SFGDV, SFA, Hersheypark, Knoebels, Dorney park trip planning

[Skyscraper]

Hi !

 

I'm currently planning my coaster trip for august. I'm living in Montreal and I plan to go directly to Six Flags Great Adventure with a little stop at Jiminy peak for the alpine slides (never done that before!).

 

Here's my itinerary :

 

August 2 : Drive to NJ and stop to Jiminy peak (Sleeping at Marriott Somerset)

August 3 : SF Great Adventure (Sleeping at Marriott Somerset)

August 4 : SF Great Adventure (Sleeping at Courtyard Crystal City)

August 5 : Washington visit (Sleeping at Courtyard Crystal City)

August 6 : Six Flags America (Sleeping at Courtyard BWI Baltimore)

August 7 : Hersheypark (Sleeping Crowne Plaza Harrisburg)

August 8 : Hersheypark (Sleeping Crowne Plaza Harrisburg)

August 9 : Knoebels (Sleeping at Best western Lehigh Valley)

August10: Dorney Park (Sleeping at Holiday inn Select Clinton)

August11: Go back to Montreal

 

Here are my questions :

 

Am I forgetting some interesting side trips on my way between parks ?

 

Should I hit El Toro or Kindga Ka at SFGDV opening ?

Should I hit Superman or the Vekoma flying coaster first at SFA ?

Any good places to eat ?

 

Is there discount for a 2 day tickets at Hersheypark and one day ticket for Knoebels ?

 

Anything else I should know ?

 

Thanks you so much for your answers !

[CoasterFanatic]

Let me chime in on the Hersheypark bit. You can shorten your trip considerably by hitting Dorney in the morning/afternoon and then heading to Hersheypark (With a visit to Chocolate World in between).

 

Hersheypark has a "preview" option where you can enter the park 2 hours or so before closing on your next day ticket. If you keep your parking stub, you will also get free parking the next day. This is a good time to ride the Hersheypark woodies as the lines will be shorter and the rides themselves perform much better.

 

The next day, get to the park early (like 30-45 minutes before open) and make your way to Storm Runner where you will be able to get a few rides before the crowds show up.

 

For Great Adventure, I wouldn't suggest anybody going to the park without getting the Q-bot. Talk to some people and find out if both coasters are even operating and then "que" up Kingda Ka while you get a ride on Toro. Squeeze Superman in as well if you can and the rest of the day will be a breeze.

 

For Knoebels, you might want to look into trying to hit it on a weekday if you can. Usually the rides are ticket only on Weekends, and it can get quite expensive if plan on doing a lot of riding.

 

For America, do like Hershey and get there early. Head all the way to the back of the park and hit Batman, Superman and Joker in that order. The rest of the day will be a breeze. Also, if you see Seacoaster running ... ride it! The ride is extremly temperamental.

 

Hope this helps.

[Erik Johnson]

I did a very similiar trip that you are going to do last month, though I went early June so the crowds were not very heavy. Like Coasterfanatic said about Hershey's, that twilight "preview" from 6-10PM is the best time to be at the park. We actually were able to get all the credits there in a little over two hours during this time (other than roller soaker which we got the next day). Roller Soaker has the worst capacity than any other coaster in the park, so if you are able to get everything else the day before, I would suggest doing that one as soon as possible the next day. Superman at SFA has been tempermental as well this year. While they do run it, it does have a habit of breaking down a lot. The day we went there we went to Superman right at opening but they did not open it until about 90-100 minutes later in the day (even though it still broke down, but we were lucky to make it our last credit of the day.). Batwings's operations are abysmal (one train, 10 minute dispatches), so you may want to do that one first thing. Knoebels is quite crowded on a weekend (and yeah you have to buy tickets), but the operations there are top notch so you do not have to wait around a long time.

 

Here is a Photo TR of the trip by the way:

 

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=25853&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

[BarryH]

If you're going to be in the Hersheypark area, why not do Dutch Wonderland? You can probably do it in a 1/2 day, tops.

 

Here's a video showing off the bestest ride there, the Lady Gay Tugboat!

 

www.robbalvey.com/dutchwonderland.zip

[Skyscraper]

A BIG thanks you for your answers !

 

Thanks you CoasterFanatic and Erik for telling me about the preview option for Hershey Park and other park informations, it will be useful !

 

I don't think I'll go to Dutch Wonderland, I'm not a credit whore yet... lol

[timberterror]

I was at Hersheypark a couple weeks ago and found that if you ride Rollersoaker in the evening there is little to no line. Sure you get wet, but when the parks closing and your going to a hotel who cares. Knoebels is a great park. I was there on Sunday July 16th and eventhough Twister and Phoenix were only running 1 train each, like Erik says the ride ops are top notch getting you loaded and on your way in no time. As far as go to Superman or Batwing first, I'd say Batwing, the ride ops are awful, get it out of the way before the crowds show up. On Superman even with one train the line moved fast. - Barry