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Hello theme park review I'm rob and I'm from Toledo, OH. I think you guys give great advice to people planning trips and I'm looking for some about the 2 trips I'm planning this year.

 

The first is to visit Kings Dominion, Busch Gardens Williamsburg, and Carowinds for spring break the first week of April. I have no idea what kinds of crowds to expect so I'm thinking of tackling this trip a couple different ways. Both ways start by driving to kings dominion on Sunday and possibly previewing it if we're up for it after the long drive. Then as a cedar fair platinum pass holder I was thinking of spending 2 days at kings dominion. I've heard volcano's line is usually very long and obviously with twisted timbers being brand new that could have a long line as well. So one day during the early entry could be to marathon volcano and the second day could be to marathon twisted timbers.

 

Then Wednesday it's on to Busch gardens where I will spend 1 day. Then Thursday drive from Busch to Carowinds and preview Carowinds. And Friday spend a whole day at Carowinds. Saturday drive home.

 

Now my second plan is to spend just 1 day at kings dominion and get fast lane plus. That way I can get as many rides as I want on everything in 1 day. Which would mean I go to Busch on Wednesday. Then after Busch I could knock out 2 hours of the Carowinds drive and finish the rest on Thursday, get fast lane at Carowinds and head home on Friday after spending a couple more hours at Carowinds. Normally I wouldn't spend the money for fast lane because I think the prices are outrageous but I figure I would be spending the same amount of money in either scenario because I'm either going to get the passes or a hotel room if I'm spending 2 days at both cedar fair parks.

 

 

Now the second trip I'm looking to take sometime in August but I'm hoping the forums wisdom can provide me with the best week to do this.

 

My plan for this trip is as follows: Saturday drive from Toledo to Allentown, PA and possibly preview Dorney Park.

 

Sunday go to Dorney, stay until about 3 or 4 ( leave earlier if I was able to preview) and head to Six Flags New England and preview that.

 

Monday go to Six Flags New England and Lake Compounce.

 

Tuesday hit Coney Island/ Luna park, and the New Jersey boardwalk parks casino pier and and play lands castaway cove or whatever they're called and possibly preview great adventure.

 

Wednesday spend the whole day at great adventure.

 

Thursday hit knoebels and preview hersheypark.

 

Friday spend the whole day at hersheypark.

 

Saturday drive to six flags America and spend the whole day there.

 

Sunday drive home.

 

Looking forward to the responses!

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Welcome to the forum!

 

You said "we," so I'm assuming you have a second driver, and that's a very good thing for a trip this massive. I also will assume since you mentioned spring break that you are students. I'm also going to assume that since you live in Toledo, you've been to places like Kennywood and therefore will not recommend additional parks. Certainly chime in if any of these assumptions are incorrect.

 

I think you have a bit too much going on in that second trip, and since your best path to Kings dominion takes you through Washington DC, I say move Six Flags America to that trip. You also have a lot more time than you think on your Spring Break trip. Yes, everything's going to be crowded because it's Spring Break, but you can take a couple of days for sightseeing in DC. It's a really great city.

 

Fri 3/30: Leave after school, drive as far east as you can. You could probably make Pittsburgh.

Sat 4/1: Finish driving to Washington DC, Six Flags America

Sun 4/2: Washington DC

Mon 4/3: Washington DC

Tues 4/4: Kings Dominion

Wed 4/5: Kings Dominion

Thurs 4/6: Busch Gardens

Fri 4/7: Drive to Charlotte

Sat 4/8: Carowinds

Sun 4/9: Drive home

 

For your second trip, you have a lot of backtracking. Let's turn that into a nice big circle. You're also never going to do Coney Island, Jersey Shore, and Great Adventure all in one day. The distances are short, but it's congested like you wouldn't believe. I'm also from the Midwest, and I didn't believe it until I saw it either. The Garden State Parkway is six lanes even in rural areas, and it needs to be.

 

Dorney will take 2-3 hours, and Knoebels needs a full day minimum. You can get an all day wristband, an evening wristband after 5, or just buy individual tickets. They don't sell the wristbands on weekends, though, so make sure you're at Knoebels during the week. Hershey gives you a free preview day, so make sure you're there for that.

 

This trip would be easy without New England. That's really giving you a time crunch. It's far, about 11 hours from Toledo. Still, I think you can do it all without killing yourselves.

 

Fri 8/3: Again leave after school and drive as far as you can.

Sat 8/4: Finish driving to Hershey, preview day

Sun 8/5: Hershey

Mon 8/6: Knoebels

Tues 8/7: Dorney/SF Great Adventure

Wed 8/8: SF Great Adventure

Thurs 8/9: Jersey Shore

Fri 8/10: NYC/Coney Island/Get out of the city that night, not the next morning

Sat 8/11: Six Flags New England/Lake Compounce/drive west as far as you can to make the next day easier

Sun 8/12: Drive home

 

Sounds fun!

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Hey, thanks for the response. I'm actually a teacher not a student and I am also a season pass holder at Kennywood. I'm originally from Steubenville, OH so I've been there countless times. I'm doing both trips with my girlfriend so technically there is another driver but I was planning on doing all the driving.

 

I've already been sightseeing down the east coast multiple times and our school has a trip to DC every year which I have been on. So I've seen all there is to see in DC, Philly, NYC, and Boston so I'm not looking to do a thing but go to parks. And I know how congested it is.

 

I originally wanted to put Six Flags America as part of the spring break trip but I'm not sure it's open. On their website I can't find a calendar. It just shows January and nothing else. But if it's open that is definitely something I will do. Maybe drive there on Sunday and get my six flags season pass processed and possibly preview. Then on Monday visit for a whole day. if spring break is going to be crowded it sounds like getting fast lane is a good idea. So 1 day at kings dominion on Tuesday with fast lane, Busch and then drive 2 hours toward Charlotte on Wednesday, Carowinds with fast lane on Thursday, Carowinds until about 11am without fast lane and drive home Friday.

 

For the second trip I don't want to hit Hershey on the weekend. I've been there before on the weekend and I just do not want to do it. It was just too busy. My plan was never to drive from Toledo to New England. It is to drive from to Toledo to Allentown on Saturday and preview Dorney.

 

Sunday spend a little more time at Dorney and drive the 4-5 hrs to New England and possibly preview it.

 

Monday hit New England and lake Compounce and drive towards NYC and stay in SW Connecticut.

 

Tuesday get to Luna park when it opens (10 am??), spend 1 hour at the most there, at 11 am drive 2-2.5 hours to casino pier. Now it's 1:30ish, 2 hours at casino pier, 3:30 drive to playlands, now it's 5:30, 1 hour there, 6:30 drive to great adventure, arrive at 8:30. I know there's another Boardwalk park but reliable sources say the coaster sucks so I'm going to skip it. Those drive times are actually longer than google maps says. So I don't think I would be killing myself at all, unless those drive times are not realistic or unless I'm not giving myself enough time at each park. But I don't want to hit every single little ride at every park. I want to hit the coasters, the Ferris wheel (because the GF loves them), and anything else unique that I haven't been on before.

 

Wednesday, great adventure.

 

Thursday knoebels then preview Hershey

 

Friday Hershey

 

Saturday drive home.

 

Maybe I should have mentioned this before, but I can drive a lot. I go to kings island all the time without staying overnight. That's 3 hours there and 3 hours back and staying until the park closes. The most I've ever drove in 1 day was from Toledo to Lincoln, NE. It took a little less than 14 hours with 2 stops to eat, slow traffic in Chicago, and multiple restroom stops. That was a Friday. Then Saturday we watched Ohio St whip Nebraska, and then I drove another 13 hours back to Toledo on Sunday.

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Okay, sounds like you are probably okay on driving. If you've seen the East Coast cultural stuff, great. I try to include that stuff on my trips but sounds like you're ok without it.

 

Six Flags America opens March 30 and is open daily through April 8. Goes weekends only after that. So definitely put it in your Southern trip. Since you have time and don't need to do DC, maybe add on Dollywood or Six Flags over Georgia. Clearly you have a Six Flags gold pass or membership.

 

Moreys Piers is a lot of fun, and the Great Noreaster and Great White are both fantastic. Lots of fun flats, including It (pendulum ride) and the StratosFear drop tower. They have a great flume too.

 

Your drive times are realistic under ideal or near ideal conditions. I like that you're adding time to Google Maps, very smart. Google gives you the amount of time you will be moving, but you do stop sometimes for various reasons. This is a vacation; you don't want to be stressed.

 

I would strongly encourage more than half a day at Knoebels. It doesn't look like much on the website, but it's awesome. Hershey on the weekend can be packed, true, and it is better to plan around it if you can. Gotta have Knoebels on a weekday though.

 

Really, this sounds like a lot of fun.

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Moving Six Flags America to the first trip would be a huge help. It's weird... one trip is really well planned, laid back and you have plenty of time to do everything and the second one is an absurd credit whoring death-march.

 

I've got to be honest, I would really cut out Luna Park. For the second trip, you're really killing yourself here just so you can get to a bunch of overpriced sh*tty parks which are causing you to rush through the good parks. Your plan for Tuesday sounds miserable. You're going to cut Knoebels and Six Flags New England to half a day so you have time to either drive through New York City (though not Manhattan, but still...) in rush hour traffic, or pay for a New York City hotel room (which may or may not include parking) to go ride some $10 Zamperla clones? To each his own, but come on.

 

As for the Jersey Shore, I would prioritize Morey's Piers and the Ocean City parks. Hit Hydrus in Seaside if you feel inclined but it's skippable. Skip Steel Pier, Jenkinsons and Keansburg. They suck. If you MUST whore one of them, ride the crappy Flitzer at Jenkinsons on the way to Seaside if you go ride Hydrus since it's only a few minutes out of the way anyway. The Morey's Flitzer is much better though so I'd just skip this. If you go to Morey's, get a wristband and don't miss the flume, the wacky dark rides, the drop tower or Ghost Ship. The Morey's flume is the best ride on the Jersey shore by a wide margin. If you don't go to Morey's but do go to those other parks, you're insane.

 

Also, don't rush Knoebels to get to Hershey. Knoebels is a full day park. Do one day at Hersehey and get their horrible skip the line pass. It sucks, but it will help make your day far less stressful.

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have you been to BGW before?

 

if not, then absolutely do 2 days there (you can likely do everything you want at KD in one day, especially if you do FastPass).

 

but Busch Gardens Williamsburg is a HUGE park, and pretty spread out.. you'll want more than 1 day to actually experience this beautiful park, and take in the Animals/shows, and Celtic Fyre show.

 

it wins best landscaped park so many times for a reason

 

(of course, if you've been before, not a big deal. but if first time? treat yourself and do 2 days)

 

just my 2cents.

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I would agree that BGW is a better two-day park than KD if you are going for more than thrill rides. I visited both in August with FL+ and Quick Queue. YMMV depending on the days you visit, but we only used the FL+ at Volcano at KD and only used one QQ for Verbolten at BGW. We had light crowds and rode all our favorites many times. We are pretty much coaster-only people, so one day at each park was enough. We did catch a show at BGW during a brief thunderstorm and it was really well done.

 

Personally, as a coaster fan I would FL+ KD for one day and spend a full day at BGW and make a trip something like this:

 

Sunday: Drive- Preview KD

Monday: ERT & FL+ at KD

Tuesday: BGW - drive a bit

Wednesday: Carowinds FL+ - drive a bit

Thursday: SFOG

Friday: Dollywood

Saturday: Drive home

 

Alternately, I would drop SFOG and Dollywood and spend two days each at BGW and Carowinds. Or drop SFOG and spend that day at Carowinds or BGW.

 

Carowinds ERT appears to only be in the first two weeks of August unless the schedule changes. KD hasn't posted an ERT schedule yet, AFAIK.

 

I don't consider myself a credit whore, but I am not afraid to death march. I posted here about a trip I was planning for this summer and based on advice received I have split it into two separate trips. Which are currently devolving into two death marches. I may only post the itinerary for those trips after they happen to avoid ridicule here.

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Tuesday get to Luna park when it opens (10 am??), spend 1 hour at the most there, at 11 am drive 2-2.5 hours to casino pier. Now it's 1:30ish, 2 hours at casino pier, 3:30 drive to playlands, now it's 5:30, 1 hour there, 6:30 drive to great adventure, arrive at 8:30. I know there's another Boardwalk park but reliable sources say the coaster sucks so I'm going to skip it. Those drive times are actually longer than google maps says. So I don't think I would be killing myself at all, unless those drive times are not realistic or unless I'm not giving myself enough time at each park. But I don't want to hit every single little ride at every park. I want to hit the coasters, the Ferris wheel (because the GF loves them), and anything else unique that I haven't been on before.

 

Sounds like you have to make a choice between two high costs places Coney Island and Wildwood. To ride the coasters and the unique stuff "Spook House (refurbed in 2012) and Wonder Wheel" at Deno's you probably need 90-120 minutes. Once prices are listed you might find it more economical for the 4 hours wrist band (vs. ala carte) even if only using it for 90 minutes. That early in the AM, you will not encounter lines, but may have to wait a extra two or three minutes if they try to fill trains. At Morey's you will also want to cost out the all you can ride versus the ala carte costs. When planning remember to pay attention to operating times for each pier.

 

At that time of day 2-2.5 hours is reasonable to get from Coney Island to Casino Pier

 

Regarding the other parks.

Casino Pier - You won't need 2 hours there, just 15 minutes to ride Hydrus

Playland's Castaway Cove (Ocean City) - You need to ride the Tropical Storm flat ride, an absolute must. This parks runs great flat ride cycles.

Gillians Wonderland (Ocean City) - their Runaway Mine Train is a great family coaster, but the park has unique flats to the area Super Flipping Arm and ARM Drop Tower

Moreys Piers - I'll leave coasterbill and boldikus to list specifics, but Ghost Ship is a must. The Wildwood boardwalk also had many unique places to visit.

 

Casino Pier, PCC and Wonderland are all considered overpriced but have 50% off sales the week before Easter, so you can half your costs if you plan ahead.

 

 

Included only because you asked about uniqueness

Keansburg has one of the oldest pretzel dark rides and has recently been refurbed. They also still have an operating Chaos. But not worth stopping for the coasters.

 

Jenkinson's again not worth stopping for the coaster, but they have a good walk through fun house.

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They also still have an operating Chaos.

 

Yeah I wouldn't go out of the way expecting to ride that thing. From the looks of it, I'm not convinced it will ever run again. If it does, great but I would go to Keansburg assuming it will be closed just to be on the safe side. Don't make a separate trip if that's a motivating factor (which I can see it being since it's the only thing noteworthy about the place other than the view of Manhattan from the beach and presumably the cheap drugs).

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You'd be passing it after leaving Lake Compounce, but I strongly recommend working Quassy into the trip solely for Wooden Warrior.

 

I was able to do Casino Pier, Gillian's, Castaway Cove, and Morey's in one day. It was a pretty hectic day though. Adding Coney Island in the morning plus that drive could make it very tricky to finish everything. Unless you are just going to Morey's for the credits (which is the wrong way to do it), you really need 4-5 hours minimum to experience it all (preferably more).

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Okay, sounds like you are probably okay on driving. If you've seen the East Coast cultural stuff, great. I try to include that stuff on my trips but sounds like you're ok without it.

 

Six Flags America opens March 30 and is open daily through April 8. Goes weekends only after that. So definitely put it in your Southern trip. Since you have time and don't need to do DC, maybe add on Dollywood or Six Flags over Georgia. Clearly you have a Six Flags gold pass or membership.

 

Moreys Piers is a lot of fun, and the Great Noreaster and Great White are both fantastic. Lots of fun flats, including It (pendulum ride) and the StratosFear drop tower. They have a great flume too.

 

Your drive times are realistic under ideal or near ideal conditions. I like that you're adding time to Google Maps, very smart. Google gives you the amount of time you will be moving, but you do stop sometimes for various reasons. This is a vacation; you don't want to be stressed.

 

I would strongly encourage more than half a day at Knoebels. It doesn't look like much on the website, but it's awesome. Hershey on the weekend can be packed, true, and it is better to plan around it if you can. Gotta have Knoebels on a weekday though.

 

Really, this sounds like a lot of fun.

 

I appreciate the east coast cultural ideas. As a history teacher I think it's extremely important that people visit as many historical places on the east coast as they can.

 

I've been told great white is not a fun coaster and the other one is an SLC. And then all the other thrilling rides at morey's it looks like I could do at casino pier and Playlands.

 

 

I plan on spending the whole day at knoebels on Thursday. I was reading comments on someone else's trip which said it was a good idea to hit knoebels before hersheypark because knoebels closes early which gives you time to preview Hershey.

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I honestly think someone's giving you bad info.

 

I've been to all of the Jersey shore parks aside from the Ocean City ones (where the only noteworthy rides seem to be Gale Force which nobody liked in it's original form and the log flume at the other park) within the last few years and I can confidently say that the two best coasters on the Jersey Shore are at Morey's Piers. Great White is easily the best coaster on the Jersey Shore, Great Nor Easter is probably #2. I hated it before, but last year they ripped out all the track and rebuilt it pretty much from the ground up. It's almost B&M smooth at this point, the location is amazing and the interaction with the flume is super cool.

 

Honestly, if we were ranking all of the rides at the Jersey Shore, I'd say that AT LEAST the top 4 are all at Morey's Piers with Zoom Phloom, "it", Great White and Great Nor Easter. I might throw Hydrus a bone at #5.

 

Sure, everyone's opinion will differ on specific rides but I don't know of anyone on earth who wouldn't say that Morey's Piers is the best park on the Jersey Shore by a mile. Honestly, Surfside pier alone is better than any other park on the Jersey shore and there are 2 more piers included in your wristband.

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^ Don't forget about Atmosfear. Easily one of the best drop rides thanks to the view and that its an insane Larson.

 

I'm the token Moreys guy around here but what everyone else is saying has it basically covered but yeah, if all you are worried about is hitting coasters on a death march (which is what it sounds like to me) Moreys might not be for you. But consider it.

 

On paper their coaster lineup looks eh but Moreys, and Wildwood in general its about much more than that and its certainly not a quick pop-in-and-ride-the-coasters-and-leave kinda place. Spend a day and relax. It is absolutely not about the three large coasters, its about the sights, sounds, smells, atmosphere. The light packages at night. The smell of salt air, pizza and funnel cakes. The free beach, the tons and tons of amazing boardwalk food, the loads of shops that line the boardwalk from junk T-shirt shops to unique craft stores and endless arcades. Did I mention the food? They have live bands on Adventure Pier under the Great White. They have great flats that are pretty unique - the flume for one, and IT - one of the only pendulum rides that has lapbars only and the program they run on it it batsh*t insane. They have two fairly expansive waterparks. An elevated wave swinger and an elevated set of flyers. A great huge ferris wheel that allows you on a clear day the ability to see right up the Jersey coast. They have cheeky old well-maintained dark rides. A really well done all-season haunt style walk through. The have one of the best flumes on the east coast. I could go on and on. All I'm saying is don't count out Moreys because you're turned off by an SLC (which as Bill mentioned is probably the best SLC in the U.S. right now thanks to its recent overhaul) and because your friend told you Great White is bad.

 

Speaking of which, that person is so wrong. It's not the best ride ever but its location is hard to beat, its had extensive trackwork recently resulting in a very smooth and speedy ride loaded with laterals and small fun pops of airtime. Stay late and ride it to end your night.

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Moving Six Flags America to the first trip would be a huge help. It's weird... one trip is really well planned, laid back and you have plenty of time to do everything and the second one is an absurd credit whoring death-march.

 

I've got to be honest, I would really cut out Luna Park. For the second trip, you're really killing yourself here just so you can get to a bunch of overpriced sh*tty parks which are causing you to rush through the good parks. Your plan for Tuesday sounds miserable. You're going to cut Knoebels and Six Flags New England to half a day so you have time to either drive through New York City (though not Manhattan, but still...) in rush hour traffic, or pay for a New York City hotel room (which may or may not include parking) to go ride some $10 Zamperla clones? To each his own, but come on.

 

As for the Jersey Shore, I would prioritize Morey's Piers and the Ocean City parks. Hit Hydrus in Seaside if you feel inclined but it's skippable. Skip Steel Pier, Jenkinsons and Keansburg. They suck. If you MUST whore one of them, ride the crappy Flitzer at Jenkinsons on the way to Seaside if you go ride Hydrus since it's only a few minutes out of the way anyway. The Morey's Flitzer is much better though so I'd just skip this. If you go to Morey's, get a wristband and don't miss the flume, the wacky dark rides, the drop tower or Ghost Ship. The Morey's flume is the best ride on the Jersey shore by a wide margin. If you don't go to Morey's but do go to those other parks, you're insane.

 

Also, don't rush Knoebels to get to Hershey. Knoebels is a full day park. Do one day at Hersehey and get their horrible skip the line pass. It sucks, but it will help make your day far less stressful.

 

 

I can't cut out Luna park. The Coney Island cyclone is a piece of history. I've been wanting to ride forever and it's a credit I just need to have even though I'm sure it will probably be a huge let down. My grandfather used to work on it back in the day. It would really help if I knew what time Luna opens but I can't seem to find that info. I did more research on Morey's and you're right, I need to go there. As far as cutting knoebels and Six Flags New England, I'm not going to knoebels on Tuesday, I'm going on Thursday and planning on staying until it closes, then going to hersheyparks preview.

 

On Sunday I plan on leaving Dorney at 3 and arriving at SFNE between 7 and 8. Then I can preview NE Sunday night which would allow me to leave NE early on Monday. NE does have a big lineup but really only has 5 that I'm really interested in, plus the tall swing ride, and Ferris wheel assuming they have one. With the Sunday night preview I feel like that is plenty of time to do what I want to do there. Then I can drive to lake Compounce and ride Boulder dash, wildcat, and phobia fear. And I don't have to stay in NYC, i can stay in Stamford CT off the turnpike for around $125. Then in the morning it's 2-2.5 hrs to Coney Island at the most.

 

So my Tuesday is looking like this: If Luna opens at 10 get there at 10 and leave at 11. Arrive at casino pier no later than 1:30. At casino pier I want to ride hydrus and the skyscraper. I figure 1 hour at the most there. Leave at 2:30 and arrive at playlands at 4. Leave at 5 and arrive at morey's at 6 and stay till close. If Luna opens at 11 push everything back 1 hour. And I'm adding drive times to what google maps is saying, so at the end of the day I could have even more time.

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have you been to BGW before?

 

if not, then absolutely do 2 days there (you can likely do everything you want at KD in one day, especially if you do FastPass).

 

but Busch Gardens Williamsburg is a HUGE park, and pretty spread out.. you'll want more than 1 day to actually experience this beautiful park, and take in the Animals/shows, and Celtic Fyre show.

 

it wins best landscaped park so many times for a reason

 

(of course, if you've been before, not a big deal. but if first time? treat yourself and do 2 days)

 

just my 2cents.

 

I have never been before and if I feel like I need another day I can make that decision on the fly and push Carowinds back a day. I go to amusement parks for the coasters and thrill rides though. I don't know what kinds of animals are at Busch, but I've been to cedar point a million times and never once stopped to see any of the animals they have. And shows really aren't my thing. But thanks for the advice. If I feel like I need another day I can easily fit it in.

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I would agree that BGW is a better two-day park than KD if you are going for more than thrill rides. I visited both in August with FL+ and Quick Queue. YMMV depending on the days you visit, but we only used the FL+ at Volcano at KD and only used one QQ for Verbolten at BGW. We had light crowds and rode all our favorites many times. We are pretty much coaster-only people, so one day at each park was enough. We did catch a show at BGW during a brief thunderstorm and it was really well done.

 

Personally, as a coaster fan I would FL+ KD for one day and spend a full day at BGW and make a trip something like this:

 

Sunday: Drive- Preview KD

Monday: ERT & FL+ at KD

Tuesday: BGW - drive a bit

Wednesday: Carowinds FL+ - drive a bit

Thursday: SFOG

Friday: Dollywood

Saturday: Drive home

 

Alternately, I would drop SFOG and Dollywood and spend two days each at BGW and Carowinds. Or drop SFOG and spend that day at Carowinds or BGW.

 

Carowinds ERT appears to only be in the first two weeks of August unless the schedule changes. KD hasn't posted an ERT schedule yet, AFAIK.

 

I don't consider myself a credit whore, but I am not afraid to death march. I posted here about a trip I was planning for this summer and based on advice received I have split it into two separate trips. Which are currently devolving into two death marches. I may only post the itinerary for those trips after they happen to avoid ridicule here.

 

 

How does the QQ work at Busch?

 

I've been to Dollywood many times, and I'm planning on hitting SFOG next year for spring break on way down to or back from Florida.

 

I don't really understand what is meant by "death march". Is it the driving? I actually enjoy driving.

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Tuesday get to Luna park when it opens (10 am??), spend 1 hour at the most there, at 11 am drive 2-2.5 hours to casino pier. Now it's 1:30ish, 2 hours at casino pier, 3:30 drive to playlands, now it's 5:30, 1 hour there, 6:30 drive to great adventure, arrive at 8:30. I know there's another Boardwalk park but reliable sources say the coaster sucks so I'm going to skip it. Those drive times are actually longer than google maps says. So I don't think I would be killing myself at all, unless those drive times are not realistic or unless I'm not giving myself enough time at each park. But I don't want to hit every single little ride at every park. I want to hit the coasters, the Ferris wheel (because the GF loves them), and anything else unique that I haven't been on before.

 

Sounds like you have to make a choice between two high costs places Coney Island and Wildwood. To ride the coasters and the unique stuff "Spook House (refurbed in 2012) and Wonder Wheel" at Deno's you probably need 90-120 minutes. Once prices are listed you might find it more economical for the 4 hours wrist band (vs. ala carte) even if only using it for 90 minutes. That early in the AM, you will not encounter lines, but may have to wait a extra two or three minutes if they try to fill trains. At Morey's you will also want to cost out the all you can ride versus the ala carte costs. When planning remember to pay attention to operating times for each pier.

 

At that time of day 2-2.5 hours is reasonable to get from Coney Island to Casino Pier

 

Regarding the other parks.

Casino Pier - You won't need 2 hours there, just 15 minutes to ride Hydrus

Playland's Castaway Cove (Ocean City) - You need to ride the Tropical Storm flat ride, an absolute must. This parks runs great flat ride cycles.

Gillians Wonderland (Ocean City) - their Runaway Mine Train is a great family coaster, but the park has unique flats to the area Super Flipping Arm and ARM Drop Tower

Moreys Piers - I'll leave coasterbill and boldikus to list specifics, but Ghost Ship is a must. The Wildwood boardwalk also had many unique places to visit.

 

Casino Pier, PCC and Wonderland are all considered overpriced but have 50% off sales the week before Easter, so you can half your costs if you plan ahead.

 

 

Included only because you asked about uniqueness

Keansburg has one of the oldest pretzel dark rides and has recently been refurbed. They also still have an operating Chaos. But not worth stopping for the coasters.

 

Jenkinson's again not worth stopping for the coaster, but they have a good walk through fun house.

 

Thanks for that. I did more research on the boardwalk parks. Depending on when Luna opens I believe I can hit that for an hour, arrive at casino pier by 1:30, spend less than an hour there, arrive at playlands castaway cove by 4, another hour there at the most, and arrive at morey's no later than 6.

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You'd be passing it after leaving Lake Compounce, but I strongly recommend working Quassy into the trip solely for Wooden Warrior.

 

I was able to do Casino Pier, Gillian's, Castaway Cove, and Morey's in one day. It was a pretty hectic day though. Adding Coney Island in the morning plus that drive could make it very tricky to finish everything. Unless you are just going to Morey's for the credits (which is the wrong way to do it), you really need 4-5 hours minimum to experience it all (preferably more).

 

Thanks. What time does Quassy close? If I could work it in that would be cool.

 

I updated my boardwalk day. Basically I am looking to hit the coasters and any unique thrilling flat rides I have never done before. I think i can get to morey's by 6pm depending on when Luna Park opens. I'm having a real hard time finding out when these Boardwalk parks open. I've read that casino pier doesn't open until 1:30, and if Luna is the same it would destroy my entire plan.

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I can't cut out Luna park. The Coney Island cyclone is a piece of history. I've been wanting to ride forever and it's a credit I just need to have even though I'm sure it will probably be a huge let down. My grandfather used to work on it back in the day. It would really help if I knew what time Luna opens but I can't seem to find that info. I did more research on Morey's and you're right, I need to go there. As far as cutting knoebels and Six Flags New England, I'm not going to knoebels on Tuesday, I'm going on Thursday and planning on staying until it closes, then going to hersheyparks preview.

 

On Sunday I plan on leaving Dorney at 3 and arriving at SFNE between 7 and 8. Then I can preview NE Sunday night which would allow me to leave NE early on Monday. NE does have a big lineup but really only has 5 that I'm really interested in, plus the tall swing ride, and Ferris wheel assuming they have one. With the Sunday night preview I feel like that is plenty of time to do what I want to do there. Then I can drive to lake Compounce and ride Boulder dash, wildcat, and phobia fear. And I don't have to stay in NYC, i can stay in Stamford CT off the turnpike for around $125. Then in the morning it's 2-2.5 hrs to Coney Island at the most.

 

So my Tuesday is looking like this: If Luna opens at 10 get there at 10 and leave at 11. Arrive at casino pier no later than 1:30. At casino pier I want to ride hydrus and the skyscraper. I figure 1 hour at the most there. Leave at 2:30 and arrive at playlands at 4. Leave at 5 and arrive at morey's at 6 and stay till close. If Luna opens at 11 push everything back 1 hour. And I'm adding drive times to what google maps is saying, so at the end of the day I could have even more time.

 

Okay, if you insist. You'll need more than an hour in Coney Island though. I actually do enjoy the Cyclone a lot and hopefully you will too. If you're there, make sure you at least ride the Wonder Wheel in a swinging car. It's not in Luna Park, but if you want to a ride a piece of history then don't skip that for a sh*tty Volare.

 

I'm having a real hard time finding out when these Boardwalk parks open. I've read that casino pier doesn't open until 1:30, and if Luna is the same it would destroy my entire plan.

 

Luna park's hours last year courtesy of the internet archive.

last.jpg.e5731f18a06528345c146813dfe5540b.jpg

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How does the QQ work at Busch?

 

I've been to Dollywood many times, and I'm planning on hitting SFOG next year for spring break on way down to or back from Florida.

 

I don't really understand what is meant by "death march". Is it the driving? I actually enjoy driving.

 

You get one line skip for each of the major rides and a wild card to use on any ride. I personally thought it was a waste of money, but I went on a low-volume day. YMMV the week of spring break.

 

I also enjoy driving and have taken week long trips with other people where they never touched the wheel. I have driven to Chicago and Western Mass from here in NC with only gas stops. Folks around here call it a death march if you are hitting a lot of parks in a short period of time with no downtime or multi-day park visits. More like a fun march to me, really.

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Ok, coasterbill and boldikus, you two have convinced me that I need to spend at least a day at morey's. What would you say if I removed it from this trip altogether and used a long weekend to come back?

 

As a teacher obviously I have the summers off even though I find part time work here and there. But my GF sometimes has these long weekends where she has Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday off. What if I was to hit Kennywood on a Friday and drive east. Arrive at morey's sometime on Saturday, spend the rest of the day at the beach, and maybe ride some rides. Spend the whole day there on Sunday, and drive back Monday.

 

The other option is the week of the 4th of July. The 4th is a Wednesday, would that be a good day to hit Morey's, and maybe use that whole week to hit all the NJ Boardwalk parks? Which would give me the entire day on the Monday of my 2nd trip at SFNE. Then I could use the Tuesday of my 2nd trip to hit lake Compounce, Quassy, and Luna park.

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How does the QQ work at Busch?

 

I've been to Dollywood many times, and I'm planning on hitting SFOG next year for spring break on way down to or back from Florida.

 

I don't really understand what is meant by "death march". Is it the driving? I actually enjoy driving.

 

You get one line skip for each of the major rides and a wild card to use on any ride. I personally thought it was a waste of money, but I went on a low-volume day. YMMV the week of spring break.

 

I also enjoy driving and have taken week long trips with other people where they never touched the wheel. I have driven to Chicago and Western Mass from here in NC with only gas stops. Folks around here call it a death march if you are hitting a lot of parks in a short period of time with no downtime or multi-day park visits. More like a fun march to me, really.

 

It looks like there is a QQ unlimited at the Busch in Tampa. It sounds like it works exactly like the cedar fair fast lane plus passes. Is that not available at the Williamsburg location?

 

Yeah I look at it as more of a fun March too. To me driving is downtime.

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Either plan sounds good to me. That said, I should probably warn you that the room rates in Wildwood are unimaginable on summer weekends. They're somehow not awful now so book as far in advance as you can because they'll easily get up to $200 to $300 a night for a sh*thole if you wait until last minute.

 

PS: There are basically no brand name hotels in Wildwood. It's basically all really weird, retro motels. It gives Wildwood a lot of charm, but it's also sort of annoying when booking.

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have you been to BGW before?

 

if not, then absolutely do 2 days there (you can likely do everything you want at KD in one day, especially if you do FastPass).

 

but Busch Gardens Williamsburg is a HUGE park, and pretty spread out.. you'll want more than 1 day to actually experience this beautiful park, and take in the Animals/shows, and Celtic Fyre show.

 

it wins best landscaped park so many times for a reason

 

(of course, if you've been before, not a big deal. but if first time? treat yourself and do 2 days)

 

just my 2cents.

 

I have never been before and if I feel like I need another day I can make that decision on the fly and push Carowinds back a day. I go to amusement parks for the coasters and thrill rides though. I don't know what kinds of animals are at Busch, but I've been to cedar point a million times and never once stopped to see any of the animals they have. And shows really aren't my thing. But thanks for the advice. If I feel like I need another day I can easily fit it in.

 

CP animals are more like "Petting Zoo".. the BGW animals (while concentrated mainly behind the Ireland area but also scattered thruout the park in places) are not, tho you CAN pet some of the smaller animals, as well as take pictures with the Clydesdales.

 

as to what kind of animals: Clydesdales, Yaks, Eagles, Wolves, as well as the cats/dogs they have in one of the Animal shows.

 

the Grey Wolf show is astounding. .we absolutely loved it, and I highly recommend.

IMG_1531.thumb.JPG.fc9fb1b9af32b49703ef665a96ecff55.JPG

these horses are HUGE

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I don't really understand what is meant by "death march". Is it the driving? I actually enjoy driving.

The driving is part of it - its a road trip where you simply stop at a park, run around to ride the coasters, and immediately leave to drive off to the next park, rinse, repeat. Its the difference between relaxing and taking in everything a park has to offer vs only experiencing each parks coasters in the name of getting credits.

 

This board gives great advice for planning trips but consider most of the seasoned members here are the type to avoid a death march and are more likely to advise you to take your time and enjoy yourself as opposed to offering advice on how can you possibly get as many credits in as little short a time as possible.

 

Ok, coasterbill and boldikus, you two have convinced me that I need to spend at least a day at morey's. What would you say if I removed it from this trip altogether and used a long weekend to come back?

I'll echo what Bill said about the hotels. If you are planning on doing this, start looking into booking it ASAP.

 

The other option is the week of the 4th of July. The 4th is a Wednesday, would that be a good day to hit Morey's, and maybe use that whole week to hit all the NJ Boardwalk parks? Which would give me the entire day on the Monday of my 2nd trip at SFNE. Then I could use the Tuesday of my 2nd trip to hit lake Compounce, Quassy, and Luna park.

I will say that the week of 4th of July is very busy in Wildwood. Book a hotel yesterday if you are serious about this. Most hotels only book out week long stays that week since many Philadelphians/people in the area take their yearly vacations that week around the 4th. Now keep in mind when I say busy - busy isn't really a thing for the ride lines in Wildwood. On the weekends in mid summer after dinner til about 10pm the ride lines get longer, but we're talking about 20 minutes tops for the major rides. Don't let that deter you, however Wildwood, and the boardwalk itself can get mobbed in mid summer, which can get a little tedious. I go to Moreys all the time, but I usually avoid the big three holiday weekends if I can.

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