Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, CaryThe Triangle Area
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We had a buy one day get one day free pass, however we will not be using it. We did not feel it was a "family friendly park" due to the large amount of what appeared to be "thug like" types hanging around the park. Security appeared to be very tight, we're pretty sure there were undercover security in the park too. I would suggest googling Kings Dominion to get the full story before going to this park.... we would not have made the trip had we researched it first...
We took the kids to WetnWild in Greensboro today--it's about an hour and a half each way for us. Got there when the park opened at 10am and didn't leave until 6.30pm (it closed at 7 today). We took advantage of the season pass sale earlier this year, and have MORE than gotten out money's worth out of it. It's an easy "day" trip :-)
There is a great water park in Wilmington called Jungle Rapids. Has a kiddie area, wave pool, rambling river pool, four straight slides, one tube slide, one "toilet flush" slide, and one "giant taco" slide, as my kids have dubbed them. There is also an arcade and putt-putt.
I second Silver Lake for a more low-key water park. ITs a nice day and very reasonable.
We also recently went to Tucker Lake in Benson(Johnston County) which is also very nice, and similar to Silver Lake. Dh and daughter are there right now actually.
$8.00 per person to get in (I believe Silver Lake and Tucker Lake are both this price). Nice beach, toddler area, big-kid/adult area, bigger slide and plenty of smaller slides/rope swings/diving boards/piers etc into the deeper areas of the lake. Also paddle boats, picnic areas and snack stands/gift shops. ITs really a nice day and hardly every really crowded.
Williamsburg is one of the best parks in the country and the scenery is great. It is often ranked most beautiful in the world. Kings dominion is a dump and Carowinds is a carbon copy of Kings dominion.
I don't know if they've gotten better since I was young, but Busch Gardens never had the 'real' thriller rides. My brother and I are roller coaster junkies. We always preferred KD and it was an hour closer (from MD). Also BG is REALLY spread out and may tire out some of the younger kids.
I kinda figured Carowinds was very similar to KD since they're both owned by Paramount. I've never been but was thinking about a post labor day weekend excursion. Any personal experiences to be shared?
Has anybody been to the Hard Rock theme park in SC? I see the billboard everyday on 95 and was wondering how it was.
I took my nieces (11 and 13) and daughter (5) to the Hard Rock last month. The kids had a ball. It's smaller than I expected, but there is a good mix of activities for all ages - for the older ones, they loved the big Led Zeppelin ride - loud music while you're riding a roller coaster really enhances the experience! The Eagles roller coaster is slower but a good ride, too, and there's a great roller coaster that gets you wet, too. We saw two shows - one involving roadies doing stunts, and the other was a stunt show with a beach theme. They were really good! For the little one, she had a great time in the kiddies section, with three toddler rides, a ropes course, and a playground. Also, there's a water play area, so you should bring a swimsuit for the little ones.
That said....it had just opened a few weeks prior, and they still needed to work out the kinks. We waited for one ride and as soon as we were seated, we were informed that it was broken and we needed to get off. Another ride we really wanted to go on never was working - at one point people were riding it, and then it broke again...and folks waited for an hour but were never let on. That was a bit frustrating. For the most part, though, we barely waited 5 minutes to get on all the rides.
There were supposedly fireworks and a concert happening much, much later (around 10 orr 11 p.m.) but of course the 5yo was pooped after being there 10-5. There are a few bars, there, too and some unknown bands kind of playing throughout the day. It's probably a fun place to be at night!
All in all, it was a fun trip, we got the Carolina discount which was nice. I will definitely go back!
They've added several really fun roller coasters since then!
They have added a bunch at Busch Gardens Williamsburg! Ever since I started working with them, Griffon has been my hands-down favorite. The best part is convincing the non-coaster fan in your group of friends to go on it. When I was there last month, I heard someone in the line say "mom it really is not so scary-you'll love it!" And then:
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