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Kings Dominion or.....

Kings Dominion: Looking for opinions on which park I should visit on a road trip.

From M B
Posted July 11, 2012 at 12:40 AM
I am going to be traveling south on 95 from NYC to Florida and can stop at one theme park on the way.

Is Kings Dominion the way to go? I am also thinking about Busch Gardens Williamsburg.

The most important factor for me is which park has the best coasters.

Any opinions welcome....Thanks!


Comments in chronological order. Most recent at the bottom. Scroll down to respond.

From Mike Gallagher
Posted July 11, 2012 at 8:37 AM
There will be a lot of people who will recommend BG as having the best coasters. Theirs are decent, but I consider them inferior examples of their type, with the notable exception of Loch Ness Monster, still the best Arrow looper out there. I havent been on Verbolten. But Apollo's Chariot, Alpengeist, and Griffon are outclassed by their similar counterparts at other parks. Also, if you want to stay close to 95, Busch will be pretty far out of your way..at least 45 minutes.

KD, on the other hand, is right on 95. Several of my favorite coasters reside there, including my #1 steelie, Intimidator 305. Dominator is my favorite floorless, and Avalanche is a great example of a vanishing breed, the Bobsled coaster. I also consider Grizzly and Rebel Yell prime wood. I like Busch a lot, but I'd go for KD in a heartbeat.

From Brad Jackson
Posted July 11, 2012 at 7:44 AM
I would definitely agree on the previous comments. If your goal is to ride several good to great coasters, then KD is the way to go between the two parks you mentioned.

I would keep the following in mind, I feel that the coaster selection/variety at BG is something you don't see at a lot of parks. I feel that each one of the coasters is unique and not just a bigger/faster/longer version of a coaster somewhere else in the same park and you don't find a version of each of these in most parks. While they are not the best examples of these types of coasters, the types and characteristics are somewhat hard to find all together in one other park which can make for a unique experience.

Even with all of this being said, KD has a larger selection, greater overall quality and will make for a full day of rides when compared to BG. If you go to BG with the goal of coaster riding, you can be done and out of the park by 1-2pm(depending on the day) unless you take many multiple rides on the same coaster. KD will take you most of a day to get through the full selection plus it is not out of your way at all.

Final vote for me is KD as well because of the top notch/higher quality/greater number of coasters and as stated earlier, Avalanche is a great example of a bobsled coaster.When I visited last year, I had a smile every time I got off of it(plus never a line so we rode 4 times in a manner of 20 minutes).

From Mike Gallagher
Posted July 11, 2012 at 8:41 AM
Sounds like you've been lucky, Brad. Avalanche ALWAYS has a line when I'm there, unless I hit it right at opening..it usually opens at 12, I believe. Also, it sometimes only runs one train, and the ride capacity is pretty low to begin with. But I like the ride a lot.

From Zack McDonald
Posted July 11, 2012 at 9:46 AM
Well KD is next to your highway while BG will take you an hour out of the way. I would choose KD.

From James Rao
Posted July 11, 2012 at 12:58 PM
As a stop on the way to something better, KD is a fine option. BGW is by far a superior theme park, but in this one case, for this one reason, I would choose KD on this particular trip. It has the coasters to make you happy, and nothing much beyond them to compel you to stay once your coaster circuit is complete.

BGW is more of a destination park that you go to for a couple of days and combine with some stops at the great historic sites Williamsburg has to offer. And while there are fewer coasters at BGW, they are all top notch, imho.

Back to KD, here are my rankings for the park's non-kiddie coasters:

Volcano - 9/10 (one of my favorite coasters period)
Intimidator 305 - 8.5 (had trims when I rode)
Dominator - 8 (solid coaster, but it seems like it should be better than it is... parking lot scenery is a huge choke)
Back Lot Stunt Coaster - 7.5 (great fun)
Grizzly - 7 (intense but not painful)
Avalanche - 7 (fun and unique)
Anaconda - 6.5 (the MCBR is devastating)
Rebel Yell - 6 (oldie but goodie)
Flight of Fear - 5.5 (very disappointing after the launch and not nearly dark enough)
Shockwave - 5 (ouch!)
Hurler - 4.5 (ouch!!!!! Dinn Corp woodies should be burned or iron horsed)
Ricochet - 4 (ugh... why?)

From Michael Scott
Posted August 20, 2012 at 6:27 AM
I have been to BG and KD this year. I went to KD on August 18th, never been on a Saturday, and it took a while for crowds to arrive. My friend and I rode Avalache around 3ish and the line wasn't that bad, maybe 20 minutes at most (bear in mind, the ride opens at noon).

I think Crypt is nuts though, I hadn't seen that ride before and was very impressed.

BG has the better and much longer coasters. KD has more of them. The wooden ones seem to hurt a lot more than I recall as a kid. Volcano and Dominator are worth waiting in line for. I simply wasn't impressed w/305 and this is after riding it 13 times, including 10 straight last year when KD was doing a video/photo shoot that I was involved in.

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