coasterfreak80 Posted November 2, 2007 Posted November 2, 2007 My buddy, Rob, and I left on Thursday, October 18th from Atlanta, GA to Virginia for a two-park weekend visit. Our first stop was BGE on Friday, October 19th. We awoke to an overcast morning sky which quickly turned into a light drizzle which went on and off throughout the entire day. The weather sucked but, lucky for us, the park was nearly empty and the lines were deserted. Can anyone say "walk on"? We made sure to hit all our credits first before enjoying some of the parks dark rides and flat rides. Opinions? Loch Ness was good but the trains were very confining (couldn't raise your arms if you wanted to). Big Bad Wolf was fun but Rob thought the ride was a bit rough. Alpengeist was a great ride; however, our hearts still lie with Montu at BGA. Griffon's line was surprisingly short and I rode it twice that day, once in the front and once in the back. Apollo's Chariot was deceiving for us. The first time, we rode in the second row and, upon completing the circuit, we were not impressed whatsoever. Compared to Goliath at our home park at SFOG, Apollo did not deliver. We gave it a second and third chance though and found that the back was much better and unexpectedly fun. The flat rides like Battering Ram and DaVinci's Cradle were decent, considering we have few at SFOG. Corkscrew Hill, which didn't even deserve a photo here, was rough and unimpressive. Curse of DarKastle was good but doesn't even compare to Spiderman at IOA. Why this ride won an award in 2006 beats me! See pictures below. Apollo's Chariot lift "through the trees" Scott in front row, your right
coasterfreak80 Posted November 2, 2007 Author Posted November 2, 2007 On October 20th, Rob and I headed just an hour northwest to Doswell, VA for KD. We arrived before the gates opened and were able to park right next to the front gate. Rock star parking! The day was beautiful and sunny, the temperature was perfect for a day at the park. We started the day with some morning wood...I mean Grizzly. We got another dose of wood on the red side of Rebel Yell and then a spine realignment on Hurler (ouch!). We hit the nearby Ricochet, the best Wild Mouse we've been on thus far. We headed over to the Togo Death Machine, Shockwave. As you can see from the picture, it was horrible. It was our first Togo experience and everyone was right about these creations...painful. We hit the newer Italian Job Stunt Track which was kick-ass! It wasn't really fast or anything but was just plain fun. Probably one of the most fun launched coasters we've ever been on. Anaconda was nearby so we rode that one quickly. Not much to say about this one; it was okay. Volcano was next on our list because the line for Flight of Fear was out of the fence! As expected, an awesome ride. We trekked back to the other side again for Hypersonic. This was Rob's fastest coaster to date and he was terrified. Soon he realized that this was an amazing ride. He was practically jumping for joy when we got off. We grabbed some quick lunch and headed back for a kiddie ride credit on Scooby Doo but discovered that the line was too long to be worth the wait. Instead, we headed to Avalanche which was unexpectedly fun. We hit some of the flat rides like Triple Spin, waiting until nightfall to ride Tomb Raider. Tomb Raider, IMO, is one of the best flat rides of all time! Unfortunately, Rob missed his credit on Flight of Fear because they had shut it down for a Halloween Haunt maze. We rode the blue side of Rebel Yell instead and then hit Volcano and Italian Job once more before heading home after being at the park for 12 hours. We tried to ride the inverter ship Berserker as we left but the ride op shut the ride down as we were next to board the ship. Overall, the day was more enjoyable than the previous day at BGE. Although BGE had some pretty large coasters, it lacked the certain appeal of an amusement park that KD seemed to have. Please see pictures below. Hypersonic XLR "through the..." yeah, you know the rest. Scott would have given it two thumbs DOWN but needed one hand to hold his neck together! TOGO HELIX OF DEATH! What's this? Dominator track from Geauga Lake at KD? YES!
piers Posted November 2, 2007 Posted November 2, 2007 Those are some really great pics. Looks like you and your buddy had a really good time. Its funny how Griffon, along with Sheikra when in pictures look really small. The drops look like nothing and then you get to the parks and the look huge. I think its because of the huge supports. I'm dying to get over to Busch Europe some time!!
haiderodes Posted November 2, 2007 Posted November 2, 2007 ^^ That pic of Tomb Raider at night is awesome!
ebl Posted November 2, 2007 Posted November 2, 2007 Glad you guys had fun. I didn't think any of those parks were still open this late in the year. Eric
odie Posted November 2, 2007 Posted November 2, 2007 I really like the lights and the craziness of that last picture! You also had a lot of other great pictures too. Thanks for the great tr!
lil jimmy norton Posted November 2, 2007 Posted November 2, 2007 Awesome pics. I really enjoyed Bush Gardens, but I wish I could have spend more than a day there. Actually, it was more like half a day, and a few hours at night. I was also very tempted to stop and hit KD on the way home from Bush, but we were all broke, and I don't think anyone else wanted to go. Hopefully next year with Dominator coming, I will visit. Again, nice ptr.
cfc Posted November 2, 2007 Posted November 2, 2007 Griffon really dominates Euroburg's skyline now, and, like Apollo's Chariot, the best seats are in the back (the front on Apollo after dark is pretty cool). I agree with you about Montu, as well--a better coaster than Alpengeist (which is still pretty good). KD on a slow day is fun--but when it gets a bit crowded . . .
crazyrider06 Posted November 2, 2007 Posted November 2, 2007 Good trip report, you have some Awesome pictures. I haven’t been to BGE in a few years, but its in the works for the 2008 season, as well as kings dominion which I have never been to
Jayjay719 Posted November 2, 2007 Posted November 2, 2007 Nice pictures! After riding Sheikra I have to ride Griffon.
coasterfreak80 Posted November 2, 2007 Author Posted November 2, 2007 Thanks everyone for all the comments about the pictures. We really appreciate it.
coasterfreak80 Posted November 2, 2007 Author Posted November 2, 2007 ^^ That pic of Tomb Raider at night is awesome! Thank you! This ride, although being a simple Top Spin, is really once of the best themed and most fun flat rides I have ever seen. I went to KD back in 2005 but wasn't able to ride this at night to get the full affect of the fire, water and fog but we were able to ride it at night this year. Simply amazing! The fog created from the fire show covers the entire area surrounding Volcano, Avalanche and Tomb Raider itself. I also love the fact that the ride has a seating area right in front of it for people to watch the show.
coasterfreak80 Posted November 2, 2007 Author Posted November 2, 2007 Glad you guys had fun. I didn't think any of those parks were still open this late in the year. Eric Both parks were open until the last weekend in October for their Halloween celebrations. BGE was open Friday through Sunday and KD was open Friday night through Sunday.
Olsor Posted November 2, 2007 Posted November 2, 2007 Great pics! I too experienced what I would call "neck-banging" on KD's Shockwave. For some reason, I still loved that ride. It's either due to the Stockholm Syndrome or brain damage. BGE is just awesome in the fall, especially at night during Howl-O-Scream.
coasterbear30 Posted November 12, 2007 Posted November 12, 2007 Thank you guys so much for reading our trip report. It means a lot to have people check out a report that you took a long time to post. Thanks again!
Team Thriller Posted November 13, 2007 Posted November 13, 2007 Nice TR! KD pictures are really nice!!!
bettersteal Posted November 14, 2007 Posted November 14, 2007 My plan B signature is "Busch Gardens Europe Is The Best ! " I can say that because I don't HAVE to have a wooden (thus the name bettersteal). Kings Dominion is a top 10 park too. After riding Sheikra I have to ride Griffon. I've ridden both (even the floorless Sheikra). Griiffon is definitely better by about 2 points.
ECZenith Posted November 14, 2007 Posted November 14, 2007 Awe, youre bringing back memories, I used to visit VA every summer when I lived on the east coast. I'm going to have to come back and check out Sheikra sometime. Nice pics!
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