King’s Dominion announces new “hybrid” wood and steel roller coaster, holiday festival

Wood and steel will intertwine into twisting barrel roll drops, dynamic inversions, and gravity-defying weightlessness on Kings Dominion’s newest hybrid roller coaster, Twisted Timbers, slated to open in the spring of 2018.

Twisted Timbers will be an innovative hybrid coaster that uses the latest technology to combine wood supports with a steel track to give riders an exhilarating experience unlike that of a traditional wooden coaster.

Features of the ride include:

• 109 foot tall barrel roll drop
• 3351 feet of track
• Top speed of 54 miles per hour
• Three loops
• Three overbanked turns
• 20 airtime moments

Twisted Timbers will be located on the site of the former Hurler wooden roller coaster, near Candy Apple Grove.

Also new in 2018 will be WinterFest, a holiday event that will transform the park into a winter wonderland with multitudes of Christmas trees, millions of lights, ice skating, entertainment, food, crafts, and hands-on activities. It will directly compete with rival Busch Gardens’ ChristmasTown event.

A nightly tree lighting ceremony will kick off each evening, and the park’s one-third scale replica Eiffel Tower will be transformed into a 300-foot Christmas tree complete with a state-of-the-art light show as snow falls over the midway.

“2018 is going to be an amazing year for our guests,” said Gary Chadwick, vice president and general manager of Kings Dominion. “Twisted Timbers raises the bar for Kings Dominion’s high thrill level, and adrenaline junkies everywhere will crave experiencing its astonishing twists and revolutions over and over again. This, added to the immersive Winterfest seasonal event, will let our guests experience the park in an entirely different way, creating new family traditions. These investments demonstrate our continued commitment to position Kings Dominion as a dynamic world class destination.”