vrf19977

Mine didn't start till my late 20's. Guess it's part of getting old

Well heck, I'm glad it's not just me! Still sucks though, I wish I could ride every single thing, but I just can't I endured two rounds on the Tilt-A-Whirl a few weeks ago, for my son's sake, and I felt so awful when I got off. Had to sit down and focus on not throwing up for a solid 10-20 minutes.

I'm starting to wonder if people who go on lots of rides as kids are less prone to motion sickness as adults. I was too scared to ride anything beyond the carousel when I was little. I didn't start on coasters till I was in high school. Now, anytime I try to ride something that spins, I get dizzy and feel like puking, which I hate, cause spinning rides look so FUN! I also find that I can't handle the all-day adrenaline rush like I used to A few rounds on a good coaster and I feel all shaky and need to sit down for a while. I want to be one of those 80 year old ladies still screaming and giddy on roller coasters...I must fight back! My brain is not allowed to interfere with my fun! But yeah, as far as tips go, I suggest sitting down after any ride that makes you feel dizzy or sick. Just find a (shady) bench or place with a/c and sit for 15 minutes. It might seem like you're wasting time, but it's really worth it to regain your bearings and take a little rest. You'll be more energized for the next ride. Also, make sure you're DRINKING all day long, especially in hot weather. It's easy to just ride-ride-ride without stopping to eat or drink, but if you're hootin' and hollerin' on the rides and sweating in lines, you're going to wind up dehydrated which will only make fatigue and dizziness worse. DRINK.

Blind post: If no one's mentioned us yet, Delaware is pathetically in need of a theme park (or any other major tourist attraction besides the beaches). We're within several hours' drive of a few great parks, but for people with limited time and money, those other parks aren't always an option. We had one pitiful attempt at a park a few years ago (Blue Diamond Park) but the insane prices, crappy rides, and general yuck factor of the concrete carnival-wannabe killed it off pretty quickly. All the rides are still standing there, too, poor little ghost park.

Shivtime and Tater - thanks for the tips! I do plan to leave before the scary Halloween stuff begins (they recommend kids under 13 don't attend). So if we get there before opening (noon) we should have plenty of time for rides and still leave early enough to get home before it's really late. One thing I REALLY hope my big butt fits on is the Wild Mouse, I've never ridden one and always wanted to. My son and I watched it on YouTube and he agreed to ride it with me. Wish me luck!

BarryH - we've been to Knoebel's before, and LOVED it. The only trouble is that it's 3 hours away, while Dorney is only 2 hours away. I don't mind driving, but 6 hours in one day is a bit much even for me lol. And I can't really afford the extra expense of a hotel right now. Hopefully, we can do Knoebel's again another time.

Thanks! I've been reading reviews of Dorney today, and I've seen a lot of comments about items being stolen from guests, as well as reports of roving bands of rude inner-city people. I've also heard that the difference between weekday (terrible time to go) and weekend (great time to go) is like night and day. Any Dorney fans care to confirm or deny any of these? I'm not particularly worried about thieves (I never bring bags in, everything stays in my pockets) or wild inner-city youths, but I am curious.

Yeah, it was a toss-up a few days ago, with SF being 34.99 and 15.00 parking, and Dorney being 28.00 with 12.00 parking, but now that SF just went up to 44.99...forget it.

I'm liking Six Flags less and less. I just went to check their online ticket prices again and they jumped up $10.00 from yesterday. No, thanks.

Thanks for all the input! I have some serious thinking to do.

That's what I was suspecting. SFGA seems to have more family coasters, but Dorney has more family rides overall. Do you prefer either place based on other factors, like atmosphere, friendliness of staff?

Sorry for not being more specific We're planning to go this coming weekend (Hershey isn't a contender cause they aren't open this weekend). By family rides, I mean things like the Tilt-a-whirl, carousel, train rides, himalaya, bumper cars, and small coasters (think Hershey's "Trailblazer"). My son is well past the 48" limit for most rides, so he can ride anything, but he isn't quite at the big steel coaster level of courage lol.

Which park would you recommend for families who are looking for a day of family rides (NOT kiddie rides), not just a park full of hyper-coasters? Which park has more/better flat rides and family-friendly coasters?

Britain scares me.

Well, I've said before, if I were skinny little critter with no butt, I wouldn't care about dividers, either! But since I have these things called curves, they're literally a pain in my booty lol. I'm in the process of losing weight (20 lbs so far! yay!) so hopefully by next summer it won't even be an issue anymore, and my booty will be all smiles I'm still planning to hit SFGA this weekend with my son, and I'll let you all know how it goes lol.

Are there any plus-sized folks here who've been to SFGA? What rides do you recommend/not recommend for the fluffier among us?

Rob... LOL @ your booty's needs. I completely agree that IF there was no divider, two bodies should be required to ride, so the one person isn't sliding all around. I've ridden coasters with a seatbelt across both laps, a single buzzbar, AND a divider. Talk about squashed. I remember riding Phoenix at Knoebel's, and as big as I am, I was all over the seat and all crooked and sideways at the end of the ride lol. Good times.

Well, no offense to the gents, but most of you have much skinnier/flatter hips and butts than us ladies lol. If I had a skinny little waist like most dudes, I wouldn't care about the divider! Just seems like most coasters are designed for kids and size .0002 adults lol. They should at least put like, one big bench seat in the train for the NORMAL sized visitors I'm heading to SFGA next weekend with my son, and I'm really working my recumbent bike this week in the hopes that I won't be squashed on the coasters lol. My booty needs love, not squishing.

Well that just bites. I'd rather slide back and forth and not have a squished booty when it's over. Ah well.

Just curious. They're so flippin' uncomfortable on my booty. Why not just have one open bench, and happy booties?

I'm one of the few people on earth who've never ridden any flyers. They look super-fun and I'd like to try it without scaring myself (or my 10 yr old son who will be with me). How exactly do you maneuver these things? I know it's with the front fin, but how? What movements make it do what? I am not interested in fancy moves, just wanna try it and test it out and see what it's like! I know there are flyer experts here. Give me some beginner hints!

Howdy everyone, I'm Vicky, over here in Delaware. Been here a week or so before I saw this thread I rode my first real coaster in high school (Batman at SFGA). I was absolutely petrified and thought I was going to die, but I wasn't afraid to ride anything after that! Now I have a 10 year old son, so I've had excuses to constantly go to parks and ride new things I'm hoping to hit Knoebel's in 2 weeks!

Thank you! I'm so glad it's not just me lol. I feel so wimpy when I won't get on a "kiddie" ride, and I'm like "But I love roller coasters - seriously - I'm not a wuss!" lol.

Ok I've never ridden a Frisbee-type ride; what does it feel like? How intense is the spinning? Not sure if it looks more scary or fun, but I'm still curious lol.

Ughhh, let's not get on the topic of incompetent ride op's!! My son was on a swing ride a few weeks ago, and the operator had it rotating (the cycle before it tilts and the swings go up and down), then he started talking to another op, who was apparently a buddy of his. He ignored the ride, it just kept going around and around, you could see everybody kinda looking towards the operator after a minute, waiting for it to continue to the next cycle, and the two dudes just kept gabbing. I was about to say something when he FINALLY remembered he was (gasp) operating a ride full of people and he pushed the button. A few years ago, we were at Knoebel's waiting to ride the Phoenix and the op's were completely distracted and didn't brake the train coming in, and it went right through the station and got halfway up the lift hill again before they stopped it. That really freaked me out, but we rode anyway. I know that most parks employ teens and retirees cause they're easy to hire and can be paid very little. But I honestly cringe everytime I get on a ride and all the 16 year old op's are busy flirting and joking with each other instead of paying attention to what they're doing. By the way, the article in the OP specifically states that the delay in stopping the ride was NOT because the emergency stop function took time to complete, but that the operator didn't even BEGIN to stop the ride, someone else had to jump in and do it, and people were screaming at the op to stop the ride while it continued to rotate with the remaining intact cars slamming into people and injuring them. HELLO.