When I was growing up, we used to frollick as teenagers a couple of times summer at Kings Dominion. A trip there was a highly coveted adventure. I remember going there in college too, and having a blast. Then it seems like in my late 20's, approaching 30, Kings Dominion just lost its appeal. The people who came there seemed to suddenly all have pagers (remember those?) and way too much gold jewelry for what is acceptable at a theme park, and kids on leashes. Lots of the good rides disappeared... the King Cobra, Mousetrap, the Haunted River with that awesome straight down plunge at the end (but your hands would smell like mildew all day from holding onto the handle in the boat). Rides with Spongebob themes started taking over.
Its not a particularly pretty park either. Having been to Busch Gardens, Hershey Park and Dutch Wonderland in recent years, those are far more aesthetically pleasing. And after we go to Disney in two months, we may never be able to step foot in Gangs Dominion again.
A funny side bar... once when Andrew and I were dating and possibly engaged, I can't quite remember, Andrew and I got up one day in September and decided to both play hooky from work. It was a gorgeous day, and we decided what better way to spend it than riding some coasters at KD? We set off on the two hour drive (remember, this is way early in the days of internet, and the only thing your cell phone (if you had one) could do was make a call (maybe). Never even thinking about their hours. It was after Labor Day, afterall, but we thought for sure they must still be open since it was still so nice outside. We pull up around normal opening time, and the entire lot was empty. Not a car in sight. Maybe some maintenence trucks but that was it. Closed. They were closed on weekdays. As in "The moose at the front should have told you". And if you've been to Kings Dominion, you know its in the middle of nowhere. So without even turning the car off, we made a giant u-turn in the empty lot and headed back up 95 North all the way to Potomac Mills Mall, where we browsed Ikea and probably bought some nice textiles.
Anyway. Andrew has worked for the same company for 11 years. Its a huge company, and every September, they rent out an entire theme park for the annual company picnic. It used to be at Six Flags in Maryland (which I fondly remember from my high school years as Wild World, my friend Ronda was proudly the Plush Manager). But the company got too big and they moved it several years ago to Gangs Dominion, a bigger park, instead.
So yesterday morning, we set off down 95 South to the land of coasters and funnel cakes. Its always amazing to me how huge his company is. Because you'd think a private event at a theme park, you'd stand a chance at getting on a ride or two without an hour line. But as I said, its a huge company and people invite other friends and family and before you know it, its pretty much just as crowded as a peak Saturday in July, minus the 100 degree weather.
The fun part is, walking around Andrew will run into some people he knows. They cater a free picnic lunch that isn't too bad. And every year, our boys can go on bigger and bigger rides. This year, Logan was in a funk and didn't really want to ride anything at all. Which is honestly just fine with me. I'm not so much into spinning things, since I gave birth my equilibrium just never quite recovered. I'm more into the people watching and just watching my kids enjoy themselves. People watching at a theme park is stellar, even at a company picnic, let me tell you.
When we go to theme parks, we always have to get about five maps because Logan's favorite part of the experience is studying the map. This skill may come in handy if he were looking for something useful to all of us, but all he's looking for is where they have the games so he can try and win a giant hideous stuffed animal of some sort.
Our end of the day splurge... funnelcake and the boys made their own stuffed animals.
Its nice of his company to do this for the employees every year. We always have a good time, and more importantly, so do the kids. One of these days, our boys will be old enough to go to theme parks and 'meet back up with us later'. I hope that day is still a long time away. There's just something magical about a day at a theme park with your kids, even if its at Gangs Dominion.
