Best Of Coaster Living

[brina139]

Well, to give a little insight to my coaster life, I have the best of 2.

My Husband is from Windsor England, and we enjoy trips to his see his family. Its the best of both world because Not only does my mother in law work security at Windsor Castle, but we get to visit Alton Towers, My UK fave, and other parks when we are there. We sometimes take the train, and visit My Husbands Extended Family in Exeter as well.

My Neice here in The States, works at Paramount Kigs island, My cousin works At Six Flags in Texas, so as you see, I started coaster riding later in life, but it all worked for the best.... I get free room and board each time I feel froggy and up to a visit on some really great coasters!

I live minutes away from dollywood, so if kids or work prevents long travel, we just go there.

Does anyone else have similar stories? please share with me.

[Jeezus Juice]

Well, dispite living in CA and having to travel halfway across the country for parks I seem to do pretty well.

 

I only work saturdays and sundays so I have 5 days off each week. As cool as it is I am limited in my trip season as I can only visit parks that are open daily. Now that most parks are going to weekends only I'm pretty much out of luck.

 

Still, I've managed about 4 weeks of US parks this year plus 3 weeks in Europe and a 9 day trip to Japan.

 

I've been VERY fortunate to have met some awesome people in operations as some major park chains that really make visits much better. You guys know who you are, thanks for the exit passes and walkbacks!

 

It also helps having a woman that is willing to put up with red-eye flights, long drives, and the occasional coaster tool-a-thon. Some of my friends SO's would rather be at a mall or a Bon Jovi concert, mine likes to snap flyers! So that really helps!

 

I have no idea how I fell into this awesome lifestyle but it was through no fault of my own I can assure you!

 

What are everyone else's stories?

 

-Don

[Calvin]

Well, no. For one thing, I'm rooted in Fresno due to school and my parent's jobs. For another thing, I'm really fat and have put off theme parks 'till I've lost weight (a good goal, I suppose!). I suppose those two factors are pretty inconvenient. The fact that Fresno isn't close to any major amusement parks can be viewed as either a good thing or a bad thing. On one hand, we're only two hours from PGA, four hours from SFMM, three hours from SFMW, two and a half hours from SCBB, five to six hours from Disneyland and KBF, so on and so forth. On the bad side, we're not close to any major amusement parks so an offhand trip to one isn't possible, unless we want to go to the park downtown and ride a Rock-o-plane, kiddie coaster, freaky-ass teacups, and an Octopus.

 

Inconvinent, yes. Partially my fault, yes. A lot my fault, yes.

[roasted_marshmallow]

Two or three hours isn't close? Seriously? I have Calaway Park... (lame) that's a 20 minute drive, and the next one is GalaxyLand in West Ed which is 3 hours away and also lame, (one coaster each...) and then it's Silverwood which is 8 hours away! Count your blessings! You can wake up in the morning and drive to a good amusement park and be there all day... I need a weekend to go to a good one.

[Calvin]

That's true. Although, I wouldn't be so tough on Calaway Park, they have a good collection of flat rides, and only twenty minutes away!

[pianojohn]

Well, I have been working in the theme park industry for 20 years as an entertainer and now vocal coach. Spent 5 years at Cedar Point, 7 at Busch Gardens VA, and I now live in Orlando. Through my work, I also got to spend 3 weeks in Autsralia, 2 months in Osaka, and about 6 months in Roanoke, VA doing theatre. Within about a 3 hour radius were PKD, BGW, Dollywood, and Carowinds.

 

And living now in Orlando, a coaster is only a 10 minute drive from me, and they are open 365 days a year.

 

I would say I am very lucky!

[CP_fan_boy]

Not very good. Michigan's Adventure is a little over an hour away, then I have nothing until Great America and Cedar Point, both around six hours.

[sfmmFREAK]

30 minute drive to magic mountain for me. that is basically the hang out spot for everyone i know.

[methylene]

I live in Houston.

 

Fiesta Texas is 3 and a half hours; Over Texas is 4+ hours. After that, it's a lot of nothing for many hours in all directions.

 

That said, my wife and I, despite being native Houstonians, absolutely hate the weather and culture (or lack of) here and are only remaining here due to family ties.

 

We wish to eventually move to somewhere around the Western Virginia region where we would have access to not only all four seasons (Summer/Fall doesn't cut it here) but over 20 amusement parks within four hours.

 

Matt

[jmccalip]

I live in Houston.

 

Fiesta Texas is 3 and a half hours; Over Texas is 4+ hours. After that, it's a lot of nothing for many hours in all directions.

 

That said, my wife and I, despite being native Houstonians, absolutely hate the weather and culture (or lack of) here and are only remaining here due to family ties.

 

We wish to eventually move to somewhere around the Western Virginia region where we would have access to not only all four seasons (Summer/Fall doesn't cut it here) but over 20 amusement parks within four hours.

 

Matt

 

 

It's possable to get to San Antonio in 2-3/4 hours if you drive fast and don't make stops. The Dallas area takes us about 5 1/2hrs.

[methylene]

I live in Houston.

 

Fiesta Texas is 3 and a half hours; Over Texas is 4+ hours. After that, it's a lot of nothing for many hours in all directions.

 

That said, my wife and I, despite being native Houstonians, absolutely hate the weather and culture (or lack of) here and are only remaining here due to family ties.

 

We wish to eventually move to somewhere around the Western Virginia region where we would have access to not only all four seasons (Summer/Fall doesn't cut it here) but over 20 amusement parks within four hours.

 

Matt

 

 

It's possable to get to San Antonio in 2-3/4 hours if you drive fast and don't make stops. The Dallas area takes us about 5 1/2hrs.

 

You live in Missouri City- You're a lot closer to I-10 than I am (I live in Spring/The Woodlands). Unless I'm driving in the dead of night it can take me close to 45 minutes to even get to the West side of town.

 

Not coincidentally, I get to Dallas faster than you as I'm closer. It's never taken me 5 1/2 hours, however, and I used to drive back and forth from Houston to Denton for college.

 

Matt

[lapseofreason]

I live about 30 minutes away from SFMM. So whenever I need a Tatsu fix (or whatever coaster there decides to make me want to ride it recently), we just head up there

[USRoadTripper]

Well, I work for a very large international hotel chain, so I get awesome employee discounts when I travel. Cutting the cost of hotels by 60% or more is an extremely useful perk. I also have some friends who work in theme parks (mainly WDW) who can sometimes get me free/discounted admission.

 

-Julie

[grinch1313]

I'm lucky enough to live about 2 hours from all the Orlando Parks, about 4 1/2 hours from Tampa, and a mere 45 minutes from the Dania Beach Hurricane. My aunt's house in Tennessee is 30 minutes from Dollywood. But the best (and ultimate in luck for me as an amusement park fan) is that my mom's family is from Pennsylvania and one of her cousin's married into the Knoebel family! And if that isn't enough, another one of my mom's cousins is John Fetterman (Knoebels fans will recognize his name from the Twister and Flying Turns). I feel incredibly lucky in this respect.

[ebl]

I'm about 40 minutes from SFMM, and an hour and a half (more or less) from Disneyland and Knott's. This is where I grew up and I ain't going anywhere.

 

Eric

[Angry_Gumball]

I'm like 45 minutes (SFMW/DK) from 1 park and 25 from the other (PGA)...I couldn't get any better than that...but unfortunately, I do not have the time to visit them often as I work 6 days a week (Well 7 if I add my other job in) and also being in school.

[QueerRudie]

I'm very fortunate to be able to travel quite a bit due to my career path- and that's something that has allowed me to get to some of the more 'obscure' parks (DollyWood, Castles and Coasters, etc.) that are off the beaten path. I will say this, I do have an advantage of sorts over most GP and enthusiasts- I have MS which makes standing for long periods almost impossible not to mention walking long distances. Many parks give a 'entry pass' to the less-than-able guests, and I qualify, which means if I only have a few hours to spend in a particular park, I can nail down the key rides very quickly (well, at least as fast as I can walk or roll depending on the trip.)

 

Jet Commuting isn't for everybody- I've been doing it for five years, but I've been able to rack up enough Frequent Flyer milage to allow for a few exotic trips in the next year or so, including a long-awaited Asain/Austrailian tour. It does take it's toll on you especially one's personal life and structure- I'd love to be able to settle down someday...

 

But for me to have SFMM, KBF, Las Vegas and Disney an hour by air is great- plus having all the great Mid Atlantic parks three hrs or less away even better- so when the weather goes south, I go west!

[the_rock401]

This may sound sort of mundane, but an FM transmitter for your iPod that plugs into a cigarette lighter is a lifesaver. I've made a few trips to Wisconsin Dells (3.5 hours) and Six Flags Great America (6+ hrs) with it, and it saves you from having to listen to the crappy FM stations between the Twin Cities and either the Dells or Milwaukee/Chicago.

 

Paul "Drivin' my life away" Miller