Tea

This looks astonishingly good - time to start planning a California 2016 trip me thinks...

Third visit, but first since 2005 and most definitely not our last. I'll be posting a full TR at some point when everyone is back from Scandi, but I can say we thought Cedar Point was a phenomenal way to end our trip - we would still be riding Millennium Force right now if we could. Other than the rain policy, there isn't a great deal to complain about - operations were good, nice atmosphere in the park, and we loved the new gemini midway.

I saw you guys leave the line for Millenium Force that night. Super unfortunate that you chose to leave the line, as it reopened after about five minutes

Back from the trip; it was absolutely awesome! Will make a start one a TR once folks are back from Scandi. Thanks to everyone who gave advice, everything worked out wonderfully.

Kingda Ka open this evening through Monday according to the tweet below. https://twitter.com/SFGrAdventure/status/469844891452051457 Hopefully I can get to the park on Memorial Day - might be difficult considering we land at 15:30 that day and need to clear immigration, pick up the rental car and drive over there.

So I'm not sure if I have missed this previously, but it seems that Kingda Ka may be open for a limited run on memorial day weekend... This will mean it would be rideable during our trip that begins next Monday, perhaps!

Not the most horrific of delays considering, and at least it will be open for the summer season.

A shame that we'll miss it, it would have been a great way to start off our trip - should make things less crowded until it opens you'd imagine.

True, but the signage near Ka did changed to "closed until late spring".

Hiding the information isn't exactly going to win anyone over either though...

From what I can see on the social media front, the GP seem to be under the impression Zumanjaro will be open for Memorial Day. Seems a bit strange to not let anyone know the opening is delayed - presuming of course it actually is? Compare that with Busch Gardens Tampa clearly stating that Falcon's Fury wasn't going to meet the media and preview events that had already been scheduled.

Doesn't look like Zumanjaro is going to be open for my visit in late May According to a TR on another forum, the signage near Kingda Ka has changed from "closed until Memorial Day weekend" to "closed until late spring" - guessing this means we're looking at June now?

Is the guy in the front row recording a naughty iPhone PoV?

Gah, no delicious Food & Wine Festival for us; we're visiting midweek in early June

Great TR, should be there myself for the first time in just over a month.

Easter holidays should be over by that time. I'd imagine the queues wouldn't be too heavy, though I'm not overly familiar with the crowd levels at Thorpe. I have visited on a busy Friday at the beginning of September and managed to ride everything without queuing for more than a half hour. I don't think you'll need to pay for fast track, and you shouldn't struggle to ride everything; as always you can purchase on the day if things are looking busy.

Incredibly hyped for Banshee, it looks exceptional in the dark - I hope the park keep said effects up for the season. Shouldn't be long before the opinions start rolling in...

Nice report, Chuck. Should be visiting myself for the first time in around 7 weeks.

Will be a shame to miss out on night rides, but it's an experience we had on our last visit, so we're not totally missing out. Besides, any ride on Phoenix is better than not riding Phoenix! We've also got Flying Turns to check out! Cool, what parks are you visiting? Anyone got any advice on Six Flags Great Adventure ticketing? I'll save myself re-posting the question, you can find it over yonder: http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=54313&start=6030

Quick question for any regular visitors to Great Adventure. The gold season pass mentions VIP early entry, but there is no explanation of exactly what this entails. Is this early ride time or simply the ability to get into the park ten minutes before everyone else and get to the front of lines? We're visiting for a day and a half and it seems the season passes are the cheapest option; parking fees mount up and even if buying single day tickets at a discounted rate, the gold pass works out around the same price. Any ideas how long processing of a season pass is likely to take? Keep in mind we'll be arriving on May 27th.

Likewise! Can't wait to hear about your Midwest trip Andy. It'll probably make me plan a visit to that part of the US, much like this TR inspired my own upcoming trip!

Yet more great advice! We've visited Knoebels back in 2005, but that may not stop us getting overwhelmed with awesomeness and spending more time than we intended. I think we also have about $20 of tickets lying around somewhere from our last trip which I hope they'll honour as I can foresee many a Phoenix re-ride. The main reason for visiting Hershey the same day was the buy your ticket in the evening, use it the next day dealio - we'll have to see how it pans out. I took a look at the EZPass situation, seems it'll be about $15 plus whatever tolls we end up using (booked with Alamo fyi). I think you are correct in that it'll work out to be far less hassle, and it's one less thing to have to think about when trying to drive on the opposite side of the road than I'm used to!

Thanks coasterbill - this is one area of the trip I haven't really done an enormous amount of research into; I haven't actually driven in the US before either. I had thought about picking up EZ Pass but wasn't really sure if the rental companies overcharge for that sort of thing, I'll have to do some digging. Hopefully I've built enough driving time in as to not compromise things in any way. I really do hope it turns out to be a great trip. I think we're taking the last week or so at a much slower pace, preemptively thinking of the exhaustion. Part of me wishes we could go to more parks, but there's only so much time and money available - all the more reason to come back and experience another part of the country I guess. *Edit* Realised I hadn't posted the itinerary we settled on. May 26: Fly to Philadelphia Tue 27: Six Flags Great Adventure Wed 28: Six Flags Great Adventure (Morning) / Dorney Park (Evening) Thu 29: Knoebels (Morning) / Hersheypark (Evening) Fri 30: Hersheypark Sat 31: Washington DC (Rangers @ Nationals!) Sun 01: Washington DC Mon 02: Kings Dominion Tue 03: Busch Gardens Williamsburg Wed 03: Busch Gardens Williamsburg / Water Country Thu 05: Carowinds (Evening) Fri 06: Carowinds Sat 07: Dollywood (Evening) Sun 08: Dollywood / Gatlinburg / Smoky Mountains Mon 09: Dollywood / Gatlinburg / Smoky Mountains Tue 10: Kings Island (Evening) Wed 11: Kings Island (Morning) / Cedar Point (Evening) Thu 12: Cedar Point Fri 13: Cedar Point Sat 14: Fly Home

Yeah, you'll most definitely get a Photo TR! In the mean time, take the following two trip reports as inspiration - andy and azza both seem to have a knack for writing awesome trip reports: http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1199865 http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=65831

Not dumb at all, that budget is for the two of us. The fact we are doing Washington DC and a Ball game also adds some expense to the trip. We're also getting stung with a one way fee for car rental drop off which adds about $150 (£90). That and the fact the exchange rate isn't what it used to be - gone are the days of $2 to £1! It's worth pointing out that your budget may be totally different to ours based on where you want to stay, how far you are travelling, how many parks you are visiting and the time of year. You may find it useful to work on a basic trip plan and then take some time to use the various price comparison websites for things like hotels and car rental. This should give you a nice idea of how much things are going to cost, then you can see if it's too expensive and try and work the cost down.