Volcano: The Blast Coaster

Volcano: The Blast Coaster (often shortened to Volcano) is a launched inverted roller coaster at Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia. Designed by Werner Stengel and built by Intamin, Volcano was the world's first inverted roller coaster to feature an linear induction motor (LIM) and is the only one of its kind that completes a full circuit. The roller coaster opened to the public on August 3, 1998. A portion of the ride is enclosed inside a man-made Volcano.

History
Volcano was designed around a dormant attraction originally known as The Lost World, and later as Smurf Mountain. Declining popularity towards the end of the 1980s led to the removal of the mountain's last two rides in 1995 and cast doubt on the area's future. On July 22, 1997, Paramount Parks announced plans to revitalize the mountain by making it the future site of a new roller coaster.

In late 1997, when Volcano: The Blast Coaster was announced, LIM technology was still somewhat new and the ride had many bugs in the launch system. This issue wasn't new to the park, having encountered similar problems with the nearby Flight of Fear. Volcano had a soft opening on August 3, 1998 and the ride officially opened on August 15, 1998. During the 1998 season, the ride operated at half-capacity, with every other row 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.

Ride experience
Volcano's layout simulates the path of a volcanic eruption. Upon boarding one of two 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 70 miles per hour (110 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 a vertical section of track followed by a quarter loop to bring the train completely upside down, then a loose half-corkscrew. 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.