Every year in late June I organize a trip to an area amusement park for my workplace. I’ve been doing them for about 20 years now and we usually have about 20 people attend, but have had up to 76. The whole idea stemmed originally from me going to a park for my birthday in early June with friends. When other coworkers heard, they said they’d want to go too. I did move the trip back to late June, however, so more people could attend once schools let out. I just pick a Monday, since our workplace is closed on Mondays, and we do our thing.
These trips have been a hit for years now and here in 2025 I decided we would go to Kings Dominion so everyone could experience Rapterra. When I showed everyone the photos I took from when Sam and I went back in April, everyone thought the ride looked wild. Most of the staff had never seen a B&M Wing Coaster before, let alone rode one. They were pumped.
Would the Park Even Be Open?
In the days leading up to our trip we were worried that we might have to postpone. A major watermain break in the Doswell area forced the park to shut down for the entire weekend. On top of that, the forecast was calling temperatures hovering around 100 degrees. Perhaps it would just be better to postpone until July?
In the back of my mind, however, I knew there were two probably scenarios if the watermain issue was resolved. Scenario 1: The heat would keep people away, leaving the park empty for us. Or Scenario 2: Everyone who couldn’t go over the weekend will come on Monday. But first, we’d have to wake up to what was going on with the watermain and if the park would even open.
Thankfully, it did and we ended up with Scenario 1.
Rapterra
Back in April Sam and I went straight to Rapterra and encountered no line upon park opening. We arrived a little after open this time around, but I decided to play it the same way. We went directly to Rapterra and found minimal crowds. We rode it a couple of times just in case the lines got longer later.
People always seem to go right to Dominator when entering the park. This is why I always save it for later in the day. By then no one is there and we can get in a couple of rides with little to no wait.
As for Rapterra, I was curious what Jen and Eric would think. Jen wasn’t too keen on Wild Eagle at Dollywood and this would be Eric’s first B&M Wing. Both ended up enjoying it, although Eric found my preference for that back left outer seat to be more than he expected. I don’t know, I love that seat. The yank you experience when the train drops out in front of you after the launch into the banked turn beats everything else this ride throws at me.
As for Jen, she did enjoy this ride more than Wild Eagle, although she admits that she’s not the biggest fan of the ride type. Fair enough. It also ended up being her 100th credit thanks to our stop earlier at Fun Land of Fredericksburg (FLF).
Twisted Timbers
Hands down this is my favorite coaster in the park. I always love taking friends on it for their first time, especially non-enthusiasts who look at it and think they’re getting a typical wooden coaster ride. I managed to talk one of my coworkers. Kenny, into riding the back row with Eric as I took a seat in the row in front of them. I’ve been in the back row so many times. I wanted them to experience this punchy coaster at its fullest. And boy did they!
When Kenny walked off the train it was all over his face. It was his first RMC and he had no words. Meanwhile Eric was saying that his leg hurt from being tossed around so much. All I could do was shake my head and say, “I told you!”
Naturally we went right back around and rode it again.
Grizzly
Gravity Group has been working some miracles lately. Between Grizzly and Kentucky Kingdom’s Woodland Run, they have improved both by significant margins. Grizzly is perhaps most improved with it being a wild ride back in the woods that you want to ride again and again. In the past, many people were electing not to ride it at all. Or if they did, one time was more than enough.
Over the last two years now the park has made investments in this ride and some are calling it one of the park’s best coasters. If you haven’t ridden in since its re-tracking, do yourself a favor and give it a go. I think you will be surprised just how improved it is compared to what you remember.
Now, I need to ride this at night. Seriously, I can’t imagine how awesome it would be to fly through Grizzly’s course in the dark. I know I’ve done it, but it might have been more than 10 years ago at this point.
Final Ride Counts
Americana (1: Patrick)
Apple Zapple (1: Patrick, Jen)
Backlot Stunt Coaster (1)
Boo Blasters on Boo Hill (1)
Dominator (2: Patrick, Jen)
Eiffel Tower (1)
Flight of Fear (1)
Grizzly (1)
Racer 75: North (1: Patrick, Jen)
Racer 75: South (1: Jen, Eric)
Rapterra (3: Patrick, Jen, 2: Eric)
Shenandoah Lumber Co. (1)
Tumbili (1)
Twisted Timbers (3: Patrick, Jen, 1: Eric)
White Water Canyon (1)
Woodstock Express (1: Patrick, Jen)
Still No Pantherian Yet
We knew going in that the former Intimidator 305, now called Pantherian, would not be open. It is clearly running behind schedule and the park hasn’t been too forthcoming with information. It seems like many amusement park and coaster enthusiasts are upset with the park for not sharing too much when it comes to the rides possible reopening date.
With all that being said, while I was walking around on the observation deck of the park’s Eifel Tower (yes, it was finally open), I got to talking with a member of the park’s staff. He saw me taking photos of Pantherian with my zoom lens and asked me what I thought of the new paint scheme. I said that it is vast improvement over the old red and yellow, which never made sense to me. He laughed when I said it looked like it should have been called McDonald’s 305.
Anyhow, he did casually mention that he couldn’t wait for the ride to reopen and that the park was aiming for early to mid-August. I guess we will just have to wait and see. I’d obviously like to get more rides on it, but I’m most looking forward to getting some new photos of the ride. I have plenty shots of it with it’s faded, chipped paint. It was long overdue for paint regardless. At least now, the paint scheme is much better.
Kings Dominion Photo Gallery - June 23, 2025
If you would like to use any of the images in the gallery above for your commercial and/or non-commercial projects, feel free to do so. I ask that you credit We Were Inverted whenever they’re used. I also ask that you do not alter the image or remove the watermarks. If you need any images/video resized or without the watermarks, please contact me directly.
CREW MANIFEST
The following flight crew members attended this park, & earned the respective credits below:
Patrick
CAG
New Credit(s): n/a
Jen
Captain
New Credit(s): Rapterra
Eric
Lieutenant
New Credit(s): Rapterra