What would you do? Kings Dominion & Bucsh Gardens Europe

Things must have changed drastically since I last attended a park on the 4th of July. In 1992 I took of the 2nd and 3rd of July, which were a Thursday and Friday to visit my future wife in Philadelphia. We attempted to go to Great Adventure on Friday the 3rd. The backup was all the way to the turnpike and we were told that the park had reached capicity and nobody was getting in. We opted for Atlantic City instead. The following day, Saturday, the 4th of July, we attempted to go to Great Adventure again and the place was practically empty! That may have been my last July 4th trip though so that's 17 years ago.

Tom

Ok, so here is the plan as it stands now.

Friday 6/26

Leave work at 6:00 pm and drive through to Ashland VA. with a stop in Wheeling WV to drop of the dogs with my in-laws. We are staying at the Quality Inn. This hotel got decent reviews on tripadvisor and was almost 1/2 the price of the Best Western at the park.

Saturday 6/27

Drive to Busch Gardens to be there well before the park opens. Hit the park and return to Ashland that night.

Sunday 6/28

Kings Dominion being there well before park opening and riding Dominator at 10:00 followed by Volcano.

Monday 6/29

Head up north to Six Flags America. Drive back to Wheeling WV and spend the night with the in-laws.

Tuesday 6/30

Drive back to Columbus in time to open the shop at 10:00 am.

Is there anything you would do differently?

I was advised that BGW does a better job handling crowds then KD and that a crowded Saturday at BGW would be better then one at KD.

I wouldn't necessarily dispute that, but I will say that Kings Dominion's water park draws insane crowds during the day, which tend to make lines for the other rides a bit shorter. Although if you plan to go to WaterWorks, the area behind the Rebel Yell handles crowds much better than the area in front of Anaconda. The water park itself is awesome, and is worth a visit if you have the time.

Dave, if you only have a day to spare, make sure you hit up Busch Gardens, regardless of the crowds, simply for the fact that Wolf might be gone next year. Kings Dominion IS a great park, however, especially for the little ones, being that you have kids. on a side note, since you DO have kids, buy the two park ticket for Williamsburg so you can hit up Water Country USA if you have time, its really fun, and just a couple miles from BG.

I live east of Richmond, so if you need any additional info on hotels or restaurants, hit me up. Good luck planning your trip, you will have a blast no matter what you choose! :)

Thats a good trip Dave.. Ive done the three area park thing many times and while you are worn out from diving, walking and riding, its nice they are all within 3 hours total (BGW to SFA). Though I live about 10 mins from BGW so I guess I dont count that much with the drive issue ;)

Good week to go though, and im sure you will have a great time. I agree though, if you have time hit WCUSA. Its a nice family friendly water park.

Knowing me I will be up at BGW that weekend myself..

I own 2 custom frame shops in Columbus. With the economy being in the tank, I run one shop and have an employee run the other. When we take off for vacation, we have to shut down one store for that time. I can occasionally get a former employee to cover a shop on a Saturday so I can get some extra time off. But only on Saturdays. This means that my Max trip is a Friday night - Tuesday morning. So no WCUSA for us. We will probably play in the water a little at KD since it is part of the CF pass.

Thanks for the replies.

Dave

If PKD is gaining one next year and BGE is losing one next year, go to BGE and save PKD for another time. Plus it has my namesake coaster.

Andy, we will be leaving in about 1 1/2 hours for our Virgina is for Coaster Lovers trip. The above itenerary is pretty much how it should go. I am so excited that S:ROS is back running at SFA.

Have a good time. Let us know how the Wolf is doing. :)

Will do. This is our first ever multiple park trip (other then WDW). I have joined several forums for these parks so that I can get a better feel for the parks (hyper planner).

I also just remembered that tomorrow is my ADR day for our Sept WDW trip. Hope we can get into Le Cellier.

BTW Dave..

You went to park on a good week. .As I said you want to avoid the 4th weekend at Busch, and I said it with good reason.. Tonight they hit an all time record of over 37K people in the park.. And its not even the 4th yet!!