Kings's Dominion 101

Last summer (2009) we traveled to Pennsylvania to visit family and take the kids to Sesame Place. We did a two day pass (that was the same price as the 1 day pass...um...no-brainer). This allowed us to do dry rides one afternoon and water rides the next full day. Sesame Place is geared towards small kids, so our kids (5 and 2 at the time) had unlimited amounts of fun. We were all able to enjoy the rides together and all four of us had a blast.

This summer (2010) we decided that we were going to visit one of our favorite destinations...Virginia Beach. Spurred by coupons that had come to my office earlier in the summer, we had the idea to take the kids to King's Dominion. So, we left Thursday morning, July 1, on our family vacation to the beach. First stop...King's Dominion.

About five minutes after we left the house, we hear the first...When we going to be there?...my reply...In a little while.

So 10,000 'When we going to be there' laters and one stop at Cracker Barrel (which cost us more in the gift shop than the meal), we arrived at King's Dominion.

The kids were super excited and so were the parents, I must say. The first thing I do is write my cell phone number on the kids' bellies in permanent marker with the word parent by it. We have coached the kids that they have to stay with us and if they should get separated to find a worker... (you know the drill).

Even with the coupons, to get us through the gate, two adult tickets and two under 48 inches tall tickets were over $150.00...whew...not to mention the other probably $150.00 we spent inside the gate on $3.50 bottled cokes and water. I also have to add that the park has some kind of affiliation with Chic-fil-et (my favorite) so we had a late lunch munching on my favorite fast food. John and Brennen both got a chicken sandwich and Bayley and I split a 12 piece. We all shared a $4.50 large coke (no ice-haha) and $23.00 later, we were all still a little hungry.

But before our late lunch, around 4:00 p.m. we rode lots of rides. The first ride we got on is the infamous Scobby Doo Roller Coaster which is now called the Ghoster Coaster. This is a pretty good little roller coaster and I was impressed to think that this is Brennen and Bayley's second coaster that they have ridden at ages 6 and 3 (the first was at Sesame Place).

I was highly disappointed to find out that when you get on a ride, you no longer hear the muffled voice of a teenager warning you to keep your arms and legs in the vehicle and enjoy the rest of your day here at Paramount's King's Dominion. If you have ever been to KD, you know what I am talking about...instead you here the same muffled voice with the same muffled warning, but instead of the whole ending starting with enjoy your day at Paramount's KD...you here..."Ride On".

Paramount's is no longer affiliated with King's Dominion. No Hanna Barbera land, no Scobby Doo, no Yogi's Cave...ahhh the childhood memories. Now they have a Charlie Brown theme, which I guess is a little more up to date. My kids favorite ride was this fairly lame indoor ride where you got in a cart and shot a laser gun at ghosts that popped up, with the Ghoster Coaster and Spongebob Interactive 3-D Theater coming in a close second. The Spongebob Theater was kind of cool. It took the place of the Days of Thunder ride (would rather see Spongebob than Tom Cruise anyway-lol). All in all the day was really fun. The kids were limited on what they could ride because of their height, but we were able to do enough to keep us busy all day.

We left King's Dominion and headed for the beach. We stayed with one of John's friends who has extra rooms, so the rest of the vacation was fairly inexpensive. (I did get to manage one quick trip to TJ Maxx and it was a TJ Maxx HOMEGOODS-luv it.) We got to watch the July 4th fireworks over the ocean and had a great stay.

We left Monday, July 5th, to head for home. We didn't get on the road to close to 11:00am thinking we would miss most of the traffic. The ride home that normally takes about 5 and 1/2 hours took close to 8. The traffic was bad and seemed to be lots of fender benders holding up traffic. The time frame and the 10 million "When we going be there" left John with the conclusion that maybe this whole traveling at night with little kids thing has some merit. I think I will just pack some Benedryl for next trip...not sure if I'll give it to the kids or take it myself-lol

Until next time.....

(Thanks Tiff for re-inspiring me to write down some of my memories).

Blueberries, Chocolate, and Umpas....Oh My!!!

Over the Christmas break, while flipping through the channels, John finds the 1970's movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. The kids are piled on the couch with him (all 3 in their underwear) and he is excited to find this on TV. As a dad this will serve two purpose..1)he can share a memory with the kids and 2) teach them the Willy Wonka lesson all at the same time.

Well, he made a memory, but not the kind that he wanted to leave...

Since watching this move, Bayley has become obsessed with the 'Blueberry Girl'. During the movie, one of the girls chews a piece of gum (after Charlie tells her not to) that tastes like a five course meal. The last course is blueberry pie. Well, Charlie has not quite perfected the whole gum thing yet and this girl turns into a giant blueberry. Her face is purplish blue and her body is big and round with her head, arms, and legs sticking out. (For the 1970's the special affects are pretty good.) The scene changes with the little Umpa Lumpa's rolling the girl out of the room to take her to the 'juicer' room and the audience doesn't see her again. Neither one of the kids say much about this at the time because in between singing along with the Umpa Lumpa's John is coaching them through the whole movie about what happens when kids don't listen.

The next day Bayley wakes up talking about the Blueberry girl and wanting to know what happened to her. John and I both try to explain that she was rolled out and they squeezed the juice out of her and she got to go back to her family. That would pacify her for a little while and then the Blueberry Girl would come up again. The fortune of the Blueberry Girl has now become such an elaborate story that the juice comes out of her belly button.

The kids also like to run around the house singing their own version of the Umpa Lumpa song: "Umpa Lumpa, Ubeteedo...I've got another present for you". Occasionally they even sing that there is another 'poop' for you. (The word 'poop' at our house has taken on a whole life of its own, but that is another story, for another day.)

Well Blueberry Girl has been dreamed about (Bayley has woken in the middle of the night from a deep sleep talking about the Blueberry Girl), has been talked about endlessly, and has become feared at the hands of Brennen..."The Blueberry Girl is coming to get you!!!" Bayley definitely has 'Blueberrygirlaphobia'. I see counseling in the future.....