Kings Dominion opened for their 39th season on April 5th with many surprises for those young and old. As seen in our exclusive preview report, Kings Dominion updated many sections of the park with the thought of embracing their past.
[iconbox title=”For more photos…” icon=”info”]Be sure to check out our trip report from our exclusive preview from last week![/iconbox]
Welcoming you as you walk up to the entrance area is a pep band with a giant birthday cake.
Spring Bloom Festival
Watch as International Street transforms into a kaleidoscope of vibrant colors as over 15,000 plants were added this season!
#KD40 Store
This season, Starlight Gifts transforms into the KD40 merchandise store. The shop is fitted with a timeline of events starting in 1972 when ground was first broken and continues until the present day. They also included a display case of artifacts from the past such as name tags, pins, newspaper articles, and more! The park is still waiting on their shipment of pins for the brand new pin trading program.
TV Network
Cedar Fair announced during one of their quarter conference calls that they would be debuting a brand new in-park TV network in all of their parks for the 2014 season. Monitors were installed in most attractions and display the weather, fun facts, trivia, music videos, singing mushrooms animations, and more!
Rides
Volcano: The Blast Coaster
As seen in our previous update, Volcano received a few “enhancements” in the hope that it would help increase the amount of riders per hour. We’re not exactly sure if this will help the ride capacity as the line stretched through both queue houses down to the ride entrance. Time will certainly tell if this actually helped because the ride operators are still getting used to their respective rides. This week, they finished the fake rock work inside of the station which can be found on the unloading side wall. They also attached wooden logs to the black fence to help keep the exit and queue separate.
Rebel Yell
This season, Rebel Yell received a retro logo on one of the trains, new paint job on the lift hill, and the return of the chasers lights, but this time in red, white, and blue.
Dominator
As promised, a closer look at Dominator’s new black and yellow restraints
Anaconda
This year we see the return of the old splash effect as the trains dive through the first underwater tunnel! However, as seen in the picture below, they still need to work on the timing of the effect. It currently goes off as the train is halfway down the drop. Last year, we saw the removal of the on-ride photos; since then, they have taken out the building walls. The roof and a few structural supports remain.
Carousel
The Carousel is undergoing a multi-year renovation project. Over the next few years, all of the horses will be restored to their original form. Kings Dominion also dug out of the storage closet the original ticket booth that came with the ride!
Shenandoah Lumber Company and Grand Prix Raceway
The old water wheel for Shenandoah Lumber Company is fully operational!
Thunder Raceway has been renamed Grand Prix Raceway as well.
Restaurants
Kings Dominion updated and added a few park restaurants this season.
Fountains and Floats
It’s hard to pick favorites, but the inside of this shop looks very nice. They have a lot of nice little touches all around the interior.
Pizza Parlor
Another great looking update to the International Street section of the park!
Panino e Dolce
The Hungry Hippo
The Hungry Hippo didn’t see much in the transformation from “The Trail’s End Grill” to “The Hungry Hippo.”
Border Cafe
This year Border Cafe received a few updates!
Dinner Bell and The Country Kitchen
Dinner Bell formerly known as Johnny’s.
The Country Kitchen received new signs.
Other
A few things that don’t fit anywhere else.
Click here for a short video of the fountains at night.
Walk of Memories
I would like to end this post with a trip down memory lane or as Kings Dominion calls it, the “Walk of Memories.”
For more detailed Kings Dominion coverage, stay up to date with KDFans on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and join in on the discussion about Kings Dominion’s 40th anniversary celebration on our forum here, or by leaving a comment below.
High School Pep band?? That was the VCU Peppas!
Whoops! Changed, thanks for the correction!