Off To Kings Dominion

The Scooby-Doo.

The Rebel Yell.

The Grizzly.

The Berserker.

Diamond Falls.

White Water Canyon.

Hanna-Barbera Land.

Anyone who has ever been to Kings' Dominion prior to Paramount's takeover of those theme parks would know those names with fondness. I remember every summer the whole family would take a trip to Kings Dominion. They've done this ever since the park opened in 1975. I remember when I was a little kid going in Yogi's Cave. The big guy was standing right in front of it near a pic-a-nick basket and a fishing pole in his hand. It was awesome. The place was huge with that silly song playing throughout, "This here cave belongs to Yogi . . . "

Needless to say, to me and my family, this was better than Disney World.

But, as the years went on, as they always do, things change and families grow apart. We didn't go to Kings Dominion as much as we did the park closer to home, Busch Gardens. The last time the whole family went to Kings Dominion was the summer of 1998. It was the first time that all of us, not to mention some newcomers to the family, went to the park as a family. Needless to say, it was a totally different place than I had remembered it, but the park still smelled the same. Fresh paint, hot asphalt, and wet wood. The Effiel Tower still stood there, 1/3 the size of the original, but tall nonetheless. A lot of the Hanna-Barbera stuff was gone in favor of this Nickelodeon theme section, though I remembered seeing the Scooby-Doo roller-coaster still in place. There was a Wayne's World section and all these Paramount themed areas. They had even built in a waterpark inside (and dang if I didn't bring a bathing suit). In all, a fun time was had by all, even if it did feel like Paramount commercial time everywhere we turned.

Sadly, it would be the last time all of us would be together. My grandmother passed the following January. And we all, as a family, never went there again.

I found out today that Kings Dominion and all of the Paramount Parks was purchased for $1.24 billion by Cedar Fair, the owners of Knott's Berry Farm, Cedar Point, Geauga Lake, Dorney Park, and Valleyfair. You know, for a theme park that has always been seen as #2 in the state, Kings Dominion's in pretty good company now. I hope they'll manage to become less like a commercial park and back to the park of my youth (but with modern, better rides, of course).