Barnsey737200 Posted May 28, 2011 Share Posted May 28, 2011 Hi all, Looking for some advice. I've just realised that many parks over in the US of A are open for a very limited time, and only on weekends during the quieter months which makes planning some kind of tour outside of the summer holiday a nightmare! Can anyone recommend the best time to visit for 2 weeks, thinking of a driving route starting in NYC and going south to BGW and northwest to Cedar Point, returning back to NYC. Maybe a little ambitious but i'd like to take in as many of big parks as possible. Your wisdom always greatly appreciated Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groteslurf Posted May 28, 2011 Share Posted May 28, 2011 Hi, we did the tour of all the big parks (HW, SFKK, KI, CP, CW, Kennywood, Hershey, Dorney, Knoebels, SFGAdv, KD, BGW & SFA) back in 2008 in the second half of May. All parks were open, the weather was excellent and crowds were very light, except on Memorial Day. In stead of driving a loop, maybe it's worthwhile thinking of flying in/out on different airports like we did. We saved a lot of driving by doing so and the surcharge we had to pay to drop off the rental car was not too high, considering the miles we saved. We flew in on Evansville, IN (close to Holiday World) and flew back from Washington DC. We included Canada's Wonderland in our trip, but this was a lot of extra driving and except for all the credits (only Vortex & Behemoth were worthwhile), we wouldn't include CW in our trip if we would do the same trip again. Hope this helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barnsey737200 Posted June 8, 2011 Author Share Posted June 8, 2011 Hi thanks for your response, very informative! Can I just also ask what kind of places you stayed overnight during the trip? For example motel type places near the parks or hotels in the bigger city areas and did you book all of these well in advance? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perilous Chris Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 Hi there, I just got back from a two week trip. I went to Dorney Park, SFGAdv, SFNE, Lake Compounce, Quassy, Knoebels, HersheyPark, SFA, KD and BGW. I did not have too much trouble with crowds at all. SFGAdv and Lake Compounce were really the only parks that were slightly crowded. The weather in these states can be up and down with rain definitely being a possibility. Therefore, it's not a bad idea to book hotels that will allow same day cancellations. Some of the hotels I stayed at allowed cancellations until 4:00 pm. You would also be surprised at how quickly some of these parks can be completed. For example, I originally planned on a day and a half at Dorney Park. I was able to ride all of the coasters at Dorney in about a couple hours. I was also able to complete SFA and Knoebels within a couple hours as well. This allowed me to get a head start on some of the larger parks such as SFGadv and Hershey. In terms of hotels, I primarily stayed at Wyndam properties such as Days Inn's and Knights Inn's. Last year when I visited Cedar Point, I stayed at a Howard Johnson. None of the hotels were "luxurious," but they worked out alright for me. You can usually book pretty far in advance and get a decent rate. If I could have done something different on this last trip, I would have researched the areas I stayed in more carefully. Some of the hotels I stayed at, were really out of the way from anything! For this trip I avoided NYC. I have not been, but I have heard horror stories of being severely delayed in traffic. I drove from SFGadv to the Windsor Locks area (SFNE). Instead of going through NYC, I took a somewhat long route through NJ and avoided what most likely was a lot of headaches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderhead Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 Dorney Park, SFGAdv, SFNE, Lake Compounce, Quassy, Knoebels, HersheyPark, SFA, KD and BGW. Pretty much this. If I had to cut some parks, I would say SFA and Quassy... I might also suggest heading to Darien Lake if you can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDo217 Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 I'm not sure how best to plan out this trip, but SFNE and Lake Compounce can easily be combined into a single day (LC has discounted admissio after 5). Dorney and Knoebels can too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 I would never recommend anyone doing Knoebel's in a couple of hours. There is plenty to do there to take in a good part of your day. And not riding Phoenix at night is like having sex and quitting before you climax. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groteslurf Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 Hi thanks for your response, very informative! Can I just also ask what kind of places you stayed overnight during the trip? For example motel type places near the parks or hotels in the bigger city areas and did you book all of these well in advance? Thanks! Sorry for the late reply. Only just noticed your question. We booked all hotels in advance, I actually don't remember the hotelchain we used but it's very easy to find hotels on certain hotel websites. For example, on the Day's Inn website you can search for hotels near themeparks and it's really working very well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perilous Chris Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 I would never recommend anyone doing Knoebel's in a couple of hours. There is plenty to do there to take in a good part of your day. And not riding Phoenix at night is like having sex and quitting before you climax. This is actually the part of my trip that I regret the most. I was fortunate to be able to ride the Phoenix at night a few times, but I regret missing out on some of the flats and the sky ride. Also, I would have liked to try more of the food. The next time I do a trip like this, I'll plan for more time at this park. I personally would suggest separate days for Lake Compounce and SFNE. While it is certainly possible to do both parks in a day, it would be more relaxing to have two full days. Aside from Bizarro, SFNE has some unique flat rides, and it is was by far one of the prettiest parks of my trip. I only rode Boulder Dash three times at Lake Compounce, and I still left feeling partially deprived. It's an addictive ride, and by far one of the best I have ever experienced! If you are interested in visiting Quassy, I would go on the same day you visit Lake Compounce. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 If you are interested in visiting Quassy, I would go on the same day you visit Lake Compounce. Agreed. You can do Quassy in the morning in a couple of hours, then drive over to LC (about 45 min away) and spend the rest of the evening there. Night rides on Boulder Dash are much like night rides on Phoenix. (read my comment above!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perilous Chris Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 ^ I visited Quassy on a Saturday afternoon, and I stayed for about an hour. All I rode was the Wooden Warrior. I'm sad that the "death mouse" was removed before my first visit. Phoenix really is amazing at night! It's the type of coaster that you cannot just ride once for the credit, you need to ride it as much as possible! I'm sure this has been mentioned, but if you are planning to visit Lake Compounce early in the season (May/early June), your only options are education days (Thursday-Friday) and weekends. I went on an "education day" and it was packed with hyper school kids. If I visit LC again early in the season, I will consider a weekend to experience Boulder Dash at night, as the park closes late in the afternoon on education days. Chris "was able to get his freak on with Boulder Dash, but went all the way with Miss Phoenix" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barnsey737200 Posted July 19, 2011 Author Share Posted July 19, 2011 Thanks all for your time in replying, your tips and advice are much appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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