MarkJWilson

This is in the very rough just Germany as a country phase planning right now so no region is set. I was more looking at what parks are worth visiting to see what regional stuff is around there. I was primarily looking at Europa, Phantasiland and perhaps Holiday Park for GEforce. Those all seem to be quite far from Berlin and Munich which seem to be the biggest cultural hotspots. Thank you for the days needed at suggestions. As well, how do you get to Europa park? It doesn't seem to be near anything. Thanks again all!

Hello all, considering going to Germany for a couple weeks in October next year. It would mostly be a 'culture' type trip but I'd for sure like to check out a couple parks. What parks are worth seeing? How to get to them? Worth buying one of the 'passes' and seeing 3? Thanks!

Bump? Any opinions on the English parks? Thanky!

Well, westjet had a sale to England (Gatwick) so we are going there. Opinions on the 2 parks? Any other parks? Thanks all!

Really, over Phantasialand? Taron looks awesome.

My girlfriend really wants to go to Europe. I guess if we are going to go, this is the time to do it. We have the middle 2 weeks in October (Well, 18 days) If I'm going all that way, I want to at least go to one theme park. Was thinking the UK, and it seems there's 2 major parks there. Which one to visit? I mean, if we are going there, we'd probably go to London, so Thorpe park seems obvious. Can you skip Alton Towers? What else is around Alton Towers that I can convince the gf to go see, and through in a "Since we are near here.. Why don't we go here for a day?" I'd like Germany also, but I'm sour at Germany as Octoberfest sounded cool, until I found out Octoberfest is not in October. That's just silly. Spain looks cool, with a trip to portaventuraworld. However, they are building Ferrari world. And I dont' know how often we will have the budget to go to Spain so I'd like to go after that is opened. GF likes the thought of France, Italy, Greek but they really don't have any great theme parks. She's open to pretty much anything in Europe though. Thanks all!

I didn't know Uber was available in Orlando. I looked into a bit and it seemed a bit weird. Are they 'allowed' to do park pickups and such? Or is it just the airport that bans them? Thanks

Hello, we are going to Orlando and staying for 2 weeks in November. We are going to Disney for a week, then to Universal for a week. We were planning on going back to downtown disney for a couple evenings while we are staying at Universal (As the universal parks close early, and the disney parks are open late we don't have a lot of time to go to downtown disney whilst at disney) We were looking at cabs/shuttles and such and it seems to be about $40 or so one way. Renting a car would get pretty darn expensive as everywhere at Universal charges parking. (Cabana bay is $15 a day or something, plus about the same at the parks, I guess downtown disney would have a parking fee while at Universal as well.) Is there any way to do this cheaper? We looking at the lynx a bit, but it seems the routes only run very early morning and then stop around 5-6 in the evening. That doesn't really do anything as we were planning on staying quite late at downtown disney. Thanks for any help!

What does everyone here use to plan their trips? In the past, we've just used notepad and written things down by date. I've tried to use like google calendars but I find it to much of a pita to move stuff around. We tend to move stuff around a lot to see what the best way of doing things is. (What days to do what parks, what places we'd like to eat at in the parks, what hotels we are going to stay at etc.) Thanks!

I actually never thought about renting a condo or house. I guess I should take a look at airbnb or something. Thanks for the suggestion. I think staying on site would be the way to go to.. The girlfriend is adverse to the idea of staying off site and for the slight monetary savings not really worth the hassle. I will look into houses or condos though, thanks!

Well, we've booked our flights to head down to Florida in November. We are going for the middle 2 weeks. We were planning on staying a week at WDW (The free dining pass is usually offered during that time) We would just stay at a value resort as the quick service meals fit us better at theme parks. (Don't like having plans, prefer to eat when hungry) We were then planning on going to Universal for a week and staying at Cabana bay. We were going to get the Orlando flex plus pass which has 14 days admission to Seaworld/Universal/Island of Adventure/Waterparks/Busch Gardens. We had planned to take the magical express from the airport to WDW, taxi from WDW to Universal then just shuttle bus it to all the other parks. (With the plus pass, the shuttle to Busch Gardens is free--but it says it might not get there till ~11:00AM.) We are from Canada, so we are contending with a weak dollar which makes this trip pretty expensive. The value resorts at WDW look to be about ~120 US a night, and Cabana bay seems to be about ~95 US a night. Now, of course you get some pretty awesome perks by staying at the onsite resorts. That being said I could stay offsite at a decent offsite hotel for about $55 CAD a night, which really really helps with the weak Canadian dollar. Going this route, I'd have to rent a car which would be somewhere in the region of $400 US for the 2 weeks + gas. I'd then of course have to pay parking at the theme parks which I figure would be somewhere in the region of ~225 US. What's everyone thoughts on this? Sometimes it's nice not having to drive--but waiting for those buses to take you back to your hotel sometimes took a long time at WDW. Getting to Busch Gardens that late kinda sucks.

Oh wow, that's way further off then I would have thought. Disappointing but at least we are not missing it by a month or two.

When is this supposed to be opening? We are going in November. I hope it opens by then!

What video's are you going watching? Random clips off youtube?

Damn. Thank you for suggesting that. I think that looks like a super good deal! We were also considering doing like a 3 or 4 day cruise, if time permits but I don't think we could fit that much in!

Thanks for the replies. We are actually considering Florida pretty near the top of the list now. We didn't get to see Seaworld Orlando on our last visit, nor did we get to see Busch Gardens. We are thinking of early November, and getting to see the Christmas events at disney and the other parks we missed. Might do one day at Universal as they didn't have Diagon Alley open when we visited last. Any other parks we should check out?

My girlfriend and I like to go on a big yearly trip. We live in Calgary, Canada. We tend to go for 10 day trips or so. My girlfriend likes theme parks but they aren't a main reason for her to go anywhere, so we need a city where there's lots of other fun stuff to do. Places we've gone previously -Southern California (Disneyland, Universal, Seaworld) -Vegas -Florida (Disneyworld, Universal) -Texas (Six flags over Texas, San Antonio Seaworld) She took a short work trip down to Chicago and really liked it, and it looks like there's a big six flags near there. She also wants to go back to Disneyworld in the 'winter' for all the Christmas stuff that happens at Disney. I was thinking perhaps stay in Canada as the Canadian dollar is pretty weak now (It's not terrible, but it's been closer to 1.05:1 when we've gone previously) Other then that I've kinda wanted to go back to California for the 2 big six flags there. Please make some recommendations! Thanks!

Great report so far. I'm normally not a fan of videos but these are pretty cool.

Not to sure for awhile. The vacation budget is blown on a friends destination wedding down in Mexico. Even if there were theme parks in Mexico in the region we'll be going I'm not sure I'd want to go on any rides. Perhaps Six Flags Great America. My girlfriend went down to Chicago for the Chicago Fire Festival and really liked the city--I've never been before but she said we must go.

A mini trip report from Saturday, we live in Canada so I wanted to get the most of the park as I could, and when we arrived the parking lot was JAMMGED. So, I bought a platinum flash pass. I was going to get the gold, but didn't know how long the lines for New Texas Giant would be, and only the platinum has New Texas Giant (And skyscreamer) on it. We never really rode any rides twice in a row without getting off. I would say it was some of the best money I've ever spent. The lines seemed really long (especially during the day time for the 'water rides.') I think the lines were long because the ride ops just seem really really horrible. We got in about 25 rides during the day. I've really only been to the huge parks (Both disneys, seaworlds, universal studios) Based on the ride ops at those parks, the six flags over Texas ride ops seemed like they were brand new on the job. -Superman: We'd have our ride restraints checked, rechecked, and checked a third time. Then we'd sit for another couple minutes, then they'd start the ride. (I really enjoyed superman, so we did it a few times) It seemed some of the ride ops had their shit together as after we sat on the first tower for a minute, they started loading the second tower (only had 2 out of 3 running) and the second tower launched wayyy ahead of us--despite being loaded after us. -New Texas Giant: Fucking awesome ride. My girlfriend really loved it, which was great as it was really our first woody. Again, the ride ops were doing a shit tastic job. I didn't time anything, but each train must have been at least a few minute wait. It got even worse when they had large people try and ride. I saw a very large man try to ride, and they 'checked' his restraints 5 times and it wouldn't close fully. Give up after the second fucking try, he's to big. Our next time on, a very large woman was trying to ride. Again, they checked several times and it obviously wouldn't lock. Give up, get em off the train and keep the lines moving. Titan: I really liked Titan. GF would experience slight loss of sight in some of the high G sections. Again though, shitty ride ops. The second train would arrive back at the station before they even started checking the restraints on the first train. Someone before us had hurled which shut Titan down for a good 25 minutes. They unloaded the train, then sent it through empty. The second train arrived, which they sent through empty as well. When the puke train got back, they spent a good 10 minutes rubbing the seat down with bleach and stuff. I understand they want to get it clean, and I defiantly wouldn't want to sit on a puke seat but honestly a good spray and rub down with bleach and that's about the best it's going to get. Massaging the same spot for 3 minutes won't get it any cleaner. After bleaching the everlasting life out of that seat they sent that train though again--empty. Then they finally started loading the trains. La Vibrator my skull: Shit fucking ride. Extremely rough in the 'brake' sections. Rode once and that once was all I need in my life time. Shock Wave: Ban and lock. Needs some major TLC. Rode once, never want to again. SkyScreamer: Meh, ok ride. Batman: Seemed pretty rough. Rode once seemed like enough. They seemed to be having major issues with the restraints had to recheck rows 3 and 4 on each train multiple times before they were good to go. Mr Freeze: Loved it. Short but intense. Ride ops sucked, on one side at least. (The side we were on launched 3 trains before the other side launched one) Didn't seem to be having issues, they were just sitting around doing.. nothing. Pandemonium: Rode once, ok ride. Runaway Mountain: Fun in the dark, but needs some major TLC. Was pretty darn rough. Rode most of the other rides but nothing really seemed outstanding in a good way or bad.

Going on Sept 27th. That's the first night of the fright fest. Would the flash pass be needed? Standard or gold? (Platinum is a little to much for me) Does the flash pass work on any of the fright fest haunted houses? Last but not least, is anything closed during the fright fest or do they keep all the rides open? Thanks!

How well are you able to manage a backpack at Six Flags parks? I'm not talking giant backpacks, I'm talking a little hydro pack. Me and the gf have always gone to disney or universal parks and at disney you could either take the bag with you, or at universal put em in free lockers outside the ride. I've heard people talk about pink fluffy bunnys filled with medicine in goo. What in the heck is a pink fluffy bunny filled with medicine and goo?!? Thanks!

Thanks for the reply. Six Flags Fiesta Texas days just suck in September. The only day we could possibly go is the first sunday we are there, and that's the only other day that Six Flags Hurricane Harbor is open, and my gf really wants to go there (She loves waterparks) We are thinking about doing the river walk sorta thingy, not sure what else in San Antonio. Are toll roads clearly marked on the signs? It looks like the main road out from DFW is a toll road, but if I tell google to avoid it--google still directs me to use it.

Hey all, I posted a thread earlier about a California trip in September, thanks a lot for all the replies in there. However the girlfriend vetoed that plan and we are now going to Texas. Flying into DFW. We plan to go to six flags hurricane harbor and six flags over texas. Not able to go to sea world nor able to go to six flags fiesta texas (The dates/times on both just don't work out unfortunately) Any ideas of what else to do in Dallas/San Antonio? Six Flags over texas looks to be open 10:30am-11:00pm the day we plan on visiting. I will look into the flash pass once we are there, probably buy the gold pass. If anyone has any advice on what rental company to use, and how in the heck to avoid the toll roads? (The rental companies want around $12.00 a day for the toll pass system, that's highway robbery! That's near what they are charging per day for the car!!) Thanks!

Magic Mountain isn't open that Friday. I don't figure I'd need a flash pass for Thursday since it shouldn't be all that busy. Not really sure about Saturday. If we can get a ride on X2 and Full Throttle on Thursday we should be okay to skip out on the platinum pass. That being said, I wouldn't really mind spending the extra cash as it's not like I get a chance to be in California often, and what's an extra couple hundred bucks to be able to walk on stuff all day long.