Good news seems to be in rather short supply lately—and reasonably so. COVID-19 is no joke and I hope all of our readers are taking it very seriously. The best way to get back to the parks we all love so much is to flatten the curve and get this coronavirus under control as soon as possible. Please, for the good of all of us—for the good of the parks we care so much about—for the good of the untold numbers of amusement industry employees who are currently out of work—follow all federal and local government recommendations and, most importantly, whenever possible, stay at home.

Writing about future amusement park projects given the current state of things can feel pretty silly. That said, even if we can’t visit the parks in person right now, thinking about them can still provide a similar level of brief mental escapism. One could argue that times like this are when that type of positive, forward-looking content is needed most. Hence, here I am today with an article about some really great Kings Dominion news that just hit our desk recently: Despite the COVID-19 crisis, KD Project 2021 appears to be moving forward just as previously planned and, better yet, we have photos!

A month ago we threw the enthusiast community for a loop when we first reported having seen supposedly-leaked documentation stating that Kings Dominion was working with S&S – Sansei Technologies to construct a 4D FreeSpin on the former site of The Crypt for the 2021 season. At that time we also said we anticipated that, given the planned construction schedule we were provided, new circumstantial evidence should come to light soon. Well, that new circumstantial evidence has arrived and, at least thus far, everything is still lining up with our previous reporting.

So what’s new? We’ve seen evidence that soil testing either has recently or is about to take place on the former Crypt site. If you’ve followed BGWFans’ coverage of Busch Gardens Williamsburg projects before, you’ll likely know that soil sampling is often one of our first major indications that something big is in the works—it’s an essential precursor to any sort of sizable foundations—the type that are typically required for flat rides and roller coasters.

In this case, there are reportedly six samples being taken—seemingly stretching from the former Crypt location itself out past where the ride’s queue used to be located. This theoretical KD Project 2021 construction area matches up perfectly with the officially-filed demolition and clearing plans we first published back in February. Furthermore, the number of different soil boring location suggest to me that this new attraction should have a much larger footprint (and, similarly, require far more foundations) than a typical flat ride would. This is, naturally, very good news for anyone hoping that our coaster-replacing-The-Crypt rumor is correct.

As promised, we have photos of the current state of the construction site too! As you’ll see below, they provide us with a ton of additional information.

First off, let’s start with the obvious: Crypt demo is complete—not just the ride itself, but also all of its theming, queue, etc. There’s next to no trace of it left in these photos.

Secondly, the wooden construction fence and the cleared area seem to extend well past the former Crypt ride site—reaching back towards Avalanche’s queue entrance. Though this map is in no way exact, I’ve included a rough estimate of the location of the visible construction fence below.

If we assume heavy demolition is over (we have seen no evidence to suggest that it’s ongoing), the shape of the construction site looks like it could accommodate a long, rectangular ride area parallel to Outer Hanks/Boo Blasters very nicely. It’s not difficult to imagine a small 4D FreeSpin on this site at all. Hopefully we’ll have more conclusive evidence to share soon though!

To stay up to date with all things Kings Dominion—2020, 2021, and beyond (!!!)—follow KDFans on Twitter and Instagram and consider liking us on Facebook as well! Additionally, if you want to dive into this project, COVID-19’s impacts on Kings Dominion, or anything else related to the park, consider joining us on the ParkFans forum!