CoasterGallery.com -- Kings Dominion

Kings Dominion
Doswell, Virginia

On May 3, 1975, Kings Dominion opened to the public. It was operated by Family Leisure Centers, a joint venture between Top Value Enterprises and Taft Broadcasting Company, both of Cincinnati, Ohio. Visitors that year enjoyed five magical lands - International Street, Old Virginia, Coney Island, The Happy Land of Hanna-Barbera, and Lion Country Safari. The centerpiece of the park was a 332-foot replica of the Eiffel Tower. In later years, the animal park was closed.

In 1983, executives with Taft Broadcasting purchased the theme park division of Taft and formed Kings Entertainment Company (KECO) with Kings Dominion, Carowinds in Charlotte, Kings Island in Cincinnati, and Canada's Wonderland in Toronto. California's Great America was aquired two years later. Paramount purchased these five parks in 1993 and this park was renamed Paramount's Kings Dominion. In 2006, Cedar Fair purchased the five Paramount parks for $1.24 billion. Cedar Fair renamed this one Kings Dominion and presently manages this 400-acre park located just north of Richmond, Virginia.

Three coasters have left the park: Galaxy, an SDC Galaxi clone, was moved to Myrtle Beach in 1983, but its whereabouts now are unknown. King Cobra was the first Schwarzkopf shuttle loop and was at Kings Dominion from 1977 to 1986. Since then, it has operated as King Cobra at the Jolly Roger Amusement Park in Maryland, Thunderlooper at Alton Towers in England, and is now Katapul at Hopi Hari in Brazil. Hypersonic XLC (see pictures below) was demolished in January 2008.

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