Anaconda (roller coaster)

Infobox roller coaster
name=Anaconda


caption=The double-corkscrew element
location=Kings Dominion
section=
type=Steel
type2=
type3=
status=Operating
opened=March 23, 1991
manufacturer=Arrow Dynamics
designer=Ron Toomer
model=Custom Looping Coaster
track=
lift=
height=128
drop=144
length=2700
speed=50
inversions=4
duration=1:50
angle=
capacity=1400
cost=
acceleration=
gforce=5.1
restriction=48
rcdb_number=92

Anaconda is a steel roller coaster built in 1991, located at Kings Dominion theme park in Doswell, Virginia. It was built by Arrow Dynamics and designed by Ron Toomer; it was one of the few Arrow looping coasters built in the 1990s and was Kings Dominion's first roller coaster with more than one inversion. It had the most inversions from 1991-1998. It is perhaps most notable for being the only roller coaster to feature an underwater tunnel.

Anaconda features a 128-foot lift hill, 144-foot drop into an underwater tunnel, one vertical loop, a sidewinder, and two corkscrews. Its color scheme was originally black and green; but, more recently, it has been altered to orange and green. The coaster is built over Lake Charles. It is bumpy, and it is a good idea to press your head against the seat to avoid hitting your head on the shoulder harness.

History

After the removal of the King Kobra and Lion Country Safari, Kings Dominion's Lake Charles and present-day Congo areas had a great deal of unused land; and Shockwave became the park's only looping roller coaster. Construction on Anaconda began late in the 1990 season. The lift hill portion was constructed over the former site of King Kobra, a flywheel-launched shuttle coaster. Anaconda opened to the public on March 23, 1991. In 1993, half of Lake Charles was filled in to make room for the Hurricane Reef water park, now known as WaterWorks. In spring 2006 Backlot Stunt Coaster opened near Anaconda.

Layout

The train leaves the station and climbs the lift hill, where it takes a lefthand twisting drop down into an underwater tunnel. The train then enters a 360-degree vertical loop followed by a sidewinder inversion, then the midcourse brakes, where the ride comes to an almost complete stop.

The second part of the ride begins with some twists and turns, followed by two corkscrews 20-feet above the water. The train then takes a lefthand turn and comes back into the station.