole ride. I was riding with my 10 year old daughter who experienced only pleasure from the ride and I blamed a poor breakfast and dehydration. I looked at the end of my day to see if others experienced this sensation so now I see a blackout on this ride is a common thing!!

Do NOT slow the ride ANYMORE!! The whole point of the ride is for the insane speed! I, personally, have never blacked out. But the slower it gets, the more it becomes like any other roller coaster. It takes away the uniqueness of it! The ride is perfectly safe as it is. Don't change it anymore

Ok, obviously, this coaster is really intense and not for everyone. If it's a little extreme for you, PLEASE STOP TRYING TO RUIN IT FOR EVERYONE ELSE. There is plenty of other coasters in the park & elsewhere for you to enjoy. For those who are saying they need to add a high banked curve like M.Force. and soften other parts, go ride M. Force. This IS NOT M.F., this is Intimidator! No one is forcing you to ride...so if it's not for you, then please ride something else and let others enjoy THE RIDE THE WAY IT WAS MEANT TO BE...I truely hope they put it back to original specs!

I rode this today for the first time. While the hill didn't seem as fast as I expected, the g force on that first turn definitely clouded my vision! I've never experienced anything like that. Im curious since this discussion is from 2010, were any further changes made? It is definitely still causing blackouts!

Rode it today, fastest and funniest coaster I've been on. To all those that are concerned about the blackouts...
YOLO!

people need to calm down about the blackout i rode it 8 times in a row its not that bad. dont modify it. in the middle of summer this ride is packed, i dont know why some people say no one rides it. this is an amazing ride and everytime i go to kings dominion i ride it at least 4 times.

I went for the first time on 7/05/2011. I don't know if the brakes were installed by that time but, the I305 is the coolest ride I ever had in my life... Even though i'm afraid of heights, i felt extremely secure and the blackout was part of the fun...Everybody that was with me agreed on feeling the blackout but agreed also that the blackout was part of the thrill... I mean it's not for everybody... But after the ride, any other King's Dominion rides are like baby rides... two thumbs up KD...

I rode this ride two days ago. I also had a near-black out experience. My friend who was riding next to me had the same problem. Its quite scary when youre on a roller coaster and you get severe tunnel vision and can not think straight. I absolutely love roller coasters, but i will not be riding this again.

I rode the coaster in April during spring break. It was my second ride of the day after Dominator (an amazing coaster by the way). I didnt black out but definitely had a feeling of tunnel vision and a little light headed on the first turn after the drop. By the time the second hill came up I was fine. This is by far the most intense coaster I have ridden in my life. I think alot of the sensation people feel is from the wind in your eyes. It is so fast that your vision is blurred by the wind. This was my first time riding it and was in the very back row. The second time I rode in the front car and did not experience the grey out. Two rides in one day was enough for me. I will definitely ride it again later this summer. But I will wait until the end of the day. By the way The Grizzly was closed when I was there in April. I hope this isnt a permanent thing. I love that coaster.

I have never fainted or blacked out in my life. I have heard of tunnel vision before though, so I knew what was happening. Right at the bottom of the first drop, the blackness began closing in. I closed my eyes for a few seconds and luckily it went away. Scary stuff though. By, the way, it was a gorgeous day--low 70's and sunny. Couldn't have been better, so I know the weather did not contribute. Needless to say, I won't be riding that again.

I never got a chance to ride the Intimidator before the trim brakes were installed, but when I went on the ride in 2010 with the trim brakes I greyed out for just a few seconds at the bottom of the first hill and came to completely by the time I was at the top of the second hill. It was pretty intense but I had a blast. I just went on the Intimidator today after the track modifications and removal of the brakes. Unfortunately I blacked out for practically the entire duration of the ride. It was not just a little grey period, I was completely out untill right before the end of the ride. When I came to I had no idea where I was or what was happening, it was one of the most terrifying, confusing, and surreal moments of my entire life. I can understand why cedar fair wants to protect it's claims to all the extreme features, but I unfortunately will never be able to go on this amazing rollercoaster again. I am a young, very healthy person, who is a big fan of rollercoasters. I have been on almost every major coaster in the country and I have never experienced anything like this. It has to be the most intense coaster in the world, I just wish they had left it the way it was at the end of 2010 because now I just have to admire it from the sidelines.

cedair fair is paying 25 million for a promised a giga coaster exceeding 90 mph installed, which they have been forced to slow down to less than 80 mph, so they are not getting the semi-record breaker they paid for. SO I THINK DURING THE CLOSED SEASON, INTAMIN SHOULD REPLACE THE TURN AT THE BOTTOM OF THE 1ST HILL, WITH A HIGH RAISED OVERBANKED TURN (AS ON M.FORCE AT CEDAR POINT), SO THE COASTER WILL GAIN THE 90+ MPH AT THE BOTTOM OF THE HILL, DECREASE SPEED GOING UP INTO THE HIGH RAISED OVERBANKED TURN (TO ELIMINATE REGULAR GREY OUTS) THEN REGAIN MOST SPEED COMING BACK DOWN FROM THE RAISED TURN, WITH A REGULAR SMOOTH DESCENT TO ASCENT TRACK AT THE BOTTOM CONNECTING BACK TO THE ORIGINAL 2ND HILL AND REST OF COASTER, SO THAT WILL RECOOPERATE MOST OF THE AIRTIME THAT WAS LOST ON THE 2ND HILL, AND POSSIBILY GIVE A TOP SPEED TITLE BACK TO THE COASTER.

Im late on this forum but I rode Intimadator 305 and intrimadator 305. I LOVED the ride upon opening in the first few months and experienced the grey outs (1st time ever greyed out and i'm a frequent coaster rider/theme park traveleer since I was a kid). then i rode after trims added and disappointed. i'm not as upset about the drag on the 1st drop but more upset that the airtime on the 2nd hill and throughout the rest of the ride feels almost non-existant. However since I rode Pre-trimmed Intimidator 305 I have started having slight grey outs on other coasters (on coasters i've been on hundreds of times) which i never greyed out before, and i'm still getting that somewhat but not as much since i've been riding trimmed Intimidator 305. However cedair fair is paying 25 million for a promised a giga coaster exceeding 90 mph installed, which they have been forced to slow down to less than 80 mph, so they are not getting the semi-record breaker they paid for. SO I THINK DURING THE CLOSED SEASON, INTAMIN SHOULD REPLACE THE TURN AT THE BOTTOM OF THE 1ST HILL, WITH A HIGH RAISED OVERBANKED TURN (AS ON M.FORCE AT CEDAR POINT), SO THE COASTER WILL GAIN THE 90+ MPH AT THE BOTTOM OF THE HILL, DECREASE SPEED GOING UP INTO THE HIGH RAISED OVERBANKED TURN (TO ELIMINATE REGULAR GREY OUTS) THEN REGAIN MOST SPEED COMING BACK DOWN FROM THE RAISED TURN, WITH A REGULAR SMOOTH DESCENT TO ASCENT TRACK AT THE BOTTOM CONNECTING BACK TO THE ORIGINAL 2ND HILL AND REST OF COASTER, SO THAT WILL RECOOPERATE MOST OF THE AIRTIME THAT WAS LOST ON THE 2ND HILL, AND POSSIBILY GIVE A TOP SPEED TITLE BACK TO THE COASTER.

I rode Intimidator after the addition of trim brakes and still blacked out. However, I do feel that i could have been better if it was faster

My 2 friends and I have been making trips out to cedar point every summer for 3 years now. Upon hearing about intimidator 305 we decided to add kings dominion into the road trip. We got to the park and found the line for intimidator surprisingly short on a Sunday, but assumed it was due to an overcast/rainy forecast for the day. After 15 minutes waiting for the front we were all ready to go 3 minutes later we were no where near as excited. The added brakes completely ruin the well advertised 300 foot, 85 degree first drop. We came back the following day and found almost all of the other large coasters at KD to still have longer lines than intimidator. I take that as the best gauge of people's opinions of the ride. It's just not the same class as millennium force. We regret that we didn't come before they added the brakes.

I rode the Intimidator 305 on August 14th and experienced a "blackout" during the ride after that first drop. I had ridden extreme roller coasters before and never had this happen to me before. In fact, I also had this happen on the avalanche earlier in the day. It was a hot day and I was dehydrated and hungry, so I thought that might have been the reason it happened on the Avalanche. However, when it happened on the Intimidator hours later (after eating and drinking), I was concerned. I never knew that "blackouts" occur during rollercoasters until now and I must admit that I am really glad I stumbled upon this article as I was researching what could have caused this to happen to me. My family seemed like they didn't really believe me when I told them this had happened, so at least I know (and now they do, too) that I was not going crazy. After getting passed the "blackout", the ride was great! Even though it seems to happen to quite a few others and I have an explanation for my blackout, I am now nervous to ride any extreme rollercoasters.

the people that complained about blacking out is not a big problem, that doesnt mean that the ride had to have trim brakes, the thing is slow now, its just as bad as the intimidator at carowinds,now that one SUCKS!!! anyway good job KD for making a good roller coaster into a peice of shit, and to think this ride could have gotten a high golden ticket ranking this year.

rode it 7/26 with my husband and we both blacked out

I went on a trip for the past two days to KD (7/23 & 24) and I must say that this was one of my favorite rides in the park. I did experience black out after the first drop and up until the first hill, but nothing was scary about it. I still was aware of everything, my vision was just hazy and I saw black spots. I rode it plenty of times, and the black out sensation certainly did not turn me off from the coaster. Maybe it would be best to make changes if it appeals to most of the riders, but I for one believe that it would be best to keep it as it is and simply make sure riders are aware of what could happen. Every time I got off the ride, all of the responses I heard were positive and even with them commenting on the black outs, a lot still wanted to ride again.

I rode Intimidator 305 on 6/13. There was no wait to get on, which really surprised me given it's the star park attraction. Volcano and Dominator had hour waits. From a distance Intimidator 305 looked neat, but once I got close I immediately noticed a big problem. Those sudden turns from one side to another almost made me not get on. I really hate head/neck banging. I rode it anyway figuring if I was just an active rider I'd be ok. I loved the lift hill, loved the way it seems to hang on the lift hill when getting trimmed (it teases you with that dinky first right turn), and then the rest of the ride ruined my day.

I had tunnel vision that became a blackout at the end of that first right turn. I couldn't see anything until I got to the top of the first hill (I was still aware of what was going on). Most people were commenting on the sensation. Some liked it, but others like me really don't like the feeling. The rest was ferociously fast. I did manage to avoid the head/neck banging, but I found I was actively fighting against the ride instead of enjoying it. I had the worst headache when I got off. A lot of other riders were complaining of headaches, blackouts, and dizziness. My friends thought it was great and immediately made fun of me when I refused to ride it a second time, but when they got off and as the day went on they also complained of headaches and neck pains. It's cool to suck it up and not let the ride beat you, but everyone in my group pretty much agreed never to ride it again once they got over themselves. We were far from alone. Trains were mostly empty for the second half of the day. Dominator and Volcano maintained nearly hour-long waits.

I've read that Kings Dominion changed the restraints. However, I cannot picture myself ever riding Intimidator 305 again. I rode it once, hated it, and I'm done with it. I didn't bother to tell Kings Dominion about it. I'm not going to like every ride. My type of ride is more like Volcano where I can sit back, enjoy it, and experience speed or track features without having to defend myself from them. I suppose I'm in Kings Dominion's target audience of 20-somethings with lots of friends and cash to spend, but their investment in Intimidator 305 is about as effective as Busch Gardens' Drachen Fire...another ride I specifically avoided. If Intimidator 305 was more like Millenium Force I'd be happy to come back again this year. It's not, so I'm going elsewhere (Hershey Park).

Volcano > Dominator > Grizzly > Rebel Yell > Ricochet > FOF > Shockwave > Italian Job > Anaconda > Avalanche > Hurler > Intimidator 305

Preface: I have been to Kings Dominion multiple times each year since 1999 or 2000. I've ridden every ride in the park many times. I have ridden i305 and have not experienced any negative effects (blackouts or tunnel vision or anything else).

I read this thread and felt the need to provide a psychological point of view. I rode this with a friend on two different occasions on two different days. The first time, he did not know anything of people claiming to have blackouts. Also, he is not a "hardened rider" in any sense of the term. I knew of the reports, so after the ride, I casually asked him about his experience and he enjoyed it with no problems. The second time we went, I told him about the blackouts a short time before we got on the ride. He was noticeably nervous after that and, at the end of the ride, he reported a small amount of tunnel vision.

The point is, yes, the high G forces do play a role in all of this; however, that is likely not the entire issue. There is a high probability that many of the issues have been caused by people hearing about the blackouts, becoming very nervous and having a higher heart rate before riding, and this combined with the G forces led to a temporarily decreased rate of blood flow to the brain and created their blackout or tunnel vision.

I still do and will highly recommend the Intimidator 305 and if anyone is intimidated enough by someone else to the point that they will not ride, then at least it has lived up to its name and those that do want to ride will have a shorter wait for at least one ride in the park.

TL;DR:
I've ridden many rides, many times with no problems.
I feel the blackouts (at least for some people) are caused by fear due to hearing about it from other riders.
Intimidator 305 is highly recommended.

...just my $0.02

I went with my 10 year old son and he completely blacked. I saw black but didn't black out like him. Riders beware its fun but intense and maybe a little too much for kids.

My favorite roller coaster anywhere! To those people who don't like it, well, don't ride it. I rode it 16 times in one day in 2012. I couldn't get enough of it. I experienced a mild "graying out" going through the first curve, but it was similar to a feeling I sometimes get if I stand up too fast. I kind of like the fact that some people don't like it. That keeps the lines shorter for people like me who LOVE this ride!

I rode this roller coaster last Friday July 2nd. There were no lines which was great, got to the park early, just around 10:30am. The drop feels really slow. Once you get to the top and start to go down, about half-way through you can feel the brakes slowing down the cart. It actually felt like we slowed down so much that the carts behind us were going to flip over our heads (we were in the front), kind of like if you used only the front brake on a motorcycle. I was looking for a big fast exhilirating drop. I was a bit disappointed to not get the stomach in your throat feeling that you look for from a big drop. Hands down the Volcano is still the best at KD. I might put Outer Limits up there too, because towards the end you can't see where you are going through the corkscrews and you get that feeling. All the hype for the 305 drop and its not bad at all. The only cool thing about the 305 is the quick turns, supposedly resembling a NASCAR track, though I don't think you turn left and right that quick in an oval.

Wow some of you are so funny!!! Just like someone said earlier, if you cant handle the intesity then DONT RIDE. Simple as that. I personally love Intimidator 305. The greyouts in my opinion adds to the fun. Yes Im a thrill junkie . So dont ruin it for us. If you cant handle it then stay away, that'll just make the line that much shorter for me.

I rode the Intimidator and LOVED it. No blackout, no gray out, no orbs, nothing. If they continue to slow it down, it may as well only be half as tall. The speed is the main attraction to this ride. The signs clearly say that if you're not in the right state of mind or being, to not ride. Sorry that some people didn't enjoy it, but not every ride is meant to be enjoyed by every patron to the park. If you don't like the feeling, or can't handle it, stick to the Dominator (another sick coaster), or the parks 7 other coasters. I don't think its that the majority of people are experiencing the blackouts, I think its the few that experience them are just the loudest about it!

I would just like to start off and say that I am a COMPLETE thrill seeker, but I can honestly say I will never ride this ride again. I rode this ride 8/10 and experience the infamous greyouts and blackouts. Today I am experiencing extreme headaches and neck pains, these are probably the worst headaches I have ever experienced in my life. Ive never had a bad time at kings dominion but riding this completely ruined my experience....dont ride this ride.

The intimidator 305 was a horrible coaster. I love roller coasters and have never been sick or blacked out on a coaster until i road the intimidator. I blacked out on the first turn after the big drop. After I came too, the coaster was going so fast it sucked my contacts out of my eyes. It ruined my day KD. I couldn't see and I felt oozy from passing out for almost the rest of the day. It is ridiculous to build a ride to that will cause someone to pass out. I suggust people to keep their eyes closed if they wear contacts and not to ride if you don't want to pass out!! I've read some comments from others that they like blacking out. I can't comprehend why someone would like to pass out. Not me!!

I rode this earlier this year, KD has removed the brakes but modified the turn, I still blacked out so did my friend who was riding with me I dont think I passed out but I could see nothing but black for about 5 seconds, kinda freaked me out, I knew what to expect but as a roller coaster junkie I was hoping it wouldn't happen to me, It also felt like it almost ripped my contacts out, I was kinda light headed for a few hours but I still rode other rides, it passed but still it freaked me out, It was fun but I wish they would do something about the black outs, I love fast coaster but I have been on faster and never blacked out before.

I absolutely love rollercoasters and will ride anything. I've ridden all the other coasters and KD and all the other parks I've gone to. I was lerie of this ride because I had heard of the blackouts, but figured that I'm 22 and in great health so I didn't really need to worry. At the bottom of the first hill I blacked out and then remained light-headed for the remainder of the ride. I definitely wouldn't recommend this ride to people unless something was done to mitigate the blackouts.

I'm an active duty Soldier, in excellent shape, and was fully hydrated yesterday when I rode this ride. After the famous first drop and turn, my right eye grayed out 75% to almost full black; left out grayed out about 25%.

I've done mass tactical jumps out of air force cargo jets and never experienced anything like this. I think the brakes were needed if this is happening AFTER the brakes. But also, I think their warning sign should state that a % of riders WILL experience this sensation and describe what it feels/looks like. Heck, that will probably get more people wanting to ride it!

I rode this ride today ( 7/1/10) after the trim brakes have been installed and I felt tht it was a great coaster. I rode it with my friend who did not experience any blackouts. I however did. Right after the first drop my brain went a bit foggy and I saw purple and black blobs in my vision. I did snap out of it once the ride smoothed out for the first turn. It was a bit freaky, like my brain had shut off. For those who are complaining about slowing it down nd aren't experiencing blackouts this ride is meant to be fun for everyone who wants and has all the qualifications to ride it.
Suck it up. It has to be safe. Period.

This is absolutely rediculous because people black out they are forced to add brakes? I ride the intimidator about 5 times in a row each time I visit the park, which is weekly and I black out every now and then, so what?!?!? That ride is the best roller coaster in the country with out a doubt. The damn ride warns you of the G forces affecting your body. People need to be less ignorant and read because the addition of the brakes will take the ride to a way lower level. Absolutely ridiculous.

I rode the coaster the week it opened in April prior to any modifications. Since I have ridden over 400+ coasters around the world, I was prepared for almost anything.

However, I grey-ed out each and every time from the bottom of the first drop up thru the second hill. The coaster is that intense.

For the average rider, I am sure this sensation is too much hence the lack of ridership. But the park would not spend the money to build an amazing ride and then have no one want to ride it.

I support their decision to modify it and appeal to the largest demographic of guests.

I a hardcore roller coster fan. My boyfriend and I rode the intimidator 305 the first time(in the front seat)and it was VERY intense but fun. The second time we sat in the second seat and somewhere between that first drop and turn I blacked out..I couldn't really see clearly and everything kind of sounded muffled. I snapped out of it in a few seconds though.

I think it's important to note that it was in the nineties and humid, and dehydration could contribute to the headrush. I also went on 6/21, and experienced a momentary blackout at the bottom, also one of the end changes in direction wrenched my neck when my head slid to the left and it's still sore. I wonder if it was faster that wouldn't have happened? But then maybe I really would have been unconscious from the initial drop! Still love the Dominator the most at KD, it doesn't jerk you around and beat you up-- fun without the pain!