Busch Gardens or PKD?

Which is why, with all due respect to Jeff Young, its extremely difficult to answer questions like "PDK or BGW?" unless a person is specific in what they are looking for.

That is very true. I can see people liking BGW more, but people like me like PKD more. If you can only pick one and you don't know what you want...just flip a coin and decide you will have a great day. You will not be disappointed.

Or if possible just do both parks.

Honestly I'd take PKD over BGW,there's some good wood to be had at PKD & of course their steel isn't too bad either(PKD's mouse is an excellent ride)throw in some good flats like triple spin,drop zone & tomb raider plus last year's scooby doo dark ride along with level terrain as opposed to BGW's never ending staircase up & down the hill & you've got yourself one helluva a decent park experience.

i say do both, lol.....if at all possible, do both. both of them are wonderful, WONDERFUL parks and neither should be missed if you can help it at all.

btw....be sure the dates of your trip that the parks will be open...i know PKD opens for the season March 19, and BGW usually opens the same day or the weekend before. check it out, itd be a shame to get here and find out your too early, lol....

Tim

still trying to think of a good signature...

Jeff said:
Intamin Fan said:
When was the last flat ride added at BGW?
Uh... what difference does it make? Do you ride something when it's new and then never ride it again? Naturally your experience may vary, but BGW is the freak of nature in the industry that doesn't need to add something annually to be the "total package" that it is.

I like flat rides, what can I say? The industry introduces new flat rides, and sometimes the old ones just aren't as exciting anymore. I call it the "I went to SFNE and rode their S:ROS, and then came back home and rode the MD S:ROS at my homepark" effect. That doesn't mean I don't ride the MD S:ROS anymore. I still ride Rotors, Enterprises, whips, looping starships etc. etc. I still like DaVInchi's Cradle a lot.

They could easily add a Topspin or Frisbee and not ruin the look of the place. To be balanced, I've had the same complaint about PKD for years which they're finally starting to address.

I fully understand that I'm probably not the target audience for BGW. I'm sure their prime demographic is families who are touring the the Williamsburg area. That's how I made my first trip when LNM was the it coaster.

CoasterSqueak said:
Intamin Fan, BGW is about a one hour drive from PKD. I've passed it enough times on the way to BGW.

[Sorry that I'm double posting]. Yes, according to Mapquest, I was wrong on the time. I haven't been since Corkscrew Hill was added, so my memory fails me.

As far as travel time to BGW, Mapquest says around three hours. BGW says 3 and 1/2 from BWI which I'm about 20 minutes from. You also have to factor in morning rush-hour traffic on rt. 695 and then more on 95S/495E. If I take the alternate route down rt. 301, I have to contend with a lot of lights. Add in stops for food, restrooms, and cheap Virginia gas, and it can easily stretch to four hours on the way down. I haven't made the trek since I got my new car, so I may be able to shave a substantial bit off that time. *** Edited 1/29/2005 6:41:41 AM UTC by Intamin Fan***

I apologize for starting a " Park A vs. Park B" Debate. I know these are frowned upon on the forums. I assure you that it was not meant to be the way it has turned out.

As far as specifically what I'm looking for, I'm just looking for a day of fun and riding roller coasters in March. Now, that does not mean that all I want to do all day is ride. Basically I wanted to know which park was the better overall experience, coasters, flats, shows and all.

I said in the initial post that I was undecided after looking at the website. Let me elaborate. BGW really impressed me quite a lot, and I don't think that there'd even be a debate had it not been for two things at PKD: Volcano and Hypersonic. I realized that BGW was going to be less coaster-oriented than PKD, but I initially thought that the quality of their coasters seemed to be more important than the quantity of coasters at PKD, with the couple exceptions that I noted above.

So, in the opinion of this board, is BGW a better "overall park experience" than PKD? Or does quantity overtake quality (with said exceptions)?

Hope I didn't make it worse.

Jeff Young

If you really like launch coasters, PKD is not to be missed. If you can take or leave them, it sounds like you would have a better time at BGW. If you do go to PKD, both Volcano and Hypersonic need to be ridden in the front. They are half the ride in any other seat.

BGW has the "park experience" you are looking for. PKD has some unique rides including a great bobsled coaster, one of the last TOGO standups that may be gone soon, the fastest accelerating coaster in America, and a complete circuit launched invert. BGW's rides can be found elsewhere, but the stuff inbetween the rides is some of the best there is. PKD is unique.

Forgot about the "beer in a bottle"! This is another nice touch that this park (BGW) has that makes it so unique.

P.S. If they still do the nightime Cirquelike show, it is not to be missed!

Jeff Young: Hypersonic is a piece of crap. I can't believe I wasted three hours of my life to ride that thing (would've an hour if it didn't break down). Since you live in Akron, I'm assuming you've been to Cedar Point and been on Dragster, in which case you've had the experience without the pain.

Volcano is an elongated impulse with a boring layout.

Flight of Fear is cool, but they don't run it in the balls-to-the-wall fashion that PKI runs theirs.

Those are the coasters that appear interesting, and the rest are mediocre to crappy. They've got a great drop tower, but that's about all that would really draw me to the park.

Honestly I'd enjoy walking around BGW more than I would going to PKD and riding everything. *** Edited 1/29/2005 3:04:16 PM UTC by Jeff***

Jeff - Editor - CoasterBuzz.com - My Blog

Jeff, have you ever heard the saying "save the best for last"? I wish I had done that.

My first experience at BGW and PKD was during the same trip. Driving up from Charlotte, our first day was spent at BGW. We totally loved it. The next day we traveled to Richmond to check out Carowinds sister park. My family enjoyed PKD, but kept commenting on how it didn't measure up to BGW. The food, coasters, theming, staff, shaded areas etc. were much better at BGW. The only major advantage that PKD has is their woodies. Of course if BGW evers builds one, I'm sure it will blow PKD's collection away.

My point is that had we done PKD first, we probably would have enjoyed it more, but after the BGW experience it seemed average at best. *** Edited 1/29/2005 4:05:32 PM UTC by LocoDriver***

These "Should I go to this park, or should I go to that park" threads are like asking what parent you want to stay with after they've had a separation or divorce (not that I would know anything about that). To put it another way, it's like going to a movie review site and figuring out whether or not you're going to enjoy the movie before you've seen it based on the critics.

Listen, each themepark has its homepage which will tell you about all the major attractions, shows etc. Most major themeparks have unofficial sites that will give you more information than you probably want to know. There are trip reports on this site and elsewhere. Only you know what you like or don't.

LocoDriver, given the past history of BGW, do you really think there is any chance that they will ever build a woodie? I say fat chance.

Don't know, but if they did I'm sure it would stand out compared to the rather tame collection that PKD has. I know that Gwazi is a hell of lot better than Grizzlie. BGT is the sister park of BGW, so.......I'd say that maybe there's a good chance down the road that BGW gets a woodie.

The chances of BGW getting a woodie are slim to none.....I'm leaning more towards the none side at this point.

Gwazi better than Grizzly? I highly doubt it unless the Grizzly you're reffering to as the one at PGA,I've heard it was a rough ride due to the PTC's which is the main reason for GCI developing their own trains for use in all future projects.

According to Mitch Hawker's Wooden Coaster Poll, both sides of Gwazi were rated at least ten places higher than PKD's Grizzly.

-Nate
*** Edited 1/31/2005 3:27:43 AM UTC by coasterdude318***