Following the success of Kings Island in Mason, Ohio, Family Leisure Centers (a partnership formed between Taft Broadcasting Company and Top Value Enterprises, owned by supermarket chain Kroger) decided to expand into a new region of the country by opening a second park.

Following a limited preview of the park's Lion Country Safari, a drive-through animal zoo with 230 species of animals, and the Scooby-Doo rollercoaster in 1974,[6] Kings Dominion officially opened on May 3, 1975,[1][7] offering fifteen attractions including the Rebel Yell (later renamed Racer 75), the Lion Country Safari Monorail, Galaxie, and a junior wooden roller coaster known as Scooby-Doo.

[5] In addition, Kings Dominion's 1/3-scale replica of the Eiffel Tower and the International Street Fountain greet visitors near the main entrance to the park.

Original themed areas included The Happy Land of Hanna-Barbera, International Street, Lion Country Safari, Old Virginia, and Coney Island.

Kings Dominion later expanded Old Virginia with the addition of the park's third wooden roller coaster, the Grizzly, in 1982 and a river rapids ride called White Water Canyon in 1983.

They and other entertainment businesses convinced Virginia to make it illegal for schools to start classes before the Labor Day holiday in early September.

[11] They thought that if students were not able to attend school in August, then more families would spend money at Kings Dominion, and more teenagers would be able to provide a low-cost workforce to the amusement park.

A water slide complex known as Racing Rivers opened in 1987, and Avalanche, which remains the only Mack bobsled roller coaster in the United States, debuted the following year in 1988.

A new, looping roller coaster from Arrow Dynamics called Anaconda was introduced the following year in 1991 featuring the world's first underwater tunnel which travels under part of Lake Charles.

In 1993, they added a motion simulator attraction, originally featuring the Days of Thunder film, and Lion County Safari was removed at the end of the season.

In the next year, another children's area, known as Nickelodeon Splat City, opened near the Shockwave roller coaster, this was a product of Viacom purchasing Paramount in 1994.

The Outer Limits has a 54 miles per hour (87 km/h) launch, four inversions, and an identical "spaghetti bowl" layout to Flight of Fear at Kings Island.

The park added the new Taxi Jam roller coaster, and Scooby's Playpark became a construction-themed playpen called Kidz Construction Company.

Hypersonic XLC, a Thrust Air 2000 air-launched coaster made by S&S Power, launched riders from 0 to 80 miles per hour (130 km/h) in 1.5 seconds, taking them up an 87-degree incline and down an 87-degree drop.

The 2014 season also saw the return of the iconic floral clock, the popular clown band, and the renaming of Johnny's and Trail's End Grill restaurants to the original names, Dinner Bell and Hungry Hippo, respectively.

[36] On August 9, 2015, Shockwave closed in Candy Apple Grove permanently, and a swinging pendulum ride titled "Delirium" was built in its place.

[38] For the 2018 season, Kings Dominion opened Twisted Timbers on March 24, 2018, three years after Hurler operated for the last time, converting the track from wood to steel.

In August 2019, Kings Dominion announced that Soak City would be expanded in 2020 to include a new sub-area called Coconut Shores, featuring a multi-level water play structure and a children's wave pool.

After restrictions were partially lifted by Virginia governor Ralph Northam in November 2020, the park opened for a limited capacity winter event titled "Taste of the Season" that operated for three weeks the following month in December.

The area received similarly themed restaurants and retail shops, as well as a new roller coaster named Tumbili, a 4D Free Spin model manufactured by S&S – Sansei Technologies.

[48] Other features that made a return to the area include a fully restored floral clock near the Carousel, oversized candy apples, and the popular blue ice cream that existed in the park for decades.

Candy Apple Grove's newest ride, steel coaster Twisted Timbers, opened in 2018 replacing Hurler and reusing some of the previous support structure.

International Street is the park's main entry area, featuring a 320-foot-long (98 m) rectangular fountain pool in the center of the walkway,[51] which leads up to a 1/3 scale replica of the Eiffel Tower.

International Street is designed to showcase a variety of European architecture, with buildings representing France, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, and Italy.

"[54] Initially, the area was part of one of the park's original attractions, Lion Country Safari, which contained a monorail train through a nature preserve until its closure in the 1990s.

For the 2022 season, the area was rethemed to Jungle X-Pedition, which includes new immersive theming elements, dining, shopping, and a new roller coaster, Tumbili.

Set in the Blue Ridge Mountains, the area has a vintage, rustic theme marked by its wooded architecture and country-style decor.

Washington Post writer Peter Galuszka (author of a book on the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster)[63] said the attraction "hits a little too close to home for me" since "the idea of abandonment is a difficult topic for miners".

He added, "At Kings Dominion, the suggestion of living miners left to die is meant to inject some enjoyable dramatic tension".

[64] Kathleen Geier of Washington Monthly decried, "agonizing deaths are being served up for fun and profit to the gawking, peanut-crunching masses" and asked, "What next – a thrill ride based on the Rana Plaza factory disaster in Bangladesh?