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Nicole Simeone
Dueling Amusement: Virginia Edition
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Why drive to one amusement park when you can get to two? Let's take a look at how the Richmond area parks match up against each other.
Labor Day has gotten a bad wrap. For most, it signals the end of summer. Kids go back to school. Pools get drained or closed. Pumpkin spice invades all manner of things. Nevermind that the calendar says there are over twenty days left of summertime.
To keep summer rolling, Adam and I hopped in the car for a road trip. We were headed down to break the enigma surrounding the signs Adam had only seen from the car window on his way to Florida. What signs were those? Advertisements for King’s Dominion and Busch Gardens Williamsburg.
I know what you’re probably thinking, “That’s how you want to keep summer going? You know there are beaches in Virginia, right?” There are. And they are lovely. But rollercoasters.
There were just too many coasters not to make a pilgrimage. We did set aside a day for Colonial Williamsburg, but I’m going to need to geek out about that on another post. Felicity Merriman fans will understand why.
Back to Virginia amusement parks. The magic year for both locations was 1975. Kings Dominion, located in Doswell, is the second venture by the folks who opened Kings Island in Ohio. The park’s name plays on the state’s nickname, Old Dominion. Busch Gardens, found in Williamsburg, started as an investment project that came from Anheuser’s move into the area for distribution. The park is no longer a holding of Busch but retains the name.
Their proximity in location makes them competitors. You might even think one could be exchanged for the other. This assumption gets even more believable after stepping through the security gates. In Doswell, visitors are met with a long reflecting pool flanked by European style building Cascades. The avenue leading to a smaller replica of the Eiffel Tower. Over in Williamsburg, you are immediately dropped into Shakespearean England.
But similarities have to end somewhere, and for these parks, those are it. Now, let me go into detail on the individual components of the park.
Busch Gardens has the more cohesive theming. The park is sectioned into country hamlets providing the illusion of traveling the Old Country as you make your way through the park. The building facades create a believable aura as you walk through. The quality is not quite as good as Disney or Universal, but definitely in the next lowest tier.
Food options are paired to sell the area’s image too. Pizza and pasta reign supreme in Italy. Crepes can be purchased in France. And a bomb pretzel can be bought in Germany. Quick, cafeteria-style dining locations are set up for main meals, and a bevy of snack stations can be found throughout the park. The quality of food is above average for a theme park. Not gourmet level, but doesn’t leave you disappointed on your trek around the park.
The winding, shady paths at the Williamsburg site were clutch. Underscore. Exclamation point. We didn’t expect real feel temps of 92 every day. And nigh a cloud in the sky. As an added bonus, the more popular queues were equipped with misting fans. And the water rides were still running even though we arrived in time for the end of their season.
All of that said, Kings Dominion was nothing to sneeze at. Getting into the park itself is more accessible thanks to how Cedar Fair, the park’s operator, opens their parks. The International Avenue is opened to guests a half-hour before the park officially opens. The rope drop for the park happens on the artery paths rather than the metal detectors.
While the whole park may not have a theme but the individual lands do. The best, by far, being Planet Snoopy. I don’t care that it was the kiddie land. It was marvelous to walk through the Peanuts world. Their character topiaries are lovely. See.
Even the picture makes me want to Snoopy dance.
Another section of the park worth noting is Soak City. The admission price to Kings Dominion includes a water park. This isn’t available at its competitor’s location. Busch Gardens does have a water park; however, it is a separate location.
This might be a good time to talk about money. The price tag associated to a day at an amusement park, even a small one, can be off-putting. In some cases, the prices can produce acute sticker shock. Although I don’t think either of these necessarily register at that level.
Busch Gardens does have the heftier gate price, coming in at $87 before taxes. Kings Dominion’s gate price is $71. The key phrase there: gate price.
I have a confession to make. The act of finding a deal releases as many endorphins as running a marathon for me. It’s weird, I know. But, there we are.
For this jaunt, I used a combination of items to cut down the cost of admission tickets and parking. Busch Gardens had a 4th of July sale, bringing down the price of their Fun Card (allows unlimited admissions) to $50 a ticket. There were some fees included in the final price, but given the price disparity, I Elsa’ed the difference. AAA came in handy for King’s Dominion tickets. I purchased two for $76, including taxes and fees.
Parking was also discounted online for both parks. Kings Dominion had preferred parking for the price of regular parking, which was a nice bonus. Williamsburg’s parking upgrades were on the ridiculous end of the price spectrum, so I was happy with the two dollars off.
As a quick note, I was using the power of the interwebs on this, but there are several analog ways to find deals. If you are on your way to a spur of the moment, stop at a park, check out the Pepsi and Coke cans at the Cumbies/Wawa/generic convenience store. Often, they are printed with discount coupons on them. Same goes for Dunkin Donuts and paper coupons. I picked up coupons for the Mystic Aquarium on our trip back up the East Coast.
Enough with the couponing and discount hunting. What about the damn rides already?! Right. The reason we drove all of those miles. I had to leave the best for last.
I don’t know that I can call a decisive winner in this category. Both parks offer up an exciting variety of thrill rides. If quantity were the only factor, Kings Dominion would take the win as they operate twelve. Three of those being starter coasters for the next generation of rollercoaster enthusiasts. But more isn’t everything.
Busch Gardens coaster offerings, with one exception, tend toward the smaller footprint coasters. The thrill coming from loops and speed over elongated drops. The InvadR coaster, in particular, gives riders an intense experience using turns, head-choppers, and speed. There was no letting up for this ride till the car got back to the loading dock.
Verbolten is a recent addition to the park, taking the place of The Big Bad Wolf. The ride is set on the edge of the park’s Black Forest and races you through one of three storylines. The general layout is similar to the Aerosmith coaster in Disney but with surprising updates. I’ll say no more on that. Spoilers.
The exception to the general rule of compact rides is their Apollo’s Chariot. The twenty-year-old coaster is the park’s only hypercoaster and still sits on numerous top rollercoaster lists. It deserves all of the accolades. I highly recommend riding this one at night. A whirlwind of fun.
Doswell’s park leans toward the more gargantuan rides. This probably has a lot to do with the larger space. Their gigacoaster soars up to 305 feet and gets up to 91 miles per hour and lasts almost two minutes. This ride is not for the faint of heart. Seriously no joke. Intimidator 305 has been known to cause blackouts even with the addition of trim brakes. After riding it, I can vouch for that still being accurate.
They recently converted on of their wooden coaster into a hybrid called Twisted Timbers. This means the structure of the ride is still primarily wood; however, the tracks are steel. This allows for steeper banked turns and barrel rolls. In the case of Twisted Timbers, they put in a barrel roll on the initial drop. Genius. It was worth the trip just to ride this coaster.
I’m going to have to leave the jury out on which park did it better. A longer and closer inspection will definitely be needed. Yeah, that’s just a thinly veiled excuse to go back. I’m thinking a springtime trip might be nice. Although I’ll admit it, I was a little bummed we missed their Halloween events. There were some decorations up at Busch Gardens, which definitely caught my curiosity. And Kings Dominion has a Peanuts-themed day time event and a scary evening one…
I started out with keeping summer alive and ended lamenting I missed Halloween things. I don’t make sense.
Till next time Nerd Girls!