AmyUD06 Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 Guess I won't be getting back to KD this season... Oof. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Sutcliff Posted January 10, 2022 Share Posted January 10, 2022 Hello all. I'm visiting KD for the first time on Sat 11th June. We are going to hit BGW on the Monday which gives us Sunday in Richmond to do whatever. I wonder if anyone has suggestions on things to do for this day in the area? If there was a mountain coaster or an undiscovered Niagara falls for example, we would be interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tndank Posted January 10, 2022 Share Posted January 10, 2022 Six Flags America just up the road.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigJoe123 Posted January 10, 2022 Share Posted January 10, 2022 8 minutes ago, Alex Sutcliff said: Hello all. I'm visiting KD for the first time on Sat 11th June. We are going to hit BGW on the Monday which gives us Sunday in Richmond to do whatever. I wonder if anyone has suggestions on things to do for this day in the area? If there was a mountain coaster or an undiscovered Niagara falls for example, we would be interested. My Family and I did Kings dominion one day then drove 2 hours (1 hour from BGW) to Norfolk, Virginia in which theirs a Naval Base. We went to a Bunch of museum's, walked around the "city". Its a really nice area and we enjoyed our time their. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmyUD06 Posted January 10, 2022 Share Posted January 10, 2022 10 minutes ago, Alex Sutcliff said: Hello all. I'm visiting KD for the first time on Sat 11th June. We are going to hit BGW on the Monday which gives us Sunday in Richmond to do whatever. I wonder if anyone has suggestions on things to do for this day in the area? If there was a mountain coaster or an undiscovered Niagara falls for example, we would be interested. You'd be much better off spending the free day in Williamsburg; a ton of cool culture things there. https://www.colonialwilliamsburg.org/ Richmond, to my knowledge, doesn't really have much that you could occupy an entire day with. Or go to Virginia Beach and soak in the sun; if you like Go-Karts there's a pretty cool place called Motor World there too. Even staying in your Richmond hotel watching TV would be better than a day at SF America, if you ask me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bert425 Posted January 10, 2022 Share Posted January 10, 2022 19 minutes ago, Alex Sutcliff said: Hello all. I'm visiting KD for the first time on Sat 11th June. We are going to hit BGW on the Monday which gives us Sunday in Richmond to do whatever. I wonder if anyone has suggestions on things to do for this day in the area? If there was a mountain coaster or an undiscovered Niagara falls for example, we would be interested. NO QUESTION. . I'd go to Washington DC on your free day (it's only 1 1/2 hour drive from KD). . park in a garage off the National Mall, and hit as many of the Smithsonians as you can. all the Smithsonian museums on the Mall are free (Air & Space out by the airport charges for parking. . but there's so much free stuff, it's worth it just to stay by the Mall. . tho you CAN do the Subway from the mall to the zoo (which is considered one of the Museums and is free as well). Most of the Smithsonians are open on Sunday. . . one or two are not, but they aren't the "exciting ones" https://www.si.edu/visit/hours  Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterbill Posted January 10, 2022 Share Posted January 10, 2022 28 minutes ago, bert425 said: it's only 1 1/2 hour drive from KD ... and we laughed and laughed 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmyUD06 Posted January 10, 2022 Share Posted January 10, 2022 1 hour ago, bert425 said: NO QUESTION. . I'd go to Washington DC on your free day (it's only 1 1/2 hour drive from KD)   1 hour ago, coasterbill said: ... and we laughed and laughed Indeed man. That drive will take you 2-3 hours on a good day. I-95 between DC and Richmond is a complete cluster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bert425 Posted January 10, 2022 Share Posted January 10, 2022 1 hour ago, coasterbill said: ... and we laughed and laughed y'all must drive slower than we did (we did drive early in the morning . maybe that helped?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmyUD06 Posted January 10, 2022 Share Posted January 10, 2022 8 minutes ago, bert425 said: y'all must drive slower than we did (we did drive early in the morning . maybe that helped?) My normal cruising speed on 65 mph highways is 80...is that slower? Yeah, if you're super early in the morning, before rush hour starts, you'd probably be fine. But once rush "hour" starts around 8 AM, it doesn't end until like 6 or 7 PM. Every trip I've had down to KD this year, traffic was anywhere from stop-and-go to 25 mph from where 495/395/95 reconnect south of DC until maybe 30 miles north of Richmond. All that construction to add new express lanes doesn't help, and unless you happen to be traveling in the direction that the existing express lanes are operating, it's a nightmare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swfan1988 Posted January 11, 2022 Share Posted January 11, 2022 3 hours ago, Alex Sutcliff said: Hello all. I'm visiting KD for the first time on Sat 11th June. We are going to hit BGW on the Monday which gives us Sunday in Richmond to do whatever. I wonder if anyone has suggestions on things to do for this day in the area? If there was a mountain coaster or an undiscovered Niagara falls for example, we would be interested. I'll second Colonial Williamsburg! If your at all interested in history, enjoy "living" history stuff, or both it is very much worth it. You can park in their parking lot by the visitor center and either walk (it's like a 5 minute walk max) or pay a fee and ride one of their buses. You have to buy a ticket to go inside the buildings, but you can walk on the streets for free since it's a public street technically. No matter what you decide I would say it's worth it to at least check out. There are also similar things at Yorktown and Jamestown nearby (not as extensive, and with varying degrees of cost) if you want to make a day out of the "Colonial Triangle" or whatever it's called now. Virginia Beach is popular but I've never been so I'm no help there. Shenandoah National Park (https://www.nps.gov/shen/index.htm) isn't all that far away either, a little bit of a drive but you could make a day of that if you really wanted to. Will say that I don't consider it one of the better national parks out there (if you had to choose between Shenandoah and the Smokies, I would 1000% say the Smokies), but it's fun and different. I would say skip SFA at (almost) all costs... The stuff on the mall is great, although getting into DC is a beast (even by parking outside the city and taking the subway in it's tough). All of the Smithsonians are great and well worth a trip. I think the main Air and Space Museum on the mall is closed for remodeling, but the one by Dulles airport (The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center;Â https://airandspace.si.edu/udvar-hazy-center) is open and I will say is absolutely fantastic. I would even consider it to be better than the main museum on the mall, its's that good. They do charge for parking ($15 last I was there I think), but it's well worth it. Very well put together, some really cool planes, highly HIGHLY recommend! Have you also just considered a second day at BGW? Not sure if its your first time or not, but that's such a big park you might consider a second day to be able to take it all in. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Great Zo Posted January 11, 2022 Share Posted January 11, 2022 4 hours ago, Alex Sutcliff said: Hello all. I'm visiting KD for the first time on Sat 11th June. We are going to hit BGW on the Monday which gives us Sunday in Richmond to do whatever. I wonder if anyone has suggestions on things to do for this day in the area? If there was a mountain coaster or an undiscovered Niagara falls for example, we would be interested. The Udvar-Hazy Center is the real deal. If you've got any interest in airplanes or spacecraft -- they have the Discovery! -- it's a place you have to get to some day. But, it's way up in the DC area, so... More realistically, in the Richmond area... 1) It's the capital of Virginia, so you can tour the State Capitol building and see a bunch of statues and stuff if that's your thing. 2) The area along the James River near downtown is actually fairly pretty, and on a Sunday it should be lively with people out and about. The Pipeline Walkway is a very rare "this exists in America?" kind of thing. Belle Isle is nice, and if the river's low enough you can scramble across the rocks. Some nice views from the Potterfield bridge too. 3) Otherwise, as others have mentioned, history is the main tourist attraction in the area. More Civil War sites than I can count -- museums and preserved battlefields all over the place in SE Virginia. In addition to Colonial Williamsburg, there's the Jamestown Settlement and Historic Jamestowne to the south of the city. Those are separate places -- Jamestown Settlement is more of a living museum type of place, and Historic Jamestowne is more of an actual historic site with archaeological goings-on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoasterNerd87 Posted January 11, 2022 Share Posted January 11, 2022 13 hours ago, Alex Sutcliff said: Hello all. I'm visiting KD for the first time on Sat 11th June. We are going to hit BGW on the Monday which gives us Sunday in Richmond to do whatever. I wonder if anyone has suggestions on things to do for this day in the area? If there was a mountain coaster or an undiscovered Niagara falls for example, we would be interested. If you're thinking about going to DC, park at the closest metro station and get a day pass. Otherwise, you'll be driving all over the place around Richmond from one thing to the next. The Richmond Zoo does have a pretty large Zipline course, but is also 45 minutes south from KD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoppedup Posted January 11, 2022 Share Posted January 11, 2022 Great Falls of the Potomac is cool if you head north. Colonial Williamsburg is pretty awesome. Richmond is a fun town and a great beer city if you are so inclined. The James River through downtown has some good rapids if the water is up. Legend Brewing has good food, drinkable beer, and the best patio in Richmond, with a view of the downtown skyline form across the river. Ashland is a quaint little town between KD and Richmond with a couple of breweries and a nice downtown inn.  I actually like Six Flags America. I have traveled from KD or BGW to SFA three times. One time (I-95) was really stressful. The other two I took highway 301. But I also took highway 9 to 13 to get back to North Carolina from SFGAdv once because I detest I-95 so much. I have now driven in almost every major city in the US at rush hour and IMO, DC is the worst. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaellynn4 Posted January 13, 2022 Share Posted January 13, 2022 I was gonna suggest Shenandoah if you enjoy caves and natural wonders like that. Really beautiful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teacherkim Posted January 15, 2022 Share Posted January 15, 2022 On 1/10/2022 at 3:21 PM, Alex Sutcliff said: Hello all. I'm visiting KD for the first time on Sat 11th June. We are going to hit BGW on the Monday which gives us Sunday in Richmond to do whatever. I wonder if anyone has suggestions on things to do for this day in the area? If there was a mountain coaster or an undiscovered Niagara falls for example, we would be interested. DC and Colonial Williamsburg are both really good ways to spend the day. If you go to DC you can park at the metro station in Old town Alexandria and take the metro in to the mall, or WH or whatever monument you want to see. If you want to tour the WH, it's free but you have to contact your local congress person's office well in advance to get tickets. You can also go to Mt Vernon (Washington's home) and easily spend a day there. It's about 10 miles from DC on the VA side, has parking, a restaurant, living displays, newly refurbed whiskey distillery, etc. Down in Williamsburg in addition to Colonial Williamsburg there is also a huge living museum at Jamestown and there is Yorktown Battlefield with a very well done museum and living displays of the American Revolution. Eat at the Yorktown Pub, fresh oysters right out of the Chesapeake. On 1/10/2022 at 5:35 PM, bert425 said: y'all must drive slower than we did (we did drive early in the morning . maybe that helped?) I'm with you Bert! I drove from SFA to KD in about an hour and 45 min. It was a Monday night after rush hour so I dunno, got lucky maybe? People also told me to allow like 3 hours to get from Williamsburg back up to Reagan and it didn't take me nearly that long. Maybe I'm just blessed though, I've never had a problem driving in SoCal even though everyone else carries on like it's hell 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill_s Posted January 17, 2022 Share Posted January 17, 2022 On a Sunday morning, getting off the highway by 11 AM, KD to SFA is easy. I would prefer going mid to late afternoon depending on hours, but this will be stressful at the least. A late return is usually fine. Weekdays are more complicated. I caution against any park visit on a Saturday, but I can see wanting a day off. If you have season's pass, maybe get out of there and take it easy middle of the day, go back at night and stay until close, and rope drop it for a awhile, or close it again, Sunday.  Richmond does have historical home tours and the like. The James River and Bell's Island is no Niagara., but is a good outing, and much better for kayaking.  Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RideThroughTime Posted January 24, 2022 Share Posted January 24, 2022 Avalanche is getting rethemed into Reptilian to fit into Jungle X-Pedition:Â https://www.kingsdominion.com/blog/2022/1.24avalanche_retheme Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boldikus Posted January 24, 2022 Share Posted January 24, 2022 Looks awesome! Bonus points for the simple fact its going to piss off/freak out bunch of people off that are too fragile to handle any kind of change ever. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmyUD06 Posted January 24, 2022 Share Posted January 24, 2022 I'm probably the biggest Avalanche fanboy on this site, and I approve. Anything that keeps it from getting torn down. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJLehto Posted January 24, 2022 Share Posted January 24, 2022 15 minutes ago, Mike240SX said: I'm probably the biggest Avalanche fanboy on this site, and I approve. Anything that keeps it from getting torn down. It's a fun ride and I'm a sucker for history (even though I get things change/wear out) so yeah glad it's still hanging around! And it looks kinda cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teacherkim Posted January 25, 2022 Share Posted January 25, 2022 We're gonna be there on April 2nd. Anyone heard an open (or re-open) date? Hoping it will be ready to go by then. I think Tumbili's track is complete so thinking that is a good sign for the whole rethemed area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VegasBaby Posted January 25, 2022 Share Posted January 25, 2022 21 minutes ago, teacherkim said: We're gonna be there on April 2nd. Anyone heard an open (or re-open) date? Hoping it will be ready to go by then. I think Tumbili's track is complete so thinking that is a good sign for the whole rethemed area. I will be there the next week on April 10th, so I'm hoping that it's open by then as well.  1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RideThroughTime Posted January 25, 2022 Share Posted January 25, 2022 Photo updates posted today on the Kings Dominion blog for the work on Reptilian:Â https://www.kingsdominion.com/blog/2022/1.24reptilian_updates Tumbili:Â https://www.kingsdominion.com/blog/2021/12.7 And the overall Jungle X-Pedition land:Â https://www.kingsdominion.com/blog/2022/1.25junglex-progress 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted January 27, 2022 Share Posted January 27, 2022 I'm glad that they're re-theming Avalanche. It never made any sense to have a Euro bobsled coaster in the "jungle." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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