BGW and PKD advice please!

Ok everyone. I am heading to BGW and PKD in Oct. Friday night I was going to head to the BGW for the night and then Saturday go to PKD all day. Then Sunday go to Busch all day. Does anyone recommend me cutting out PKD and going Busch for 3 days. I love that place and I have done it a million times. I never done PKD. I am kind of excited but I am afraid PKD will be lame and super crowded. What do you guys think? I need my coaster credits? How is the halloween stuff at PKD? Is it as good as BGW?

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*** This post was edited by Crashmando 9/12/2003 8:57:45 AM ***

I wouldn't cut out PKD. It's a great park with really good coasters, it will be a little crowed for halloween. I would say it will take you all day to ride all the rides and the events for Halloween. I didn't go last year but the year before last the Halloween events were ok for PKD, I think they have moved up with there events so I feel this year will be much better.

You may want to consider changing your plan slightly. It seems strange to go to BGW on friday, then PKD on saturday, then back to BGW on sunday. the two parks are a fair distance from each other (at least 1 hour), and you can probably buy a 2 day pass at BGW for a much lower cost this way.

You will have a great time at both parks - lots great rides at both.

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Mac Forever.

Well I am staying right near Busch Gardens. At the Clarion. Anyone ever stay there. I was like hell its like a 1 and 1/2 hour drive away might as well go this year. But we are getting to Williamsburg on Friday night. So we figured we head to the park then. If PKD was open on Friday we would stop on the way down. I think I will go to PKD on Saturday. Volcano lookds really good and so does Hyper Sonic.
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I'd definitely include PKD in your agenda during this trip.

Drop zone ,HS:XLC & V:TBC alone are what really makes such a trip worth doing & the woodies (with the exception of Hurler) are top notch as well,I mean you can't visit PKD & not give Grizzly a spin or two because it's just that good.

I would even add Hurler, I cannot figure out why no one likes a coaster that builds up speed then just maintains it through its entire course. PKD's coaster collection is second only to Cedar Point in my book, and even that I'm not so sure about. Grizzly is incredible at night, and the three launchers are great! I'm actually headed back there for my second time in a month next weekend, and I fully plan on buying a season pass - screw the 7 hour distance from home ;)

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Brett
Resident Launch Whore

Pass on PKD for 3 days at Busch? I love BGW and all, but I don't think that 3 days are necessary there, especially when you could be at PKD for at least one of those days.

I went to PKD for the first time ever in April 2003, and while the park wasn't as fantastic as I was told to expect, I still think that it was a great experience. There is no "flagship" steel coaster, as far as I'm concerned (I didn't find Hypersonic close to "being all that") but FOF and Volcano are good, and Ricochet and Avalanche are just plain 'ol fun rides. Grizzly and Hurler are both respectable wooden coasters, with Rebel Yell being mediocre. The park has a lot to offer, and I don't think that it is worth skipping.

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-Rob
A.C.E. member since 1990
Posting @ Coasterbuzz since 2000
E.C.C. member since 2002

How does PKD match up against PKI? I been to PKI and its decent as well. Beast is amazing. Son of Beast hurt like a mofo. I am going to PKD now. Thanks for the advice. Grizzley looks really fun and I will try and ride everything atleast twice once durning the day and once at night.

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http://coastertrackrecord.tripod.com/

I wouldn't skip PKD either, but I approached the park from a different perspective than Rob...

My first ever visit to PKD was in June 2003. From pics, from word of mouth, from reading reviews, I was not expecting much at all. I went with the attitude "Don't expect much compared to Hershey, BGW, Kennywood, etc." I was pleasantly surprised. While not better than any of those parks, it ranks right up there with them in my opinion.

Every one will differ on opinions of coasters. Liking out and backs, I found Rebel Yell - Forward to be good... Backward to be very good. While no "record breakers" in the lineup, the park does have a solid coaster line up. Hate to say it... but the two most talked about coasters there... Hypersonic and Volcano... are to of my least favorite ones there (the slow Richocet takes the "least favorite" award)... while the little talked about Avalanche and Anaconda I liked alot.
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Half of the people surveyed agree, half disagree and another half are unsure.

3 days at BGW is not necessary. While there is a lot worth checking out, 2 days should be enough time to do everything at a leisurely pace. Like everyone else said, PKD is a nice park. As far as being on par with CP, that I cannot agree with, but I will say Volcano is great, FOF is very good, as is Grizzly. Drop Zone is also very good. Avalanche was also a fun ride. I must also say, the fountains by the entrance are beautiful, a great place to take pictures...

Please, don't cut out pkd. I really don't see why pkd gets all this bad rap, I consider its coaster collection one of the best around, and personally I would take pkd to bgw any day, but that is just me. It will get crowded because of the halloween stuff, but as long as you are smart, the only things with more than 15 minute wait will be hsxlc, fof, and Volcano. You really have to get on Grizzly near the end of the day, especially if a nightride on it is possible. Get in the back seat if possible, and you will be blown away. Really, hurler is a great air machine, rebel yell (backwards has had most recent trackwork) is a fun ride and in the back will give you quite a whollip coming off the turn. But again, don't pass up Grizzly for anything, IMO that is by far the best coaster in Vriginia, and certainly has the most air.

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Boulderdashdashdash

Grizzly is one of the coaster I am really looking foward too. I was looking at some pics and it looks fun. Anaconda looks good too. Is it smooth? Hows the tunnel on it? Long? Anyone recommend a place to eat in around or in the park?

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http://coastertrackrecord.tripod.com/

SLFAKE: I think that I had unbelievably high expectations of PKD because of the fact that people were always proclaiming the Paramount parks to be miles ahead of Six Flags and Cedar Fair (at least non-CP Cedar Fair properties) when it comes to operations. It was my first trip to any Paramount park, and I was expecting a lot of things to be above and beyond the quality of the parks that I am used to up here in NJ- Great Adventure and Dorney, more specifically. I was definitely impressed by the place, but I didn't think that it put to shame other parks like I thought it would. It probably didn't help that people made Volcano and Hypersonic to be these Top-10-quality rides, which they certainly were not.

I did appreciate the cleanliness of the place, the landscaping and the sheer number of wooden coasters, though, and because of those reasons, I would recommend it to others.

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-Rob
A.C.E. member since 1990
Posting @ Coasterbuzz since 2000
E.C.C. member since 2002

Anyone recommend a place to eat in around or in the park?

Only place we ate when we were there was the Buba Gump Shrimp Co. While I don't know how it compares to other places, I could recomend it it on its own merit. Food was above average for a park, and the prices were not that bad as park prices go.

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Half of the people surveyed agree, half disagree and another half are unsure.

Not sure... we got there late at night (like 3am), slept in the hotel right next door, went to the park and left for BGW when they closed. The only meal we had in that area was at the Denny's at the hotel, which was, well, Denny's...

Don't know if that helps.

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-Rob
A.C.E. member since 1990
Posting @ Coasterbuzz since 2000
E.C.C. member since 2002

To save time is there any halloween things I should skip. I know at SFGAV the hay ride sucks and isn't worth a 2 hour wait. Is there anything thats just stupid at PKD for Halloween? I know everyhting at busch is wonderful!
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http://coastertrackrecord.tripod.com/

Did not eat at PKD, as we left mid-day due to the drenching rain storm that came out of nowhere. However, at BGW I can reccomend Trapper's Smokehouse (I think that's the name). Great BBQ chicken, ribs, and corn for a reasonable price. I got the sampler platter(chicken, ribs, BBQ Brisket, fries, and a roll) along with corn on the cob and a beer, for about 20$. May not be cheap, but considering it was at a park, was right on par with a normal restaurant.

when we go to Busch we won't be eating at the park. Just snacks there. I heard alot of good reviews on Trapper so maybe we will check it out. There are alot of nice places around the park to eat. I recommend to you guys eating at the 2nd street pub. Its wonderful food and great prices!

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CoasterFan4Life said:
3 days at BGW is not necessary. While there is a lot worth checking out, 2 days should be enough time to do everything at a leisurely pace.

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I went to BGW for 2 1/2 days and still could've easily spent another day or two there. But anyways, don't miss out on PKD. I loved Hurler (IMHO I found it to be the best coaster in the park) and V:TBC was very good. As far as flats I was a little dissappointed (Drop Zone wasn't there yet when I went), but the park has a wonderful atmosphere. Don't set yourself for a case of anticipointment like I did with Grizzly. It looks good, but it really isn't all that impressive, but that's my opinion and your could be totally different. But, your bound to have a good time at both parks.

PKD is worth at least. 2 at BGW woudl be plenty in my mind. Hypersonic, Volcano, Drop Zone.....PKD has ALOT to offer! I had a great time there this spring after a day at BGW.

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If I was part of a coaster, I would be an upstop pad on an Arrow Mine Train.
MAGNUM HAD MY BABY!