BGE and KD in April

Hey,

I'm in the process of trying to convince my mom to go on a trip over spring break this year to Virginia to visit Busch Gardens and Kings Dominion.

We'd be going around April 8-14th, whatever that week falls on. My last trip to Busch was 2001 and I have never been to Kings Dominion.

Has anyone been this early? Are most the rides open? Also has Flight of Fear reopened.

We are from Syracuse NY and unfortunately my dad has to work all week. To make it easier I was thinking we could get a flight from Syracuse to Virginia. What airport do you suggest? It's about an 8 hour drive, it might be faster (and cheaper) just to take the car.

I know Griffon won't be ready, but do you think this would be a decent time to visit?

The parks shouldn't be too crowded. Just check the websites to make sure that the parks are open. The temps should be good, too, unless you like the hot weather for water rides.

Most of the main rides should be open at both parks (except for the waterpark at KD). Flight of Fear has reopened; Griffon may not be open yet at that time.

I'm going to BGE in about a week and a half for the season passholder's preview day, and I tend to make KD on opening day most of the time since 2001. It's a decent time to go crowd-wise (except for season pass day at BGE, which could be pretty crowded), and it's not usually hot.

As for airports to use, the closest is probably Norfolk. The next closet major airport is probably Reagan National in Alexandria, VA (near DC). I live near BWI (Baltimore), and PKD is only about a 2 hr or so drive from there, provided traffic isn't bad. BGE is about another hour past that. From Norfolk, BGE is less than an hour, and PKD would probably be 1.5-2 hrs away. From Reagan National, PKD is about 1:15-1:30, and add an hour for BGE.

*** Edited 3/7/2007 10:12:50 PM UTC by rablat5***

Richmond International airport is almost exactly halfway between the two parks. Most low cost airlines don't go there, though. Southwest doesn't, but JetBlue does now.

I'm not familiar with RIA. But Southwest flies to Norfolk and BWI--they're huge at BWI. It's their 4th busiest airport. But I don't know what airlines you have to work with at the airport closest to you.

*** Edited 3/8/2007 3:55:41 AM UTC by rablat5***

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Southwest doesn't, but JetBlue does now.

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But if you take JetBlue your vacation will be over by the time they get you there.

Richmond International Airport is just east of the city of Richmond; right off of interstate 64. From this airport you are about 40 minutes to KD and about 50 minutes from BGE. There are 8 airlines that service RIC airport:

AirTran | American Airlines | Continental Airlines

Delta | JetBlue | NorthWest Airlines | US Airways

United.

There are two other regional airports in South Eastern Virginia: Williamsburg/Newport News Airport and Norfolk. One of these two has SouthWest Airlines. I would just try to shop around to see which airline would give you the best deal from your home.

^LOL. KD has been fairly reliable with ride openings except for 2005 (can't vouch for last year). In 2005, Bezerker and Grizzly were closed, with Grizzly not scheduled to have opened until April or May. To be fair, that was due to a badly needed retracking.

Hey just noticed nobody answered your other question--yes, FoF reopened last year. *** Edited 3/8/2007 6:45:26 PM UTC by Intamin Fan***

^ I beg to differ--I answered his FoF question in my first post! :)

Rob, are you getting old? :)

I have been to Busch in late March the last two years and its been awesome. The gardens are not all up to their summer quality and the new rides are usually not done. But the crowds are low, the waits are short and its still Busch. Its a gamble with the weather though. Last year it was 65-70 all day Friday, then rainy and low 50s the next.

Oops, sorry Ben, missed your comment. I swear I looked back and forth twice. It never hurts to reinforce a point:)

No prob, Rob :)

Coaster season resumes next weekend at BGE! This year seems to be the year of the Busch parks for me :)

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ThemeDesigner said:
Richmond International airport is almost exactly halfway between the two parks. Most low cost airlines don't go there, though. Southwest doesn't, but JetBlue does now.

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Are you sure that JetBlue is going anywhere now.

JetBlue isn't folding anytime soon, and their operations have long since recovered from the snow distaster in JFK.

Flying out of Pittsburgh they don't get me everywhere I need to go, but my experiences with them have made them my first choice when practical.