Travel to an amusement park far away in a single day

[sspaz1000]

^ Most likely yes. It's going to depend on what discounts get offered for ClubTPR in 2013, but yes there is a good chance, visiting two parks is worth the cost to you of ClubTPR. To me, ClubTPR just isn't about getting those discounts for parks, it's being able to get to know about some of the TPR trips first, and saving a little money on the TPR trips, and getting some surprises in the mail from them. To me that is worth more than the $35 fee. But discounts to parks vary from park to park year to year.

[ajfelice]

I have trained myself to be a morning person only for travelling to amusement parks. For me, Cedar Point is about three hours away, which is honestly nothing for a drive. I will depart at 7am, and I will spend my entire day there until closing at 10pm, and I will be able to ride everything I want. I usually return home between 2-3am. The trip is tiring, but not exhausting. The longest travel time for a single park in a single day is a little over four hours to make it to Knoebel's which was completely worth it. Since the park doesn't require as much time as Cedar Point to fully experience, I can get away with travelling 8 hours in one day plus a full day at the park.

 

With Kings Island trips, and my trip to Hersheypark this weekend, I will leave close to 5am and make it there by 10:00am. I will be at the park until 10pm closing. I stay the night, and arrive home the next day in the afternoon. Although, this particular weekend I'm going to plan on arriving home by 1pm for the Browns opening weekend kickoff!

 

The most extreme trip I have taken in terms of the travel to amusement park ratio was this past spring. I left at 3:15am to arrive at Six Flags Great Adventure by 10am. I was there from 10am-7pm as the park was not busy at all (walk-ons everywhere). Spent the night in Jersey, stopped at Knoebels briefly, and I made it home by 10pm that night.

 

In terms of finances, I'm a full time college student, so I pay close attention. Meals are a less than $5 stop for McDonald's breakfast. One meal in the park (because I love Panda Express in Cedar Fair Park). For water, I usually can sneek bottled water in a cargo pocket, or I spend the $3-4 on a 20oz bottle and refill it at the water fountains. Lastly, I make a small $5 stop for fast food on the way home. Lodging (if needed) is usually an economy hotel. The issue of gas is controlled by my Civic getting about 35mpg on the highway. I can afford this hobby and the rest of my life by working part time during the school year, and putting in 60 hours a week at Waldameer during the summer (most trips are early May or September).

 

^^That is my typical travel experience at an amusement park in a nutshell.

[Whodey]

Most parks I have been to give you water for free. CP is great they give you a big cup while KI small plastic cups. By the way KI is closed this weekend for a private event.

[Sir Clinksalot]

This is a little off topic, but jeez it seems like a lot of folks here on TPR just have piles of money laying around...

 

No, a lot of people on TPR live modestly and are frugal when it comes to frivilous things in life choosing to save money for travel.

 

This.

 

I hate when people make assumptions on what kind of $$ people make or how they choose to spend it.

 

It's called not buying Blu-Rays/CD's every Tuesday, not buying/leasing a car that's out of your price range, not spending $100 on a pair of jeans/shoes, not eating out all the time, not going to the movies every week, etc.

 

I used to spend WAY too much $$ on all those things, took a long time to break the habit but once I saw how much we saved it was staggering.

[Noxegon]

No, a lot of people on TPR live modestly and are frugal when it comes to frivilous things in life choosing to save money for travel.

 

Precisely. I spend a substantial percentage of my income on travel, and I'm only able to do that because I'm frugal in other areas.

 

I've not read most of this thread, but I'll say that for me, personally, I'll travel as far as I have to if there's a park that I want to visit. I've done long weekends in very far away places - and I've always had as much time as I've wanted in the area.

[gisco]

Something to think about. I don't remember what the TPR Dubai trip cost but it probably worked out to around $200 a credit. Spend $300 to visit a park with multiple credits for the day doesn't seem so bad in comparison.

 

I still wouldn't do it though!

[palmerleeberry]

Okay, here's my take on this subject: I visit those amusement parks that are far away from me when I'm on vacation. In my advanced age, I have to consider the driving time whenever I travel and whether something is feasible or not.

 

For example, I took a friend with me to Six Flags over Georgia. Now we both live in Bridgewater, Virginia (We're next to interstate 81 and 240 miles north from the Tennessee State line). We spent Friday driving to Georgia and a stayed at a hotel in Carterville; Saturday, we spent the whole day inside the park; and Sunday, we drove home. Because of our ages and physical capabilities, there was no way we were going to try and do that within a day.

 

So my advice is if you can't travel to that amusement park within a few short hours, then you be better off planning extra days to take that trip. As for me, I can do day trips to Kings Dominion, Six Flags America, Busch Gardens, and Hersheypark; but other trips to any other park will require an overnight stay at a hotel.

 

"Here's my advice: don't go out - just stay home and lie on your pillow!"