New York/New England Tour Help

[medic738]

Hi everybody! My son and I are planning a trip to NY/CT/Mass sometime in late July. Here's my draft plan (driving north from Delaware):

 

Day 1 - depart and drive north - stop in early afternoon at Coney Island Cylone and Wonder Wheel (are there any other operating coasters or dark rides at Coney Island?). Leave Coney Island with next stop at Quassy park in CT to ride the monster coaster.

 

First question - after Quassy, I was thinking of heading to Lake Compounce and doing the after 5 admission. Do you think this gives me enough time for a couple of rides on their coasters and dark ride ( I was planning on this day being a Sunday or other day they are open till 10 to get the most hours possible). Or, do you think I should call it a day and plan on devoting more of a full day there? Also, any local sources for discount admission coupons etc?

 

Day 2 and 3 - Six Flags New England

 

Day 4 and 5 - Six Flags Great Escape

 

Possibly Day 6 and 7 - Dorney Park on trip home

 

What's everyone's thoughts? Are there any other decent stops along or near this route that I might be missing - primarily interested in dark rides and roller coasters.

 

I'd love to hear from you guys and gals who have probably made similar trips. Thanks so much!

[nathanhillinbl]

You don't need 2 days at Great Escape, especially if your son is out of the kiddie ride stage. I hate to say it, because I work there, and love that park to pieces, but you really only need an hour there to ride everything worth riding. Of course, if you're planning on hanging out in the water park, you should add more time.

[medic738]

Wow - it looked so nice on the web site!

 

Thanks for the heads up. Maybe we'll spend extra time at SF NE (or see if there is somewhere else we can add to the trip!).

 

Thanks again

[Wood Dragon 1988]

Last year I did a similar trip, but much smaller, and much more pressed for time:

 

Day 1: Drive up to Massachusetts

Day 2: Six Flags New England and Lake Compounce at night

Day 3: Rye Playland and a quick El Toro stop (and Dark Knight credit) at SFGAd. And arrive home.

 

I wouldn't advise two days at Great Escape or even SFNE. I suppose you have a Six Flags Season Pass.....however, from an out-of-town person like myself, I don't think I could spend much over a day there unless it was an extremely crowded weekend. In fact, I went on a Saturday in July last year, got all the credits, three rides on Superman, and a few flats I wanted to do. Just get there early or Superman/Bizarro's line can be long. I'm not saying anything bad about the park (in fact, I think it's a great park), but unless you are really into water parks, you don't need two days at all. I would advise perhaps spending a full day there, getting a few Bizarro rides in the next morning, then heading out to something else.

 

If you're into basketball at all, the National Basketball Hall of Fame is in Springfield, Massachusetts, very near SFNE. I thought it was very fun, and the city of Springfield seemed kind of sketchy, but very old school and scenic at the same time, if you're into that kind of thing.

 

Last year I did the after five admission to Compounce, and was able to do enough. But it is an AMAZING park with one of the best coasters in the world in Boulder Dash. If I were you, I would plan on spending more time there than at SFNE, Great Escape, or Dorney, but that's just me.

 

There are plenty of places you could add on to your trip. There's a place called Hoffman's Playland, about an hour south of Great Escape that has some great Bumper Cars apparently (much like Knoebels). It's a kiddy park though, so depending on how old your son is, you all could enjoy it. Canobie Lake is less than 2 hours from SFNE is you get bored there. There are plenty of other parks in upstate NY, albeit a bit far from Great Escape (Darien Lake, Martins Fantasy Island, Sylvan Beach). Knoebels and Hershey are by Dorney, which are both better parks than Dorney (I'm assuming you may have been to those places already though lol).

 

Anyway, I would wet myself for 7 days in the northeast. It doesn't look like you are trying to rush at all, but I would still advice against spending a full two days at the Six Flags parks, and spend more time at Lake Compounce/add-ons.

[medic738]

Thanks Wood Dragon - certainly a lot to consider. I have started to look at some of the smaller parks about the area. My son's 15 so kiddie rides are out unless there's a coaster for credit!

 

I've been to a lot of PA parks (though not very recently). Knoebel's is my favorite (I worked there from age 13 up through my 30's!). Just thought about getting to Dorney for some newer rides (but I'll probaboy miss the stuff of my childhood like the Wacky Shack and Journey to the Center of the Earth).

 

Looking at everything - I was really looking forward most to Lake Compounce and from your comments I don't think I'll be disappointed.

 

Thanks so much for your input.

[bobbinbop20]

I Just got back from a trip over there, and the after 5pm discount at Lake Compounce was definetly more then enough time to do everything wanted to do including the coasters, some of the flats (S&S tower and swing), and of course the dark ride.

 

Actually I got 12 rides on Boulder Dash

[larrygator]

1 - On the old Astroland site at Coney Island there are temporary rides including a kiddie coaster, Deno's WonderWheel Park also has a kiddie coaster and a dark ride.

 

2 - Lake Compounce 5PM is enough time, I never spend a full day there anymore

 

3 - Agreed a full day at SFNE and Great Escape is enough time. No need for two days at either.

 

4 - If you do expand your trip further east Canobie Lake has an odd dark ride, good beginning, non-sensical end.

 

5 - Driving between SFNE and Great Escape you might divert to Jiminy Peak which has a Mountain Coaster and Alpine slide (Personally I love Mountain coasters)

 

6 - Magic Forest is 5 miles north of Great Escape and has a kiddie credit but it's not worth the admission fee in my opinion. Not much else for adults to enjoy at the park. Hoffman's Playland does have excellent bumper cars and a kiddie coaster you pay by the ride and is very close to the highway.

 

Hope that helps!

[medic738]

Thanks for all the info. We're approaching our departure date (Sunday) and I think I've finalized our plans for the week:

 

Sunday Aug 9 Coney Island - cyclone, wonder wheel, spook-a-rama and may be any kiddie coaster credits we're allowed to ride

Rye Playland

Monday Aug 10 - Quassy and lake Compounce

Tuesday Aug 11 - SF New England

Wednesday Aug 12 - SF Great Escape

Thursday Aug 13 - Sylvan Beach Park and Seabreeze

Friday Aug 14 - Darien lake

Saturday Aug 15 - stop at Dorney Park on way home if there's any money left!

 

I'm anxiously counting the minutes till departure.

[larrygator]

If you are going to Darien Lake and planning to stay the night in the area, Martin's Fantasy Island, which has a very good woodie, has an after 5PM special.

 

In case you don't know this already, Seabreeze also has an after 5PM special.

[medic738]

Yes I considered Martins. Its a maybe so far. the only problem is that after leaving Darien Lake, I plan to drive south to Bingamton NY to spend the night and going to Martins would add another hour to that trip.