Best theme parks in california ?

[waxwobbler]

Hi all, I will be visiting California at the end of Sept. I will be spending time in San Francisco, Vegas and driving around including route 1 up the coast.

 

Seems to me that most of the park are around LA. I am probably going to avoid LA central and will be in the area to the North of the city.

 

I am looking for somewhere with a lot of fast adrenaline rush type rides for me & my girlfriend rather than family/ Disney land type places.

 

I really don’t know much at the moment but have seen Universal Studio’s and six flags Magic Mountain which has the new Tatsu ride. I would also like to try one of the really large & long Wooden roller coasters straight out of the movies.

 

Are there any stand out parks that I should consider ? Or even parks to rule out ?

 

Are they all near LA or are there some around San Francisco, also a bit off topic but a good water park recommendation would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks

[coaster1]

Disneyland period.

 

Also good ones are Knott's and Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk .. if nothing else ... Oh and of course Legoland !

[waxwobbler]

I thought Disney land was more of a family, themed attraction type place ? I'm after big & fast rides..........

[texasgiantrules]

If you're after big and fast rides,go to SFMM but let me make this clear:it has a TON of rides that are great and all, but the park isn't very nice. It is poorly themed, situated on a hill which makes for a lot of hiking and it has blistering heat and the crowd there is very unruly. It won't be romantic for you and your girlfriend. If you want someplace romantic but thrilling, try Six Flags Marine World(It's near San Francisco in a town near Vallejo) or Disneyland.

Marine World is a good theme park with a lot of coasters but it is situated on a lake,providing nice views from the 5 operating big coasters. The park is half theme park and half zoo so if there's a time with long lines,you can go see the animals.

I know Disneyland is marketed as a family park, but there are many thrilling things,particularly at the California Adventure Park. One of the longest roller coaster,California Screamin', has a 0-55 mph launch in 4 seconds. It also has a loop on Mickey's head. There are two drop towers,the Maliboomer and the Tower of Terror. Back at the Magic Kingdom,there are a lot of good fun rides that aren't necessarily "extreme" but they are heavily themed which makes for an awesome riding experience. Usually you can find good deals on park hopper tickets that let you switch from park to park. It's quite expensive,but I guarantee it will be VERY ROMANTIC.

 

the websites: http://www.sixflags.com/parks/marineworld/index.asp

http://disneyland.disney.go.com/disneyland/en_US/home/home?name=HomePage

[waxwobbler]

Texasgiantrules

 

Thanks for the reply, I guess Disneyland would be great and I will have a good think about it. Of course its nice to have a romantic day but you forget the hustle & remember the rides.

 

We recently did stealth at Thorpe Park England. 0-80 in 2.3 seconds, Funny how you remember the 2.3 seconds more than the 1 & ½ hour queue.

 

How about waiting ? is this better handle at Disney land ?

 

I have been to Disney world as a kid actually & I do remember it being very magical.

 

I think SFMM must be like Thorpe Park, bit minimal not themed busy but good rides…

[ECZenith]

I prefer

 

-Disneyland

-SFMM

-Cali Adventure

-Knott's

 

In that order. Like any park, go to DL midweek to avoid crowds and hit Indy and Space Mountain in the morning. The major attractions have fastpass so you'll be able to get on everything. Cali Adventure is always less crowded than DL but you may need a FP on Soarin' and if it's real hot, Grizzly River Run.

 

Have fun!

[Angry_Gumball]

Conisder checking out SCBB if possible. Not a big park but it's well taken care of, well ran, and lines are actually quite short. Last but not least, they have a really good collection of flat rides.

[doitdumont1128]

Even tough it's not a major thrill park, you should still do USH. The mummy, jurassic park, fear factor live (actually rly cool), and the studio tour rly make it worth it, not 2 mention all the other shows etc.

[texasgiantrules]

^^i disagree. not to be hatin' but i REALLY dont like USH. The location is amazing but the minimal selection of rides are mostly just snazzed up motion simulators.

 

to answer wobbler's question,what the guy before me said. Go midweek and hit the biggies early in the morning. The longest lines are always on Indiana Jones and Splash Mountain. Even on a weekday in March I had a three-hour wait for Splash Mountain. And comparing Thorpe to MM,Thorpe is probably funner than MM. It's got better coasters(less, but better quality) and shorter lines. You can usually wait 3 hours for the big MM coasters and then decide that you didn't like them that much. I strongly recommend going to Disney in soCal or MW in norCal. If you have an extra day, do visit SCBB(Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk)as the guy above said. It's a nice park that doesn't have long lines and is well kept. There is a 100-year-old(more or less)woodie that still rides really smoothly and makes for great fun. Hope your vacation is AWESOME!!

-texas

[Rollerholden]

Disneyland without a doubt.

The atmosphere is so amazing...it's hard not to smile there!

No, the rides aren't super thrilling, but it's just an amazing theme park.

 

Six Flags Magic Mountain and Knott's Berry Farm have the best rides in CA, I think. And by 'best' I mean most thrilling.

[smallish]

Everybody is always making jokes and stuff about Magic Mountain, but it is an okay park, and if you want thrills Magic Mountain is probably the number one park for thrills in California. I highly recomend it if you want sort of the opposite of Disneyland.

[SoCalDude]

Go to Disneyland / California ADV if you want theming and a classic park with great all-around general rides. Use the Fast Pass for Space, Spash and Indy in DL and for Soaring and Screaming in DCA. But you can skip DCA and not miss much.

 

Go to SFMM if you want the 'OMG' types of rides. It is not NEARLY as bad as people make it out to be. You do not go to SFMM for a pretty theme - you go to go on a ride and think you are going to die. Get there when the park opens - get to X as fast as you can and ride that when the line is short. Also use Flash Pass for Tatsu - and spend the rest of the day going on rides and not waiting int he two longest lines in the park.

 

Go to USH if you want to say 'Oh, thats cool' often at all the Hollywood stuff and do not care about going on rides. take the Studio Tour - its kinda the point of the park

 

Skip Knotts.

[BC]

I say go for the combo trip:

 

 

Day 1:

Disneyland + Disney's California Adventure (right next to each other)

If you have already been to a Disney park before this is totally feasible.

Start off with the thrills of DCA (half a day is plenty if you start early), then head for Disneyland and concentrate on the big and exciting rides: Splash Mountain and Space Mountain are definates. As for the rest, try what you have time for and enjoy the atmosphere.

 

Day 2:

Knott's Berry Farm. I found this a super friendly park with a good mix of thrills and family rides, and it is only about 15 minutes from Disney (so an overnight between these parks or either end is a good option, and not too expensive). Coaster definates: Xcelerator, Silver Bullet, Ghostrider and Montezoomas Revenge.

 

BUT

 

If you are after thrills only... Six Flags Magic Mountain really IS the place.

And it's really not as bad as some here say. Yes, it may be poorly run (which means that some rides may not be running). And you may encounter a couple of queue-jumpers. But it's worth it.

 

Check out the various ride line-ups on www.rcdb.com

[dougr]

Knott's.

If you liked Stealth, you'll probably love Xcellerator. Montezooma's Revenge and Silver Bullet and Ghostrider are fun too. You guys will probably enjoy the mine train if you're in the right mood.

Disneyland has some fun rides-Pirates, Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain, Indiana Jones, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (which probably won't kill any more people).

If you have the time and don't mind spending some time in San Diego, the Southern California Citypass gets you three days Disney park hopper, one day Universal, one day SeaWorld San Diego and one day either San Diego Zoo or Wild Animal Park for $199....$179 if you go to Costco. Knott's is $39.95 to start and if you try hard enough, you should get a discount-check here:

http://www.knotts.com/hot/index.asp