Planning a mini East Coast trip next summer, need some advic

[JDo217]

A few friends and I wanted to do a mini-east coast tour type thing next summer. We live on Long Island, NY and the parks we were thinking of going to were: (* means I've never been there before)

 

-Six Flags New England

-Lake Compounce*

-Six Flags Great Adventure

-Dorney Park

-Knoebels*

-Hersheypark

-Kennywood*

-Waldameer*

-Busch Gardens Williamsburg*

-King's Dominion*

 

I'm thinking right off the bat that SFGAdv, SFNE, Hersheypark, BG, and KD will all be parks I'll need a day for. I don't want to rush myself - as in I don't want to be scarmbling to get all the credits in and not have time to enjoy the park and re-ride stuff. I was thinking I'd start off with SFNE and Lake Compounce and work my way south. I'll leave Hershey and SFGAdv for the trip home since I don't want to really do a straight drive from VA to NY.

 

One of the most crucial things is pricing. There will probably be 4 of us going and we don't mind squishing into one hotel room at all. The only thing I don't really want to do is stay in a motel. I wouldn't mind the hotels being 30 or so minutes from the park, but more might be a hastle. How much should I expect some of these hotel prices to be?

 

Also, I know Club TPR has some great deals for many of the parks, but there are some parks that I just can't seem to find discounts for. BG and KD for instance. I'm really not familiar with these parks at all but my first instinct is that there's no way BG tickets can be $50+ even with a discount? Anything I should know to get better discounts?

 

Also, I'm thinking of how to group these parks. I was thinking of this outline so far. The ones together would be done in one day:

 

SFNE (drive to Lake Compounce that night)

Lake Compounce (drive down to Dorney that night)

Dorney/Knoebels (drive to Waldameer that night)

Waldameer/Kennywood (drive to BG)

*day of rest* we'll probably need it after the drive to VA

Busch Gardens

KD (drive to Hershey)

Hersheypark

SFGAdv

 

I'm confident I can do Dorney and Knoebels in a day, especially since most of us have been to dorney before and I know the crowds are usually light.

[ParkTrips]

I'd do it a little differently.

 

I would suggest doing SFNE and the Lake on the same day, only because you have been to SFNE already. You could easily get there at opening, ride everything big by 1pm since the crowds will be light to start the day, and be in Bristol by 2pm. That's up to you - honestly, I don't think you need a full day at Lake Compounce. We were there on a crazy busy day and truthfully got bored with the park after half a day. Getting there later gives you a better shot at night rides on Boulder Dash too, depending on closing time and sunset of course.

 

We stayed at a hotel sort of between the park and ESPN - I think it was a Quality Inn, and it was decent enough. I want to say we paid $150, but it may have been lower, and splitting it 4 ways wouldn't be too bad. I'd say stay there, sleep in and try to get to Dorney around 5pm so you can enjoy the twilight discount (you are correct in that you don't need a full day here). We stayed at a Mictotel in Allentown - it was my first experience with the discounted chain, but it was a pretty good value for the money. Small rooms though, so 4 grown dudes may not like it as much as we did.

 

If you haven't been to Knoebels, I'd suggest spending the better part of a day there. Perhaps leave in the early evening, and drive out to Erie (this is probably a good 4 hour drive too). You could even do the drive in the morning, since Waldameer opens later, but I'd personally do it at night with less traffic to deal with on I-80 (which is probably going to be under construction since this is a freeway through PA). Plus, there aren't many hotel options in the immediate vicinity of Knoebels.Try to check the calendar for festivals at the park, as they tend to crowd the park. While the super long ride cycles are nice, they also make lines move slower, and a crowd could potentially take away some of your enjoyment.

 

I'd hit Waldameer at opening. This is the only park on your list I haven't been to, but I'd suspect 3 hours would be sufficient - an hour on to GG coaster, 2 hours for the rest of the park. You can stretch this day out if you want, or make it down to Pittsburgh and do a twilight special at Kennywood. I really like Kennywood, so I'm not sure if 5-10PM would be enough to really enjoy it, but it's what you planned to do and I can see it working out ok. Otherwise, I'd give Kennywood a full day. Doing Waldameer on another trip (since its halfway between the Buffalo area parks and Cedar Point) might not be a bad idea either. Plenty of hotel options in Pittsburgh.

 

The drive to Williamsburgh is going to be long. It will be even longer if you go through the Baltimore/Washington area. Cut through northern Virginia if you can. Rest up that night, it's been a long trip already and you're only halfway done.

 

$50 for a Busch ticket even with a discount seems about right. They just don't discount much and yet can still draw 3M visitors annually. I found a really good 2br suite online for about $75, but that was off season (March) and I couldn't even remember where its at.

 

The rest of your trip looks good. Hotels close to Hershey are going to be expensive, you can find a better deal by staying in the Philly 'burbs (which also puts you halfway to Great Adventure). I didn't stay anywhere near KD, so I can't comment for sure, but there should be ample choices.

 

 

What days you go to the parks is pretty important too. I'd try

Friday SFNE/LC

Saturday drive/Dorney

Sunday Knoebels

Monday Kennywood (skipping Erie)

Tuesday drive

Wednesday Busch Gardens

Thursday Kings Dominion

Friday Hersheypark

Saturday Great Adventure (Saturdays can suck here, but you've been before)

[JDo217]

Thank you so much for the response. Honestly, this is all really tentative and up in the air, especially since all of us will be dealing with internships and extra courses in the summer. And yeah, I want to spend more time in the parks I haven't been to yet. Dorney, GAdv, and Hershey I've pretty much ridden everything there at least 5 times.

 

Also, I was thinking of doing a really shortened version of this trip this summer, which would include Hershey, Kennywood, and Waldameer. I haven't been to the last two at all so far, and I want to get in a trip to HP this year - hopefully those SDL rumors aren't true but just in case... Anyways, would this trip be doable in two days? I was thinking something along the lines of this:

 

Day 1: Drive to Hershey, spend most of the day there, drive to Kennywood

Day 2: Kennywood & Waldameer, stay in hotel

Day 3: The drive home

 

Hershey is 4 hours from me, so the drive home will probably be a boring 4 hours. We might hit either GAdv or Dorney on the way home since it's well...on the way. But that depends on how well we're on schedule and stuff I guess.

 

I really don't have any experience with any three of those parks though when it comes to crowds. I just know on a weekday, they tend to be less crowded and I know to check for events in the park that day that might make it more crowded. Is Hershey normally crowded on a weekday? I think I've been there before on a weekday and the lines were pretty short, except for Fahrenheit which was the typical hour. Are Kennywood and Waldameer typically crowded? I know they're smaller parks - Waldameer especially - but do they tend to draw in a lot of crowds? And are the ride ops and operations decent?

[Perilous Chris]

Hi there,

 

I got back from a midwest trip two weeks ago. I went to Cedar Point, Kings Island, Holiday World, Kennywood, and Waldameer.

 

Hopefully I can offer a little advice for Kennywood and Waldameer.

 

I went to Kennywood on Thursday, June 10th, and it was by far the most crowded park of the trip. I was able to get all the coasters in except for Sky Rocket, along with all the dark rides. It took much longer than I expected. To my surprise, a couple of employees at the park told me that it was a very average day in terms of crowds. If you want to ride all the coasters along with some of the historical stuff, you might really be cutting it close with twilight admission. There were many classic flats I wanted to ride, but did not because I felt the lines were too long. It is a beautiful park, but I was exhausted afterwards.

 

I would suggest doing a full day at Kennywood. Also, it was a difficult park to get to. I stayed at the Days Inn Monroeville, and it took about an hour with Rankin Bridge Construction. There was construction and traffic everywhere! If you are driving through Pittsburgh, there is a good chance you may hit traffic! If I was to do it again, I would try to stay a little closer to the park.

 

I did Waldameer the Friday after Kennywood. I was only there for about two and a half hours. It was moderately crowded as there were many school picnics, but in that time I rode: Ravine Flyer II twice, Steel Dragon, Comet, XScream and the Wacky Shack. I had plenty of time to walk around and see the park without feeling rushed. Just for the record, Ravine Flyer II was by far one of the best wooden coasters of the trip!! The Wacky Shack is a classic dark ride as well. Overall, I had a great time at Waldameer, and would strongly recommend it. I personally found the Erie Pa a pretty easy city to drive through.

Edited June 30, 2010 by Perilous Chris

[mightbeawannabe]

I haven't been to any of those three parks but I would go to Kennywood for a full day on perhaps a Mon/Tues (there tend to be lighter crowds at any park) and plan your trip around that if you want to get all the credits.

[Montuman99]

Let me give you some advice.

 

SFNE- Go to Bizarro first, there is no question. It should have the shortest line at the beginning of the day. Near the end of the day, everyone will be heading for Bizarro so that's when you take advantage of Batman, Cyclone and Thunderbolt.

 

Lake Compounce- Again, go for the biggest ride first. Boulder Dash had a 10 minute wait the whole day I went but that was on a monday. Hit the big rides first, BD, and Thunder N' Lightening.

 

That's all I have, hit the big rides first and you should be good on your trip.

[fatdaddy]

All I can say is that since i got my copy of the TPR magazine, i wanna go to Knoebel's and eat a travelin' taco. Everybodys gonna love today...gonna love today...gonna love today, I can't get that f'n song outta my head. My advice, deluxe travelin' taco, or at least it's on my list of things to do.

[Lenaapple1974]

I am actually in the midst of trying to plan a day trip to SFNE and Lake Compounce for September. The wondering if the scheduling will be good enough sucks, and all I am doing is a one day thing! I couldn't imagine a week worth of park hopping. IMO, I definitely think when going to SFNE, get there for opening. My plan is to do that, get some good rides on Bizzaro first and foremost - then everything else there. Lake Compounce is only about 45-50 minutes from SFNE. Get to Lake Compounce for 5pm, when they have their discounted rates which is $18 as opposed to I think $35, hit up BD a few times, then the rest. They close at 8pm when I am going, so I am not leaving much time out there for much else. But my main thing is definitely BD. We never get to ride flats, so we will probably close out our day spinning ourselves dizzy. Both of these should definitely be easy to accomplish within the one day.

 

As far as tickets, the best prices I have seen have been online at the park sites for the VA parks. I agree though, nothing under $50. I have been searching b/c I am going in the end of August to both. I will post again if I find anything worth while. Hershey has the coupons in various stores for $10 (I think) off per person in July, and (definitely) $8 off per person in Aug/Sept.

 

Good Luck!

[alpengeist04]

I'm confident I can do Dorney and Knoebels in a day, especially since most of us have been to dorney before and I know the crowds are usually light.

 

I did just that two weeks ago. I was at Dorney at opening and had all the coasters done in 2 hours, and then took advantage of the after 5pm rate at Knoebels. Of course, I had visited Knoebels before, so my main objective was to ride Phoenix over and over again and get the Kozmo credit.