Kings Dominion guests wouldn't have to sit down for the new addition in the 1986 season! Shockwave, Kings Dominion's first and only stand-up coaster debuted in the spring of 1986. This TOGO coaster is 95 feet tall, has a 84 foot drop and one single loop. This was the parks second single looping roller coaster. Across the park, was Kings Dominion's first launched coaster - King Kobra, it was removed after the 1986 season.

Shockwave is still operating in the Grove section of the park. Its original hunter green and canary yellow colors were trading in for neon blue, orange and green for King's Dominions 25th anniversary. The ride begins by going up the lift hill immediately out of the station, followed by a quick turnaround - then directly into the 84 foot drop straight through the loop! After that it's up a hill and into a double helix element! Finally it goes up a hill - passing the station, and into a tight turnaround and a up small hill before the train hits the brake run. After sitting on the brakes for a few minutes the brakes release and the train does one last turnaround into the station. The ride is high capacity but can be fairly slow to load and unload. The ride time is about 2:00 minutes.

Excitement over the ride diminished over the years but regained attention in August 1999 when an fatal accident occurred. A young man from New York managed to free his arm from the restraints and turn his body sideways. On the rides final turn before the brakes he was thrown out of the train and hit the catwalk at speeds of 50mph. He suffered a fatal head injury which resulted in his death. This isn't the first death on that site - in 1983 the parks Galaxie roller coaster had a fatal accident as well. In this incident a 13 year old stood up and was decapitated by a support beam.

The ride has decreased some in popularity since the accident but hundreds of people still ride. According to John Pagel, Kings Dominion's marketing manager, Shockwave is the most reliable ride at the park. He says that Shockwave won't be going anywhere anytime soon!

Written By: FlightOfFearGuy