When you have a unique coaster, the issues that you can have with it are equally as unique. That seems the case with Volcano: The Blast Coaster. The coaster opened in 1998 and was one of the most technologically advanced coasters of the time, and had some of the biggest problems of any coaster. The park announced Friday night that they would be removing the coaster completely, and that it was permanently closed.
Part of getting ready for a new operating season includes an expert evaluation of our rides and operations. As a part of that evaluation, every aspect of our rides and attractions are analyzed, from guest satisfaction, throughput and rider capacity to reliability, uptime and maintenance. After thorough evaluation, the decision has been made to remove Volcano: The Blast Coaster. This wasn’t an easy decision for us, because we know that people love this one-of-a-kind coaster; however, over time it became nearly impossible to keep the ride up to our high standards of reliability and guest satisfaction, and for these reasons we had to make the tough call. We apologize to anyone who is inconvenienced by the removal, but hope they will understand that it was done to enhance the overall guest experience here at Kings Dominion.
The coaster is being completely removed, and by the sounds of it, it’s happening soon. The coaster was an inverted coaster, and was the first launched inverted coaster. It shot riders out of the top of a man made volcano and around the top with maneuvers that weren’t found on any coasters at the time.
The coaster is likely being torn down beginning this year to make room for a rumored new coaster which is scheduled to open in 2020.
