Kings Dominion

The park entrance as seen from the observation deck of the replica Eiffel Tower

Following the success of Kings Island in Mason, Ohio, northeast of Cincinnati, Family Leisure Centers (a partnership formed between Taft Broadcasting Company and Top Value Enterprises) decided to expand into a new region of the country by opening a second park. A 400-acre (1.6 km²) site was chosen in Doswell, Virginia, north of Richmond in the heart of the Mid-Atlantic, and construction began on October 1, 1972.[5] The new park was designed with Kings Island in mind as the blueprint using similar themes, rides, and activities.

Kings Dominion officially opened on May 3, 1975,[2][6] offering fifteen attractions including the Rebel Yell (later renamed Racer 75), the Lion Country Safari Monorail, Galaxie, and a junior wooden roller coaster known as Scooby Doo. Also present at the opening was a log flume, steam train, a collection of flat rides and a cable-car sky ride that transported visitors between Old Virginia and The Happy Land of Hanna-Barbera.[5] In addition, Kings Dominion's 1/3-scale replica of the Eiffel Tower and the International Street Fountain greet visitors near the main entrance to the park. Original themed areas included The Happy Land of Hanna-Barbera, International Street, Lion Country Safari, Old Virginia, and Coney Island.[7] Daily admission price in 1975 was $7.50, and a dollar for parking.[2]

Kings Dominion added its fourth roller coaster, a Schwarzkopf shuttle loop known as the King Kobra, in 1977. The King Kobra featured a 50-ton counterweight drop launch and was the park's first launched roller coaster. It was in the park for nine seasons before being relocated to Jolly Roger Amusement Park in Ocean City, Maryland, Alton Towers in England, and later to Hopi Hari in Brazil where it exists today as Katapul.[8] Also in 1977, Kings Dominion was one of several amusement parks serving as location for the film Rollercoaster.

A campground was completed in time for the 1978 season and the park's well-known Lost World mountain debuted in 1979. Originally, the Lost World featured three rides: a flume ride called Voyage to Atlantis, a children's attraction mine ride known as Land of the Dooz, and a rotor called Time Shaft. Only a year later in 1980, the flume ride was rethemed Haunted River. Kings Dominion later expanded Old Virginia with the addition of the park's third wooden roller coaster, the Grizzly, in 1982 and a river rapids ride called White Water Canyon in 1983.

The replica Eiffel Tower at Kings Dominion

Taft Broadcasting Company sold its theme park division in late 1983 for $167.5 million to Kings Entertainment Company (KECO), a new company formed by senior executives and general managers of Taft's Amusement Park Group.[9] Three parks were involved in the sale – Kings Island, Kings Dominion, and Carowinds – along with a 20-percent stake in Canada's Wonderland. American Financial Group later purchased KECO in 1987 but allowed KECO to continue to manage operations at the amusement parks.[10]

One of the first additions under the new management group was Berserker – a looping starship ride added to International Street in 1984. Also that year, Smurf Mountain replaced the mine ride Land of the Dooz, transforming the Lost World into The Smurfs theme. Kings Dominion unveiled a TOGO stand-up roller coaster in 1986 called Shockwave, the first of three roller coasters to be added under KECO. Shockwave has one loop like the older King Kobra but adds a helix. King Kobra was removed at the end of the season. A water slide complex known as Racing Rivers opened in 1987, and Avalanche, which remains the only Mack bobsled roller coaster in the United States, debuted the following year in 1988.[11] The trains of Avalanche are themed after bobsleds from various countries including the United States, France, Germany, Canada and Switzerland creating the experience of a bobsled race in the Winter Olympics.[12]

Kings Dominion continued to expand over the next few seasons starting with Hanna-Barbera Land in 1990 with the addition of more children's flat rides. A new, looping roller coaster from Arrow Dynamics called Anaconda was introduced the following year in 1991 featuring the world's first underwater tunnel which travels under part of Lake Charles. Anaconda was also originally billed as having six loops,[13] but unlike Arrow's six-inversion coaster Drachen Fire that opened at Busch Gardens Williamsburg the following year, the Anaconda actually has only four inversions: a vertical loop, a sidewinder, and two consecutive corkscrews.[14]

A new 20-acre (81,000 m²) water park addition called Hurricane Reef opened in 1992. To build the water park, Kings Dominion filled in two-thirds of Lake Charles near the Candy Apple Grove region of the park. Originally it featured the Monsoon Chutes (two pairs of free-fall body slides, at 70 and 50 feet (15 m) high, respectively), the Torrential Twist (two enclosed body slides which wrapped around each other), the Pipeline (four open body slides), Cyclone (three enclosed body slides, the center of which was a free-fall), Tidal Wave (two open slides, which riders rode on inner tubes), Splash Island (an area for children with five water slides), and a lazy river.[15]

The Paramount Theatre (Now known as "Kings Dominion Theater")

Kings Dominion continued its growth when it became part of Paramount Parks in 1993 and switched its name to Paramount's Kings Dominion. New attractions and areas of the park themed to Paramount's television shows and films appeared at Paramount's Kings Dominion almost every season that they were under Paramount's ownership. In 1993, they added a motion simulator attraction, originally featuring the Days of Thunder film, and Lion County Safari was removed at the end of the season. Also in 1993, Smurf Mountain was removed, leaving only the Time Shaft and Haunted River remaining in The Lost World Mountain until 1995 when both rides were removed. The 1994 season saw the addition of a new area of the park themed to the 1992 Paramount motion picture Wayne's World, which featured its third full-size wooden roller coaster, Hurler, a shop called the Rock Shop, and a Stan Mikita's restaurant similar to the one featured in the film. Since then, the Wayne's World section has been merged into the Candy Apple Grove; the Stan Mikita's was converted to the Juke Box Diner, and the Hurler was converted into Twisted Timbers, the park's newest roller coaster, in 2018. In the next year, another children's area, known as Nickelodeon Splat City, opened near the Shockwave roller coaster, this was a product of Viacom purchasing Paramount in 1994. This was later converted into Nick Central. In the 1995 season, The Skyride and The Singing Mushrooms were removed.

In 1996, Kings Dominion introduced its second launched roller coaster, and first LIM-launched roller coaster, The Outer Limits: Flight of Fear. The Outer Limits has a 56 miles per hour (90 km/h) launch, four inversions, and an identical "spaghetti bowl" layout to Flight of Fear at Kings Island. Almost as notable as the launch of The Outer Limits was the fact that the entire ride was in semi-darkness; the riders could not see where they were going. Five years after The Outer Limits opened, Paramount Parks' licensing agreement to use theming from the television show after which the ride was named expired; the Outer Limits theming in the ride and its queue was removed, and the ride was renamed Flight of Fear.

1997 featured the debut of KidZville, a re-theming of the Hanna-Barbera section. The park added the new Taxi Jam roller coaster, and Scooby's Playpark became a construction themed playpen called Kidz Construction Company. Yogi's Cave was rethemed to Treasure Cave and many rides in KidZville, such as Scooby Doo's Ghoster Coaster, George Jetson's Spaceport, and Huck's Hot Rods, continued to bear the names of Hanna-Barbera characters.

Overview of Volcano, The Blast Coaster and Flight of Fear in the background

Kings Dominion added another launched roller coaster in 1998, Volcano, The Blast Coaster, in the former Lost World mountain. The mountain's previous rides had all been removed several years previously, and Volcano gave the mountain a major transformation. Volcano, which was manufactured by Intamin, was the world's first LIM-launched inverted roller coaster. The ride featured two separate launch sections, a roll-out inversion on the top of the mountain, and three heartline rolls on the way back down. Volcano was themed to the 1997 film Volcano; the other Paramount Parks added inverted or suspended roller coasters themed to Top Gun around the same time. During the next two seasons, Kings Dominion expanded Hurricane Reef behind the Rebel Yell and renamed it WaterWorks. The new portion of WaterWorks includes Pipeline Peak, a set of four enclosed water slides, one of which (the Night Slider) is the world's tallest dark free-fall slide. In 2000, Nick Central opened, replacing Nick Splat City and part of Kidzville.[16]

The park added its third launched roller coaster, Hypersonic XLC, in 2001. Hypersonic XLC, a Thrust Air 2000 air-launched coaster made by S&S Power, launched riders from 0 to 80 miles per hour (130 km/h) in 1.5 seconds, taking them up an 87-degree incline and down an 87-degree drop.[17] The entire ride's duration was about 25 seconds. Hypersonic XLC broke down frequently and was closed for the first three months of its second season; no other Paramount Parks installed a similar ride.[18] Nevertheless, Hypersonic XLC helped establish Kings Dominion's reputation as "the launched coaster capital of the world".[19] Hypersonic XLC was removed after the 2007 season.

The early 2000s saw Kings Dominion opening new rides similar to existing rides at other Paramount Parks. In 2002, the park opened its new wild mouse roller coaster, Ricochet (Now known as Apple Zapple), Carowinds also installed its Ricochet in 2002. Diamond Falls, the Shoot the Chute ride closed that season. The 2003 season saw Kings Dominion become the final of several of the Paramount Parks to open a Drop Zone: Stunt Tower, now Drop Tower: Scream Zone. The 305-foot-high (93 m) Drop Zone at Kings Dominion was the tallest freefall ride in the world at the time it opened. In 2004, Kings Dominion added Scooby-Doo! And the Haunted Mansion; similar Scooby Doo-themed dark rides had opened at three other Paramount Parks during the three previous seasons. In the next season, Kings Dominion added a Huss Top Spin called Tomb Raider: Firefall, and was named The Crypt, which was a standard size and outdoor version of a similar, but larger, ride named Tomb Raider: The Ride, also now The Crypt, at Kings Island. The differences between the two were that at Kings Dominion riders' feet dangle freely and at Kings Island, which installed a Giant Top Spin, there was a floor. In the 2006 season, Kings Dominion opened the Italian Job Turbo Coaster, its fourth launched roller coaster. Unlike the previously built launched coasters at Kings Dominion, each of which was faster than its predecessor, the Italian Job Turbo Coaster is designed more like a family ride and features multiple launches at 40 miles per hour (64 km/h). The coaster was later be renamed the Backlot Stunt Coaster in 2008. It is similar to the Backlot Stunt Coaster rides at Kings Island and Canada's Wonderland, which both opened in 2005.

On May 22, 2006, Cedar Fair Entertainment Co. announced the purchase of all five Paramount Parks.[20] The sale was finalized on June 30, 2006 for $1.24 billion.[21] The park continued to operate as Paramount's Kings Dominion until the beginning of the 2007 season when Paramount was dropped from the title.

Control of the Paramount Parks had been transferred from Viacom to CBS Corporation at the start of the 2007 season. For the 2007 season, the park lowered its single-day admission by $5 to $44.95,[22] one year after Cedar Point had made the same change to the ticket prices. This was the first time that Kings Dominion had ever lowered the ticket prices for a full season.[22] In addition, the Starlight discount was brought back, which allows admission to the park for $29.99 after 4pm.[22] Kings Dominion expanded WaterWorks for the 2007 season, adding a second wave pool called Tidal Wave Bay, a four-person family raft slide called Zoom Flume, and a ProSlide Tornado.[22]

During the Cedar Fair era, the park introduced Halloween Haunt. While the park had always had a Halloween event, the new HAUNT event has been received very well.

In December 2006, Kings Dominion put Hypersonic XLC up for sale.[23] The park announced plans to keep it running until a buyer was found. It remained in operation during the 2007 season and was closed and dismantled several weeks before the 2008 season started. Also during the 2007–2008 offseason, Cedar Fair renamed the park's last two rides to open with Paramount theming. Drop Zone Stunt Tower became Drop Tower Scream Zone and The Italian Job: Turbo Coaster became Backlot Stunt Coaster. Tomb Raider: Firefall received the name The Crypt. The Paramount Theater also changed its name to Kings Dominion Theater.[24]

Dominator, a Bolliger & Mabillard floorless roller coaster formerly located at Geauga Lake, opened in 2008 in International Street. Dominator is the longest floorless roller coaster in the world, with the fourth largest vertical loop in the world

The 2008 and 2009 seasons saw Kings Dominion receive three rides which had operated at Geauga Lake during its dry amusement park's final season. On October 23, 2007, Kings Dominion announced that Dominator, a floorless roller coaster, would be moved to Kings Dominion and located in the International Street section.[25] Dominator opened on May 24, 2008, becoming Kings Dominion's first roller coaster with five inversions. For the 2009 season, two flat rides once located at Geauga Lake, like Dominator, opened in 2008. Located near Rebel Yell, Americana became Kings Dominion's first Ferris wheel.[26]

For the 2010 season, Kings Dominion opened Intimidator 305, a 305-foot-tall (93 m) giga coaster by Intamin. The ride features a cable lift hill, an 85° first drop and a maximum speed of 90 mph (140 km/h). The ride, which is themed to NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, was announced on August 20, 2009, and represents the park's largest-ever capital investment. It was opened to the public in May 2010.[27] Also for the 2010 season, the Kidzville and Nickelodeon Universe areas of the park began being re-themed to Planet Snoopy, as were the children's areas at Canada's Wonderland and Kings Island. The park has renamed the Hanna-Barbera themed rides in Kidzville to match the Planet Snoopy theme, ending the park's 35-year run with Scooby Doo and other Hanna-Barbera characters.

For the 2012 season, Kings Dominion installed WindSeeker in the Grove section of the park next to the Juke Box Diner. There are other versions of the ride in Cedar Fair parks such as Canada's Wonderland, Cedar Point, Kings Island, Knott's Berry Farm, and Carowinds. The ride stands 301 feet (92 m) and gives riders a view of the surrounding area.[28] Kings Dominion also added Dinosaurs Alive!, an upcharge dinosaur walkthrough exhibit, located in the Old Virginia section of the park. This attraction also appeared at Kings Island, Dorney Park, Cedar Point, and Canada's Wonderland.[28]

For the 2013 season, Planet Snoopy merged with KidZville during a 7-acre (2.8 ha) expansion to form the largest Planet Snoopy in the Cedar Fair chain. There are now 18 attractions covering 14 acres (5.7 ha).[29]

For the 2014 season, Kings Dominion commemorated the 40th anniversary of Lion Country Safari and the preview-opening of Kings Dominion by returning park icons from past eras. These icons included the return of the classic singing mushrooms, the repainting of Anaconda, an improved queue line for Volcano: The Blast Coaster, the return of classic blue ice cream, among other additions. The 2014 season also saw the return of the iconic floral clock, the popular clown band, and the renaming of Johnny's and Trail's End Grill restaurants to the original names, Dinner Bell and Hungry Hippo, respectively. New lighting packages were added to the International Street fountains and Rebel Yell. The Congo and Grove sections of the park were returned to the original themes, Safari Village and Candy Apple Grove, respectively.

For the 2015 season, Kings Dominion continued in celebration of its 40th anniversary with a major expansion to WaterWorks. The expansion included a new 65-foot tall slide complex featuring three different attractions called Paradise Plunge, Aqua Blast, and Thunder Falls; a new children's area called Splash Island; expanded cabana areas, updated bathhouses, and other improvements to the area. As part of the major water park expansion, the area was renamed Soak City.[30] On August 9, 2015, Shockwave closed in Candy Apple Grove permanently, and a swinging pendulum ride titled "Delirium" was built in its place.[31] Hurler closed permanently at the end of the season on November 1, 2015.[32] In 2017, Planet Snoopy was expanded with the addition of three new children's rides in the former Nickelodeon Central side of the area. On October 15, 2016, Kings Dominion announced that the Hurler wooden coaster would be permanently closed.[32]

For the 2018 season, Kings Dominion opened Twisted Timbers in place of Hurler on March 24, 2018, converting the track from wood to steel. It was built by Rocky Mountain Construction utilizing many of the original wooden supports from Hurler. 2018 also marked the debut of WinterFest, a Christmas-themed holiday event, during the winter season. The Rebel Yell and Ricochet coasters were renamed Racer 75 and Apple Zapple, respectively. Tornado was removed during the 2018 season, and both Dinosaurs Alive and Volcano: The Blast Coaster were removed before the 2019 season.

For the 2020 season, Kings Dominion announced that Soak City would be expanded with a new sub-area called Coconut Shores, featuring a multi-level water play structure and a children's wave pool, on the former site of the Big Wave Bay wave pool.[33] On January 23, 2020, it was announced that The Crypt would be removed to make room for future development in the Safari Village section of the park. Kings Dominion did not open as scheduled for the 2020 season because of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States and announced in August that it would remain closed for the entire year, although the park later announced that it would open for a limited-capacity holiday event in December 2020.[34][35][36]

International Street is the park's main entry area, featuring a 320-foot-long (98 m) fountain pool[37] in the center of the walkway leading up to the 1/3 scale replica of the Eiffel Tower at the end of the street. The area is themed to a showcase of various European cultures, with buildings representative of France, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, and Italy. Originally, only the walkway and its shops were considered part of the International Street area;[38] during the park's Paramount seasons, the boundaries of International Street expanded to include the Action Theater.[39]

Grizzly

Along with International Street, Old Virginia is the only original section of Kings Dominion that has kept its same name throughout the park's history. Set in the Blue Ridge mountains, the area has a vintage, rustic theme marked by its wooded architecture and country-style decor. In the 1970s, Old Virginia had an Intamin Flying Dutchman flat ride called Jamestown Landing; behind it, Old Virginia had a steam train ride, Old Dominion Line, which ran through the woods in the back of the park.[40] Jamestown Landing closed by 1980;[38] the Old Dominion Line stayed until it closed in the 1990s.

Candy Apple Grove was known as Coney Island when the park first opened in 1975. It was renamed Candy Apple Grove in 1976. The area is Kings Dominion's largest section in the park, and in its early years, it featured an orchard theme that included three apple-themed rides: Apple Turnover,[41] Bad Apple, and Adam's Apple. Much of the apple-related themes were removed over the years, and the area became known as simply The Grove when it merged with the former Wayne's World area in 2001.

As part of Kings Dominion's 40th-anniversary celebration in 2014, The Grove was restored to its original orchard theme, and the name was changed back to Candy Apple Grove. The animatronic Singing Mushrooms, popular decades ago, was redeveloped with newer technology and placed back on display.[42] Other features that made a return to the area include a fully restored floral clock near the Carousel, oversized candy apples, and the popular blue ice cream that existed in the park for decades.[43]

The westernmost corner of Candy Apple Grove, distinct from the rest of the area, is themed to the 1950s.

Some of the area's more notable rides include WindSeeker, a 301-foot-tall (92 m) swing ride that opened in 2012, and Delirium, a type of pendulum amusement ride that opened in place of stand-up roller coaster Shockwave in 2016. Candy Apple Grove's newest ride, steel coaster Twisted Timbers, opened in 2018 replacing Hurler and reusing some of the previous support structure. In addition to rides, the area features an arcade, carnival games, fast-food restaurants, and a gift shop.

Safari Village is Kings Dominion's easternmost and predominantly African-themed section. It was inspired by one of the park's original attractions, the Lion Country Safari. Containing a boat ride and a monorail train through a nature preserve, the safari attraction closed in the 1990s. The area's name changed from Lion Country Safari to Safari Village by the mid-1980s, and was changed again by Paramount to Congo in the 1990s. The Safari Village name returned in 2014 as part of Kings Dominion's 40th anniversary celebration. Much of the area's architecture and decor is evocative of the African theme. Safari Village was anchored by a large artificial mountain, originally home to the Lost World ride complex and later to Volcano: The Blast Coaster, from 1979 until it was demolished with the coaster in 2019.

The section originally opened as Nickelodeon Splat City in 1995, and was later renamed Nickelodeon Central in 2000. It was re-themed to the Peanuts for the 2010 season. In 2013, Cedar Fair merged the KidZville section of the park and introduced 12 new and re-themed attractions.[29] Another expansion in 2017 updated the former Nickelodeon Central area of Planet Snoopy with three new attractions and a covered pavilion area.

Soak City, formerly known as WaterWorks, is Kings Dominion's water park. It opened in 1992 as Hurricane Reef and is included with admission to Kings Dominion. In 2015, the water park was expanded and re-branded as Soak City.[30]

In 2013, Halloween Haunt featured a walk-through maze called Miner's Revenge. Advertisements for the attraction characterized it as "the worst coal mine accident in history,"[49] and the attraction featured depictions of dead miners' bodies that had been mangled by a mining disaster.

The attraction drew criticism in the press for being in poor taste due to the region's experience with mine disasters. Washington Post writer Peter Galuszka (author of a book on the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster)[50] said that the attraction "hits a little too close to home for me" since "The idea of abandonment is a difficult topic for miners. At Kings Dominion, the suggestion of living miners left to die is meant to inject some enjoyable dramatic tension",[51] while in the Washington Monthly, Kathleen Geier decried that "agonizing deaths are being served up for fun and profit to the gawking, peanut-crunching masses" and asked "What next – a thrill ride based on the Rana Plaza factory disaster in Bangladesh? Auschwitz: The Theme Park?".[52]

Following the controversy, Kings Dominion stated that they were dropping the Miner's Revenge Maze from its Halloween lineup in the future.[53]