Smurf Mountain was a powered mine train ride through a mountain past several animated scenes at

Kings Dominion Kings Dominion is an amusement park located in Doswell, Virginia, north of Richmond and south of Washington, D.C. Owned and operated by Cedar Fair, the park opened to the public on May 3, 1975, and features more than 60 rides, shows and att ...

Doswell, Virginia Doswell is an unincorporated area, unincorporated community in Hanover County, Virginia, Hanover County in the Central Region of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. Originally called Hanover Junction, it was located on t ...

, United States.

History

In 1979, "The Lost World" opened, 4 years after Kings Dominion's opening. With 17 million

dollar Dollar is the name of more than 20 currencies. They include the Australian dollar, Brunei dollar, Canadian dollar, Hong Kong dollar, Jamaican dollar, Liberian dollar, Namibian dollar, New Taiwan dollar, New Zealand dollar, Singapore dollar, ...

s, the park’s largest capital investment at the time was a tall mountain and its three rides: "Journey to Atlantis", a gentle

flume A flume is a human-made channel for water, in the form of an open declined gravity chute whose walls are raised above the surrounding terrain, in contrast to a trench or ditch. Flumes are not to be confused with aqueducts, which are built to t ...

ride through the mountain that ended with a substantial drop exiting the mountain, "Land of Dooz", a train ride, and "The Time Shaft", a

rotor Rotor may refer to: Science and technology Engineering * Rotor (electric), the non-stationary part of an alternator or electric motor, operating with a stationary element so called the stator *Helicopter rotor, the rotary wing(s) of a rotorcraft ...

themed with music and strobe lights were located inside and outside of the mountain. In 1980, "Journey to Atlantis" was changed to "Haunted River", adding heavily themed spooky scenery. "Smurf Mountain" opened in 1984, replacing "Land of Dooz". It became the new nickname for the mountain after that period. Time Shaft was refurbished constantly because of people getting nauseous after riding. Due to declining popularity, Smurf Mountain was ultimately closed in 1995, two years after

Paramount Parks Paramount Parks was the operator of Paramount's Kings Island, Paramount's Kings Dominion, Paramount's Great America, Paramount's Carowinds, and Paramount Canada's Wonderland, which annually attracted about 13 million patrons. National Amuseme ...

' purchase of the park. The former spot of Smurf Mountain was originally set to be home to an upcoming attraction themed to '' Congo''. However, these plans were cancelled when the film underperformed at the box office. After sitting dormant for 3 years, it was finally replaced with

Volcano, The Blast Coaster Volcano: The Blast Coaster, or simply Volcano, was an inverted roller coaster located at Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia. Designed by Werner Stengel, it was the first launched roller coaster manufactured by Intamin and the first of its kind ...

in 1998. In February 2019, it was announced that Volcano, The Blast Coaster would be removed and in May 2019, after 40 years, the entire mountain was demolished as well.

References

{{The Smurfs Series 1984 establishments in Virginia 1995 disestablishments in Virginia The Smurfs in amusement parks