Hurler was a wooden roller coaster that operated at Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia, from 1994 until its closure in 2015. Built by International Coasters, Inc., the ride was one of two identical “Hurler” coasters constructed that year, with its twin opening at sister park Carowinds in North Carolina just weeks later.
The coaster’s triple out-and-back layout gave riders a fast, rough-and-tumble wooden coaster experience typical of the mid-1990s, complete with a paperclip turnaround and airtime-filled hills. For its first several years, Hurler carried Wayne’s World theming tied to Paramount’s ownership of the park, before the branding was removed after Cedar Fair took over in 2006.
Stats at a Glance
- Park: Kings Dominion, Doswell, Virginia
- Manufacturer: International Coasters, Inc.
- Opened: April 28, 1994
- Closed: November 1, 2015
- Height: 83 feet
- Top speed: 50 mph
- Length: 3,157 feet
- Inversions: 0
The Ride Experience
Hurler’s triple out-and-back design sent two trains of seven cars each racing through a series of tightly packed hills and a wide paperclip turn, delivering a ride time of about two minutes at up to 50 mph. With a peak height of 83 feet and a 4.1 g-force rating, the wooden layout was known for jarring, high-intensity laterals typical of coasters from that design era, and it could move roughly 1,100 riders per hour.
Fans of classic wooden coasters valued Hurler for its raw, old-school feel, a contrast to the smoother steel rides being added around it at Kings Dominion through the 2000s and 2010s.
From Wayne’s World to Twisted Timbers
When it opened in 1994, Hurler was themed around the Wayne’s World films, complete with a walkthrough re-creation of Wayne and Garth’s basement set, a nod to Paramount Pictures’ ownership of the park at the time. The movie theming was stripped out after Cedar Fair acquired Kings Dominion in 2006.
Kings Dominion closed Hurler after the 2015 season, but its wooden structure remained standing for more than a year afterward. Rocky Mountain Construction began removing the original wooden track in spring 2017 and rebuilt much of the structure with new steel I-Box track, and the ride reopened in March 2018 as Twisted Timbers, a hybrid coaster that remains in operation on the same footprint today.
Explore more: Explore more roller coasters.
Hurler Photo Archive: July 2001
These are original ThrillZing photos of Hurler taken at Paramount’s Kings Dominion on July 13, 2001, restored and upscaled from the original camera files. They show the 1994 wooden coaster that became Twisted Timbers in 2018: the globe-logo entrance sign, a train loading in the station, the lift hill and first drop, and the wooden structure from below. All photos are free to reuse under a CC BY 4.0 license with credit to ThrillZing and a link to this page.
Hurler FAQs
Does Hurler still exist at Kings Dominion?
Not as a wooden coaster. Hurler closed in November 2015, and its structure stood dormant until Rocky Mountain Construction began stripping its wooden track in 2017 to rebuild it as the hybrid coaster Twisted Timbers, which opened in March 2018.
Was there more than one Hurler roller coaster?
Yes. Kings Dominion’s Hurler had an identical twin coaster of the same name at Carowinds in North Carolina, which opened a few weeks later in June 1994 and is still operating.
Why was Hurler themed to Wayne’s World?
Kings Dominion was owned by Paramount Parks when Hurler opened in 1994, so the ride’s queue and station featured a set recreating Wayne and Garth’s basement from the Wayne’s World movies. The theming was removed after Cedar Fair bought the park in 2006.
Get More from Hurler
Log the coasters, stadiums, and venues you’ve experienced, rate Hurler, and see what your friends thought. Get the ThrillZing app.