The History of Pantherian (Intimidator 305)

When it opened in 2010, this giant went by a different name and a different theme. For fourteen years it was Intimidator 305, named for NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt. Today it prowls as Pantherian, but the numbers have not changed: 305 feet tall, around 90 miles per hour, and one of the most intense first drops on the East Coast.

Intimidator 305

Kings Dominion announced the coaster in 2009 and named it for Earnhardt, nicknamed "The Intimidator," with the 305 marking its height in feet. Built by Intamin on the site of the park's old safari monorail, it opened in April 2010 as only the second giga coaster ever built in North America, following Cedar Point's Millennium Force. Its peak rises higher than the observation deck of the park's Eiffel Tower. The Washington Post said riding it felt like being "shot out of a cannon," and it finished second for best new ride of 2010.

The greyout turn

The ride became famous in its first season for a problem. Right after the 305-foot first drop, the train banked into a low, tight turn that hugged the ground and held riders in force long enough that some were greying out, and a few briefly blacking out. The park added trim brakes as a stopgap, then over the following winter it rebuilt the turn itself, widening its radius to ease the force while keeping the speed. The fix worked, and the reprofiled turn is still the ride's signature moment.

From Intimidator 305 to Pantherian

The Earnhardt licensing eventually ran out. For the 2024 season the ride carried the placeholder name Project 305, and in 2025 it was rethemed as Pantherian, a sleek jungle cat, joining the park's Jungle X-Pedition area with a new orange-and-black paint scheme. The track and the ride are the same giant they always were.

One thing to know

In its first season as Intimidator 305, the turn after the first drop was forceful enough to grey riders out, and the park rebuilt the turn over the winter to tame it.

Pantherian is one chapter in the fifty-year history of Kings Dominion.

Pantherian at a glance