Summer vacation cross-country, rollercoaster road trip

[AWill961]

Is there anyone with considerable experience to discourage one from embarking on a cross-country, roller coaster road trip? Is there anyone with an experience of a roller coaster road trip they found rewarding and highly enjoyable?

 

I've been fixated on the idea of embarking on one since last year, because I would like to experience what our country has to offer with a few friends (1-3 others), document my experience for my records, and develop an experience that I can share with others. I've been putting away funds toward it; so far I have $850 of funds set aside. I reckon this could be a possibility perhaps during summer 2011 or 2012, if I am accompanied by friends who can contribute their share toward the trip.

 

Do you think it is reasonable to conduct a roller coaster road trip, with the intention of visiting the below listed parks, in one month? If not, how about two months? What others parks (not including ones mentioned below) would you visit if you could embark on your own roller coaster road trip? Why?

 

For those who have embarked on a roller coaster road trip? How was your experience? Are there things that you would have done differently if you could try it again?

 

My park visit wish list is by no means complete. If the possibility of doing this one day turns out to be highly probable, I will do a lot of extensive research and planning. But for now, here's some of the parks I came up with:

 

Definite park visit list:

Six Flags Over Georgia

Six Flags Over Texas

Six Flags Great America

Six Flags Great Adventure

Six Flags America

Six Flags Discovery Kingdom

Universal Studios Orlando Resort

Busch Gardens Europe

Kings Dominion

Kings Island

Cedar Point

Dollywood

Carowinds

Hershey Park

Dorney Park

California's Great America

 

Possible additions to list

Six Flags New England

Six Flags Fiesta Texas

Six Flags St. Louis

Busch Gardens Africa

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I have an idea of starting in Southern California and moving toward Texas on Interstate 40. Then I would like, after visiting Six Flags Great America, to take Interstate 80 back to California.

[fatdaddy]

That looks, both insane and expensive. Also, sounds kinda cool, something i would do if i didn't have a wife and kids. That said, if your looking to save up some cash and do it when you have the funds, i would just save for a TPR trip. Let R and E do all the work while you kick back and have fun, all you gotta worry about is not being late.

[Perilous Chris]

Hi,

 

There are plenty of people here that can give you some excellent advice. Hopefully, my brief experience can help.

 

I just got back from my first coaster trip last week. I hope to eventually do a TPR trip, but I wanted to try something a little shorter on my own first. I visited Cedar Point, Kings Island, Holiday World, Kennywood and Waldameer Park.

 

For starters, you will be putting some serious mileage on your car. Not only will you be spending a fortune on gas, but you are most likely going to have to stop for an oil change/service at least once. While it sounds fun, think of how much time you will spend driving. For my trip, I calculated at least 21 hours of driving.

 

Second, think about weather, driving conditions, and changes in traffic patterns. The night before I visited Kennywood, I stopped in Pittsburgh to go gambling. It was pouring rain, and I got lost driving on the bridges. It scared me to death! Also, on the way back from Holiday World, I stopped in Louisville to get a cup of coffee. Little did I know that most everything would be closed, and most of the streets are one way. Plus, I quickly learned that these towns have their rough spots. Before my trip, I figured it would be fun to randomly explore these cities after long days at the parks. I learned the lesson that no matter how much you plan, it's better to be obsessively over prepared, than under prepared.

 

While it will be great to see the country, keep in mind that some of the driving will be exhausting and boring. For example when driving from Kings Island to Holiday World, you go through a two hour stretch where all you see is trees.

 

If your staying at hotels and/or motels, that will eat up a chunk. For my trip, I stayed at two Days Inn's, and a Howard Johnson. I spent a little over $500 total, and I felt that I got some pretty cheap rates for what I was going for.

 

Before planning my trip, there were plenty of other parks I wanted to add (i.e. Michigan's Adventure, Hersheypark, Six Flags Great America, etc.), but I soon came to the conclusion that adding another would be one too many in terms of driving, hotels, etc.

 

Your plan sounds exciting, and if your set on it, I'd say go for it. There's just a lot to take into consideration. Start researching asap!

[808Freq]

I would definitely +1 the thorough research idea. I seriously researched/contemplated a similar trip, but in the end the expense and travel time was too much for me personally. Doing it in manageable 'legs' made a lot more sense to me in the end. Also remember that you'll probably be riding a lot of the 'same coasters' by hitting all those SF's at once. Might make sense to research which has which clones and knock a couple off your list. Maybe go back and hit those later. Obviously the Cali and Texas parks would add a TON of mileage to your trip. While a TPR trip might not give you the 'road trip' experience you might be seeking, it probably makes a lot more sense from a 'coaster enjoyment' standpoint.

[Nozzy]

I just took a road trip with friends to King's Island, Holiday World, and Cedar Point over 1 week. It was a total blast!!!! We did end up with about 24 hours of driving, which I didn't mind doing most of, though my friends were always ready to take over as well. We spent at least two days at each park so we had plenty of time to see everything and split the driving up by staying at hotels midway between parks. It did put a good two or three thousand miles on my car, but it handled it well and gas came out to less than $40 per person. We stayed at the cheapest hotels with good satisfaction ratings from priceline, and they only totaled $120 per person. The total for the trip for hotels, tickets, and gas was about $400 (note this doesn't include food), of which $150 was for a CF Platinum Pass that I'm continuing to use. This was in May so hotel rates were probably cheaper than the summer, but if you stay farther from parks you might find comparable.

 

In terms of road tripness, we didn't explore too much but immensely enjoyed what we did see. There were lots of beautiful roads, and we still joke about the awesome rest stop we found and our new favorite convenience store, United Dairy Farmers (it's in SW Ohio)! We would also just hang out and recover in the hotel rooms a lot, playing Pokemon and such.

 

The one thing I would have done differently was just that we made hotel reservations and were not 21, which turned out to be an age requirement to rent a room some places. So, definitely call the hotels if you are less than 24 (we were told that was the age some places). I also got tripped up in time zones a bit. Other than the hotel thing, I don't think I would have done anything different.

 

Your trip is much grander in scope than mine was, so it really depends how much road-trip you want. I notice the majority of the parks on your list are on the East Coast, so I would either find a way to add more stops along the way, or figure out how to fly to the East Coast and focus on them. I also noticed some close parks that yo skip, like if you'd be in Florida why not get to Busch Gardens Africa as well? I'd also recommend a stop at Knoebel's while around Dorney and Hershey. -If you really wanna drive that long though, its either a great bonding experience if you have have the right people. I also personally enjoyed the act of planning my trip, so that wasn't a deterrent to me at all. A TPR trip would let you get the coasters and take away all the hassle, but I liked having a last hurrah with just my college friends, none of whom are enthusiasts (but understood that they would be expected to be at parks open to close).Of course, there's also the option of incorporating a TPR trip into your roadtrip, if they worked well together.

 

Good luck in your planning!