| Volcano, The Blast Coaster | |
| Location | Kings Dominion |
|---|---|
| Status | Operating |
| Opened | August 3, 1998 |
| Cost | $20 million |
| Type | Steel - Inverted - Launched |
| Manufacturer | Intamin |
| Designer | Werner Stengel and Paramount Parks |
| Model | Custom |
| Lift/launch system | LIM Launch |
| Height | 155 ft (47 m) |
| Drop | 80 ft (24 m) |
| Length | 2,757 ft (840 m) |
| Max speed | 70 mph (110 km/h) |
| Inversions | 4 |
| Duration | 1 min, 10 sec. |
| Max vertical angle | 90° |
| Acceleration | 0 to 75mph |
| Max G force | 4 |
| Volcano, The Blast Coaster at RCDB | |
| Pictures of Volcano, The Blast Coaster at RCDB | |
| Amusement Parks Portal | |
Volcano, The Blast Coaster, or "Volcano", is the launched inverted roller coaster at Kings Dominion. It is one of the more popular rides since its opening on August 3, 1998. It is a custom designed ride designed by Paramount Parks and famous roller coaster designer Werner Stengel. The ride was built by Intamin of Switzerland. At opening, the ride became the world's first LIM (linear induction motor)-launched inverted coaster and to this day, remains the world's only full-circuit launched inverted coaster.
The mountain this ride is built in and around has existed since 1979. A number of attractions were set inside the mountain before Volcano existed.
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In late 1997, Volcano: The Blast Coaster was announced. LIM technology was still somewhat new and the ride had many bugs in the launch system. However, this issue wasn't new with the park, especially with Flight of Fear nearby. After most of the summer days were gone, Volcano finally had a soft opening on August 3, 1998. The ride officially opened on August 15, 1998 as the park's new star attraction. During the 1998 season, the ride operated at half-capacity, with every other row being loaded. In 1999, the bugs were fixed and Volcano was running at full capacity. In 2005 and 2010, Volcano's structure was given a fresh coat of paint.
Volcano's layout is based on a volcanic eruption. Upon boarding one of three trains at the base of the mountain, riders make a slow turn left out of the station. The train then moves into its first of two launch tracks, which accelerates the train to 76 miles per hour (122 km/h). After making a sweeping 200-degree turn behind the mountain, the train enters the second launch tunnel, followed by a vertical section ending in a "roll out" element. The "roll out", similar to a sidewinder, is essentially a vertical section of track followed by a quarter loop to bring the train completely upside down, then a loose half-corkscrew. According to Roller Coaster DataBase, the roll out element is unique to Volcano.[1] The highest point of the roll out is 155 feet (47 m) above ground level, making it the tallest inversion at Kings Dominion, taller than Dominator's 135-foot (41 m) vertical loop. After the roll-out, the train makes a sweeping turn around the mountain followed by a heartline roll in midair. The train makes another turnaround and passes through a second heartline roll, which is embedded into the side of the mountain. After another turnaround and a third heartline roll, the train makes a turning, 80-foot (24 m) drop into the final brake run.[2]
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