Is it possible to stay too long at an amusement park?

[eltororider]

I love roller coasters, I truly do. The last 2 years I've gone on vacation to specifically amusement parks and really did almost nothing else on the trip. I spent a full week at Universal Orlando 2 years ago and spent 3 days at Cedar Point last year. The only problem on these trips was that I got tired of these parks after a few days because I basically spent all day every day at these parks. At Universal I pretty much felt I needed a break from the parks after the 3rd day and Cedar Point really after the 2nd day (this was more because my friend didn't like half the coasters there). So is it a bad thing to get tired of a park you go to too much at 1 time? Has anyone ever felt that way about an amusement parks where they feel like they need a # of days limit at even the best parks? I felt bad for even having that thought cross my mind because I really did love both parks, I just felt like I overdid them and I would've had a more memorable experience by staying less days at both. So I really just feel curious if anyone has had that happen to them.

[Angry_Gumball]

It is possible to feel like you've overdone yourself and everything seems to not quite stand out as much as if you had done just 1 visit there. This sort of happened with me during Haunt season. I was out at the park every weekend for CGA's Haunt and while in the past I had gone 2-3 times, I had done 6 Haunt visits this season...with that many visits, I hardly remember any of the highlights as many moments were able to be recreated. In the end I did enjoy every bit of Haunt and on the last day of the park operation, I didn't quite find it as hard leaving the park when it came time as I was very well satisfied with everything I had done. In the end, even with frequent visits to my home park I like to mix things up a bit on each of my visits so they all don't feel identical.

[kidcoaster 2]

I think it depends on the park and who I am with.

 

For something like Knoebels, Dollywood, Silver Dollar City, or Europa Park I could easily spend several days and not get bored. I even lived at Cedar Point for an entire summer and never got bored.

 

But I stayed 4 days/4 nights at Disneyland Paris this past summer and I thought that was too much even with both parks.

[Geauga Dog]

For me, if I'm going to a park that will be new to me or to a park I don't get to very often I will spend at least 2 days there since I don't know if or when I'll be able to get to visit them again. I will admit by the end of the second day I can get a ilttle bored with the park I'm in but when I look back on the trip later on I realize it was well worth going for the two days.

[cfc]

I think there's a continuum here.

 

Parks where you can't stay long enough (DisneySea) down to parks where one day is far too long (Mt. Olympus).

[bill_s]

Certainly. I'm not a young 'un anymore so there's a stamina issue, but even when younger I don't recall any case of staying all day. Either had to get home or ran out of energy before close unless weren't open late. And the best time to be at a park is the first hour and the last 2 hours. Unless you have a hotel room next to the park it can be difficult to do both. I've also left a park with friends intending to go back later and then been overruled.

 

I like going to my home park a lot, but for an average of about 2 hours per visit. I might feel like that's enough and yet I'm ready to go again a few days later. I've gone with only an hour left, wasn't sure if it was going to be worth the trouble and found it a blast. Going so often can take the glamour out of a park, and yet I've enjoyed some closing days as much as the first time. I also think a great "amusement park" suffers less from overexposure than a true "theme" park. I went to BGW enough at one point that I was noticing every flaw and there was nothing beautiful about it. Disney-style parks seem oriented towards a single experience of everything only (although it could take a couple of days).

[ernierocker]

I think there's a continuum here.

 

Parks where you can't stay long enough (DisneySea) down to parks where one day is far too long (Mt. Olympus).

 

Agreed. I could probably spend days at Epcot, but hours is more than enough for somewhere like Six Flags America.

[Anything]

Does anyone find that when they get into bed after a full day of rides, their heads spins slightly?

[cfc]

I like going to my home park a lot, but for an average of about 2 hours per visit. I might feel like that's enough and yet I'm ready to go again a few days later. I've gone with only an hour left, wasn't sure if it was going to be worth the trouble and found it a blast. Going so often can take the glamour out of a park, and yet I've enjoyed some closing days as much as the first time. I also think a great "amusement park" suffers less from overexposure than a true "theme" park.

 

Same here. I like to hit BGW on Friday evening during the summer from time to time, but I spend an entire day there when I have company in town.

[Zem]

If I'm out of town visiting a park I'll get there when it opens a typically leave by mid afternoon when it starts getting crowded. Then I'll spend the rest of the day doing something in town or locally. I'll do this for two days so I can ride everything in the park and enjoy the time I'm spending without dragging out the days for too long. The park plays a large factor as well. Six Flags park become tiring fairly quickly but some other parks hold up better for longer visits.

[SharkTums]

Absolutely normal! Oh man, a week at Universal and you still like parks?!!?

 

After a summer of TPR Trips I need a hiatus from even my favorite parks!

 

That being said there are certainly parks you can spend more time at then others. Most parks I feel I need about 45 minutes at!

[Coaster Curt]

My home park has been so overdone the last couple years because one of the kids is now tall enough and she loves all the big rides, so I take her whenever she wants to go, being a small park (Valleyfair), it has gotten a bit stale to me and staying for a couple hours is about right.

 

Going to new parks for a couple days is not something I have gotten tired of yet

[SuperShawn]

I think it comes down to the factors of what park, your personal re-riding capability, and have you been to the park before. For me if it was my home park and I visit once a week, i don't need a whole day there, and am happier with a few hours or half day at most. If I'm traveling I'd prefer to spend a full day at a major park, half day at least. There's very few resorts or parks I could happily do multiple day stays at. Ones for me would be Disneyworld, Tokyo Disney, and Dollywood. And even then 3-5 days is my limit before things can get too repetitious and I get burnt out.

[JJLehto]

Of course.

As it's been said, all depends on the park and people.

Dorney, especially if at the right time of year, hell I felt satisfied (everything multiple times) by noon! Geauga Lake...again pretty sure we were done by noon.

Lots of smaller parks I'd iamgine you could be there too long easily, butit can happen with larger parks due to fatigue.

 

I can make it through 2 full days of Cedar Point but I found out my friends couldn't

That may be my limit though. Between the walking, rides, lines, heat (though I try to hit parks early and late) it can be a lot.

[BeemerBoy]

I could spend several days at Discovery Cove. Does that count?

[Meteornotes]

I could probably spend days at Epcot, but one second is more than enough for somewhere like Six Flags America.

 

Fixed

 

dt

[larrygator]

Variety in the park plays a big part also. While coasters are my favorite aspect of parks and coasters are what I'll be riding the majority of the time, riding only coasters for 10 hours is a little too much, especially in the middle of summer. This becomes even more the case when I'm driving on a multi-day trip. It becomes too exhausting.

 

On TPR Trips if the non-coaster line-up is week and the coasters are good I can ride opening to close. However, if there are dark rides, good flats or even a show I can be easily persuaded to explore the park.

 

I go to Knoebels once or twice a year and always arrive at opning and leave at closing.

I go to SFGAdv at least 10 times a year and generally arrive at opening and leave after an average of 3 hours, unless friends are visting from out of town.

[Hercules]

I certainly get what I call park fatigue. When I was younger and really into parks (and not a ton of money) I got a Dorney Park season pass because at the time I lived 5 minutes from the park, and a Six Flags season pass (hour and 15 minute drive to Great Adventure). In one summer I went to Dorney 25 times, and Great Adventure 10 times. Now I live 20 minutes from Dorney and haven't been there in about 3 years, and have been to Great Adventure about 3 times in the last 4 years. I just got tired of them. My trips to the parks get progressively shorter because I just don't feel like staying all that long anymore.

 

Granted, I have the luxury of traveling a lot more now, and have visited many more parks, so variety is great.

 

Universal Orlando is my absolute favorite place in the world, and I only get there about once a year, but this past November I got a 2 Day / 2 Park pass, spent 9 hours on Sunday and then was planning on spending 6 hours on Monday, but only stayed about 3 hours on Monday because it was just too much. Spiderman is my favorite ride in the world, but I can only go on it so many times in a row.

[gisco]

Like others have said, it depends on the park. I have done a number of Disney parks open to close and never get bored. Doing something like Magic Mountain open to close would be a challenge unless it is WCB.

[ajfelice]

The size of the crowd determines my amount of time spent at the park more than number of attractions. My experiences at Six Flags Great Adventure, Canada's Wonderland, and Darien Lake this past season alone are perfect examples of the crowd factor. Even my 2011 visit to Kings Island was a good demonstration. On the average day between June and August at these parks, I could spend the day open to close without being bored (not even including water parks, except maybe Darien Lake) because these parks are of good size and usually attract a good crowd. However, I visited these parks on either May weekdays or a rainy September Saturday. Most of these parks I mentioned are large with over 10 major coasters, and I rode every one of the coasters with several re-rides with a couple hours to spare. Heck, I even mixed some junior coasters, flats, or gentle rides that aren't on the high priority list, but I still came up short on a full day at the park open to close. All of these parks were so dead, the size of the park in terms of number of things to do seemed like a non-factor due to the frequent walk-ons on every coaster including signature attractions (El Toro, Leviathan, The Beast, Diamondback, Nitro, Behemoth, among almost every other coaster). I'm still hoping for that day when I visit Cedar Point and the crowds are very low with decent weather (Maybe the Tuesday after Memorial Day this year? That's my plan for now).

 

However, on the average day in the mid-season June-August, I can expect to spend the entire day at a park when there are more than 5 major coasters unless the weather scares everyone off to create a "May" day. My typical day in terms of energy levels starts very high with the initial dash to cover as much as possible before the real crowds arrive. When the crowds peak and the heat takes its toll, I will get very quiet and moody. Once I get to 7:30-8:00pm and the crowds thin, I do a 180 and get late-night cat syndrome and regain my early form. Once I get home or back to a hotel, I usually crash hard, so I'm sure there is such thing as fatigue from spending an entire day at a park.

 

In the case of small parks, even in mid-season form I will lose interest fast after about 3 rides on every major coaster (unless ERT). Yes, my beloved hometown park Waldameer gets boring quickly if I visited as a guest very frequently. A small park like Knoebels that I love to death, which seems to always have a good crowd, also wears on me after awhile due to the fact that there are only two major coasters. These coasters are great ones I must add, but they can only go so far in addition to nauseating flats that aren't the most re-ridable for me.

[DougMJr]

It really depends on the size of the park and how much it offers. For me, I dread it when halfway through the day I realize "I have already done everything I wanted to do at this park." Because after that point, things start to become boring.

 

If you are at a small park, or at a park on a day with little crowds, manage your time wisely if you want to get a full day. If you have gotten half the coaster credits in the first hour take some time to sit and people watch, take photos, hit the flat rides, see a show.

[bottom_feeder_13]

It really depends on the park for me, as well as who I'm with. If I'm going solo I'll usually have gotten through the creds with time to spare and be on to getting re-rides and then just wandering, people watching and snapping pics and be done with the park well before closing. With a group of friends I'll usually end up doing some rides that I wouldn't normally do and then feel like I could use more time by the end of the day. Of course there are some parks that I just get a little bored of after a few hours due to lack of ride variety and or just lack of those wonderful little spots that most parks have, like the area around the log ride at KD or most of BGW. One exception to that rule is I normally am get pretty fed up with Disneyland by the end of a day, not because of the park itself (although I'm not a huge Disney fan), but mainly because the crowds there just lessen the experience a ton.

[rcdude]

It's definitely possible to get bored at an amusement park. There are a number of factors, such as park size, attraction variety, stamina, etc. that determine how long is an appropriate time to spend at a park. I've found that the following tend to be about right for me:

 

Major Parks (Six Flags parks, Cedar Fair parks, Busch Gardens, etc.): 6 hours to a full day

Mid-size Parks (Lake Compouce, Great Escape, Darien Lake, and similar sized parks): 4-6 hours (mainly attraction dependent)

Small Parks (Funtown Splashtown, Canobie Lake, Waldameer, Martin's Fantasy Island, and similar): 2-6 hours (mainly size dependent)

Credit Stops (Quassy, Palace Playland, and other tiny parks like that): An hour

Theme Park Resorts (WDW, etc.): 2-5 days depending on number and size of parks

Local Parks (the Southern California parks): Depends on park and visit frequency, but between 4 hours and a full day

 

Personally, I couldn't see ever spending more than 5 days at any one resort or more than two days at any single park. In fact, of all the parks I've visited, only Disneyland and Cedar Point are places where I think multiple days would be necessary (or one day per park in the case of Disneyland Paris). I've also found that the number of coasters a park has is not a significant factor in how long I want to spend there, but more the overall quality of rides. If the park has a dozen coasters but everything else is a generic carnival ride, I'm likely to spend less time there than at a park with one coaster and a bunch of unique non-coaster rides. Finally, the above apply to parks that are visited at most once per year, or four times per year for local parks. The more frequently I visit a park, the less time I'm willing to spend there (example...I visit Knott's on average about once per month and I haven't felt like spending a full day there in three years...even during WCB).

[alilstronger]

For me it depends on the park and who I am with. I went to Lakemont this past Labor Day weekend and literally spent almost an entire day there. I know this is usually a quick park for most but for me I LOVE classic parks like this. I just kept riding the rides over and over. But I am someone who can ride the same rides from coasters to flats over and over again without getting bored. It is the same when I go to Waldameer - I love this park. Hopefully next time I get a real full day so I can enjoy the water park too. I have literally spent 7 hours once at Trimpers in Ocean City MD and if anyone knows that park you know how small it is and they only big attraction is a boomerang coaster. But I LOVE spin and pukes and they have quite a few good ones. Plus I love riding the only zipper that does not move and is standing all year.

 

Also I think it depends on what you like to do at a park. Someone like me... I LOVE it all. All coasters, all flats, all water rides, heck even kiddie rides I can ride. Yes, I am a proud ride whore in general. I also enjoy watching the shows and checking out the stores. So I can easily spend all day in one park no matter its size. I was at Dollywood for 2 days still felt like I did not see everything I could see.

 

Now my home park is Six Flags America and yes I get a season pass every year. I do get a little bored here sometimes. However, I do love the park. Sometimes I will go just for the dry side and sometimes I will spend a full day in the water park just laying out in the sun. Other days I will go right before sunset so I can get some night rides in on Superman.

[ginzo]

It all comes down to the overall "niceness" of the park. I can never have enough time at parks like Europa Park, Knoebels, Epcot, Liseberg, Silver Dollar City, Tivoli Gardens, etc. because they are just nice places to be. Rides are only one part of a much bigger picture. And this is why I'll continue to schedule Six Flags and Cedar Fair parks as credit runs. They're just not nice places to hang out, especially during sweltering summer days. Edible food, indoor attractions, paying attention to aesthetics, good operations, decent employees can all go a long way in making me want to stay longer than the minimum time required to lap the coasters.