Volcano: The Blast Coaster facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Volcano: The Blast Coaster |
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| Kings Dominion | |
| Location | Kings Dominion |
| Park section | Safari Village |
| Coordinates | 37°50′21.7″N 77°26′24.6″W / 37.839361°N 77.440167°W |
| Status | Removed |
| Soft opening date | August 1, 1998 |
| Opening date | August 3, 1998 |
| Closing date | 2018 |
| Cost | $20 million |
| Replaced | Smurf Mountain |
| General statistics | |
| Type | Steel – Inverted – Launched |
| Manufacturer | Intamin |
| Designer | Werner Stengel |
| Model | Suspended Catapult Coaster |
| Lift/launch system | LIM Launch |
| Height | 155 ft (47 m) |
| Drop | 80 ft (24 m) |
| Length | 2,757 ft (840 m) |
| Speed | 70 mph (110 km/h) |
| Inversions | 4 |
| Height restriction | 54–78 in (137–198 cm) |
| Trains | 3 trains with 4 cars. Riders are arranged 2 across in 2 rows for a total of 16 riders per train. |
 Fast Lane only available |
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| Volcano: The Blast Coaster at RCDB | |
Volcano: The Blast Coaster, often just called Volcano, was a super cool inverted roller coaster at Kings Dominion park in Doswell, Virginia. It was special because it was the first roller coaster of its kind to be launched using powerful linear induction motor (LIM) technology, and it was also the first inverted launched coaster in the world!
The ride was designed by Werner Stengel. It officially opened on August 3, 1998, after a few delays. Part of the ride was built inside a huge man-made volcano. This volcano structure was first built in 1979 and had other attractions inside before Volcano. The coaster ran for its last year in 2018. After that, Kings Dominion decided to close it down for good.
Contents
History of the Volcano Structure
The big man-made mountain at Kings Dominion was built in 1979. It was first called The Lost World. This mountain was in the Safari Village part of the park. Inside, it had three different rides. These rides were a dark ride called Land of the Dooz, a flume ride called Voyage to Atlantis, and a spinning ride called Time Shaft.
Over time, the rides inside the mountain changed. In 1984, Land of the Dooz became Smurf Mountain, based on The Smurfs. But as years passed, fewer people wanted to ride Smurf Mountain, and it closed in 1993. The other two rides closed after 1994. The mountain's entrance was then sealed off, and no one knew what would happen to the space inside.
Building Volcano: The Blast Coaster
Kings Dominion got new owners, Paramount Parks, in 1993. They wanted to make the mountain exciting again. They thought about a ride based on the movie Congo, but that idea was dropped. In 1996, the park hired Intamin to design a new roller coaster. Intamin decided to build their first launched roller coaster. This ride would use special linear induction motor (LIM) technology to speed up the trains.
Another company, Premier Rides, had already used this launch idea for a ride called Flight of Fear at Kings Island. For Volcano, the park came up with a story about "Lava Chasers" exploring an ancient city inside a volcano. This theme was used for the final ride.
On July 22, 1997, Kings Dominion announced the new ride's name: Volcano: The Blast Coaster. It cost $20 million to build. It was going to be the first launched roller coaster in the world that was also an inverted roller coaster. This meant riders would hang below the track. Volcano became the park's tenth roller coaster.
To build the ride, workers had to cut big holes into the mountain. They removed all the old rides inside. One of the hardest parts was building the coaster's highest point. This was a 155-foot-tall inversion where the track shot out of the mountain's top. The mountain's peak had to be changed to look like a wide-open volcano.
Opening Challenges and Fixes
Before it even opened, Volcano had many technical problems. The LIM technology was very new back then, and Intamin's system had bugs. Kings Dominion knew this could happen because they had similar issues with their nearby Flight of Fear coaster.
At first, Volcano only had one launch section. During early tests, the trains often didn't make it out of the volcano. They would roll back down to the start, which is called a rollback. While rollbacks were safe, they happened too often. This caused the ride's opening to be delayed many times.
Volcano: The Blast Coaster finally opened on August 3, 1998. To help with the rollbacks, the park ran the trains with fewer people at first. For the 1999 season, a second set of LIMs was added to the launch track. This extra boost helped the trains consistently clear the 155-foot-tall inversion.
When it opened, Volcano was the fastest inverted roller coaster in the world. It reached a top speed of 70 mph (110 km/h). It also had the tallest inversion on any roller coaster at 155 feet (47 m).
Later Changes and Closure
In 2014, the line for Volcano was updated. A new loading station was built to help more people get on the ride faster. Guests would now go down a staircase to get to the new station.
During the 2018 season, Volcano ran for only a few weeks. Then, it closed because of mechanical problems. The ride was tested a few times, but it stayed closed for the rest of the year. The park realized the ride was too old and worn out to fix.
On February 8, 2019, Kings Dominion officially announced that Volcano was closing forever. They said it was because the ride often broke down, couldn't handle many riders, and wasn't making customers happy anymore. Many fans were very sad about the news. By May 2019, the entire ride, including the volcano structure, was taken down. Some parts of the track, a ride car, and signs were given to the National Roller Coaster Museum and Archives.
Ride Experience
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Volcano's ride was designed to feel like a volcanic eruption. After you got into one of the trains, you would slowly turn left out of the station. Then, the train entered the first of two launch tracks. This track shot the train forward to 70 miles per hour (110 km/h)! An on-ride camera took your picture during this first launch.
After a big 200-degree turn behind the mountain, the train went into a second launch tunnel. This was followed by a vertical section that led into a special "roll out" element. The "roll out" was unique to Volcano. It was a vertical climb, then a quarter loop to turn you upside down, and then a loose half-corkscrew. The highest point of this "roll out" was 155 feet (47 m) above the ground. This made it the tallest inversion at Kings Dominion.
After the "roll out," the train made a wide turn around the mountain. Then, you went through a heartline roll high in the air. The train turned again and went through a second heartline roll, which was built into the side of the mountain. After another turn and a third heartline roll, the train dropped 80 feet (24 m) into the final brake section. Finally, after a left turn, the train returned to the station.
Records Set by Volcano
When Volcano: The Blast Coaster opened in 1998, it set a world record. It had the highest inversion on a roller coaster at 155 feet (47 m). This record was held until 2013 when GateKeeper opened at Cedar Point with an inversion that was 170 feet (52 m) tall.
Volcano also opened as the fastest inverted coaster in the world. It reached a top speed of 70 mph (110 km/h). This speed was later matched by other coasters like Superman: Ultimate Escape in 2000 and Vertical Velocity in 2001. However, Wicked Twister broke this speed record in 2002, reaching 72 mph (116 km/h).
Volcano also held the record for the fastest roller coaster in Virginia. But this record was later broken by Apollo's Chariot at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, which reached a top speed of 73 mph (117 km/h).
Images for kids
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Volcano: The Blast Coaster in action
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The station in later years
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Volcano: The Blast Coaster in action
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The fire effects
