MikeJames

Yes I will be in Philly during the evening. I've decided to not even mess with DC and Baltimore traffic. After great adventure I figure I can stay somewhere in Delaware and then in the morning I wil take the blue star hwy and cross this bridge by Annapolis which I'm guessing will get me around the Baltimore morning traffic. And like I mentioned to others, after SFA I'm going to take 301 south to Virginia instead of 95. And yes I planned on taking 80 through PA because the turnpike looked ridiculously expensive.

Thanks for the recommendations. You're the second person to tell me that SFA is just worth a pit stop. So if true I have no problem with leaving super early and going down to kings dominion. I was planning on getting fast lane at the cedar fair parks but if I have a day and a half at kings dominion maybe I want need to. And I'm not even going to mess with I95. From SFA I'm going to take 301 south and pay the $6 to cross the bridge.

You're getting a Q-Bot, right? Because otherwise you're gonna have a lot of problems squeezing in everything at Great Adventure in during a partial day. You'll be staying in Bordentown probably, 25-30 minutes away. If you leave in the AM from Detroit, you could try to do an Easter Vigil on Saturday night (Jackson's church says it's at 8PM) too rather than do the 9AM Easter mass that's gonna last 90-120 minutes in Jackson. Definitely possible. Your biggest issue is dealing wth traffic getting out of the DC area here. I'd actually think that staying until close is the best option. That or leave at like 1PM. What's a q-bot? Fast lane system? I'm going to great adventure on Easter Sunday. According to their website they are open from 10:30 to 9pm. That's not a partial day, and I've been told the park will be completely dead on Easter. Is that not true? Thanks for the Easter Vigil idea, I'm going to do that. As for the DC traffic. Like I said in my other response I am planning on not going through DC at all. I'm going to take the crain hwy south and pay $6 to cross some bridge into Virginia. Mapquest says it will take me 30 minutes longer to get to KD, but if traffic is as bad as people say then it looks to be a decent detour.

Hey, thanks for the response. I think I will be ok with the driving. I go to cedar point and kings island all the time. CP is 2 hours and 15 minutes, and I always drive there and back in the same day. Kings island is 4 hours and I always drive there in the morning, and drive back the next day. None of my days are any worse than that. But if I do get tired I can always cut out Dollywood and push everything back a day. Thanks for the Airbnb recommendation. I'm not sure that's for me. I used to work at a hotel so I know how to swing a good deal. As for SFA, that's not even a Half day park? I usually like to hit every coaster for the credits and then the best flats, and then re-ride the ones I really like. And speaking of traffic in the DC area, I was thinking of bypassing DC altogether by taking the Crain hwy south and paying $6 to go over the bridge. Mapquest says it will add 30 minutes to the trip but I'm thinking/ hoping I won't run into too much traffic going that way.

In your opinion is shivering timbers worth the drive from the Detroit area? I'm a CF pass holder too and I've always considered making the drive out there. I guess I always figured I would be out that way at some point for something else and I could hop over and ride it. But I never have been.

Hey all, I'm mike and I've been reading this forum for about 2 years. I'm planing 2 amusement park trips and I'm hoping to get the same great feedback that this forum has offered to so many others. Ok, so on trip 1 I'm looking to do the week after Easter, and I'm looking to visit great adventure, SF America, kings dominion, Busch gardens, Carowinds, and Dollywood if I have time. But I've been to Dollywood multiple times before and I've never been to the other parks, so if I don't get to Dollywood it's no big deal. So this is a rough draft of my trip. Sat 3/31 drive from home (Detroit area) to the great adventure area and stay the night Sun 4/1 (Easter Sunday) to to church like the good catholic boy that I am, then do great adventure and stay the night somewhere between great adventure and SFA. Mon 4/2 do SFA and stay the night somewhere between SFA and Kings Dominion. Tue 4/3 do kings dominion and stay somewhere between kings dominion and Busch gardens. Wed 4/4 do Busch gardens and stay somewhere between Busch gardens and Carowinds. Thu 4/5 do Carowinds and stay somewhere between Carowinds and Dollywood. Fri 4/6 do Dollywood and stay in the area. Sat 4/7 drive home. Sun 4/8 recover Mon 4/9 continue my miserable everyday routine I figure I am leaving myself enough time for changes if for example the weather isn't cooperative on one of the days. If that happens I figure I can cut out Dollywood. Ok, so what I am looking for help with.. 1. Specific hotels to stay at. im really looking to spend as less as possible here but still get a clean room. And with this I'm comfortable driving 2 hours after I visit a park and 3 to 4 hours in the morning before visiting a park. Price is the main concern but I would like to keep my driving within those parameters. 2. A general idea of how busy each park will be. And 3. Specific places to eat within each park. Thanks. I know I said 2 trips, but I think its best to concentrate on this one and ask for help on the 2nd one later.