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Paramount's Kings Dominion is located in Doswell Virginia, just north of the Richmond area.  Kings Dominion was opened by Family Leisure Centers, a joint venture between Top Value Enterprises and Taft Broadcasting Company, both of Cincinnati, Ohio.  In 1982 Senior executives with Taft Broadcasting purchased the theme park division of Taft and formed Kings Entertainment Company (KECO) with Kings Dominion, Carowinds in Charlotte, N.C., Kings Island in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Canada's Wonderland in Toronto, Ontario. In 1993 Paramount purchased KECO and added the branding of Paramount's to the name of the park.

As can be expected with the name Paramount, many of the rides at the park are themed to movies that were produced by the studio.  The 2005 addition saw yet another movie, Tomb Raider, represented.  With 13 coasters and a huge children's section, PKD is the family entertainment capital of Virginia.

Tickets are on par with most amusement parks across the country, however buying online can save you up to $10.  There are also some local discount programs that the park runs through fast food chains.  The best bet is to call the park before going to see what the best deal at the time is.

Finding the park is very easy as it is right off the main interstate.  Parking is again on par with other amusement parks.  Arrive early and park closer.  We got there right as the parking lot opened and were able to park right next to the front gates.

Food is reasonably priced, but is typical amusement park food.  We were unable to find any real bargains or higher than decent food, but that is the norm with most parks that we have visited.

Overall Park Rating: 7.5 out of 10

RIDE REVIEWS (Coasters)

Anaconda: 5 out of 10 - This coaster features a wonderful setting out on the lake.  The dive into the lake is a neat effect especially with the water splashing up to makes it appear as if you actually submerge.  The layout itself leaves something to be desired, as once again Arrow did not think about transitions to carefully.  The ending knot of helices is very painful if you do not brace yourself.

Avalanche: 7 out 10 - This is the park's bobsled coaster.  I personally thought it was a lot of fun and made good use of the uniqueness of the bobsled concept.  While it is not the most intense coaster at the park, it is a very good starter coaster.  It is also a good date ride as your companion is able to sit between your legs.

Flight of Fear: 7 out of 10 - A Premier made LIM launch coaster that features a spaghetti bowl located inside a building with thematic sounds and lighting.  This version of Flight of Fear is not near as much fun as the version at PKI.  This one seemed to drag a lot through the course and was braked really hard at the midcourse.  It also seemed to stack a lot in the unloading station which was crazy considering they were only running two trains.

Grizzly: 3 out of 10 - Those who know me know that I dislike rough woodies.  Well add another to the list as this coaster really beats you around.  The course was not that spectacular except for the fact that it was in the woods.  The tunnel was sort of a surprise, but not enough to get me to ever ride it again.

Hurler: 2 out of 10 - Appropriately named as it hurls you everywhere.  I'm not sure who thought a curve after the first drop would be a good idea, but they were wrong.  The ride is short and that is the only thing it has going for it.

Hypersonic XLC: 1 out of 10 - A first generation S&S thrust coaster.  I was really looking forward to this thing, but it was definitely a let down.  I'm so glad that S&S went away from the tires as they made the ride extremely rough.  Snapping over the top of the hill was not a fun experience and the lap bars cinching tighter through the course and bruising our legs was not a good thing.

Rebel Yell: (forward) 7 out of 10 - (backwards) 6.5 out of 10 - This was one of only two decent woodies in the park, the other being Scooby.  The woodie is a racing out-and-back.  The forward side seemed to be smoother than the backwards side, but neither was unbearable.  A great ride for the whole family.

Ricochet: 8 out of 10 - This was actually probably my favorite coaster at the park.   A mouse that features some fun drops at the beginning.  The only bad part about the ride is that it can stop hard if there is a back up which could lower the rating.

Scooby Doo's Ghoster Coaster: 8 out of 10 - This kiddie woodie was fun.  We ended up riding it about 7 times.  It is short, but produces strong airtime.

Shockwave: 1 out of 10 - Intamin stand-up coaster.  There is a reason why there are not bunny hops on stand ups.  If you need a refresher, ride this thing.  Men take caution!  The ride is pretty mundane with regards to layout and the load-dispatch time for this thing is terrible.

Taxi Jam: 4 out of 10 - A kiddie coaster that goes around in a loop.  You must have a kid to ride it.  It does produce some good air pops though.

Volcano - The Blast Coaster: 7 out of 10 - This is an Intamin LIM inverted coaster that goes up and around a faux volcano.  The neat thing about the ride is that volcano does erupt every so often.  The bad part about this ride is the claustrophobic queue line and the fact it really does not do anything overly exciting.  The launch up the volcano is about all there is to the ride, the rest is actually quite boring which was a let down to us.

RIDE REVIEWS (Other Rides)

Drop Zone: 5 out of 10 - This Intamin 3rd generation drop tower does not have the turning feature that its counterpart at PKI has.  It also does not have the thrill factor that PKI's version has either.  A fun ride, but not worth an overly long wait.

Scooby Doo and the Haunted Mansion: 10 out of 10 - Sally Corp. does it again with a wonderful interactive shoot 'em up ride.  This one is definitely a repeat ride!  The queue is also a lot of fun to go into.  Make sure you check out all of the detail and jokes while waiting in line.

Tomb Raider - Fire Fall: 9 out of 10 - This is a heavily themed HUSS generation 3 topspin that features the floorless back-to-back seating.  While I was apprehensive about the fact that they have the ride outside instead of inside like at PKI, the interaction with the surroundings and the spectators makes this a great addition.  The viewing platform was full the entire day of people watching the ride.

Other ride worth mentioning:  The Eiffel Tower is a lot of fun to go up in.  The flume ride was a fun ride; though watch out for the afternoon lines.  We did not get a chance to ride the river rapids, but it appeared to have a fun course.  The flying eagles were a lot of fun.  The carousel had beautiful horses on it.  Nick Central has a lot of good rides in it, the flyers really take you up high.

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