Virginia, despite only being home to 2 major theme parks, has some of the best roller coasters in the country. The two parks being Kings Dominion and Busch Gardens Williamsburg. Both parks opened in 1975 and have been adding and subtracting roller coasters since. Both parks would also receive multiple record breaking coasters over the years.
In the past decade, my opinion of which was the premier theme park for the state has shifted. Visiting Busch Gardens in the mid 2000s looked like a collection of a Mack wild mouse [Wild Maus], 2 or 3 arrow coasters [Big Bad Wolf & Loch Ness Monster & Drachenfire] and 2 or 3 B&Ms [Alpengeist, Apollo’s Chariot, & Griffon]. While the collection has always been carefully curated, it’s small size left something to be desired for me. Visiting Kings Dominion in the mid 2000s offered a variety of experiences: 1 B&M [Dominator], 1 Arrow [Anaconda], the only full circuit Intamin Impulse coaster in the world [Volcano], 2 heavily themed Premier launch coasters [Flight of Fear & Backlot Stunt Coaster], 1 Wild Mouse [Richochet], a revolutionary launch coaster [Hypersonic XLC], a rare Togo Standup [Shockwave], a rare bobsled coaster [Avalanche], an impressive 5 Wooden coasters [Rebell Yell (2 sides), Grizzly, Hurler, & Woodstock Express], and eventually the tallest coaster in Virginia [Intimidator 305]. While the quality and aesthetic of the rides at Busch Gardens has always had an edge on Kings Dominion, the sheer amount of varying experiences offered at Kings Dominion during the 2000s was absolutely incredible. If you had asked me anywhere from 2000-2010 which Virginia park was my favorite, it would have been Kings Dominion easily. Once again citing the variety of experiences.
But then it started to change.
When we look at the trajectory for either park in the we can see which park has been getting more attention from its corporate owners. Busch Gardens Williamsburg gladly removed Drachenfire, and quietly removed Wild Maus while adding a superior new coaster with Griffon. When Big Bad Wolf unfortunately bit the dust, it was given a grand send off and was even eventually paid homage to by Verbolton. Eventually Tempesto would add an experience unique to the region. Invadr would mark a change in the parks steel history with the hybrid GCI family coaster. Pantheon, although not yet open is looking to be the states new landmark attraction. These additions have been fantastic, and have significantly added
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Hello all! We are a newly formed, local group that have all only met once for a meet and greet. We are searching for 1 player to join our adventuring party. Currently we have 1 DM and 3 Players, our 4th player has pulled out. We plan to start sometime in the new year. Currently have a discord to discuss classes and such. New Players are welcome. Currently 2 new players in party as is. Please let me know if you have any questions! I look forward to chatting with you!
I made a trip east (I live in Seattle) to visit family in Delaware, but as a thoosie without any nearby parks in the PNW I couldn't help but stop by BGW and KD in Virginia for a weekend even with the risk of high crowds. (Going to post KD trip report in a further comment).
Last Saturday my sister and husband, as well as my friend joined me at Busch Gardens. This is the first time I had been to the park since 2010 and I had quite a few new coasters to check off. We got to the park before open and got in at a good time where we had free range of the park before the haunt crowds filled in later. The park is still as greatly themed as ever, but my only complaint was the lackluster and bummed out staff. It seemed that either the operators and staff were burnt out from the busy October, or something because there was just a weird attitude the entire day that was really unfortunate and took away from the entire experience. I try to be patient and understanding though as I know everyone, everywhere is experiencing staff shortages. This park really does have a great lineup with no bad rollercoaster in the park, which is honestly quite and underrated aspect of coming here.
Verbolten 1x day 6.5/10 - This was probably my most anticipated ride going into the trip. This also was probably my most disappointing ride of the entire weekend. Riding it made me miss Big Bad Wolf. The drop track is probably my favorite part of the ride, but the rest of it just kind of was. I would of really of liked giving it another shot, but by 2pm this line was over an hour and a half long, and with everything else being walk on prior to 6pm, we didn't really feel the need to go back to it.
Loch Ness Monster 1x day 6.5/10 - Still my favorite Arrow. Great drop, great helix. Fun time and not nearly as rough as I remember it being as a kid.
Apollo's Chariot 2x day and 1x night - 7.5/10 - This was my favorite ride on my last visit. I still think it is really great, but now that I have some more hypers under my belt, it just didn't seem to be as great this time around. I still think the 2nd half of the ride > the first half.
Tempesto 2x day - 7.5/10 - My rides on this, made me swear off any enthusiast or vlogger opinions being set in stone. It really is important to experience a ride yourself. This was a super fun ride, the comfort collars really didn't bother me. I would of done this ride at least 5 more times if the line wasn't one of the worst of the park. The hang time was super f
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23 year old iron set. Titleist OCI 981. 3-SW. Shafts are 1/2” extension and I just put some mid size Golf Pride grips on them at the beginning of the season. Also have an old Vokey 56* with the standard shaft length.
Adam’s tight lies 15* and a Taylormade R7. No putter to throw in the mix, but this set would be great for someone between 5’10” and 6’1” or just anyone wanting to get into golf.
Would much rather hand them off to someone local and in person to avoid ridiculous shipping fees. If anyone knows somebody in need or of a program please let me know. If I don’t have any takers within 24 hours they’ll just go to the local DAV.
Hello everyone!
I’m a genealogist & I am trained in discovering local Virginia family lineages and stories through historical records.
This is the interest form I put together for anyone interested in learning more about their Virginia family history. I create family trees, historical road trip itineraries, ancestral maps, etc! It’s a super cool way to connect with your own history and great knowledge pass down to future generations.
Here are some things you can discover from my research:
- Newspaper articles about your ancestors (Crime? Scandal? Who knows!)
- Your great-great-great grandparents’ names
- Physical descriptions of your ancestors from census records and war draft cards
- Six full generations back of your family tree
- Photographs of your ancestors you have never seen before (Found in Newspaper archives, I have subscriptions)
If you are interested, please view the interest form with some examples. 🙂Professional Instagram w/ reviews: heritage.hunters
If you have any questions, please feel free to send me a message!
