A Royal Good Time

We just got back from a day at Kings Dominion. Grandad graciously invited us to tag along for a company sponsored outing at his work, so we brought our whole brood. The park opened at 10:30 .. we were in the gates by 11am. Park closed at 8pm, we were pulling out of the lot at 7:58pm.

We had a blast all day long, with surprisingly few meltdowns.

First stop was Nickelodeon land. We spied “Blue” and gave her a hug and got a pic:

Then, Wendy wanted to ride the “Rugrats Toonpike.”  It looked really cute – a little minature town that kids can drive pint-sized cars through.  But I quickly realized it was a disaster.  Although the line looked short – it took forever for them to move each group through, so the wait was horrible.  And I got to endure lots of questions about the Rugrats, whom I detest.  Even worse, poor Sam wasn’t big enough to go on it, so he had to play the waiting game outside the ride (until Grandad rescued him and took him on another kiddie ride).

When Wendy finally got her moment to drive, she had a hard time with steering and kept driving into the curb, which made her car stop.  By the time she finally got the hang of it, her 3 minutes were up and the ride was over.

Despite my frustration with how long it all took, she had fun, and things got much better afterwards.  We headed for “Kidzville” which had a ton of kiddie rides, which both kids could take full advantage of.

Wendy was flirting with this little boy!

Bumper cars was a big hit and so funny to watch.  We were concerned about Sam getting stuck against the perimeter, so we kept telling him ahead of time to turn his wheel if he got stuck.  And the boy listened!  He had the wheel cranked so hard he did donuts for about 90% of the time.  It was hilarious.  Grandad tried to explain the finer points of “straightening out” but I don’t think it really sunk in.  Maybe in another 13 years.

The Kidz Construction Company was a really neat play area with places to climb and explore.  Both kids had fun in it.

Grandad even did a little babysitting.  All by himself!

This mini-beserker was fun.  They loved the “rocking boat.”

Around 1:30, we took a break and had lunch at the pavillions, courtesy of PW Marine.  The kids enjoyed yummy hot dogs and Adam had his first “push pop”.  He liked it.

After lunch, we were ready to head out again for more fun.  The “double” stroller was great for hauling all our gear and kids.  In our case, it was more of a triple stroller.

Look who got to hang out in the back:

It was great to go with Grammy & Grandad because they were kind enough to tagalong and watch the baby while we took turns riding with the kids.  The one roller coaster Sam was big enough for was the “Taxi Jam”.  He loved it!  As did Wendy – she’s a daredevil, like me.

This ride was especially fun because they have cameras mounted in front of each car and take a video of your ride, which you can then buy.  We didn’t buy, but it was fun to watch it on the screens.

After this, Wendy & I rode the “Scooby Doo Coaster.”  This was quite nostalgic for me, because it was the first coaster I remember riding as a kid.  She was apprehensive while we were waiting in line, but absolutely loved it.  We both had fun putting our hands up and screaming.

Meanwhile, Adam napped.

After  a few more kid rides, it was time for a little grown-up fun.  Grammy & Grandad watched the munchkins while Mike & I rode the “Drop Tower.”

Talk about a rush!  KD describes it as, “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.”

Adrenaline-pumping indeed!  We loved it.  It’s was now after 4pm and Grammy & Grandad were fading.  I wanted to squeeze in one real roller coaster ride, so Mike & I took a turn on the Rebel Yell (my all-time favorite ride – a classic coaster), while the grandparents had kid duty.  The wait was a little longer than expected and when we came out, this is what we found:

Sam had been so good all day – nary a meltdown.  But he couldn’t quite make it to 5pm – he conked out in Grandad’s arms.  G&G were ready to hit the road, but we had promised the kids some water action, so we decided to check out the WaterWorks section before calling it a day.

Sam woke up and we all had fun playing in their wave pool.  After that, Mike took the big kids on a turn down the Lazy River.

There was a lot more to explore in WaterWorks, but it was now after 6pm and we needed to eat again.  After refueling with Chick-Fil-A, we started to head back through the park to the entrance.  You’d think the kids would be ready to pass out, but no, they wanted to ride some of their favorite rides again!

Wendy & I took another turn on the Scooby Doo, while Sam hit some other Kidzville attractions.  We FINALLY got back to the entrance around 7:45pm.  I wanted to get a picture of the park with the setting sun to show how long we lasted, but instead, I had to settle for a dancing Wendy & Sam.

After all that, we hit the road and made it home in record time.  Everyone conked out pretty quick, most likely dreaming of rides they’d like to ride again and again.

Tomorrow morning, they will wake up as they always do and say, “What are we going to do to today?”

The answer is, I’m not sure, but I know it won’t be as much fun as we had today!

Tags: outings