Qualla: Kings Dominion

Kings Dominion: Introduction

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit APK, CC BY 4.0. A one-third-scale Eiffel Tower rises out of the Virginia Piedmont, anchoring an amusement park that opened on May 3, 1975 with fifteen attractions and a one-dollar parking fee. The full-size original tower in Paris stands 1,083 feet; the Doswell replica stands 331 feet tall, with its observation deck at 264 feet. From the top, the green roof of Virginia stretches in every direction, broken only by the white tracks of coasters that have come and gone over five decades. Kings Dominion sits 20 miles north of Richmond and 75 miles south of Washington, D.C., right beside Interstate 95, which means generations of summer travelers have glimpsed that ersatz Eiffel Tower from the highway and known exactly where they were.

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Image: APK | CC BY 4.0

Kings Dominion: Opening Day, 1975

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States, CC BY-SA 2.0. The park opened to the public on May 3, 1975, with a daily admission price of $7.50 and a dollar for parking. Fifteen attractions greeted the first crowds: the Rebel Yell wooden coaster (since renamed Racer 75), the Galaxie steel coaster, the junior wooden Scooby-Doo coaster, a l...

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Image: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States | CC BY-SA 2.0

Kings Dominion: The Launched Coaster Capital

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Paulo O from Halifax, Canada, CC BY 2.0. Kings Dominion earned a reputation as "the launched coaster capital of the world," and the history runs through the 1977 King Kobra, a Schwarzkopf shuttle loop with a 50-ton counterweight drop, all the way to Intimidator 305. King Kobra rattled riders for nine seasons before bein...

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Image: Paulo O from Halifax, Canada | CC BY 2.0

Kings Dominion: Intimidator 305

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit BigThunderMtn, CC BY-SA 3.0. In 2010, Kings Dominion opened Intimidator 305, a 305-foot Intamin giga coaster themed to NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt. Its cable lift hill, 85-degree first drop, and 90 mph top speed made it the park's largest-ever capital investment when it was announced in August 2009. The dro...

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Image: BigThunderMtn | CC BY-SA 3.0

Kings Dominion: The Kings Dominion Law

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit DiscoA340, CC BY-SA 4.0. For decades, the park shaped Virginia's calendar. Kings Dominion and other entertainment businesses lobbied the state to make it illegal for public schools to start before Labor Day. Their reasoning was practical and self-interested: families wouldn't spend August dollars at the ...

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Image: DiscoA340 | CC BY-SA 4.0

Kings Dominion: Eras and Owners

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit APK, CC BY 4.0. The park has changed hands several times. Taft Broadcasting opened it; American Financial Group bought it through KECO in 1987. Paramount Parks took over in 1993, renamed it Paramount's Kings Dominion, and themed new attractions to Days of Thunder, Wayne's World, Tomb Raider, and...

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Image: APK | CC BY 4.0