Kings Dominion photo book from 1981!

[tedten]

I agree with many of the posts in this thread. It seems that Disney is one of the only park chains that keeps themed family rides. I would have loved to visit KD back then almost as much as I'd enjoy it today. The perfect park would be today's with a few good non-interactive dark rides like smurf mountain and haunted river.

[KDCOASTERFAN]

The best feature of this parks past was that huge lake by Rebel Yell. When they built Anacanda, I thought that was a nice touch, (over the water), but then that water park came along and took up alot of the lakes space. It looks too cluttered now. I wish the water park was next door, not IN the park.

 

That's what many of us who were young enough...or old enough depending on how you look at it remember about the park from back then,I think it has to do mainly with that first impression you got as a kid walking around the place for the first time & seeing all of these attractions that were considered state of the art for their time.

 

The early years of KD for instance reflected the change in times from the traditional parks to the theme parks....the grove area started out as coney island to fit the theme of a seaside park like those that were seeing their last hey days around that time.I just loved going through that area back then,along with the original congo area back when the mountain was huge(to me any way) & had all of those attractions in it.

 

Also one can look at the paramount era in the same way as many folks on this site were just beginning to go to the park back then & had no idea that it was much different just a few years before,now once again the place is changing & they've gotten a bit older & when they see pics from say circa 1993 to 2006 then they'll be taking that same trip down memory lane that many of us "old schoolers" are taking when we see the glorious pics of the park's early years.

[coasterfreaksrttd]

That's amazing! Is that a Schwarzkopf I see? And it's so interesting to see a shot of The Volcano before it was one! Nice pictures, thanks for sharing them with us!

[super7]

King's Dominion is an ok park now, but back from when it was built until '91, it was an amazing park. It's a shame that they ripped out so many things that made it special. Especially the Lake, the railroad, the monorail, the skyway, removal of all the trees around Old Virginia, and the dark rides of the Lost World.

 

This park has so much potential if they go in the right direction with more family rides and bringong back the amazing trees and lake, but constantly adding thrill rides like has been done since the Paramount era will only bring the same results. Disney is the highest attended park in the world for a reason. There is something for everyone. Which most of these regional parks like KD lack now.

[cedarpointfangirl]

Thanks for sharing. I spent many a summers there when the park was like this. Lots of fond memories and some of my best times of my childhood spent there. I loved the Rebel Yells old station, so pretty. I can remember riding Time Shaft over and over, now I would be sick. I remember that crazy gum lined tunnel. Nothing like hot humid summers and sticky gum on the wall where you couldn't lean against it. Haunted River was make out central for us preteens. More like the tunnel of love. What else.. blue smurf ice cream, Sky Pilot, the singing mushrooms, the Safari Monorail, King Kobra, the big stuffed California Raisins that you could win, foot long bags of cotton candy, awesome fireworks shows, Diamond Falls, I could go on an on. Good times. I'd love to go back in time and spend one day there.

[palmerleeberry]

Looking at those old pictures of Kings Dominion's earlier days always bring a tear to my eyes -

 

Okay, now that's out of the way, I'm excited about the upcoming Kings Dominion 40th season in which they plan to bring back the charm of yesteryear. While everyone is remarking how great the old Rebel Yell queing station used to be, how about how great the tracks used to look, with the red tracks and blue rails? Last time I was there, the Rebel Yell looked like a dirty white coaster. I'm hoping a new paint job for the Rebel Yell is in the works.

 

35 YEARS OF VISITING kINGS dOMINION - AND COUNTING!!!

[chetCO]

Back in the 80's I can remember when Richmond's WRVA-AM 1140 had a studio at the base of the Eiffel Tower. Funny that of all the times I had visited KD back in those days I never once saw anyone in that studio. I had always felt that was odd since that studio would had been great PR for Kings Dominion considering that WRVA was and still is Virginia's most powerful radio station since one can still pick up WRVA as far away as Chicago even well into Canada.

 

Come to think of it I seem to remember the old Piedmont Airlines having a ticket office not far from the Eiffel Tower. I do know that Piedmont was KD's official airline back in those days.