Which themeparks to visit in the USA?

[spinning man]

Well, for my 18th my parents are letting me do whatever I want as a present. So I decided to possibly go to the USA to go to the theme parks, but I am undecided as to which to visit. I can't go to every single one, even though I would love to, but I will come up with a final list rellying on the responses I get.

[ernierocker]

You will have to give us more information, otherwise you will get a bunch of random responses that are meaningless.

 

For instance, are you more into roller coasters or do you like a park with a more complete ride package. Or you a Disney fan? Will you need to stick to one region of the country, or will there be enough time for internal flights or longer car drives?

 

Your question is just way too broad right now, for you to get the responses you are looking for.

[spinning man]

Well to rephrase my question, which airport in the USA has some of the best theme parks around the area, other than florida, where one would have to travel a sensible distance to reach them. Ignore the rest about the hotels and stuff for now. For the thing about rollercoasters, I would prefer to go to a park with some of the best coasters in the world. I hope I made things simpler.

 

There are of course many other parks in that region depending on how far you want to expand your driving radius.

Edited February 12, 2012 by ernierocker

[ernierocker]

Well, other than Florida, I would recommend flying into New York City. Within reasonable driving distance you have Six Flags Great Adventure, Six Flags New England, Lake Compounce, Hersheypark, Dorney Park and Knoebels. Depending on time and schedule, you could also throw in Luna Park and the Coney Island Cyclone, Morey Piers, and do some sightseeing in NYC.

 

There are of course several more parks in the region depending on how far you want to expand your driving radius.

Edited February 12, 2012 by ernierocker

[larrygator]

Will you be traveling which someone over the age of 25 who can rent a car?

What are you considering a sensible driving distance?

[sspaz1000]

I was just going to say the same thing as Eric. But once you decide more of where to go it can help get you responses as well.

 

Check out TPR's park index http://www.themeparkreview.com/parks/ and also check out RCDB as well, that can give you ideas about parks and coasters and will help you narrow down a region of the US you want to visit.

[spinning man]

Well, it is a high possibilty i'm going to go with some of my family, so my father will take care of the driving matter. Towards what I call a sensible distance, that would be a area of 133 miles in radius.

[ernierocker]

So, in other words, 100 Kilometers?

 

If you had to stick to that small of a driving radius and still stay in the Northeast, then I would recommend flying into Philadelphia. Within 120 (ish) miles, you would still be able to go to Six Flags Great Adventure, Dorney Park and Hersheypark. You would also be less than 130 miles from Knoebels which doesn't have the extreme coasters you wanted but is one of the best theme parks in the country. You could also still do a sightseeing day in NYC and maybe a side trip to Coney Island.

 

Otherwise, Southern California (gasp) might be an option for you. Nowhere else in the country besides these two locations will you find more parks (that fit your criteria) within a 120 mile radius.

Edited February 13, 2012 by ernierocker

[sspaz1000]

133 miles is a very narrow window of travel.

 

Like Eric said, Philly is a choice and California, and WDW area.

 

But with California, yes some of the parks are relatively close, but are you willing to possibly sit in a few hours traffic, just because it's closer together?

 

I'd consider opening your radius to about 200 miles, and think about NYC. Yes traffic in NYC can be nasty but once you'd be headed towards the parks, a lot less traffic, and a lot more highly rated coasters.

 

Don't forget to search out information on the parks around, NYC (lake compounce, sfne, sfgradv, Dorney, hershey, knoebels, jersey shore, coney island)

 

Philadelphia (Dorney, sfgradv, Hershey, knoebels, jersey shore)

 

Califnornia (knots, sfmm, dl, dca, ush)

 

Florida (WDW, USO, sea world, legoland, possibly Busch gardens Tampa)

 

Once you sit down and figure out what you want out of this trip, you can narrow it down by region, highly rated coasters, and some classic parks then NYC and Philly, but if you just want to go to some parks because they are close together, then Cali or Florida.

 

Also if you are just wanting a whole theme park experience then Florida is something to consider.

 

Think about what you want out of the trip, and the rest will fall into place.

 

Eta: also an hour and a half driving (1 mile a minute) is nothing in the US. People seem to assume that the US is really close together and that it doesn't take much to get from A to B. an extra half hour in the car if going to NYC and heading to Knoebels is really nothing in the grand scheme of traveling around the US.

[robbalvey]

If you can open that window of travel a bit, I'd recommend flying into Philly and doing Great Adventure, Knoebels, and Hershey, and then driving down to Virginia and doing Busch Gardens and Kings Dominion.

 

Those 5 parks would make for a GREAT week long trip!

Edited February 14, 2012 by robbalvey

[guifol]

I was planning to do a trip like this:

Arrive in Cleveland, go to Waldameer, Kennywood, Lakemont Park, Hersheypark, Knoebels, Dorney and Siz Flags Great Adventure.

I think it is a good idea, burt it includes some driving...

Hoped I helped you!

[spinning man]

Thanks for all the responses. I'll have a look through and devise a trip from all the info obtained. One other question, since i don't know much about hotels there. Is there a hotel company who are good for price? Well, I mean something like holiday inn, like here in england.

Edited February 15, 2012 by spinning man

[sspaz1000]

^ Holiday Inn is in the US, there's also Hampton Inn, Motel 6, There are a variety of chain hotels in the US, you just need to find the ones, that are somewhat close to all the parks you are going to.

 

Not every chain will have a hotel at every amusement park. Once you decide on the parks, most park websites have lodging information. Check that out, and then come back on here asking if anyone has stayed at the particular hotel you were looking into. That way, you can see what's close to the park, and get suggestions from people who have stayed at different things. You may find out that there are some non chain hotels that might be better than a chain hotel.

[spinning man]

Thanks. Will look into it more.

 

EDIT:If you want to post anymore suggestions for theme parks to visit, that would be fine.