Our family has enjoyed exciting roller coasters for quite some time now. Our boys first experience of this adrenaline excitement was when they were 4 and 5 years old. We were still living in north Phoenix, AZ and their dad had just moved to Massachusetts to start his new job. There was a shopping mall we passed almost every day to head to their school which had a double loop roller coaster. I think this is the following park but our good friends who still live there could confirm that for me. At any rate, I gave in to their pleas and we stopped there one day and gave it a shot. They just barely made the height requirement and as we were strapped in, and I could only choose to sit with one of them, I realized how stupid this was as they were skinny and small enough they could fall out. And "whoosh", off we went! When the short ride was over and we were all still alive the boys exclaimed, "That was FUN!" and in turn I asked, "Great, do you want to do it again?" and with a petrified look in their eyes they shook their heads no. And so I thought I scared them enough that they would not want to do it again. :)10 years later and in a different state...
On Monday this past week we went to the following roller coaster park, Kings Dominion.
Our original plan had been to hit the Six Flags in D.C. for Jared's graduation gift, but the drive to it would have been at least 6 hours. So in order to make it a decent trip we would have had to stay the night in a hotel. Then we learned that there were two, much closer roller coaster parks! One is in Charlotte, which is about 2 1/2 hours away, which ended up being our new choice as it had more and MUCH better rides than Six Flags. I mentioned it to one of my work mates who also has a son and husband who are roller coaster addicts and she said though Carowinds was good, that her 15 year old son has proclaimed Kings Dominion to be the best.
So we looked that one up - and it won! It had two more coaster than the one in Charlotte and two of the rides hit 72mph!!!! This park was just under 3 hours away, in Richmond, VA and thanks to Jared's nanny and grandpa - their graduation money gift to pay for this event - made it a very awesome day! Actually a Perfect Day!
It was not crowded so we were able to hit all the rides on our list that day, without rushing, and then go right back around and get on them almost immediately a 2nd or 3rd time! Plus, since we all have the same interests in the crazy intense rides we were able to go to exactly what we wanted!
Here are a few of our favorites:
The Dominator - This innovative 4,210-foot steel coaster is the longest floorless coaster in the world. Fly through gut-wrenching loops, rolls and corkscrews at speeds up to 65 mph!
Volcano, The Blast Coaster -It's the only coaster in the world to shoot you straight out of a raging volcano! Suspended from a steel track, you'll fly in and out of the rumbling mountain at speeds over 70 mph, then rocket 155 feet out of the top of the crater into a series of heart stopping inversions before a final 80-foot plummet. This is one of the world's fastest suspended coasters!The following was was incredibly scary the first time but just insanely fun the second. Shannon went on it the first time but decided to watch us go back a 2nd time and film it. This is called the Drop Tower and they describe it as follows: The largest drop ride in North America, a 305-foot tower of thrills that promises daring riders a 272-foot descent at 72 miles-per-hour! This adrenaline-pumping adventure simulates the sensation of skydiving.
There was one small one, not really a "coaster" but it was awesome as it spun you around so fast your stomach did flip-flops! It was called The Crypt and it made me laugh so hard I was crying!
Through all the thrills and adrenaline we had that day the only truly scary moment was when the boys decided they were going to do the Xtreme Flyer. As many of you know, if you've been in ANY roller coaster park, that this is the ride that you have to pay extra for, where they strap you to a harness attached to a cord that pulls you up incredibly high. In this case it was 153 feet, and then you have to pull the cord attached to your harness to DROP you, as if you were skydiving, and then you swing out like superman! Shannon and I watched petrified as we realized if anything happened that we were out our only two children! Once again... what were we thinking!!! Well, here it is...We had an awesome day that was no stress and all fun! The perfect day with our teenage sons!
