This past weekend, I got the chance to visit Kings Dominion for my first visit of the year, And my favorite part of the day was checking out the NEW Jungle X-Pedition area. In this blog post, I will be talking about my current thoughts of this new area as well as the features this land has to offer. So sit back and enjoy the ride!
First off, what is Jungle X-Pedition?
Jungle X-Pedition is a NEW FOR 2022 area located in Kings Dominion, which is an amusement park in Doswell, Virginia. This land is a retheme of the old “Safari Village” area, which closed to the public on October 31st, 2021. The theme of Jungle X-Pedition is pretty much guests become immersed into an archaeological expedition, which I think is a very unique theme for an amusement/theme park area! This land features a NEW roller coaster and classic rides that have been completely rethemed to fit better with the theming in the area. Now let's go in-depth with those features that this land has to offer.
Reptilian
You may have remembered the name “Avalanche” right? Yes that coaster is still there and has reopened for the 2022 season, but now it has been completely rethemed. Now named “Reptilian.” This is a very cool coaster because it’s on a bobsled track. It’s a very fun ride that people of ALL Ages can enjoy. It is a lot more on the family side and is nowhere as thrilling as a high-speed thrill coaster. Even as a thrill seeker myself, I actually really like this ride, especially with how unique it is! In terms of height requirement, if you’re between 40” and 45”, then you MUST ride with a supervising companion. Because of it being a bobsled coaster, the coolest thing about this ride is it’s COMPLETELY safe to sit in someone’s lap on this coaster. Now how cool is that? And if you are at least 46”, you do not have to be accompanied by someone. There aren’t many bobsled coasters like this in America so I HIGHLY recommend checking this unique family coaster out if you can! As you can see in the picture, it's a pretty popular ride.
Arachnidia
Arachnidia is is a retheme of their classic Scrambler ride. These are rides you see pretty much at every amusement park. This one is themed to spiders and the theming I thought was pretty good. There is a mountain right behind the ride that has a nice art of a spider! Height requirement is you must be accompanied by a supervising companion if between 36” to 47”, and you must be at least 48” if you wanna ride alone.
NEW COASTER: Tumbili
Kings Dominion has opened a BRAND NEW roller coaster for the 2022 season! Introducing, “Tumbili,” which is the Swahili word for “Monkey.” If you visited the park in 2021 and rode Dominator, you may have noticed there were green tracks and yellow supports sitting in the park’s parking lot for pretty much that whole year. Well, this is that! This coaster is a S&S 4-D Freespin Coaster. This coaster also replaced “The Crypt,” which was a HUSS Topspin ride that closed to the public in late 2019. Think of this ride as The Crypt, but on a track and more comfortable (at least in my opinion). The ride is only about 15 seconds long (from the top of the lift to the final brake run), but I still found it to be a pretty fun ride. It may not be anything too special and I know this is a coaster that might not be for everyone, but this I believe will play a big role in crowd control of this park as new rides always tend to get a lot of attention by park guests! The theming on this ride is very well done and I love how they play monkey sounds when a train reaches the top of the lift hill! Height requirement is you MUST be between 48” and 77” to ride and there is no supervising companion requirement. Keep in mind this coaster is NOT INCLUDED in Fast Lane And it’s a low capacity ride as it only fits 8 people per train (they run 2 trains by the way). So If you're planning on doing this ride, I highly recommend doing this ride first if you're getting there when the park opens for the day.
Food
Jungle X-Pedition is Home to 2 Restaurants that have also been rethemed. The old Hungry Hippo restaurant is now “The Jungle Market Eatery,” and the old Outer Hanks restaurant is now “Outpost Cafe.” Wanna know something cool? Both restaurants will accept the Dining Plan, whether it’s an All-Day Plan or an All-Season plan. Keep in mind as of when this blog is being posted, Outpost is not open yet and It is rumored to open sometime later this month. The Jungle Market Eatery serves well-known food like burgers and fries. I've never actually gotten the chance to eat here (even when it was Hungry Hippo), but I do hope to check this place out sometime this year and write a blog post about it!
Music
I’m in love with the music they play in this area! It has a really nice jungle feel to it and they really did a great job with that! I myself don't have a video I took of it, but If you’re looking to find a great video of one, here's a link to one by KDFans.
Entertainment
As of when this blog is posted, there is no entertainment in the land currently. However, a show is expected to perform in this area sometime in the summer! The name and details of this show has not been released yet, but we hope to find out very soon!
Jungle X-Pedition or Safari Village?
This land is not finished yet which I can understand, but I gotta say so far I’m very impressed with the design and theming the park went with! It’s a huge step up from the old Safari Village land! This area went from my least favorite area in the park to now my favorite area in the park! I’m so excited to see the final touches being put in and I hope everyone gets a chance to check this land out when they visit Kings Dominion!
So, is it worth visiting Kings Dominion this year?
Yes I believe it is! Not only is there Jungle X-Pedition, but there’s also all the other returning favorites to choose from such as Twisted Timbers, Intimidator 305, Soak City, and hugging Snoopy and “The Peanuts” gang. Oh and did you know that a Season Pass is only $99 right now? That's right! For $99 you get Unlimited Admission in 2022, Free Parking for all of 2022, in-park discounts, Discounted bring-a-friend tickets, and more. Now how great of a deal is that? Anyways, if you haven't been to Kings Dominion, I highly encourage you to check this place out if you're in the Richmond area. I always have a blast here!
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