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Best 2-park trip in the US


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My brother-in-law and I went on a two day trip to Ohio a few years back to take in Cedar Point and Kings Island. We absolutely loved it. We also got to see on the drive between the two the Rock n'Roll Hall of Fame, a professional baseball game, the "world's largest crack" cave exploration and some other local treats. We are hoping to plan another long weekend trip but wanted to see what others in this community recommend first. He lives in NY and I live in CA. We've been to all the CA parks and to Six Flags Great Adventure in NJ. He also has been to some parks in Texas.

 

I was thinking of a trip to Virginia for Kings Dominion and Busch Gardens Europe. Heard Alpengeist, Big Bad Wolf, Apollo's Chariot, Griffon and Intimidator were great coasters. Any other ideas? We're looking for some big fun coasters! Thanks for all your help.

 

Dan and Eric

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I think BGE and KD is a pretty good choice, there's a lot of coasters along with some high quality ones in there.

 

Another suggestion would be Six Flags New England and Lake Compounce - they don't have as many coasters, but they do have Superman (aka Bizarro) and Boulder Dash respectively, which are two of the highest rated coasters in the world.

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I'm considering something like this myself maybe next year, but for more like a four or five day trip. In my case, I would add Six Flags America since it isn't far from KD, and I'd visit Washington D.C. as well. I myself have been looking at staying in Doswell right by KD, since it's in the center of everything. If you just have the 2 or 3 days though, I'd focus on what you have in mind already. SFA while it would be nice to visit if your in the area, BGW/BGE and KD simply have much more to offer. Whatever you do, have fun. I'd be very interested to read a trip report if you do one!

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Thanks for the replies. I was also thinking about the trip to Six Flags New England and Compounce after seeing it as a 2008 TPR East Coast Trip itinerary. Boulder Dash looks fun and Bizarro is a dream of mine to ride.

 

Time of travel might help decide this trip for us. Does anybody know, via car driving, now long it will take to go from:

 

Busch Gardens Europe to Kings Dominion

 

Busch Gardens Europe or Kings Dominion to Dollywood (I'm not even sure if this is feasible but I've always wanted to ride on Mystery Mine and not sure where Dollywood is in Tennessee in relation to some of the parks in Virginia)

 

Six Flags New England to Compounce

 

Thanks a bunch for all your help! I'll make sure to do a trip report/summary with pics and video when I get back.

 

Dan

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Does anybody know, via car driving, now long it will take to go from:

 

Busch Gardens Europe to Kings Dominion

 

Busch Gardens Europe or Kings Dominion to Dollywood (I'm not even sure if this is feasible but I've always wanted to ride on Mystery Mine and not sure where Dollywood is in Tennessee in relation to some of the parks in Virginia)

 

Six Flags New England to Compounce

 

Busch Gardens Williamsburg and Kings Dominion are about an hour fifteen, hour twenty apart, and I'd guess SFNE and Lake Compounce are about the same (or possibly less). Dollywood, however, is quite a distance. On the IntimidaTour, the bus ride from Pigeon Forge (where Dollywood is) to Williamsburg was about eight hours (not including time spent at two stops). A car might be a little quicker, but probably not by too much.

 

I think a Busch Gardens Williamsburg & Kings Dominion trip would probably be pretty good. You have one of the best parks in the world overall one day, and a park with an excellent variety of coasters the next. Since you have already done a Cedar Point & Kings Island trip, the only other two park pairing I can think of (at least that I would choose personally) would be Hersheypark & Knoebels. I haven't been to either of these, but both are said to be really great parks. As long as you don't mind not having any record breaking coasters, that might be a pairing to consider.

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Also, you might want to take into account that Big Bad Wolf has been removed

Why should that determine whether the trip would be worth it or not? Last summer I did a trip to BGW and KD and had a great time without Big Bad Wolf since they have a great coaster collection and enough to enjoy a full day at the park. Keep in mind there is a rumored Intamin launched coaster for 2012, but the park is still great as it is now. SFNE/Lake Compounce would be another great choice too.

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Thanks for the replies. I was also thinking about the trip to Six Flags New England and Compounce after seeing it as a 2008 TPR East Coast Trip itinerary. Boulder Dash looks fun and Bizarro is a dream of mine to ride.

 

Time of travel might help decide this trip for us. Does anybody know, via car driving, now long it will take to go from:

 

Six Flags New England to Compounce

 

Thanks a bunch for all your help! I'll make sure to do a trip report/summary with pics and video when I get back.

 

Dan

 

It's 40-45 miles between SFNE and Compounce accoprding to mapquest, they are fairly close.

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If you're considering SFNE/Lake Compounce, my advice wold be to choose one, and make SFGA your second park. SFGA also has a top woodie that just won #1 in the Mitch Hawker poll, not to mention the world's tallest coaster, a B&M hyper, and a grand total of five B&M's. In other words, a much better lineup than either of the other two parks (though they're nice also). Also, if you do both, you can spend some time in NYC if you haven't been there before.

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^ He's been to Great Adventure.

 

New England and Lake Compounce would be perfect. Boulder Dash is amazing and Bizarro is just as good as it was when it was Superman.

 

Not sure if you're up to it, but Lake Compounce and Playland Park are only 1 1/2 hours apart and they are both small enough to where you can do them in one day.

 

The only thing I can add to this trip is be aware of park hours and closed days if any. I went on a 7 day trip in the north east a few years ago in June and we had to do them in a weird order because of hours and closed days.

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Another thing I just thought of. Wooden Warrior is being built at Quassy Amusement Park which is like 30 mins from Lake Compounce. If your up to it, that could be a quick stop for you guys. The new timberliner trains should be good.

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2 summers ago I did the Kings Dominion / Busch Gardens trip twice. I went right in the beginning of the season and then after I heard BBW was getting taken out. The first time was actually Busch Gardens on day one and Six Flags America/Kings Dominion on day two. I find Busch to be the better first park because they stay open later and then you don't have late traveling that night.

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You guys really are amazing...now I have at least 4 more trips that I want to do in the next couple of years. I think for this spring we'll hit up Virginia, then next year Florida, the year after that Pennsylvania and then probably Tennessee. Thanks for all the great suggestions and advice!!! I'll post some pictures when I get back from Kings Dominion and Busch Gardens.

 

Dan

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I need to agree with Busch Williamsburg and Kings Dominion. I'm looking at that sort of trip myself once BGW gets their next coaster. I've visited this place 5 or 6 times since I was 7 and surprisingly (or not at all) it stands atop the list of my favorite parks with Busch Tampa. Everything about it is good. Haven't been to KD, but Batman: Knight Flight is (was) the only B&M looper in the same class as Kumba. I love Arrow loopers (Anaconda), and I'd like to give Volcano and their new giga-coaster a spin or two as well. I'll probably end up at Carowinds too, just so I finally get to try a coaster similar to one of my current favorites (Iron Wolf) - Vortex. The other Vortex is too far to drive out to, and it will probably be dismantled and relocated to Michigan's Adventure (closer) or Libya in a year or two anyway.

 

I've never done a "coaster trip" before. When I go on a vacation that stuff just isn't my priority. This one would be special because it would be the first, and looking at what the three parks have to offer, I've gotta say, solid choice by me.

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