Kings Dominion Yearly Ridership Numbers

2023​

Kings Dominion officially published the top three rides with their ridership totals for 2023. [Source, Mirror]

1. Dominator: 611,873
2. Twisted Timbers: 585,233
3. Racer 75: 509,094

2019​

The park provided their top five most-ridden rides and ridership totals for 2019. [Source]

1. Dominator: 809,078
2. Intimidator 305: 659,438
3. Racer 75: 616,386
4. Twisted Timbers: 607,087
5. Backlot Stunt Coaster: 497,773

 

[RollyCoaster]

Thanks for the laugh Zachary! Would anybody care to hear some wild Twisted stories?

 

[guy305]

I'm slightly surprised the park would even publish these numbers, because, hoo-boy, they don't look great. Hopefully the park can potentially turn this around, but what would that even require?

I would say that they’re on the right track, but they’re playing the long game. They’ve built some great foundations with the advancements in food offerings, theming and general park operations/cleanliness.

It sucks because I still hear locals complaining about how KD is “trashy” with terrible food. That’s a good sign that person hasn’t been to the park in years, but if they have, they still have their already formed opinion of it. The Paramount reputation still echos through today at no fault of Cedar Fair, and they are constantly being compared to the “most beautiful park in the world” down the road. But give it another 5 years of the best food theme parks have to offer, and the completed Jungle-X…it will have established a very high-quality reputation with a new generation of parents and kids.

 

[Chad]

I would say that they’re on the right track, but they’re playing the long game. They’ve built some great foundations with the advancements in food offerings, theming and general park operations/cleanliness.

It sucks because I still hear locals complaining about how KD is “trashy” with terrible food. That’s a good sign that person hasn’t been to the park in years, but if they have, they still have their already formed opinion of it. The Paramount reputation still echos through today at no fault of Cedar Fair, and they are constantly being compared to the “most beautiful park in the world” down the road. But give it another 5 years of the best food theme parks have to offer, and the completed Jungle-X…it will have established a very high-quality reputation with a new generation of parents and kids.

My last visit to Kings Dominion prior to this year was the day we had the earthquake back in 2011. I was in my early 30s at the time. After that day my opinion of the park was very poor and it was really disappointing to see how far it had fallen off since I was a teenager. Every year since I gladly drove an extra hour to go to Busch Gardens instead. I decided to give KD a shot this year to see what the Haunt event was like. Pulling into the parking lot I was like "yep, same ol' Kings Dominion".

However, once inside the park I couldn't believe how much things had changed. It was like a whole new park to me. The event itself was really well done and, in my opinion, every bit as good as, if not better than, HOS. I went back for WinterFest and was again really impressed with the park itself and the event. I purchased a pass for 2024.

Really happy with how far this park has come and where it's heading in the future. The gap between BGW and KD has closed drastically for me.

 

[rswashdc]

I would say that they’re on the right track, but they’re playing the long game. They’ve built some great foundations with the advancements in food offerings, theming and general park operations/cleanliness.

It sucks because I still hear locals complaining about how KD is “trashy” with terrible food. That’s a good sign that person hasn’t been to the park in years, but if they have, they still have their already formed opinion of it. The Paramount reputation still echos through today at no fault of Cedar Fair, and they are constantly being compared to the “most beautiful park in the world” down the road. But give it another 5 years of the best food theme parks have to offer, and the completed Jungle-X…it will have established a very high-quality reputation with a new generation of parents and kids.

The recent terrible food until 2019 is most certainly on CF, not Paramount. Yes CF has turned that around well, but it was a problem of their own creation.

Same thing with bland theming. CF put generic ride names and themes out until recently, so again it's a problem largely of their creation.

 

[Thrills & Chills WQAQ]

Quoting Scott the woz, “HEY ALL, SCOTT HERE AND THIS IS BAD, REAL BAD!”

Actually though, what the hell happened lol

 

[orangeclay09]

I would say that they’re on the right track, but they’re playing the long game. They’ve built some great foundations with the advancements in food offerings, theming and general park operations/cleanliness.

It sucks because I still hear locals complaining about how KD is “trashy” with terrible food. That’s a good sign that person hasn’t been to the park in years, but if they have, they still have their already formed opinion of it. The Paramount reputation still echos through today at no fault of Cedar Fair, and they are constantly being compared to the “most beautiful park in the world” down the road. But give it another 5 years of the best food theme parks have to offer, and the completed Jungle-X…it will have established a very high-quality reputation with a new generation of parents and kids.

It really does suck, because I know how much worse it can be (even compared to the Paramount days) -- just look at SFA.

All that said, and putting the pandemic aside, the dropoff in ridership since 2018 is very worrying. I'm with you though: CF has the confidence in Kings Dominion to make these improvements at an important time like this, so fingers crossed those numbers go up?

 

[CoasterAuditor]

We should note, we don’t have 2022 and 2023 rider counts, and corporate ostensibly has elected to move forward with another large coaster in 2025. This makes me think park management doesn’t think it is a concern currently in 2024.

I suspect the new coaster if they market it successfully will be a good draw. I often get asked “have they replaced Volcano yet” in conversations where KD comes up. I do find that most recent park goers tend to be more impressed with the park than they remember I do think this will be a big boost for the park overall if they nail the marketing.

 

[Intimidator325]

Very big on the marketing part. Does KD have any billboards? I’ve only seen BGW ones around Hampton and one close if not right next to KD. And they need heavy press, invite news anchors, influencers n such to the park. Ads on every platform and tv. Newspapers even, like go big or go home…

 

[Zachary]

It's my impression that on-site marketing has been stripped back A TON over recent years. Don't know how marketing spend compares, but I'd be shocked if it hasn't plummeted as well. Hopefully the latter is restored in the lead-up to 2025.

 

[orangeclay09]

We should note, we don’t have 2022 and 2023 rider counts, and corporate ostensibly has elected to move forward with another large coaster in 2025. This makes me think park management doesn’t think it is a concern currently in 2024.

I suspect the new coaster if they market it successfully will be a good draw. I often get asked “have they replaced Volcano yet” in conversations where KD comes up. I do find that most recent park goers tend to be more impressed with the park than they remember I do think this will be a big boost for the park overall if they nail the marketing.

That's a very noteworthy point. Even without Volcano, Kings Dominion is in a much better place than it was 5 years ago. When people come in to ride "Not Volcano: The Wing Coaster," the state that the park is in will shock them, and that's probably the biggest saving grace here.

 

[Mushroom]

Very big on the marketing part. Does KD have any billboards? I’ve only seen BGW ones around Hampton and one close if not right next to KD. And they need heavy press, invite news anchors, influencers n such to the park. Ads on every platform and tv. Newspapers even, like go big or go home…

I saw a Winterfest billboard a few weeks ago on the closest billboard north of the park when traveling north on 95. I was actually surprised to see it.

KD still spends plenty on marketing, but they’re hyper-focused on digital channels that allow targeted audience selection and retargeting, so we won’t see those efforts as much. I was at a talk hosted by the park’s director of marketing a couple of years ago and he proudly boasted that the park would be spending 0 dollars on traditional advertising (TV, newspaper) that year. He explained that doing so allowed every dollar to be invested in targeted ads on platforms like social media. By spending money only on reaching someone who fits the demographics KD thinks will buy what they’re selling, the ROI is higher since they’re not wasting money for eyeballs that will never be interested in going to a theme park.

In contrast, BGW seems to spend heavily on traditional ads. Maybe it’s partially because they’re in a more touristy area and the quick, broad-level awareness driven by billboards and the like is beneficial for drawing in out-of-town guests quickly?

Point is, just because you see BGW’s ads more than KD, doesn’t necessarily mean KD isn’t focused or spending on advertising. You just might not be seeing those ads because you’re not one of the people KD is targeting.

 

[CoasterAuditor]

I see MANY Youtube ads for Kings Dominion (what does a Kings Dominion a gold pass get you? a summer of fun? ) Presumably due to heavy viewing of theme park and roller coaster content. I guess targeted ads don't make you feel like the "perception" is what it needs to be. I will say they do sponsor Squirrels games and I see the odd random ad around Richmond. Not very often though.

EDIT for additional follow up: I think the ads are corny and terrible and I definitely don't feel like the target audience of the specific ads. They definitely blast me with Haunt ads.

 

[guy305]

I wonder what metrics they are using to send out targeted ads. Are social media sites just pushing them to people who frequently engage with roller coaster content or are they using broader trends. I see ads all the time but of course I fit the bill. Interestingly if they are too targeted they will only be targeting people that likely already have passes, but if they are pushing to parents/families it can get as expensive and imprecise as traditional media.

Also, regarding 2025 and future investment, competition with BGW is a force that CF normally doesn’t have to consider when investing in their other parks. The relationship between the two parks and how they’ve influenced each other has been interesting to watch. KD was the thrill-seeker park in the 2000s but BGW has pulled ahead in the past decade. Valleyfair has similar ridership numbers (their #1 ride got 760,000) but they don’t have to worry about falling behind. KD can’t be stagnant or else BGW will vacuum too much of the market.

 

[Intimidator325]

Point is, just because you see BGW’s ads more than KD, doesn’t necessarily mean KD isn’t focused or spending on advertising. You just might not be seeing those ads because you’re not one of the people KD is targeting.

Oh no I wasn’t talking about their regular seasonal advertisement. I know KD spends on advertising, I see their instagram and YT ads all the time lol. I was more so talking about when they announce the wing coaster, they should do a little of everything. KD should definitely want more than just the target audience to know about the Volcano replacement.

 

[Fenrihr]

They should probably try to get a billboard close to BGW's exit to advertise their new launch coaster.

Wait... that seems familiar...?


It's not like someone has done this for multiple ride openings or something before...

 

[CoasterAuditor]

Such a specific marketing decision. It’s interesting when I visited Kentucky Kingdom there was a Holiday World billboard on the highway nearby. I guess it seems “nasty” but I figure they’re more hoping park goers see them and are like “oh! Let’s go there sometime!” And that’s all it has to do.

 

[guy305]

I remember seeing a Kings Dominion Winterfest billboard heading eastbound out of Richmond on 64, but it wasn’t as egregiously close as the Busch Gardens billboard is to KD.