Underrated Parks

[vertgforces]

I guess ANIMAL KINGDOM.. So many people hate it or avoid it. Might not be your thrill ride heaven (this might chance soon) but underrated like hell...

 

i agree...it actually does have a few thrills- dinosaur, kali RR, primeval, and everest is coming. they may not be x, superman: ult flight, or dragster...but they delivred for me. also kilimanjaro safaris is good

[coaster1]

DCA

Indiana Beach

SFAW

 

DCA was a standout in my mind. Indiana Beach is a wonderful place and SFAW is certainly alot better in the last few years with employees and ride maintenance.

[Stitch]

SFKK : Six Flags ruined it but you still have to respect such a small park having all those coasters and a record breaking one.

[coaster1]

There WAS a record breaking one at SFKK, but Riddler's Revenge kind of beat it out .. although I prefer Chang over Mantis any day.

[Stitch]

I said a record breaker not record holder lol .

[CaliCoastin]

Definitley Six Flags Great America. You never hear anything about this park because they dont really have a stellar coaster collection compared to MM and GAdv, but it is by far the best Six Flags park i've been to. All coasters were running with max capacity (Bull and Whizzer even with 3 trains) and none were stacking, thats amazing in itself. Also the rides there are in very good shape, the park and queue lines are well maintained and cleaned, also an amazement in itself. The ride operators are very efficiant in throughput (except Ragin Cajun, but I could see they were having issues getting the ride to dispatch without proper weighting) and amazingly are very upbeat in their job and do a lot of interacting with customers. By far the best selection of flat rides in the SF chain and they are all in very good shape (no ghetto carny flats here). They also play the Demon song in their queue ::COUGH PGA take note COUGH::

 

GAm's Hurricane Harbor is incredible also, very detailed theming and nice to walk through and a lot of aweosme pro-slides.

 

The big surprise of the park was definitley Viper though, as we're walking through the queue line it looked exactly like Psyclone and man I was NOT looking forward to that! Then when we got on the ride (like every other coaster at GAm, no stacking like 20 minute wait) and went up the lifthill grabbed on tightly and hoped for the best. We go down the first drop and get some decent air and think "Wait, this cant be right" then do the turnout hill then go over the next hill and get some nice air again, and got confused. Then the next turnaround hill theres a double down and we got EJECTED out of our seat, insane air, then the next hill ejected out of our seat again, insane air, then a turnaround hill, then the next hill ejected out of our seat again with some awesome air then got ejected out of our seat again with insane air. When we went into the block break my friend and I looked at eachothother like "WTF just hapenned!?!?!?" Had to go on it again to verify, but yeah SFGAms Viper definitley kicked ass and is smooth, not bad for a ride that looks exactly like Psyclone.

[cfc]

I'd say Bonfante (now Gilroy) Gradens and, yep, DCA. Bonfante is a great family park with beautiful landscaping, but what it really needs, I think, is a first-class flume ride and dark ride.

 

When I first visited DCA, I had read all sorts of stuff online saying that I should hate it, that they should turn it back into a parking lot, etc. I don't think any park has been so slammed while it was being built. While I agree that it can't compare to Disneyland (and that Disney made some mistakes--Superstar Limo being the biggest), I've always had a good time at DCA (as has the rest of my family).

[Masked_Maverick]

Waldameer (Erie, PA)

 

Nobody ever talks about it.

 

Great Flume

Classic Woodie

The Best Fun House Anywhere

 

Agreed. I haven't been to this park in years I am looking to go back this summer. I have to add the now defunct Erieview Park. It was a small park right on lake erie. Had a classic (IMO anyway) Dark ride, a kiddie coaster that any adult could ride and a beautiful view of Lake Erie. It also had some classic flats.

[kennywood!007]

Idlewild Park in PA. Best Wild Mouse ever. It's literally in the MIDDLE of the woods, they also have a nice little kiddie wooden coaster. The have some really unique flats also, and the log flume has great theming!!!

[raptorcrew2002]

SFA I fully agree is under rated. I always liked that park. I don’t miss the old days when drug transaction would take place in front of you and all you could do is act like you saw noting. But they did a great job cleaning this place up. Park navigation is still a little funky though.

 

But I’m surprised no one has said Kennywood. This park truly is a funny one. Most people like it yet you hardly hear anyone talk about it. What do you guys think?

[IwantRevenge]

SFGADv, sure there atmosphere sucks, there coaster and flat ride sellection is great.

 

What flat rides? we have a Top-Spin, a Round-up, and a Swinging Ship .

 

But I'd hve to go with Universal Studios Hollywood, no one ever talks about the park but, it's relaly a nice park, When my family and I went we had a great time, and their mummy owns yours!

[Delirium]

One that really stands out in my mind is Lagoon in Utah. Its not really underrated but its very unknown to most people. I was lucky to visit it about 4 years ago and it actually had an excellant atmosphere. There was a nice selection of coasters and rides and an awesome view. Not to mention, there is also an RV park (where i stayed) literally right next to it. And the park is slowly building its rep with the addition of 3 coasters in the past 4 years. I definately wanna make another visit once Wicked opens

[easytoremember]

Everyone talks down at mount olympus, but I think it is a fun park. Sure, the atmosphere is not great, but it has a lot of unique rides such as Hades, Cyclops, and that robot arm, not to mention a nice indoor and outdoor waterpark.

[chmilo24]

I would have to say SFDK. Everyone says that it is a "family park" and is not really exciting. But actually it has a lot of thrills, like Medusa and V2. Also DLR and DCA. A lot of people say it's a failure and WDW is better, but it is really overrated and expensive.

[XII]

Six Flags Discovory Kingdom- I was expecting a good ride on V2 and Medusa, But I really liked the backside of the park. It looks really cool IMO, and it completely doesn't fit in with the frontside of the park. Yet for some strange reason, I really enjoyed both sides. I actually want to go back!

Edited November 14, 2015 by XII

[Sticky Nicky]

Valleyfair, Shakapee, Minnesota

 

CEDAR POINT'S oldest sister park plus the fair in Cedarfair

 

Plus they have dome pretty good rides like Wild Thing, High Roller before it was heavely braked, the newest Intamin Impulse coaster, the oringinal Steel Venom, A top spin, a screamin swing identical to Skyhawk, a Intamin Looping Starship, and now Renegade, one of GCI's Newest Wooden Coasters. Wild Thing has the longest wieghtless zone on any coaster in the world.

 

Notice my pic., it is Wild Thing

[imbordisux]

I second (third?) SFKK - not much to do there, but I thought Thunder Run was an amazing woodie, and I'm a sucker for shuttle-loops.

 

And whoever mentioned SFGAdv, I agree - the biggest, rudest crowds you could ever imagine, but arguably the best collection of coasters anywhere. If you go on a weekday, it's amazing.

[errtyme]

I thought Thunder Run was an amazing coaster but geez, SFKK gave me a headache...

 

Indiana Beach

Silver Dollar City (PowderKeg is a GREAT ride)

 

I'm sure after this season my list will be a bit longer for this...

 

 

Clay "Don't forget about Cornball Express!" Lamanske

[Goliath513]

SFMM - I hear so many people complaining about the park being a dump. Sure, the park may not be a Busch Gardens, but there's more to a park than just how it looks. I also hear complaints about the coasters. Yes, most are not very well themed, but they all give quality rides in one way or another. Colossus is an amazing wooden coaster. Goliath is the best ride in the park! Viper, X, Tatsu, Riddler, Batman, all provide excellent thrills. Ninja is a great fast paced ride through the trees, easily one of the best old coasters in the park. The rest of the coasters are also pretty good and worth riding. For other than coasters, Log Jammer is amazing. I would go on and on, but I shouldn't. For the few flats they have, Freefall (though it may not be around much longer) is the best in the park. Spin Out is also a nice thrill. Give the park some credit.

[yankees15]

I would say Six Flags Great Adventure. I always hear people talking about the park being dirty, pulling in a bad crowd, and having bad operations. Never once have I seen the park dirty, it's been clean every time I"m there. IMO the park pulls in a pretty good crowd compared to other parks like Kings Dominion and Dorney. As for the operations, for the most part they are well above average, except on an occasion.

[Airtime&Gravity]

SFKK-nice clean park with decent rides and operations. Chang is such an awesome coaster, and it seems out of place in a "small" park like SFKK.

 

 

SFSTL-My favorite SF park, until I visited SFGADV, and it is very clean, has great staff, a cool location, and some decent coasters. Hopefully I find time to visit it again next year as it will be even better with the Thunderbird clone.

 

 

SFGADV-I heard that it was dirty, crowded, and had poor operations. Well, I got to the park at 7P.M. on a Friday night(allowing me two hours to ride since the park closes at 9), and in those two hours I got: two rides on ET, two on KK, one on Nitro, and one on Medusa. The longest wait was 15 minutes for my first ET ride, and everything else was either a one train wait or a walk on. The staff was great, the park was clean, crowds were obviously light(does everyone always leave at 7?), and it was a great two hours.

[bhartley]

If you have heard of this park you must be a crazed sheep riding hooligan or are officially the world biggest coaster freak, http://www.rainbowsend.co.nz (the music may kill you). I visited it while I was is Sheep Country (New Zealand) and it was actually much better then I thought it would be.

Also as some have mentioned, DCA. God, I wanted to hate it so I would be more accepted in the coaster community but I enjoyed myself a lot. Sure its more sort of a upmarket Knotts it was still well done.

 

 

I have been to this park also. Auckland New Zealand.

I spent 5 weeks in New Zealand in 2001.

[DarienLaker]

Darien Lake - Even though their ride line up is mostly of cloned coasters and old rides, but it needs some work in the "dry" park area.

[coasterkid124]

I'm surprised that Hershey hasn't been mentioned yet. Not that it's completely underrated, but it is often overlooked compared to big chain parks. They have a great collection of coasters, a modern waterpark, and who doesn't love their chocolate?

[XII]

Lagoon - This park is freaking awesome. They have a bunch of really cool roller coasters, ranging from custom coasters with nothing like it, to old classic Schwarzkophs. On top of that, it's a great family park, with a great balance, and just a ton of stuff to do. But people keep ignoring it due to the fact that it's in Salt Lake City, which is not a roller destination. I keep making the drive out from So-Cal to visit yearly. It's just a great park. More enthusiasts need to make it out to this park.

 

Hansa Park - It may not be Europa Park, or Liseberg, or Grona Lund, but I really liked Hansa Park. It had some great rides (I gotta go back for Schwur des Kärnan. Looks amazing), a great atmosphere, and I just really overall liked the park. I hope more enthusiasts discover this place as I definitely found it to be one of the hidden gems of the European Theme Parks.