Volcano: The Blast Coaster was an inverted launched roller coaster at Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia, that thrilled riders from 1998 until its abrupt closure in 2018. Built by Intamin and designed by Werner Stengel, it made history as the world’s first inverted launched coaster and the first launched coaster Intamin ever built, a distinction that made it an instant icon among enthusiasts and casual riders alike.
What set Volcano apart was its setting: the ride was built inside and around an artificial mountain originally constructed in 1979 for the park’s Smurf Mountain attraction. Trains launched out of the mountain’s peak using linear induction motor technology, rocketing riders to 70 mph before looping through four inversions in the open air above the park, a sequence unlike anything else operating in North America at the time.
Stats at a Glance
- Park: Kings Dominion
- Manufacturer: Intamin
- Opened: August 3, 1998
- Closed: 2018
- Height: 155 ft (47 m)
- Top speed: 70 mph (110 km/h)
- Length: 2,757 ft (840 m)
- Inversions: 4
The Ride Experience
Riders boarded trains inside the artificial mountain, where a linear induction motor launch system fired them out of the peak and into a climbing curve above the treeline. The ride then wove through four inversions, including a signature loop that burst out of the mountain’s summit in a cloud of theatrical smoke, before diving back down and racing through a second launch section for an extra burst of speed.
At 155 feet, Volcano held the record for the tallest inversion on any coaster in the world when it opened, a title it kept until GateKeeper debuted at Cedar Point in 2013. Its 70 mph top speed also made it the fastest inverted coaster on Earth until Wicked Twister surpassed it at Cedar Point in 2002.
Closure and Legacy
Volcano was pulled from operation partway through the 2018 season and never reopened. In February 2019, Kings Dominion officially announced the ride’s removal, explaining that its annual ride evaluation — weighing guest satisfaction, throughput and rider capacity, and reliability and uptime — showed the aging coaster could no longer be kept up to the park’s standards. Park officials said it had become nearly impossible to maintain Volcano’s reliability and guest satisfaction after two decades of operation, not that the coaster or its mountain had developed structural problems. The ride and the artificial mountain that housed it were torn down over the following months, with the site largely cleared by mid-2019.
Despite its relatively short lifespan compared to many steel coasters, Volcano is remembered as one of the most innovative rides of the late 1990s and a defining Kings Dominion attraction. Its former site was eventually redeveloped for a new launch coaster, though nothing has replicated Volcano’s singular mountain-launch concept.
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Volcano: The Blast Coaster Photo Archive: July 2001
These are original ThrillZing photos of Volcano: The Blast Coaster taken at Paramount’s Kings Dominion on July 12 and 13, 2001, restored and upscaled from the original camera files. They show the Intamin inverted launch coaster’s tiki entrance arch, the red-roofed station, and the yellow track on maroon supports wrapping around and over the mountain. All photos are free to reuse under a CC BY 4.0 license with credit to ThrillZing and a link to this page.
Volcano: The Blast Coaster FAQs
What made Volcano: The Blast Coaster unique?
It was the world’s first inverted launched roller coaster and Intamin’s first launched coaster ever built, with trains launching out of an artificial mountain using linear induction motor technology.
Why did Volcano: The Blast Coaster close?
Kings Dominion closed the ride in 2018 and announced its permanent removal in February 2019. The park cited its inability to keep the aging coaster up to standards for reliability, uptime, and guest satisfaction, not any structural issue with the coaster or mountain.
How fast was Volcano: The Blast Coaster?
It reached a top speed of 70 mph, which made it the fastest inverted roller coaster in the world when it opened in 1998, a record it held until 2002.
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Photo: Coasterman1234 at English Wikipedia / CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.