Kings Dominion is an amusement park in Doswell, Virginia, United States, twenty miles (30 km) north of Richmond and 75 miles (120 km) south of Washington, D.C. Owned and operated by Six Flags, the 280-acre (1.1 km²) park opened to the public on May 3, 1975, featuring over 60 rides, shows and attractions including 13 roller coasters and a 20-acre (8.1 ha) water park. Its name is derived from its sister park, Kings Island near Cincinnati, and the nickname for the Commonwealth of Virginia, "Old Dominion."

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. A 740-acre (3.0 km²) site was chosen in Doswell, Virginia, with construction beginning on October 1, 1972. The new park was designed with similar themes, rides, and activities as sister park Kings Island.

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, Kings Dominion officially opened on May 3, 1975, 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. Also present at the opening was a log flume, steam train, a collection of flat rides and a cable-car sky ride that transported visitors between Old Virginia and The Happy Land of Hanna-Barbera. 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. Daily admission price in 1975 was $7.50, and a dollar for parking. Opening day of the park saw 50,000 guests, with an additional 50,000-60,000 guests waiting to enter.

Kings Dominion added its fourth roller coaster, a Schwarzkopf shuttle loop known as the King Kobra, in 1977. The King Kobra featured a 50-ton counterweight drop launch and was the park's first launched roller coaster. It was in the park for nine seasons before being relocated to Jolly Roger Amusement Park in Ocean City, Maryland, Alton Towers in England, and later to Hopi Hari in Brazil where it exists today as Katapul. Also in 1977, Kings Dominion was one of several amusement parks serving as location for the film Rollercoaster.

A campground was completed in time for the 1978 season and the park's well-known Lost World mountain debuted in 1979. Originally, the Lost World featured three rides: a flume ride called Voyage to Atlantis, a children's attraction mine ride known as Land of the Dooz, and a rotor called Time Shaft. Only a year later in 1980, the flume ride was rethemed Haunted River. Kings Dominion later expanded Old Virginia with the addition of the park's third wooden roller coaster, Grizzly, in 1982 and a river rapids ride called White Water Canyon in 1983.

Kings Dominion was also active in political lobbying. They and other entertainment businesses convinced Virginia to make it illegal for schools to start classes before the Labor Day holiday in early September. 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. This law, known as the Kings Dominion Law after the amusement park, stayed in force until 2019.

Taft Broadcasting Company sold its theme park division in late 1983 for $167.5 million to Kings Entertainment Company (KECO), a new company formed by senior executives and general managers of Taft's Amusement Park Group. Three parks were involved in the sale – Kings Island, Kings Dominion, and Carowinds – along with a 20-percent stake in Canada's Wonderland. American Financial Group later purchased KECO in 1987 but allowed KECO to continue to manage operations at the amusement parks.

One of the first additions under the new management group was Berserker – a looping starship ride added to International Street in 1984. Also that year, Smurf Mountain replaced the mine ride Land of the Dooz, transforming the Lost World into The Smurfs theme. Kings Dominion unveiled a TOGO stand-up roller coaster in 1986 called Shockwave, the first of three roller coasters to be added under KECO. Shockwave had one loop, similar to the older King Kobra but added a helix. King Kobra was removed at the end of the season. 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. The trains of Avalanche now known as “Reptilian” were themed after bobsleds from various countries including the United States, France, Germany, Canada and Switzerland creating the experience of a bobsled race in the Winter Olympics.