Located just north of Richmond, Virginia is an amusement park that I’m told was ‘the bomb’ at one time. There is no indication of that now. Entering the parking lot of Paramount’s Kings Dominion is your first clue. Cracked pavement with weeds growing through the cracks. Trash sporadically covers the cracked pavement. Parking attendants were virtually non-existent. My friend and I both shuddered, but being the brave souls that we are, we went in anyway….
Cost:
General park admission (ages 7 – 54) $39.95
Child park admission (ages 3 – 6) $24.95
Children ages 2 and under Free
I do not recall how much it was to park. My friend paid it and I was too busy picking my jaw up off the ground when I saw the lot to notice… their website lists it as 10 dollars, but that may drop since they have dropped there admission fees by a few bucks over the past few years.
Atmosphere:
The amusement park itself does, indeed, carry over the theme of the parking lot… which is pretty much the ‘gone to seed’ theme. Graffiti is absolutely everywhere!. This park is dirty…. which makes me feel unsafe on the coasters. If they do not care enough about this park to maintain the grounds, are they really maintaining the mechanics of the rides? Probably not.
Shopping:
This aspect of Kings Dominion is actually not too bad. Above Six Flags America, below Busch Gardens. You can find several shops which carry park-branded items, the standard fare… but there is also one shop with a decent selection of dragons and whatnot, and there is an African themed shop near the Volcano. Prices are average for an amusement park.
Food
Eating at Kings Dominion is way over priced and leaves quite a lot to be desired. Looking at the park itself, you have to wonder if it’s even safe to eat anything. I mean seriously. We found mainly burgers and hot dogs... the burgers were dry and tasted soy-based (which is not necessarily a bad thang by itself…) but we couldnt even finish them. Later in the day we bought hot dogs and pretty much had to force those down too. Dry, stale buns are the worst!
Shows:
This is what I think attracts the crowd to Paramount’s Kings Dominion… the crowd being mainly teens. Kings Dominion does get some name bands to come play concerts, for which they charge additional to the regular admission. For instance, in May and the beginning of June (2007) they are having a Band Festival, featuring numerous bands from the mid-Atlantic region. My daughter loved this park before she got married and moved away, and thinks I’m crazy… but then, that’s pretty par, eh?
For kids they have The Slime Show from Nickelodeon featuring Spongebob Squarepants, Meet Blue from Blue’s Clues, and Magicadabra, which is, oddly enough, a magic show. *grin*
Other shows include Karaoke 2002 which is what the name implies…; Graveyard Shift which is a creepy collection of shock & roll, rhythm & ooze; America Rocks, pop hits; and CMT presents Love My Country a country music review. All fairly typical of any amusement park.
Roller Coasters:
OK… this is the only saving grace for Kings Dominion, and the reason for this visit. Hypersonic XLC is the only coaster of it’s kind to date, a compressed-air launch coaster. This is a blast coaster and the most intense 20 seconds of your life. They strap you into your seat, then warn you to keep your head back against the head rest. DO! They then do a Nasa-type count down as you stare up the steep track you are about to encounter. I do not have the exact stats on this (and stats are not available on the web site), but it is a zero-to-outrageous speed in like 1 second. We rode this one 3 times and my friend was adamant not to ride anymore as the blood was at the back of his head by then… it is intense! This ride is worth everything else that is wrong with this park. XLC was placed at King’s Dominion in the summer of 2002 for testing and was only supposed to stay there for 2 seasons, but there it still stands so take advantage. It was closed down most of the season we visitedfor one reason or another…. my guess would be poor maintenance..
Volcano, the Blast Coaster is not a bad ride either.. you’ll fly in and out of the rumbling mountain at speeds over 70 mph, then rocket 155 feet out of the top of the crater into a series of heart stopping inversions before a final 80-foot plummet. Sounds better than it actually is, but still.. it aint too shabby. At least it isn’t jarring.
Shockwave is a stand-up coaster with a 360 degree horizontal loop., but a bit of a head-banger. OUCH!
Flight of Fear .. ok we did not hit this one as the line was far too long, so I’ll have to give ya the blurb: Enclosed in semi darkness, The Flight of Fear defines a new generation of roller coasters by combining a technologically advanced Linear Induction Motor launch system with a totally enclosed track and unique ride theme.
Anaconda is an outdated coaster with a 144′ drop that loops and goes through an underwater tunnel. Anaconda is getting rickety in it’s old age.
Grizzly is an old wooden coaster in the double figure eight configuration.. Warning: This one is very jarring!
Hurler is another wooden coaster that just plain isn’t worth even the one minute wait.
Rebel Yell is the wooden coaster that many so fondly remember from their youth in these parts… One train goes forward while the other goes backward. This one will jar your teeth loose. Seriously. I swear I kept expecting the whole thing to fall down around me… I will never ride this one again.
Meteor Attack is a 4-D motion simulator that’s kinda fun… cross between a ride and a show.
Ricochet is similar to the infamous Wild Mouse of other parks. The supposed thrill is in feeling like you are going to go off the edge of the turns. Not for me. I do not like this type of coaster. Just my own personal quirk.
The newest of Kings Dominion’s roller coasters (and Kings Dominion’s second spinning ride with major vertical inversions,) came on the scene in the summer of 2005, which was 21 years after the arrival of Berserker, the giant Viking ship. Tomb Raider: Firefall is one of the most elaborately themed rides in the world. It is sequenced with special effects and music, smoke, flames, and water geysers. This is a pretty cool ride, I have to say.
Other Rides include the usual array of County Faire type things.. swinging ship, carousel, swings… there are a few rides for little kids, but that is not their target visitor. They cater to teens, not families. Water Rides are nothing special… the same ones you see at every other park in the country. but Kings dominion does have a full Water Park within the main Amusement Park which is another reason this place is so popular with teens.
Bottom Line: Lines are about 2 hours or better for the main two coasters, hardly any line on the old wooden ones, they do have an advance no-wait ticket machine to bypass lines, but they give out very few, and those go fast! To get one you have to be there when the park opens.
If you are a teenager wanting to go socialize with other teens or see a concert and do not give a hoot about cleanliness or perceived safety, then Paramount’s Kings Dominion is your park. Otherwise, avoid it. If you are a coaster fanatic, do go once for XLC while it’s there, but do call ahead and make sure it’s running that day.
