Kings Dominion to open all year long

For the first time in its nearly 50-year history, Kings Dominion will be open all year.

Driving the news: The Hanover County theme park is adding weekends to its schedule in January, February and March starting next year, meaning the park will be open at least on weekends every week of the year.

Details: Many of the park's regular attractions, like roller coasters and funnel cake, will be available in the winter months, weather and maintenance conditions contingent.

• Soak City will open Memorial Day weekend, per usual, Mark Riddell, KD's marketing director, tells Axios.

The intrigue: For most of its history, Kings Dominion was so closely associated with summertime fun — and so reliant on summer visitors and summer student workers — that in 1986 it helped pass the “Kings Dominion Law,” which barred Virginia schools from opening before Labor Day so the park could maximize the summer season.

• The law was repealed in 2019.

🌡 Karri's thought bubble: We're going to need to get Ned up on the Anaconda in January with his meat thermometer to register the temperature.

🙄 Ned's thought bubble: I would never use a kitchen thermometer to measure air temperature.