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BGW or Hershey Park


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Hi there,

We are considering a trip to Washington D.C. next year, and as the coaster geek I am, I'm trying to work an amusement park in there. I've figured out that it is an equal drive (2hr 15min) from DC to both Busch Gardens Williamsburg or Hershey Park and I was wondering what you'd recommend. Just so you know, I like dark rides and rides with airtime, in case you were wondering what I was looking for. Any help would be appreciated, thank you.

 

-Mr. Corn

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Obviously I am not Alvey, but I will chime in, as I took the same trip a few years ago. I ended up picking Hershey, mostly because of family input, and seeing a Travel Channel show that focused on Hershey. I could have done either or both, as I was in both cities during my trip. But wifey said...only one theme park

 

I was also getting my "coaster legs" back, after almost 20 years of being away from them. Skyrush scared the hell out of me! LOL!! Now that I know a bit more about BG, there are some feelings of not being sure I picked right, but I absolutely loved Hershey Park.

 

You will not lose either way. Perhaps something to consider...is this side trip only for the theme park? Did you want to get out and do other things in the area besides the theme park? Williamsburg has a lot of cool stuff to do if you are into colonial history. Hershey is cool as well, but not as cool as Williamsburg. I only spent one day there, but wish I could have done three!

 

I am sure others will chime in regarding the park vs. park comparison. I just wanted to be sure you consider other things in the area as well. If you are considering more than one day, and doing other stuff, I think you should look really hard at Williamsburg.

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What do I recommend? Knoebels. I recommend Knoebels. But you can't go wrong with either of these parks either. Since you like airtime and dark rides I might be leaning a little towards Williamsburg just because Apollo in the back row is an absolute airtime machine and unlike Skyrush there's no "love it or hate it" phenomenon. Sure Skyrush has more intense airtime, but everyone likes Apollo and it's very re-rideable. Plus they'll have a brand new GCI next year that's sure to deliver sone nice air.

 

Neither park is strong in the dark ride department but Escape from Pompeii is awesome so I'll give them the edge over that stupid ass Reeses Extreme Cup Challenge thing even though it's not really a dark ride.

 

HOWEVER since you're looking for a park with great dark rides and coasters with killer airtime I would like to once again suggest Knoebels. Home of the best "classic style" haunted mansion in the world, another awesome dark ride / coaster and Phoenix which delivers ungodly amounts of airtime. Plus if you really want to fly they have a drop tower that actively tries to kill you.

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What do I recommend? Knoebels. I recommend Knoebels. But you can't go wrong with either of these parks either. Since you like airtime and dark rides I might be leaning a little towards Williamsburg just because Apollo in the back row is an absolute airtime machine and unlike Skyrush there's no "love it or hate it" phenomenon. Sure Skyrush has more intense airtime, but everyone likes Apollo and it's very re-rideable. Plus they'll have a brand new GCI next year that's sure to deliver sone nice air.

 

Neither park is strong in the dark ride department but Escape from Pompeii is awesome so I'll give them the edge over that stupid A$$ Reeses Extreme Cup Challenge thing even though it's not really a dark ride.

 

HOWEVER since you're looking for a park with great dark rides and coasters with killer airtime I would like to once again suggest Knoebels. Home of the best "classic style" haunted mansion in the world, another awesome dark ride / coaster and Phoenix which delivers ungodly amounts of airtime. Plus if you really want to fly they have a drop tower that actively tries to kill you.

 

The only reason I didn't consider Knoebels is due to the fact that it is an extra 1hr 15min to get there, and you can't fly out of that city, thats an extra 1hr. And for the other person who commented, yes our family is looking for other things to do in the city, which is a plus for Williamsburg. Thanks for the input

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My home park is Hershey. I've had many amazing trips to BGW as well. If I had to pick one over the other I'd have a lot to consider. Are you taking little kids along? Are you looking for a big coaster lineup? What kind of atmosphere appeals to you? On trips with my little ones, I would say BGW because it's more shaded, good food, more for my little ones while I ride the handful of awesome coasters that they have. I haven't had a bad ride on any of their coasters ever. If you are traveling with adults and want the big lineup then Hershey by far has it. 3 great Intamin coasters, Lightning Racer, Great Bear, etc. They do lack in some areas. The coasters are generally shorter in length. Some are just not rideable (cough~Wildcat~cough). I find the food to be mediocre except at the Smokehouse. It really does just depend on what your preferences are.

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My home park is Hershey. I've had many amazing trips to BGW as well. If I had to pick one over the other I'd have a lot to consider. Are you taking little kids along? Are you looking for a big coaster lineup? What kind of atmosphere appeals to you? On trips with my little ones, I would say BGW because it's more shaded, good food, more for my little ones while I ride the handful of awesome coasters that they have. I haven't had a bad ride on any of their coasters ever. If you are traveling with adults and want the big lineup then Hershey by far has it. 3 great Intamin coasters, Lightning Racer, Great Bear, etc. They do lack in some areas. The coasters are generally shorter in length. Some are just not rideable (cough~Wildcat~cough). I find the food to be mediocre except at the Smokehouse. It really does just depend on what your preferences are.

 

I am not traveling with little kids. 1/2 of my family doesn't like coasters,so they like parks like Disney. They are looking for dark rides, good shows, and things to do inside the park besides rides. The other 1/2 of our family is looking for airtime coasters and luanch coasters. The other thing mentioned was things to do outside the park at night, and yes, thats important too, as we'll probably go to the park one day, then have to kill about 6 hours before we'd get on our flight

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Hi there,

We are considering a trip to Washington D.C. next year, and as the coaster geek I am, I'm trying to work an amusement park in there. I've figured out that it is an equal drive (2hr 15min) from DC to both Busch Gardens Williamsburg or Hershey Park and I was wondering what you'd recommend. Just so you know, I like dark rides and rides with airtime, in case you were wondering what I was looking for. Any help would be appreciated, thank you.

 

-Mr. Corn

 

BGW (it has Curse of DarKastle. .which is a brilliant dark ride, as well as several fantastic coasters, and an incredible drop tower AND very good shows (Celtic Fyre is worth seeing)).

 

as an added bonus, you'll pass right in front of King's Dominion on the way there/back, so you can stop and ride I305.

 

we did a visit to DC a couple of years back with stops at both parks, as well as most of the Smithsonians.

 

here's the Trip Reports, it might help or at least provide some fun reading/pics

 

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=70573&hilit=bert

Edited by bert425
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Well, if DC is your focus, SFA is your park. No interest? BGW, KD, & Hershey are good-to-great parks, but only KD in my mind is the other logical partner for a dedicated DC trip. The others are worth spending time in and around in their own right, and if you can only visit one as a side-dish to DC, the further parks will be stretching you out of the area and dilute your trip's purpose.

 

A dedicated KD/BGW/Williamsburg/Virginia Beach grouping would be great, as would Hershey + Knoebel's +/or Eastern PA/NJ/NYC, but I feel like SFA and KD are your DC parks. There's nothing wrong with an Intamin hyper & giga in the same trip -- though it'd be short on dark rides. It'd be odd to skip SFA and drive past KD twice to get to BGW, and then only skim what that area has to offer, so that you can head back to DC. Similarly, it's odd to get into the heart of PA and then only do Hershey in a vacuum before returning to DC. Of course, we're all odd here in Wonderland, and I've pulled off wacky detours just like those.

 

 

*I see you gave more information as I was writing my post, so if I understand correctly, you could fly out of another city other than DC. Well, then the Norfolk airport and BGW makes more sense, but again, you should come back and soak in the area separately from DC.

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Well, if DC is your focus, SFA is your park. No interest?

 

Whyever would you assume that?

 

I'm not sure what what part of those lines you're targeting, but that entire snippet is hyperbole. I was only inquiring why SFA wasn't mentioned at all, not actually making a mandate to choose it! The rest of my post introduced the idea of visiting both SFA (for RoS) and KD. I was running with the premise that Mr. Corn wanted a dedicated trip to DC, and those are the two parks in closest proximity. Then, I edited my post when I saw that Mr. Corn could fly out of a different airport, and I put down for BGW and Norfolk International.

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Well, if DC is your focus, SFA is your park. No interest?

 

Whyever would you assume that?

 

I'm not sure what what part of those lines you're targeting, but that entire snippet is hyperbole. I was only inquiring why SFA wasn't mentioned at all, not actually making a mandate to choose it! The rest of my post introduced the idea of visiting both SFA (for RoS) and KD. I was running with the premise that Mr. Corn wanted a dedicated trip to DC, and those are the two parks in closest proximity. Then, I edited my post when I saw that Mr. Corn could fly out of a different airport, and I put down for BGW and Norfolk International.

Sarcasm.

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I'd go with Busch Gardens Williamsburg. It's a bit of a close call, but I enjoy BGW a tiny bit more, and it's more of a complete overall experience because it's a perfect combination between a Disney park and a coaster park. If you like dark rides, Curse of DarKastle is a really fun dark ride, and Escape From Pompeii is a great water ride with an outstanding dark ride section. Again, the theme is so immersive and detailed so if theming is your thing BGW is the way to go. Also, the last drop on Apollo's Chariot and Griffon's two drops are probably the strongest B&M airtime moments (that aren't on Fury 325, obviously). Alpengeist is one of the greatest masterpieces known to mankind, Tempesto is a short but fun ride, Verbolten is a bit tame but very unique, and Loch Ness Monster is very underrated and it's a classic.

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For shows, I saw an amazing one at Hershey although a Christmas show at BGW was close. Both are very nice parks just to be in though the Gardens is still appropriate where Hershey is more traditional. Both can be a lot of walking especially BGW but they have transpo systems that offset it. Hershey definitely tends to be more crowded; also waterpark is within the same park. Both have animal attractions. I don't know of anything near any of them to do at night at except the parks themselves, best time to ride though. Or leave BGW at dinnertime and hit KD on the way back (kind of expensive for a short time but easily could be worth it).

 

P.S. so much of it boils down to the people, if you're going to split up or whatever. BG is tops for "extreme family rides" if they'll do that, but Hershey has more dynamic range. BG is better for them if they tag along with you but don't ride, Hershey better for you when with them.

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For shows, I saw an amazing one at Hershey although a Christmas show at BGW was close. Both are very nice parks just to be in though the Gardens is still appropriate where Hershey is more traditional. Both can be a lot of walking especially BGW but they have transpo systems that offset it. Hershey definitely tends to be more crowded; also waterpark is within the same park. Both have animal attractions. I don't know of anything near any of them to do at night at except the parks themselves, best time to ride though. Or leave BGW at dinnertime and hit KD on the way back (kind of expensive for a short time but easily could be worth it).

 

P.S. so much of it boils down to the people, if you're going to split up or whatever. BG is tops for "extreme family rides" if they'll do that, but Hershey has more dynamic range. BG is better for them if they tag along with you but don't ride, Hershey better for you when with them.

 

Colonial Williamsburg is less than 10 minutes from BGW, and they have some fun pubs/restaurants and night time activities, but you have to pre-book them.

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This is a tough dilemma. Not only are both of these parks great, but both parks have some cool things nearby, too. If you want to go to a different park, Hershey is not too far from Knoebels, while Busch Gardens is a reasonable distance from Kings Dominion. If you are a history nerd, BGW is close to Colonial Williamsburg, but Hershey is only an hour away from Gettysburg. So, both of these parks are great, and both parks have a lot of other things to do in the area. I would sum it up like this:

 

-Hersheypark has better coasters then BGW.

-BGW is a much better themed park than Hersheypark

-If you want to hit up two parks, then Hersheypark and Knoebels pack a better one-two punch than BGW and KD in my opinion.

 

So, if you mainly like coasters, choose Hersheypark. If you want more of a well-rounded theme park, choose BGW. If you want to visit two parks, choose Hershey/Knoebels (though that last statement can be up to debate).

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I would go with BGW. All things considered (coasters, flats, shows, food, theming, etc.) I think it's a slightly better park. Nothing against Hershey, it's a really nice park too. I was there last month with the family and had a great time. If you're family is interested in the chocolate museum next door that might be the deciding factor.

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