Paradox's Summer Trip ADVICE NEEDED!

[Paradox]

Hello all. I am leaving this Friday on my vacation and will be hitting up three parks for the first time and could use some tips on where to ride, where to eat, etc. Thanks for any advice given, The parks I will be visiting are:

Kings Dominion (1 day)

Carowinds (1 day with fast lane)

Busch Gardens Williamsburg (2 days)

At Carowinds, if they aren't assigning seats, try to ride Intimidator in or near the back row. The front of the train offers little to no airtime, while the back has some decent floater.

My advice would be to spend two days at Kings Dominion, two days at Carowinds, and skip Busch Gardens altogether.

It's been years since I visited these parks (visited all three in 2010), but here's what I'd say...

Kings Dominion: As tempting as it will be to rush straight to Intimidator 305, don't. Instead, go directly to Volcano and do that, then Avalanche (if open...back in 2010 it didn't open with the park), then Flight of Fear, then Intimidator 305. After that, head back to The Grove and go from there. Wait until the afternoon to do Dominator as the line drops to about 1/3 of what it was in the morning. Grizzly is best in the back, all other major coasters are better in the front in my opinion. The waterpark here is my favorite in the Cedar Fair chain, but if you have one day it probably isn't worth the time to do it. This park also has a pretty good flat ride collection. Unless it has changed since 2010, food here is pretty much what you'd find in any Cedar Fair park so just eat wherever.

Carowinds: If you're purchasing Fast Lane, the order of attractions won't matter much here. However, it isn't really necessary...the park can usually be completed in about 2/3 of a day unless you want a ton of re-rides. Nighthawk is the only coaster that regularly gets lines over 20 minutes, so do that first. I haven't ridden Fury 325, but those I know who have all say it is a top five in the US. Intimidator is very temperamental...I rode four times on my visit and got everything from the best ride I've experienced on a B&M hyper to below average rides with little airtime, so try to ride several times in different seats. On everything else (except possibly Fury 325), I'd opt for the front. On Hurler, make certain you do not ride a wheel seat as that ride is rough.

Busch Gardens Williamsburg: Even though this park has changed a lot since I visited, I really doubt you'll need two days here. I did a full day visit on a Saturday and that was plenty of time for the park. This park does staggered openings, so just follow the pattern. Tempesto has limited capacity, but everything else at this park has such good operations that lines are rarely more than 30 minutes on weekdays. Apollo's Chariot is best in the back, the other B&Ms and Loch Ness Monster are best in the front. Make use of the Train and Skyride for transport as they let you avoid the most hilly parts of the park. Also be sure to check out some of the shows here...Celtic Fyre is probably the best of them. For food, this park has a lot of good options with each country presenting unique offerings. If I remember correctly, I got lunch at Trapper's Smokehouse and dinner at La Cucina...both were good but the smokehouse was the better of the two.

I wish for you to create your own "Fury 325" history! Go feel everything about that steelie!

[Paradox]

tiepilot35 wrote:

My advice would be to spend two days at Kings Dominion, two days at Carowinds, and skip Busch Gardens altogether.

No I've never been to BGW before and I'd love to try out the great array of coasters they have to offer. I've never been on a dive coaster before and I haven't been on many inverts. If anything, KD is the park I'd consider dropping the most since other than I305, nothing there stands out to me.

rcdude thanks so much for the advice it will help a lot. I want to spend 2 days at BGW because my family wants to and I'd like to have an extra day just for fun lol.

Paradox wrote:

rcdude thanks so much for the advice it will help a lot. I want to spend 2 days at BGW because my family wants to and I'd like to have an extra day just for fun lol.

You're welcome. If your family wants 2 days at BGW, then that's a good reason to do it. While I haven't visited it, if you're ticket includes Water Country and you're a waterpark person at all it may be worth spending some time there on the second day as I hear that is a pretty good one (though it is a little ways from the park, so it may not be worth it).

tiepilot35 wrote:

My advice would be to spend two days at Kings Dominion, two days at Carowinds, and skip Busch Gardens altogether.

I missed this before, but why? I'd consider BGW the least drop worthy of these three parks. If you were going strictly for coasters or were on a tight budget I would understand, but BGW is by far the nicest of the three parks overall (that said, Kings Dominion was my favorite of the three in 2010, but with all the improvement the others have gotten that is likely no longer the case). Personally I'd drop Carowinds if I had to drop one due to location and attraction selection, but all three are quality parks and well worth visiting for a first-timer.

I was being dramatic, sorry. Those beemers are actually fairly high up in quality in their respective types. Alpengeist is so god damn huge. Loch Ness is really neat and definitely one of Arrow's best custom looper designs.

I would pay to go to Kings Dominion if Intimidator 305 was the only thing on that plot of land and you had to park and walk a mile across a grassy field.

[Paradox]

Visited KD yesterday and got on all coasters (except Hurler) with rerides on all that I wanted just in time before the thunderstorms hit around 8:30. Had an awesome day, I really like this park, it's much better than SFNE. Full report will come after vacation is over but I can say now that I305 is AMAZING! The minute I hit the brakes I knew that this ride would be my number 1 and it definitely lived up to the hype! I can't wait to ride Fury this week because apparently it is better.

Boulder Dash is better.

[Paradox]

devilsrule911 wrote:

Boulder Dash is better.

I know. I305 is my number 1 steel, but BD is my number 1 wood and overall and always will be!

This isn't a lot, but you must ride Fury in the front seat at least once. The power and wind you feel in the front are so different from the other rows that you can't miss it.

[Paradox]

CG Coasters wrote:

This isn't a lot, but you must ride Fury in the front seat at least once. The power and wind you feel in the front are so different from the other rows that you can't miss it.

I have fast lane plus so that shouldn't be a problem lol. I've been told the front is the best so I will definitely ride it multiple times there!

[Paradox]

I got back home yesterday and will put up my report for KD soon!

Okay we're looking forward to it.