Yes... 2 parks in one day!

So... I managed to visit 2 parks today. And, I am so glad that I did. Kings Dominion and Busch Gardens Williamsburg. Kings Dominion can best be described as "Meh!". It really was not that impressive... not the prettiest place and not the best rides. BGW on the other had... such a wonderful place. Amazing rides and very well maintained park... with attentive, courteous, professional staff.

Kings Dominion park is a Cedar Fair park... like Cedar Point... but no where near as good. On the list of rides for the park (on coasterfanatics.com) there were 4 rides worth hitting. So, I got to the park a little later than expected... fatigue... but still managed to hit 4 rides in about 3 hours or so. Dominator, Volcano, Anaconda, Flight of Fear... they were okay... but nothing to rave about. The only cool thing about this park was the Hanna Barbera cartoon themed rides... well... kiddie rides. There was also a life size Scooby Doo taking pictures with kids. I was tempted but passed on the opportunity... especially since it didn't look like he had any scooby snacks.

I then headed out to Williamsburg... about an hour and 15 minutes away. Easy, pretty drive... again... more beautiful countryside.

Now... BGW... completely different experience. This park has a European theme... and they organized the park so well. Areas for England, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, Austria and Germany. Rides named appropriately for the area they are in. The grounds are well maintained... and nearly authentic. I really thought I was in Europe... no really!!

If any of you were on Facebook this afternoon, you would have experienced my crisis. Right after I entered the park and got in line for my first ride, Apollo's Chariot, they shut down all the rides in the park due to a thunderstorm that was about to hit. So, I waited near the front of the line from about 4-6pm for the storm to pass through. Once that happened the park had emptied out significantly. Then, the rain and lightning stayed away for the rest of the night. Thank you Mike and Puck for giving me weather reports. That allowed me to ride on an unprecedented number of rides... 6 different rides... for a total of 13 runs. I don't have any good video to share today... since by the time I got around to taking video, it was too dark. All of the coasters at BGW at steel coasters... no wooden ones... which was surprising but okay.

The 2 standout rides this park are Apollo's Chariot and Griffon. Both were amazing. I went on Apollo's Chariot 4 times. And rode Griffon 6 times... 3 times in a row right as the park was closing. The ride attendants were really cool to let us stay on the ride since there were no riders waiting to get on. Griffon was a beast of a ride... it is not your average roller coaster... I have never seen anything like it. 30 riders in 3 rows of 10. Check it out here: (http://www.buschgardens.com/BGW2/Gallery/Default.aspx?tag=Griffon) 2 amazing drops... on the first drop they stop the car and dangle you for about 5 seconds before dropping you. I would have kept going on the ride but the park was closing (9pm??? not 10 like I thought). The ride attendant actually said "You don't have to go home, but you can't stay on this ride". I laughed because I was thinking the same thing right before he said it. I will add a pic of the Griffon ride signage later... too tired now.

Okay... time for bed... it is 1am and I am in North Carolina... I actually drove 2 hours after getting out of the park to shave some time off my drive tomorrow.

And... So... yea... tomorrow... my only ride will be the rental car... 700 miles from northern North Carolina to Orlando... with a short stop in Savannah, Georgia to have lunch with my friend Sally.

Oh yea... I have another Thrilling Thought ready to go... in my head... if I have time in the morning, you will get it.