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The Family Vacation Guide

Kings Dominion Roller Coasters: A Complete Guide

posted by Charmaine Cortes on June 10, 2023 // last updated on June 10, 2023

Kings Dominion in Virginia is one of America’s premier theme parks and features some of the most thrilling roller coasters you’ll find anywhere in the world. Whether you’re a roller coaster enthusiast or planning your first trip to Kings Dominion, there’s something for everyone at this expansive park. 

Today, we’ll cover everything you need to know to ensure your trip to Kings Dominion is packed with screams, laughs, and nonstop fun. 

The Birth of Kings Dominion

Continued expansion, the paramount years, the next chapter, apple zapple, backlot stunt coaster, flight of fear, great pumpkin coaster, intimidator 305, twisted timbers, woodstock express, final word , about kings dominion.

Before we learn more about all the breathtaking coasters at Kings Dominion, let’s learn how this incredible theme park came to be. 

Conveniently located about a half-hour north of Richmond in central Virginia, Kings Dominion was the brainchild of the Kings Entertainment Company. The company successfully launched Cincinnati’s Kings Island theme park in 1972, and a year later, they set their sights on a new location, hoping to bring the same fun and excitement to the East Coast. 

When the park opened, it was broken into four sections that still exist today. After strolling down International Street, visitors could split off into Old Virginia, Candy Apple Grove, Lion Country Safari, and a Hanna-Barbera-themed kid’s park. 

When the park opened fully in 1975, there were 15 different themed attractions for visitors to enjoy; a far cry from the dozens of other rides and attractions that Kings Dominion currently holds. Back then, there were only three coasters, a log flume, a monorail through the safari, and a few other small attractions. Even then, any visitor with an imagination could see the potential. 

The park continued to transform throughout the late 70s, with exciting additions such as the Anton Schwarzkopf-designed King Kobra, Kings Quarters Hotel, Kings Dominion campground, and the Lost World mountain.

With exciting new park amenities popping up every season, Kings Dominion refocused its energy on heart-stopping rides. They added a monstrous wooden coaster known as Grizzly, the White Water Canyon, and the Berserker, a ship ride that made a complete loop, one of the first rides of its kind. 

During this time, the park also expanded its catalog of waterslides, adding the Racing Rivers complex in 1987. Shortly after, the Anaconda coaster was made, which plunged riders into an underwater tunnel before treating them to four inversions above the lake. 

Around this time, Kings Dominion repurposed most of the area surrounding the manmade Lake Charles. This area would become the dedicated water park Hurricane Reef, which featured 15 different slides when it opened. 

A significant change arrived in 1993 when the park was purchased by Paramount, allowing Kings Dominion to begin incorporating themes from Paramount’s expansive catalog of film and television properties.

After the addition of Hurler by International Coasters, Kings Dominion became the only amusement park in the world with five different wooden roller coasters. Under Paramount’s direction, innovation continued, with Kings Dominion adding the world’s first LIM-propelled coaster, Flights of Fear. The Xtreme SkyFlyer sky coaster joined the park that same year.

Volcano joined the park the following year, becoming the world’s first inverted LIM-propelled coaster. This coaster was expertly placed in the park, and its interaction with Lost World Mountain made the ride even more exciting, as riders were shot out of the mountain’s peak at breakneck speed to begin their journey on Volcano. 

Park visitors who came to check out Volcano were also treated to a major water park expansion, which tripled in acreage and added exciting new attractions like Pipeline Peak and WaterWorks. Nickelodeon Splat City also received significant expansion during this time.

In 2001, the park added HyperSonic XLC, the first coaster in the world to utilize compressed air for propulsion. This coaster also made Kings Dominion the first theme park in the world to feature three different propelled coasters. 

Shortly after, Kings Dominion added its final few attractions under the Paramount banner, with the Drop Zone Stunt Tower, the world’s longest free-fall attraction at the time. DZST brought 56 riders at a time into the sky for a death-defying 272-foot free-fall drop. 

The park also added Tomb Raider: Firefall to celebrate the park’s 30th anniversary. In 2006, the park added the Italian Job Turbo Coaster, Kings Dominion’s fourth LIM-propelled attraction. Shortly after this exciting new coaster was announced, the park changed significantly.

Not long after the Italian Job Turbo Coaster was unveiled, the park was sold to Cedar Fair, one of the largest amusement chains in America. Under new ownership, several changes were made to the park. 

Cedar Fair began by further reinforcing the attractions at the water park, adding the ProSlide Tornado, Zoom Flume, and a second wave pool. Ownership also removed Hypersonic XLC from the park, a coaster that was plagued by maintenance issues since its inception. 

Shortly after, the Dominator floorless coaster was added, marking the first time a floorless coaster graced the campus at Kings Dominion. The Dominator didn’t enjoy its top billing for very long, as the incredible giga coaster Intimidator 305 joined the park on the heels of The Dominator. 

After the introduction of Intimidator 305, Kings added two additional coasters in 2018 and 2022. Twisted Timbers, a hybrid coaster, was introduced in 2018, followed by the newest ride in the park, the fourth-dimension coaster Tumbili.

Today, Kings Dominion features an impressive collection of 14 of the world’s most exciting roller coasters. Beyond the thrill rides, there are many other opportunities for fun and excitement for the whole family. 

The Roller Coasters of Kings Dominion 

If you aren’t already excited about the idea of taking a trip to this thrilling theme park, you will be after learning more about the incredible attractions of Kings Dominion. Here’s what you need to know as you prepare for your trip.

• Manufacturer: Arrow Dynamics
• Year Opened: 1991
• Coaster Type : Sit-Down
• Best for: Extreme Thrills

Ron Toomer designed Anacadona for Arrow Dynamics in 1991, and it’s been thrilling Kings Dominion visitors ever since. The Anaconda featured a few firsts for the park, and it’s the first coaster with multiple inversions and the first coaster to send riders through an underwater tunnel during the ride. 

This custom looping coaster accommodates 28 riders simultaneously and generates a max G-force of 5.1G. The 2,700-foot coaster takes under two minutes to ride, and it features a drop of 144 feet and a total of four inversions while reaching speeds of up to 50 miles per hour. Anyone over 48” tall can ride this exciting coaster. 

• Manufacturer: Mack Rides
• Year Opened: 2002
• Coaster Type: Wild Mouse
• Best for : Families

This recently-designed wild mouse coaster is a thrill ride for the entire family, and it’s considered one of the most underrated rides in the park. The ride features a series of hairpin turns that you’ll take at breakneck speeds and a large 50-foot drop that’s surprisingly exhilarating. Apple Zapple has been a staple of Candy Apple Grove since its opening in 2002.

Like other wild mouse coasters, Apple Zapple features a single car with room for four riders at a time. Apple Zapple accommodates nearly 1,000 riders each hour despite the single-car design. The height requirement is 54”, but children over 44” can ride the coaster with a guardian. 

• Manufacturer: Premier Rides
• Year Opened:   2006
• Coaster Type: LIM
• Best for: Thrills

One of the most exciting coasters from the Paramount days, Backlot Stunt Coaster is a launched coaster that takes riders on a thrilling high-speed chase through Hollywood. After launching, the coaster immediately bounds into an exciting double incline helix, one of the most thrilling moments you’ll have in the entire park. 

The coaster’s largest drop is only 31 feet, with a top speed of 40 miles per hour. While it’s nowhere near as intimidating as some of the larger coasters at the park, this one-minute ride is sure to thrill even the most seasoned coaster enthusiast. Plus, this ride offers some of the best and most cohesive theming of any Kings Dominion coaster. 

• Manufacturer: Bolliger & Mabillard
• Year Opened: 2008
• Coaster Type: Floorless

This Werner Stengel-designed ride first found a home at Six Flags Ohio, where it was a Batman-themed coaster in the park’s Gotham City section. When this park, which Cedar Fair also owns, closed in 2007, this thrilling coaster was relocated to Kings Dominion, where it’s known as The Dominator . 

This floorless coaster reaches a blistering top speed of 65 miles per hour and features several inversions with a monster 148-foot drop. The Dominator delivers 3.8G at top speed, and its tremendous main loop is sure to leave riders shaking with excitement. As exciting as Dominator is, it does fall a bit short of the thrills that some other coasters provide. 

• Year Opened: 1996
• Coaster Type: Indoor

Another coaster from Premier Rides, this indoor LIM-powered coaster features Premier’s signature “spaghetti bowl” style, and it’s been thrilling riders at Kings Dominion for over 25 years. 

Flight of Fear has won three awards from the International Association of Amusement Parks for its strong thematic elements and breakthrough technology. The beginning of the ride is its strongest point, and it features tons of flips and tight turns to get your blood flowing as the coaster reaches 4.5G’s at speeds of up to 54 miles per hour. 

Flight of Fear is one of the more unique coasters at Kings Dominion, and it helps diversify the coaster lineup. It might not be the most thrilling attraction at the park, but it’s one of the most fun coasters to ride. 

• Manufacturer: E&F Miler Industries
• Year Opened: 1997
• Coaster Type: Kiddie
• Best for: Families

This steel kiddie coaster is the ideal way to start the family fun at Kings Dominion. This ride debuted in 1997 as Taxi Jam in the Kidzville section of the park, but it was later re-themed to feature iconic elements from Peanuts. 

The Great Pumpkin Coaster has a height requirement of 36”, making it a perfect ride for the little ones. What this coaster lacks in hair-raising excitement, it makes up for with its excellent thematic elements. 

• Manufacturer: Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters
• Year Opened: 1982
• Coaster Type: Wooden

This old wooden coaster from Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters is a must-ride for coaster enthusiasts looking to pack maximum thrills into their trip. This coaster reaches a top speed of over 50 miles per hour while generating an incredible 5.5Gs of force during the ride. Grizzly is modeled closely after the Wildcat, a former Coney Island coaster, with an iconic double-figure-8 layout.

Before riding Grizzly, be warned that this is one of the roughest rides you’ll find on any wooden coaster. Some people think the bumpy ride, wild terrain, and heavy forestation make Grizzly a must-ride experience. 

• Manufacturer: Intamin AG
• Year Opened: 2010
• Coaster Type: Giga Coaster

Extreme thrill seekers needn’t look any further than Intimidator 305 , arguably the most thrilling coaster in the world today. I305 is one of the only non-propelled coasters in the world to feature a drop greater than 300 feet, and the entire rod is packed with excitement and thematic elements that elevate it into the coaster Hall of Fame.

I305 reaches an insane top speed of 90 miles per hour and generates as many as 4.5Gs as it bounds over an impressive 5,100 feet of track. The main drop is practically a free fall at 85 degrees. Simply put, this ride isn’t for the faint of heart. In fact, unless you’re a true thrill seeker, you may even want to avoid riding it.

Whether you’re brave enough to ride this massive coaster, anyone can appreciate its engineering. I305’s lift hill includes only three support points, and its double-spine track allows for longer track runs without additional support.

• Manufacturer: John C. Allen
• Year Opened: 1975

Originally known as Rebel Yell, this coaster was designed by the king of the wooden coaster, John C. Allen. This coaster has been operating nearly as long as the park itself, and it offers incredible views of the Intimidator for much of the ride. 

The Racer 75 reaches top speeds of 56 miles per hour while generating up to 4.2G. It’s a fairly pedestrian coaster, and the ride is quite smooth. Families looking for a coaster that’s a bit more thrilling than the kiddie coasters are sure to enjoy this classic coaster. 

• Year Opened: 1988
• Coaster Type: Bobsled

This bobsled-style coaster debuted in 1988 as Avalanche, and it’s currently the only bobsled-style Mack Rides coaster operating in the United States. The coaster ran as Avalanche until the 2020 season, and it’s since been repurposed as part of the new Jungle X-pedition section of Kings Dominion. 

This unique coaster has no fixed track, allowing the cars to move freely through the ride. Reptilian tops out at 41 miles per hour, delivering a maximum G-force of 3.4G. This coaster is fun for the whole family, and all riders above 40” are welcome on Reptilian . 

• Manufacturer: S&S Worldwide
• Year Opened: 2022
• Coaster Type: Free spin

Tumbili is the latest coaster to join the park, settling into the new Jungle X-pedition section. This immersive 4D coaster features a fully vertical chain lift hill that sends riders on a thrilling one-minute ride complete with several beyond-vertical drops across three track levels. Considering the narrow footprint of the ride, it’s an engineering marvel. 

The coolest aspect of Tumbili is that since it’s a free spin coaster, you’re in for a different experience every time you ride the coaster. Factors like the weight of the riders, position in the car, and rider interaction can significantly affect how each seat spins during the ride. 

• Manufacturer: Rocky Mountain Construction
• Year Opened: 2018
• Coaster Type: Hybrid

Twisted Timbers debuted at Kings Dominion in 1994. At the time, the ride was called Hurler and featured a Wayne’s World theme under Paramount’s ownership. The Hurler was closed for renovations in 2015, and it debuted again in the park as Twisted Timbers after significant refurbishment from Rocky Mountain Construction. 

Twisted Timbers is now a hybrid coaster with RMC’s signature I-Box track. The ride captured the Golden Ticket Award for Best Steel Coaster in 2018 and 2019, and it remains one of the most exciting coasters in America. 

Airtime junkies are sure to love Twisted Timbers, which will have you out of your seat for the better part of the ride. With plenty of sharp turns and three inversions, there’s something for every coaster enthusiast to love about this ride.

• Year Opened: 1974

The coaster that started it all here at Kings Dominion, Woodstock Express , is a John C. Allen creation that initially debuted as Scooby Doo’s Ghoster Coaster. The ride was renovated in 2013, and it’s been the Woodstock Express since. 

This old woodie is an excellent ride for the kids, and it packs plenty of excitement despite its relatively pedestrian layout and theming. Woodstock Express is the perfect coaster to get your feet wet on your first trip to the park. 

Kings Dominion is one of the East Coast’s best and most exciting theme parks. The park features tons of excellent coasters, including exciting new additions like Tumbili, Intimidator 305, and the revamped Twisted Timbers. 

Whether it’s your first trip to Kings Dominion or you’re brushing up on their attractions to prepare for your next trip, there’s something for everyone here at Kings Dominion.

More about our TFVG Author

Charmaine Cortes

Lion Country Safari history: Animals bit, gored and mauled visitors, staff

Fifty years ago, visitors lined up for miles for the opening day of  Lion Country Safari  , a drive-through wild animal park that was the country’s first cageless zoo.

In its half-century history, the park in rural Palm Beach County has been a favorite of local residents and of famous chimp researcher,  Jane Goodall , who still visits once a year to study the park’s chimp population.

RELATED: Lion Country Safari sold to new owner

Lion Country Safari is also home to the largest herd of zebras outside Africa, a 93-year-old tortoise, southern white rhinos and a herd of giraffes.

Its ambassador is an elderly lady named Little Mama, a former Ice Capades performer, who, at close to 80, is the oldest living chimp in the world.

RELATED: Photos of Lion Country Safari’s wildlife

But mixing dangerous animals with humans during 50 years means accidents sometime happen.

In a half century,  Lion Country Safari  in Loxahatchee has had one fatality, as well as a number of maulings and bites. Most happened during the early years of the wild animal park when state and federal regulations were vastly different.

RELATED: Lion Country Safari might acquire cheetah, penguins.

In fact, the rules were so casual in the 1960s and ‘70s that visitors could arrange to cuddle with lion cubs.

Here’s a list of incidents from The Palm Beach Post archives:

August 1967: Two weeks before the park opened, a worker revived a female lion after pulling the unconscious 11-month old from a canal, where she’d fallen in. The game keeper gave the lion mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, putting his whole head in the lion’s toothy mouth.

November 1967:  A mother lion mauled her rare, white cub, which was taken to Glades Central Hospital where it recovered in a baby incubator attended to by the LCS vet and the hospital’s nurses.

RELATED: Reader memories of Lion Country Safari

January 1969:  Former ‘Tonight Show’ host Jack Paar, who was making a documentary at LCS, was bitten on the wrist by Jack Paar, his namesake lion.

October 1971: A 24-year-old elephant warden was hospitalized after the 8,000-pound pachyderm he was tending stepped on his head.

August 1973: Gus, the park’s 7,000 pound white, rhino trampled a worker who was injured but survived.

January 1974:  In the park’s only fatality, a 4,000 pound water buffalo named Ralph trampled and gored to death the animal keeper who fed it every day. Malcolm Gallop, 60, of West Palm Beach, was attacked in front of a carload of tourists.

“It picked him up and slammed him down,” said Mrs. Robert Morton from Phenix, Va. who witnessed the attack while visiting the park with her family. “It just kept slamming him down.”

Park staff said Ralph had been acting aggressive since a calf he sired was born nine days earlier.

December 1975: Former lion tamer Emma Bates was given permission to feed the cubs she raised at her Royal Palm Beach home before she gave them to LCS. During one visit to the lions’ enclosures, she arrived with 40 pounds of raw meat in her car’s trunk. A group of lions burst out the door and one tackled Bates, gripping her head in its jaws. A nearby worker fought off the lion with a rake. Bates survived with multiple bites and broken bones.

July 1989: A chimp attacked workers trying to move a group of chimps to another island. One worker slipped and shot another worker in the abdomen with his park-issued .357 handgun.

March 1990: JoJo, a four-ton female elephant, picked up a worker with her trunk, spun him around, then gored him. The worker survived.

December 1993:  A 400-pound male lion named Helmut mauled a caretaker who was hospitalized with puncture wounds, a severed jugular vein, and two collapsed lungs.

Animals ruled the crowd at early Kings Island

Lions and tigers and baboons, oh my!

In the early years of Kings Island, visitors could see more than 300 animals at the old Lion Country Safari – and sometimes hear about them roaming Warren County after their escape from the 100-acre wildlife preserve.

The attraction opened in 1974, the park's third year, on space used today for Flight of Fear, Firehawk and the new Banshee (where the Son of Beast also once stood).

In 20 years, more than 15 million visitors rode the 2-mile monorail through the animal preserve, which also was named Wild Animal Safari and Wild Animal Habitat before it closed in 1993, said Don Helbig, Kings Island public relations manager.

"It was amazing. Most of the time, quite a large percentage of the daily park attendance would ride the monorail," said Bob Reece, the wildlife exhibit director 1977-92.

The monorail entrance was to the right of the current Drop Tower. Taft Broadcasting, which built Kings Island, also opened a similar attraction at the sister Kings Dominion park near Richmond, Va.

More than 25 lions were brought in for the 1974 opening by Lion Country Safari, a third-party vendor with animal parks near West Palm Beach and Atlanta. Visitors also saw tigers, rhinos, elephants, hippos, giraffes, monkeys, ostriches, zebras, baboons, leopards and other animals from around the world.

More than a few wandered off. Less than three months after the opening, a 2-year-old female lion escaped. She was found dehydrated in heavy underbrush.

Two years later, 50 baboons escaped over the two fences to the embarrassment of Taft Broadcasting executives. The baboons leaped to freedom jumping on the backs of fellow baboons huddled at the base of the fence. It took a week to round them up – and then they escaped again.

"We had 50 mean baboons roaming Warren County," said Charlie Mechem, former Taft Broadcasting chairman, in an interview last year. "It was a classic story of a company that thought it knew what it was doing – and they literally made monkeys out of us."

That baboon incident – and a lion fatally mauling a Lion Country Safari ranger who got out of his jeep for an unknown reason inside the habitat in 1976 – persuaded Taft executives to take over day-to-day management.

Under Reece, security was improved with new electronic gates while reducing the animal population, which was nearing 400. Kings Island also began charging monorail riders – first a quarter, and eventually $1 – to reduce crowds on the ride.

"At the time, everything in the park was no charge. We put on a nominal fee to slow down the crowd a little bit," said Reece, 72, of Boynton Beach, Fla.

Sustaining the sensitive electrical connections along the monorail track also posed problems. Animals "would get close to the track, or jump the track. Sometimes they would kick up mud on it, or it would get flooded. We had a lot of down time. It was a real thorn to us," Reece said.

Reece helped form the Cincinnati Wildlife Research Federation partnership with Kings Island, the Cincinnati Zoo and University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. Kings Island staffers also were part of the Center for Reproduction of Endangered Wildlife (CREW) effort by the zoo's Dr. Betsy Dresser to save endangered bongos in Kenya in the early 1990s.

About that time, park officials were discussing closing the $2 million animal attraction to add rides as Kings Island's annual attendance continued to swell.

"The park was getting filled (with visitors). Wild Animal Habitat was the prime area to go into to provide more space for rides," Reece said.

In 1993, a year after Reece left, Kings Island closed Wild Animal Habit.

The animals ended up back with Reece at his next job, managing a 14-square-mile animal preserve called the Wilds southeast of Zanesville. Kings Island and Kings Dominion animals were donated in 1994 to what was then North America's largest wild animal complex.

Why get rid of an attraction that drew 15 million visitors? Because its "life cycle" had expired, Mechem said.

"A roller coaster goes forever. If someone comes back to the park, as zillions do every year, they're going to ride the roller coaster 10 times. But they're probably not going to ride Lion Country Safari more than twice, at most. It just kind of ran out of steam, as most of them have," Mechem said.

The monorail

From the safari to a jungle, the old Lion Country Safari monorail marks the entrances to Jungle Jim's International Markets in Fairfield and near Eastgate Mall in Clermont County.

Owner "Jungle Jim" Bonaminio bought seven cars for $1 from Kings Island in the late 1990s. After 15 years, the train shuttles people several hundred yards from his second-floor Oscar Event Center in Fairfield to a station on the south edge of the parking lot during festivals and receptions, said his son, Jimmy, creative services department manager.

His father's dream was to have the monorail loop around the 58 acres on Ohio 4 in Fairfield, with a stop at a never-built hotel, or be extended one block north to Tom Raper RVs, according to Enquirer stories.

"We've not given up on it, but with the new store, we've got a lot going on," his son said.

John Kiesewetter

Kings Dominion Amusement Park History and Timeline

Park History and Timeline

On May 3, 1975, after less than two years of construction, Kings Dominion opened its gates to the public. It didn't take long for King Dominion to be recognized as the perfect family destination location in the Mid-Atlantic region.

The idea for a family amusement park north of Richmond, VA and south of Washington, D.C., began as a dream in 1971. A site was selected in Doswell, VA in the heart of the Mid-Atlantic to build the 400-acre park. The design of the new park was similar to Kings Island near Cincinnati, OH, using similar rides, attractions and themes including a 315-foot-tall Eiffel Tower replica and twin-track, racing roller coaster.

Kings Dominion opened May 3, 1975, offering fun and thrilling attractions that included the Rebel Yell roller coaster, Lion Country Safari Monorail, Log Flume, Steam Train and other family attractions.  The park's signature attraction was the Eiffel Tower, a one-third scale replica of the original Eiffel Tower in Paris, France.  Original themed areas were International Street, The Happy Land of Hanna-Barbera, Old Virginia, Coney Island and Lion Country Safari. 

In 1977, Kings Dominion added a fourth roller coaster in King Kobra.  The park was also one of the amusement parks used as a set for the movie Rollercoaster, filmed in 1977.   A campground was added in 1978 and a popular attraction known as Lost World debuted in 1979.   By the end of the decade, in just five short years, Kings Dominion had established itself as a destination place for families seeking fun, thrills and adventure. 

The early part of the decade saw two popular attractions added with the Grizzly roller coaster in 1982 and the White Water Canyon river rapids ride in 1983.  These two rides remain as popular as ever today.  In 1983, Taft Broadcasting sold its theme park division to Kings Entertainment Company (KECO). 

One of the first additions the new management group installed was Berserker, a looping starship ride on International Street in 1984.   In 1986, Shockwave, a standup roller coaster, was added.  Racing Rivers, a water slide complex, opened in 1987.   Avalanche, which remains the only Mack Bobsled roller coaster in the United States, opened in 1988. 

The decade of the 90's began with the expansion of Hanna-Barbera Land in 1990.  A thrilling new ride was introduced in 1991, Anaconda, which was the first roller coaster in the world the feature an underwater tunnel.   A new waterpark addition opened in 1992, Hurricane Reef.  In 1993, a motion simulator ride featuring the Days of Thunder film, debuted.  The 1994 season saw the addition of a new themed area of the park called Wayne's World, which featured a wooden roller coaster, The Hurler. 

In 1996, Kings Dominion unveiled the first LIM-launched roller coaster, The Outer Limits: Flight of Fear.  The following season, in 1997, saw the debut of KidZville, which was a re-theming of the Hanna-Barbera section.  New attractions included the Taxi Jam roller coaster.  The trend of adding launch coasters continued in 1998 when the park opened Volcano, The Blast Coaster.  Expansion continued in the waterpark area with a re-theme to WaterWorks in 1999. 

The early part of this decade saw Kings Dominion open major new rides and attractions starting with the HyperSonic roller coaster in 2001.  In 2002, Ricochet was added, followed by Drop Zone (now Drop Tower) in 2003.   The 2004 season saw the addition of a family dark ride experience, Scooby-Doo & The Haunted Mansion.  The following year, in 2005, Tomb Raider: The Ride (now The Crypt) was added.  

Another new roller coaster joined the park's lineup in 2006 in Italian Job: Stunt Track (now Backlot Stunt Coaster).  On June 30 of that year, the park was sold to Cedar Fair Entertainment Company.   In 2007, WaterWorks was expanded, adding a second wave pool, Tidal Wave Bay and a four-person raft ride.   Over the next two seasons, Kings Dominion added three new attractions starting with a thrilling steel roller coaster, Dominator.    The park added its first Ferris Wheel in 2009 with Americana, as well as El Dorado, a family flat ride. 

Today's Kings Dominion

Kings Dominion's commitment to providing its guests with world-class thrills, fun, and family entertainment continues into this decade. The park built one of the top steel roller coasters in the world in 2010, Intimidator 305. This giga coaster by Intamin is themed to the late NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt and represents the largest capital investment to date in the park's history.

A new light show, Snoopy's Starlight Spectacular, was added in 2011. In 2012, two attractions debuted with WindSeeker, a 301-foot-tall tower swing ride, and Dinosaurs Alive!, an animatronic dinosaur park that features nearly 40 life-sized, roaring, moving dinosaurs. In 2013, Kings Dominion unveiled the bigger, better Planet Snoopy, the world's largest PEANUTS-themed children's area, featuring 8 new rides (18 total), a fresh market, and more.

In 2014 Kings Dominion celebrated its 40th Anniversary with the return of some of your favorite past attractions including Candy Apple Grove, Safari Village, and the Singing Mushrooms. In 2015 Kings Dominion rebranded its waterpark to Soak City and added a new mega slide complex, Hurricane Heights, and a family splash zone, Splash Island. In 2016, Kings Dominion introduced the gravity-defying thrill ride, Delirium! In 2017 Kings Dominion expanded Planet Snoopy which included 3 new thrill rides - Kite Eating Tree, Sally's Sea Plane, and Peanuts 500. In 2018, Kings Dominion reimagined their former Hurler roller coaster into a mesh of twisted wood and metal - Twisted Timbers. WinterFest was also introduced to Kings Dominion in the winter.

2019 brought flavor and fun to the park with the introduction of Grand Carnivale, an international festival. Kings Dominion remained closed for most of the 2020 season, however, reopened with limited operations for Taste of the Season at the end of the year. In 2021 Kings Dominion added Coconut Shores, an expansion to Soak City Waterpark, and Grain & Grill, a locally-sourced restaurant.

For the 2022 season, Safari Villiage was reimagined into Jungle X-Pedition, a land of discovery and adventure, featuring Virginia’s only 4D Free Spin roller coaster, Tumbili. Scrambler was rethemed to Arachnidia, and Avalanche was rethemed to Reptilian. In 2023, the roar was restored to Grizzly, which underwent a massive refurbishment, and Firehouse BBQ opened to hungry guests in Planet Snoopy.

DETAILED TIMELINE

The construction of Kings Dominion began October 1, 1972.  It took nearly two years to build the park.  Attractions for the first season in 1974 included the Lion Country Safari and the Scooby Doo roller coaster. 

After less than two years of construction, Kings Dominion opened to the public on May 3, 1975.  That day, approximately 20,000 guests enjoyed the park.  More than 1.5 million visitors would follow during Kings Dominion's first season.  Park visitors enjoyed five magical lands -- International Street, Old Virginia, Coney Island, The Happy Land of Hanna-Barbera and Lion Country Safari, which opened as a preview to Kings Dominion in 1974.  Attractions for the season in 1975 included Rebel Yell roller coaster, Lion Country Safari Monorail, Log Flume, a Steam Train, Sky Ride, Galaxie roller coaster, and the park's signature attraction, the Eiffel Tower. Families raced down 12 hills on the Rebel Yell racing roller coaster, took a spin on the Carousel, viewed the musical revue "Give My Regards to Broadway" in the Mason Dixon Music Hall and observed the park atop a 315-foot-tall Eiffel Tower.

Bengal tigers arrived at the animal preserve.  The park sent visitors spinning around Candy Apple Grove in the new Apple Turnover ride.

The King Kobra roller coaster was the new attraction this year, featuring a 75-foot drop.  The Kings Quarters Hotel also opened.  The movie Rollercoaster starring George Segal and Timothy Bottoms was filmed at the park. 

The Kings Dominion Campground opened, increasing the number of two-day visits to the park.

The 17-story Lost World mountain was the new attraction this year, featuring three separate rides: Journey To Atlantis, Land of the Dooz and the Time Shaft.

New for this season was the Haunted River, which replaced Journey To Atlantis in the Lost World.

The 180-degree theater opened, which allowed visitors to cruise through the Baja desert and see a volcano up close!

This season saw the park unveil the Grizzly, a wooden roller coaster in a forest setting with an 87-foot drop and high-speed twists and turns.  Also new was The Showplace, a 7,500-seat, outdoor concert venue.

White Water Water Canyon opened this year, presenting guests with a fun, thrilling watery course and spouting geysers.  Riders were assured they would get wet on this ride.  Senior executives with Taft Broadcasting purchased the theme park division of Taft and formed Kings Entertainment Company (KECO) with Kings Dominion, Carowinds in North Carolina, Kings Island in Ohio and Canada's Wonderland in Toronto.

Berserker, a giant Viking ship that takes riders through a series of 360-degree loops, was added to the park's lineup of world-class thrills this year.  Land of the Dooz was replaced by Smurf Mountain.

Kings Dominion celebrates its 10th anniversary season.  A new water ride was added this year, Diamond Falls.  Also added was a new children's play area, Scooby's Play Park.

It was standing room only this year, as Shockwave was introduced as the first stand-up roller coaster on the East Coast.  The interest in the new ride helped drive attendance over the 2 million mark for the first time in park history.

Racing Rivers, featuring three different types of water slides (Torpedo, Splashdown and Riptide), was the new attraction this year.   On the business side, KECO reorganized so that the company owned and managed Kings Dominion, Carowinds, as well as the entertainment and design division, Kings Productions.  KECO also managed Kings Island, Canada's Wonderland and Great America in Santa Clara, California.

New this year is Avalanche, a bobsled-style family roller coaster with twisting curves, deep valleys and steep hills.  The rides trains are themed to Olympic bobsleds from five countries:  United States, Germany, France, Italy and Switzerland. 

New this year is Sky Pilot.  This exciting ride allowed guests to determine their own flight pattern, including the option to spin a dizzying 360-degrees.   

The park's 15th anniversary season saw a fresh new look in Hanna-Barbera Land.  The expansion included the addition of five new children's rides, more characters, as well as new games and shows. 

Kings Dominion introduces one of the biggest and baddest rides around, Anaconda.  This new steel roller coaster sends riders screaming through six loops and is the first roller coaster in the world to feature and underwater tunnel.    The park is also the site for the American Coaster Enthusiasts' summer conference. 

A whole new theme area was added this year with Hurricane Reef.  The six-acre waterpark featured 15 water attractions, including a variety of slides.   Kings Dominion, along with Kings Island, Carowinds, Great America and Canada's Wonderland, were sold midway through the season to Paramount Communications, Inc. 

An exciting new attraction opened this year with Days of Thunder, a racing simulator ride.  This ride enables guests to experience what it would be like to be behind the wheel of a racecar.  New owner Paramount Communications, Inc., begins the process of re-theming rides and attractions to movie themes. 

A fun new area opened this year with the addition of Wayne's World.  The Hurler, the park's fourth wooden roller coaster, highlighted the new attractions in this area of Kings Dominion.  Viacom purchases Paramount Communications. 

Green slime was the rage of the summer for Kings Dominion's 20th anniversary season with the addition of Nickelodeon Splat City.  The Showplace re-opened as the Kingswood Amphitheatre. 

Kings Dominion introduces the world's first linear induction launch-style roller coaster with Outer Limits: Flight of Fear.   Riders on this unique attraction are sent roaring through a series of inversions in total darkness.  Also new this year is Xtreme Skyflyer, an attraction that combines the elements of hang gliding and sky diving.

The park's kids' area, Hanna-Barbera Land, is transformed into KidZville.  This all-new section features rides, shows and attractions specifically for kids.

The world's fastest suspended roller coaster is unveiled this year at Kings Dominion with the introduction of Volcano, The Blast Coaster.  The attraction is the park's second linear induction launch-style roller coaster, joining Flight of Fear.   Paramount Action FX Theater becomes the new name for the Days of Thunder motion simulator theater, featuring a new film:  James Bond 007: A License to Thrill.

Hurricane Reef is expanded from six acres to 19 and rebranded WaterWorks.   The makeover includes the addition of more water activities for families.  

Kings Dominion celebrates its 25th anniversary season.  New attractions include Nickelodeon Central in the main park and Pipeline Peak in WaterWorks.  This attraction features four new thrilling, enclosed water slides.

This season saw the introduction of the world's first compressed air-launch roller coaster, HyperSonic XLC  and began a new annual event celebrating Halloween called FearFest..  Also new this year is 7th Portal, an adventure-filled 3-D film. 

The park unveils its 12th roller coaster in Ricochet, which features a series of unexpected twists, turns and a 50-foot drop.  Also new this year is a popular family ride, Triple Spin.

Kings Dominion debuts the tallest drop tower ride in North America in Drop Zone Stunt Tower.  Guests plunge a staggering 27 stories from a height of 305 feet at a speed of 72 miles per hour, providing them with a thrill they'll never forget.  Also debuting this year is SpongBob SquarePants 3-D. 

The first interactive family dark ride in the Mid-Atlantic region is unveiled in Scooby-Doo & The Haunted Mansion. 

An attraction for adventure seekers is unveiled this year in Tomb Raider: The Ride (now The Crypt).  The multi-sensory ride appeals to park visitors and coaster enthusiasts alike with its thrills and special effects.   

The Italian Job: Stunt Track (now Backlot Stunt Coaster) opened as a new fully themed action stunt car experience.  Thunder Raceway Go-Karts also debuts this year.  On June 30, Cedar Fair Entertainment Company purchases Paramount Parks from CBS Corporation for $1.25 billion.

Three new attractions are added in WaterWorks: Tidal Wave Bay, Tornado and Zoom Flume.  An all-new Halloween event is introduced in the fall, Halloween Haunt.  

Kings Dominion added to its lineup of world-class thrills by introducing its 14th roller coaster this year, Dominator.  This scream machine sends rider through five inversions at speeds up to 67 milers per hour on the longest floorless roller coaster in the world at 4,210 feet.  The ride also features one of the largest vertical loops in the world.

The focus is on families this year with the addition of two new rides,  El Dorado and the Americana Ferris Wheel.  The Grizzly roller coaster was retracked this year, providing riders with a smoother, more enjoyable ride experience. 

This year is one of the most exciting in the park's history.  Intimidator 305, a Intamin Giga Coaster, is unveiled as the biggest and fastest roller coaster on the East Coast.  Standing 305 feet at its highest point, riders race down a 300-foot first drop and through high-speed twists and turns at speeds over 90 miles per hour.   The ride was voted "Best New Roller Coaster of 2010" by Amusement Today.   Two other exciting attractions also debut this year with Planet Snoopy replacing Nickelodeon Central and Boo Blasters on Boo Hill replacing Scooby-Doo & The Haunted Mansion. 

A new night time light show highlights the new attractions this year, Snoopy's Starlight Spectacular.  Starring everyone's favorite PEANUTS characters and their summertime adventures, this colorful pageant of lights invites guests to explore a breathtaking display the entire family enjoys.

Two new attractions debut this year.  Riders soar 30 stories above the park on WindSeeker, a 301-foot-tall tower swing ride.   Visitors to the park are able to step back in time to periods between 245 million and 65 million years ago in the all-new Dinosaurs Alive! 

On March 29, 2013, Kings Dominion unveiled its bigger, better Planet Snoopy children's area. Planet Snoopy at Kings Dominion will feature 8 new rides (18 total), a newly expanded 1,100 square-foot Family Care Center, daily meet-and-greet opportunities with the PEANUTS characters, the Richmond-based self-serve frozen yogurt shop SweetFrog and more. 

Also in 2013, Kings Dominion has its largest entertainment line-up in years, with 7 new shows, including "All Wheel Sports" with bikers and skaters who were semifinalists on Season 7 of NBC's America's Got Talent, along with "On Broadway", a Broadway-style musical revue. Also new is "Dominion at Dusk" featuring Snoopy's Starlight Spectacular, a new live show and fireworks on all 10pm closes. 

In 2014, Kings Dominion began celebrating its 40th Anniversary with the return of some favorites from the past. Just a few of these attractions were the Candy Apple Grove and the Singing Mushrooms. Our Congo area was also rebranded Safari Village in honor of Lion Country Safari that debuted in 1974. 

In 2015 Kings Dominion announced its Waterpark expansion project with WaterWorks being rebranded as Soak City. We also introduced 2 new attractions. Hurricane Heights, a 65 ft. mega complex featuring 3 new slides and Splash Island, a family splash zone. 

On May 3rd, 2015 Kings Dominion celebrated it OFFICIAL 40th Birthday with a huge party at the park that included a plaque dedication for the front gate, live entertainment in all areas of the park, special birthday prizes for guests and much more. 

In 2016 Kings Dominion introduces the all new gravity defying thrill ride, DELIRIUM! 

3 new thrill rides - Kite Eating Tree, Sally's Sea Plane, and Peanuts 500 are added to make Planet Snoopy bigger and better.

Twisted Timbers, a hybrid roller coaster made from wood and steel is unleashed upon guests, and WinterFest debuts for its first season just in time for the holidays.

Grand Carnivale, an international celebration makes its debut, featuring food, activities, games, live entertainment, and the immersive Spectacle of Color Parade.

Kings Dominion opens for Taste of the Season, a limited-time event in the winter.

Coconut Shores is added featuring Lighthouse Landing, a 45-ft tall multi-level aqua play structure, and Sand Dune Lagoon, a 3,000 square foot wave pool.

Safari Village is reimagined into Jungle X-Pedition, a land of discovery and adventure. Tumbili is added as the park’s 13th roller coaster, a 4D Free Spin flipping riders as they “swing” among the vines and trees. Scrambler is rethemed to Arachnidia, and Avalanche is rethemed to Reptilian. Outer Hanks becomes The Outpost Cafe, featuring culinary delights such as prime rib, rotisserie chicken, and our world-famous fried bread.

The Grizzly undergoes a massive refurbishment project, with the retracking and reprofiling of 1,040 ft. of track using The Gravity Group’s engineered precut track design. Firehouse BBQ invites volunteers to extinguish their hunger with mouth-watering barbecue such as brisket, pulled pork, and jalapeño sausages.

A Year of Kings Dominion

The Doswell amusement park begins a 12-month schedule | Photos courtesy Kings Dominion

by SaraRose Martin

February 23, 2023

This article has been edited since it first appeared in print.

Kings Dominion is home to 400 acres of attractions and rides.

Twenty miles north of Richmond, Kings Dominion amusement park’s steel coasters climb to 300 feet and whip many of its more than 1 million annual visitors up to speeds of 90 mph. Its 400-acre grounds in Doswell feature more than 60 rides and attractions, including a waterpark.

In 2023, Kings Dominion will remain open year-round. The new schedule adds weekends through early March, accommodating an increased demand for guests to experience the park and its additional entertainment.

“There’s a lot of cabin fever around that time of year. People have been in their houses a long time,” says Mark Riddell, the park’s director of communications. “A place like Kings Dominion is great even if you’re not riding rides; you can walk around, you can have a meal.”

The decision reflects an industrywide trend, according to Michael Shelton, executive director and vice president of the International Association for Amusement Parks and Attractions. “We feel like our industry is growing now, we’re kind of back after the pandemic — back and then some,” he says. “Most parks are seeing explosive growth and really great crowds and a really great return to normal, and Kings Dominion is no different.”

The park opened in 1974 as the 280-acre Lion Country Safari, a drive-thru zoo of sorts, with various animals in the open along a route that visitors could experience through their car windows. That park also had the Kings Dominion site’s first ride, the Scooby-Doo Ghoster Coaster roller coaster. In 1975, Kings Dominion opened the full park and its 15 attractions to 20,000 guests.

A steel coaster, Tumbili debuted in 2022 and spins guests back and forth.

Kings Dominion has shifted over time from operating as a partial animal park to a full-fledged theme park. An ownership change in 2007 from Paramount Parks to Cedar Fair led to major transformations, as new themes and names were added and prominent coasters were revamped. One of the areas added last year, Jungle X-Pedition, features Tumbili, a 4D spin coaster on which riders spin around independently from the track.

“That whole area has gotten sort of a face-lift in this new theming,” Riddell says. “The restaurant location that’s down there is the Outpost restaurant; that’s where you can get prime rib in the park. We have vegetarian options at all the restaurants. It’s quite an extensive overhaul of the food program.”

Much of the fare served at Kings Dominion is handmade and locally sourced, Riddell says. Offering a farm-to-table menu, Grain and Grill has also taken over the former Panda Express.

“Things aren’t brought in and heated up, it’s made right here,” Riddell says. “The chicken tenders are organic and sourced from a farm that’s 200 miles from here and hand-breaded here at the park.”

The Grizzly is a popular wooden roller coaster at the park.

Kings Dominion has plans to retrack and reopen The Grizzly, a popular wooden coaster that debuted in 1982. The park is also in the planning stages for a celebration to commemorate its 50th year, according to Riddell.

Since its inception, Kings Dominion has remained a favorite of families from Washington, D.C., to Hampton Roads.

“We see these multiple generations of families come back to the park every year, and there’s a great deal of nostalgia,” Riddell says. “You talk to the average person that’s lived in Richmond their whole life, and they can rattle off what ride was open when and what changed to what.”

Powhatan resident Norman Shumake, the managing director of Kings Dominion Fanatics , an online group he developed for park enthusiasts to share stories and experiences, has visited Kings Dominion almost every year since it opened. He can remember watching the U.S. bicentennial fireworks set off at the park in 1976 when he was just 3 years old. Shumake and his family visited the park nearly 50 times in 2022 alone.

“We’ve kind of raised our own kids at the park,” Shumake says. “It’s a multigenerational thing now.”

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Lion Country Safari, established in 1967 in Loxahatchee, Florida, is a drive-through safari and amusement park that provides an adventurous experience for the whole family. Known as America's first 'cageless zoo,' the park spans over 600 acres and is home to over 1,000 animals of various species. The park offers a unique and close encounter with wildlife, allowing visitors to see and learn about different animals from around the globe.

At Lion Country Safari, visitors can embark on an exciting drive-through safari to view animals like lions, giraffes, zebras, and rhinos roaming freely in expansive habitats. After the drive-through safari, guests can continue the adventure in Safari World Adventure Park, where they can interact with birds in the aviary, feed a giraffe, enjoy a boat tour, or cool down in the water playground. Animal displays, encounters, demonstrations, various rides, and dining and shopping options ensure an engaging, full-day experience for visitors of all ages.

Lion Country Safari is committed to animal conservation and participates in several Species Survival Plans. The park also participates in conservation initiatives to protect threatened and endangered species and supports field research projects worldwide. It's educational programs and interactive exhibits aim to foster an appreciation for the world's wildlife and inspire guests to contribute to conservation efforts.

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For many grown-up entertainment industry aficionados, there’s a lesson learned early on the discussion boards and forums that shape us into the fans we are: that there exists a great and fundamental schism between regional and destination parks; thrills and storytelling; amusement parks and theme parks. 

Yep, for those of us who grew up closer to a Six Flags than a Magic Kingdom, some truths are self-evident: roller coasters are the only real anchor attractions, hot dogs and chicken fingers are premium eats, and dark rides are a luxury reserved for Orlando and Anaheim. Basically, if you visit a park  outside  the industry’s industry leaders, you know what you’re getting into.

But after years of increasingly dipping their toes into the well of stylization, storytelling, and “theming,” it appears that Cedar Fair’s Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia is staking a claim we’re thrilled to see. The park’s newly-rechristened  Jungle X-pedition  “land” isn’t just a freshening of the park’s legacy land of adventure… it’s a bold step into the unknown, offering a model for “mere” amusement parks across the country to build a world, and to mean it. Ready to blaze a trail into the jungle? Let’s start at the beginning…

Safari Village

When Kings Dominion opened in 1975, the Virginia park had a lot in common with its older sister – 1972’s Kings Island. 

First (and most noticeably), both parks were among the first to open “A.D.” – that is, “After Disney World.” In fact, the collision of Magic Kingdom’s 1971 debut and the start of the “Second Golden Age of the Roller Coaster” (often credited to Kings Island’s own Racer) were all ingredients in the formation of a new generation of amusement parks. The original Six Flags (Over Texas, Over Georgia, and Over Mid-America), the soon-to-be Six Flags (Great Adventure and Magic Mountain), the Marriott parks (today, Six Flags and California’s Great Americas), and the Kings Entertainment Company parks (Kings Island, Kings Dominion, Carowinds, and Canada’s Wonderland) all cropped up between the late ‘60s and late ‘70s.

That means that – like most of its “A.D.” contemporaries – Kings Dominion included a “Main Street” (the fountain-lined International Street), a central park icon (a 300-foot replica of the Eiffel Tower), and a central Hub with paths branching into themed “lands”. There was the rustic village of Old Virginia; the midway-stylized Candy Apple Grove with its own classic racing coaster and fairground rides; The Happy Land of Hanna-Barbera; and – most interesting for today’s story – the Lion Country Safari.

The 100-acre exotic Lion Country zoological park had actually opened a year  before  the rest of Kings Dominion as a drive-through experience, but the opening of the park in 1975 saw the road replaced with a 2-mile, 20-minute monorail trip through African, Asian, and North American animal habitats. Its portal from the park – Safari Village – was likewise a vaguely-African themed outpost of thatch-roofed huts and “jungle” themed flat rides (like the Parrot Trooper swings and Mt. Kilimanjaro banyan kurve, circling through a scaled-down mountain and waterfall). 

Growing as quickly as Virginia’s forests around it, Safari Village soon became home to some of Kings Dominion’s most landmark attractions. For example, in 1979,  The Lost World  opened.

One of the largest attractions ever conceived outside of a Disney or Universal park, the $17-million, 170-foot tall, craggily, stylized Lost World peak contained within it three separate attractions – The Haunted River boat ride, the Land of Dooz dark ride (on level two, with an outdoor section visible above), and the Time Shaft spinning rotor. Truly, the mountain was a sub-land  within  Safari Village, with the mountain serving as a landmark for the jungle land and indeed, the whole park.

In 1988,  Avalanche  arrived. Manufactured by Mack Rides, the unique Bobsled roller coaster means that trains aren’t affixed to rails, but instead slalom through open troughs, banking and slaloming according to the weight distribution of tandem-seated riders. (While “Avalanche” conjured images more akin to a snowy Swiss mountain than the jungle aesthetic of Safari Village and the Lost World, at least Avalanche maintained a sense of adventure!)

In 1991, Safari Village grew again with the addition of  Anaconda  – an Arrow multi-looper coaster that saw riders plunge 144-feet down in an underwater tunnel passing through the park’s Safari-Village-adjacent Lake Charles, slithering through four inversions. 

In other words, even by the early ‘90s, Kings Dominion and its Safari Village offered a pretty solid collection of attractions (the Wild Animal Safari Monorail, Avalanche, Anaconda, and the Lost World’s Haunted River, Time Shaft, and Smurf Mountain rides), all wrapped in fairly coherent and consistent “theming.” Then came the movie makeover… Read on…

Just your friendly neighborhood fan of tropical hideaways, Victorian boardwalks, mid-century tomorrows, ancient temples, and cursed forests! In between dreaming of Dole Whips, I'm a museum experience developer. I'm also the researcher behind Theme Park Tourist's  Legend Library   – filled with stories of  Lost Legends , Modern Marvels , Declassified Disasters , and more.

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What This Virginia Theme Park Looked Like In The 1970s Will Blow Your Mind

A lifelong Virginia resident, Beth loves exploring different parts of the world and currently resides in Charlottesville. She holds a degree in English Literature and one of her short stories has been featured in the Shenandoah Review. Other interests include hiking, songwriting, and spending time in the mountains.

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Let’s take a trip back to 1973. Ground has broken on a new theme park and it’s the talk of the town…for practically everywhere in Virginia. Today, we know and love Kings Dominion as the place to go for out-of-this-world roller coasters and other fun attractions. If you’re anything like me, you may be a little timid to try any of the free fall or gravity-defying rides. Back in the 70s, the rides may not have reached the same speeds, but there were plenty of loops, twists, and exhibits to partake in. Whatever your stance may be on thrill seeking, it’s fascinating to peer into the history of this beloved amusement park. Here’s what Kings Dominion looked like over 40 years ago.

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What do you think of these pictures? Do you remember when Kings Dominion first opened? We’d love to hear about your experiences there!

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Virginia safari park is home to king cheetah, africa's rarest cat, fun for the entire family, experience unique animal encounters, explore our 180-acre safari drive-thru, stroll through our 10-acre village walk-thru, the virginia safari park is open for the 2024 season. plan your visit, attractions.

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The VIRGINIA SAFARI PARK, a 180-acre drive-through zoo located in Natural Bridge, VA, is NOT associated with the Natural Bridge Zoo, which is also located in Natural Bridge.

Unfortunately, with the recent legal issues and press coverage surrounding the Natural Bridge Zoo we have found it necessary to post this clarification. We have been contacted by many sources that have inadvertently confused the two zoos.

Our official website is www.virginiasafaripark.com. Please beware of copycat imitations. Again, the VIRGINIA SAFARI PARK is NOT associated with the Natural Bridge Zoo and never has been.

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Lion Country Safari, Inc - Grand Prairie in United States

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Lion Country Safari, Inc - Grand Prairie, located at S Belt Line Rd, in Grand Prairie, , Texas, United States , was founded in 1971 and the first elephant arrived in 1972. Lion Country Safari, Inc - Grand Prairie closed down in 1992.

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