On Christmas Eve 2023, KDFans broke the story of Kings Dominion’s forthcoming launched wing coaster—now known to be Rapterra—wide open. This Christmas Eve, we’re back with another massive bombshell of a story but, tragically, these tidings are far less jolly.
According to a new bit of documentation uncovered by KDFans, Kings Dominion’s 1991, Arrow Dynamics-made, custom looping coaster, Anaconda, is slated for seemingly-imminent demolition. This information was developed from a newly-filed utility marking request which lists “demolition” as the type of work and goes on to specify Anaconda as the target structure. An excerpt of the public record in question can be found below.
Tragically, the removal of Anaconda comes without any forewarning from the park meaning that this Kings Dominion staple died without even so much as a whisper back on November 3rd, 2024. Especially for a coaster which has played such a major role in the history of KD, this treatment is tremendously disappointing. Anaconda was the first inverting roller coaster for many 90s kids across the region and to see it erased from the landscape of Kings Dominion will be very sad for many—particularly since no one was able to give it a proper farewell.
This decision by the newly-merged Six Flags corporation is especially irksome given that management plans to exploit Kings Dominion nostalgia in 2025 with a celebration of the park’s 50th anniversary. The juxtaposition of demolishing a major, “retro” coaster without warning paired with an attempt to profit off of people’s love for the history and legacy of Kings Dominion is hard to ignore.
With all that being said, we would be remiss if we did not also highlight the other side of this coin. While yes, we are staunchly opposed to parks removing attractions without notice (baring extenuating circumstances), realistically, Anaconda was not a fan favorite. According to Captain Coaster, Anaconda is Kings Dominion’s lowest-rated, existing roller coaster. While it was a tremendously significant attraction upon its debut, it is likely that guest satisfaction numbers today justify Anaconda’s removal. It’s hard to disagree with the decision Kings Dominion is making here, but we do certainly object to the method.
Looking forward, Anaconda’s removal does raise some interesting questions about the future of the site and the area in which it stands, Jungle X-Pedition, more broadly.
Given Anaconda’s domination over what remains of Lake Charles, this major alteration could either spell doom for the rest of the lake or, hopefully, usher in a large dredging and clean-up effort to restore Lake Charles to some semblance of its former glory. Guest-accessible lakefront property in Jungle X does sound mighty appealing, no? It’s easy to imagine this area looking absolutely beautiful a few years from now if Six Flags puts in the capital needed to clean up and enhance the aesthetics of the newly-vacated waterfront.
Speaking of Jungle X-Pedition, the decision to cull Anaconda from the attraction lineup finally puts to bed one of the most significant questions we have had regarding Jungle X’s lore. Anaconda was never formally named X’s snake temple meaning that, per the lore of the land, there’s now one more hidden temple that we have yet to discover…
To stay up to date on all things Kings Dominion, give us a follow on Bluesky, Twitter, and Facebook! Have strong opinions about the sudden removal of Anaconda? Have ideas about what Kings Dominion should do with the site in the years to come? Join the discussion over in our thread dedicated to the demolition of Anaconda on our partner forum, ParkFans.net.
And lastly, of course, RIP snek coaster. 🐍🪦