BGW, KD, & Camden Park 8/22 - 8/25

[johnjniehaus]

BGW: I hadn't been to this park in over 2 years so it was time to get back there! Unfortunately Verboten was closed and is not scheduled to reopen until Sept 6 so that was a disappointment. However, I did get to experience DarKoaster for the first time. It was enjoyable but honestly seemed kind of similar to verboten in many ways. I did appreciate that you go through the circuit twice and that they special effects are slightly different both times. The other big ride of the trip was of course Loch Ness Monster having been refurbished since I was there two years ago. I honestly didn't notice much difference in the way it ran because it has always been really smooth. The back rides ridiculously smooth. The front has a few jolts but still is a fun ride. I previously did not enjoy alpengeist as it really banged my head around but I decided to try the front row and I enjoyed it much better than I had previously. Of course Griffon, Pantheon, and Apollo's chariot are all pretty good. I rode tempesto and was reminded why I'm not crazy about that model. I managed to ride all 3 water rides including Roman rapids which had been closed during my 2022 visit. While it's not a water ride necessarily, I did take a trip down stream on the Rhine River Cruise. Grovers Alpine Express was a last minute credit snag for me and was surprisingly good! I made sure to ride the skyride all the way around and the railroad. In terms of flats I rode finagans flyer, Turkish Delight, and the flying machine. Ate lunch at the festhaus and that German sausage and the different types of cabbage was amazing! One final thing, I hope BGW wins most beautiful park this year because it was immaculate!

KD: It's been a year since I last rode I-305 (my #1 fav coaster) and I managed to get 3 laps on it this visit. I also got to ride tumbili for the first time as I had skipped it my previous visit. Rode all the coasters with the exception of Great Pumpkin and Anaconda (which was closed for some unknown reason). Their Flight of Fear is definitely smoother than ours but despite not stopping on the midcourse, seemingly runs slower than the KI version. The backlot stunt cars also felt slightly slower than the KI clone. I managed to get front row on Racer 75, Grizzly, I-305, and Apple Zapple and back row on I-305, Flight of Fear, and Reptilian. During my visit, I also got to take a spin on most of the flats including Arachinidia, Bad Apple, Wave Swinger, Delirium, Flying Eagles, Drop Tower, Berserker, Wind Seeker, and Flying Aces. I also loved their iteration of boo Blaster much better than ours at KI. While I did not get to ride the water rides, I had ridden both of them during my visit last year. It was just too late in the day by the time I made it around to that side of the park. Kings Dominion has always impressed me with being a beautiful park and with their massive trees. It was also cool to see Rapterra nearly complete! 

Camden Park: Just stopped in for about 2 hours on the return trip. I had been to this park once as a kid maybe around 2012/2013ish? I was young enough to have chickened out of riding the Hawnted House which I made sure to ride during this short stop. Such a fun classic attraction and definitely debatable if it counts as a coaster credit. Even if it doesn't count as a rollercoaster it's a very rare dark ride credit as there are only two gravity driven haunted houses in the USA and devil's den at Conneaut Lake Park I believe is currently SBNO....In addition to the Hawnted House, I rode the three other coasters in the park (Big Dipper, Little Dipper, and Slingshot). Big Dipper was still running pretty smooth and had some new lumber on the lift so I'm glad to see they are replacing some of the wood. I also rode the Tilt-a-Whirl, the paratrooper, flying scooter, and the classic whip (which is one of only 4 in the USA I believe). I didn't ride the world's slowest log Flume but I have memories of it from being a kid at the park. Overall an enjoyable couple hours. I do wish that someone would show the park more love as many of the rides and coasters need repainted and the food stands could definitely be updated. However, it's still a classic park and has some unique attractions that are hard to come by these days. Would definitely recommend going to it if you have never made the trip down there.