Amusement Parks and Attractions in Virginia

In addition to the major amusement parks in Virginia, including Paramount's King's Dominion, Water Country USA, and Busch Gardens, Virginia is home to a few smaller amusement parks, equally as enjoyable for a day's adventure.

One of these interesting parks is located in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, just west of Reston, in Northern Virginia. If your child is fascinated by dinosaurs, or if you yourself enjoyed Jurassic Park,Dinosaur Land is sure to thrill all of you. This park has made its reputation over the past forty plus years on enthralling visitors with life-sized, fiberglass replicas of a myriad different dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures. Dinosaur Land is somewhat like an outdoor museum in that there is a lot of educational material for both adults and children to gain.

Throughout this outdoor location, much of which is shaded by forests and trees, visitors will see Wooly Mammoths, a Gigantosaurus catching prey in its mouth, a Dilophosaurus, Triceratops, Stegosaurus, Megalosaurus, a sixty-foot long shark, a seventy-foot long octopus, and over twenty five others. Your child's imagination is sure to be sparked by the colossal creatures.

Another fun aspect of Dinosaur Land is its gift shop, complete with a plentitude of diverse collectibles, books, and other treats for children, who always want to take home a piece of the action.

As Brad Lemley, with the Washington Post Magazine humorously summarizes, "A walk through Dinosaur Land, alone, on a cold fall day can tug at you in a way that is hard to describe. There is something in the swirl of dead leaves around the gaily painted tentacles of a twenty foot fiberglass octopus, something in the defiant gaze of the giant sloth, designed to thrill a crowd..."

In Virginia Beach, Virginia, visitors will find lots of thrills at the Ocean Breeze Waterpark. Although it is not quite as large or of as grand a scale as Water Country USA, one hour north of Virginia Beach in Williamsburg, Ocean Breeze is a great waterpark with plenty of rides, slides, and attractions to entertain an entire family, and all children between teenagers and toddlers. If you happen to be in Virginia Beach already, Ocean Breeze is a quick drive—only one and a half miles—from the oceanfront.

Inside the waterpark, visitors can relax, float, and bodysurf in Runaway Bay, the park's one million gallon wave pool. The park's sixteen slides include the Large Loop, a tubing slide in which you can ride solo or with a partner down twists and turns; Jungle Falls, a family tube ride for up to four people over white water rapids and waterfalls; Coconut Drops and Bamboo Shoots, a few body slides; Paradise Pipeline, a few pipe slides in which you only need your body to splash down twists, turns and drops; Bahama Mama, the parks fastest straight body slide; The Grape Escape, another body slide; South Seas Silly Slides, three small slides that children can ride by themselves or with their parents, splashing into a one-foot deep splash pool below; Kiddie Caverns, a group of small scale mat slides for smaller visitors; and the Little Amazon, a relaxing "lazy" river in which children and float in tubes by themselves or with parents.

Younger children who may not be up to any of the park's sixteen waterslides will have fun playing in Buccaneer Bay, a special play area featuring a giant pirate ship with water attractions and activities. In addition, an arcade is located in the building with the gift shop, so land-loving children and adults can find respite inside.

Ocean Breeze provides free life jackets and tubes for all rides; however, tubes and floats for the wave pool must be rented. There are lockers and changing rooms for the convenience of visitors as well. Although Ocean Breeze does not allow coolers to be brought into the park for safety reasons, there is a BBQ café inside the park.

Virginia is home to many fun amusement parks and attraction sites for entertaining children and making wonderful memories together on your family trip. Whether you plan your entire vacation around visiting one of these parks, or simply make a day trip in the midst of an ongoing vacation, your kids will surely appreciate the fun times.