AusCoasterFan Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 G'day everyone, I am from Australia and being in the southern hemisphere, my summer leave (all 6 weeks of it) is during the American winter. This makes theme park visits a real pain as many are closed at that time of year or aren't worth going due to numerous ride closures. Despite this I am still planning a trip to the States (or Japan if Fuji-Q Highland or Nagashima Spaland are open) from late December to mid-Jan and was hoping for some theme park advice on what parks are open, whether or not the decent rides will be open and whether or not it'd be worth the expensive air flights. I did go to Six Flags MM and Knotts Berry Farm in November a couple years ago, so something different would be nice. So far I have considered Florida: Busch Gardens, Universal Studios and Sea World and/or Texas: Six Flags Over Texas and Fiesta Texas. If anybody could offer some help, it would be greatly appreciated!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aceattack52 Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 Unfortunately most parks are going to be closed except for, of course, Six Flags Magic Mountain, Knott's Berry Farm, and those Florida parks. If you don't want to hit SFMM or KBF, the parks in Florida will work out well for you. Other than that, nothing else is really open. I wish the best of luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XYZ Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 Unfortunately most parks are going to be closed except for, of course, Six Flags Magic Mountain, Knott's Berry Farm, and those Florida parks. If you don't want to hit SFMM or KBF, the parks in Florida will work out well for you. Other than that, nothing else is really open. I wish the best of luck. Six Flags Magic Mountain and Knott's Berry Farm are NOT the only year round amusement parks in California. Here are some other great So Cal parks open year round: -Universal Studios Hollywood -Disneyland/California Adventure -Legoland California -SeaWorld San Diego Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gromithere Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 If you are hitting the states in late December, you may also be able to hit some of the "Holiday in the Park" type events that many parks are doing as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jray21 Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 If you haven't been to Florida, or it's been a long time, I would go there. There are a ton of year-round activities available as well. There is so much to do, hotels are cheaper, and transportation is easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Double0Kevin Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 There are also the Vegas attractions as well as Mall of America that stay open year-round (Though I doubt anyone would come from Australia to visit Minnesota). It seems like more and more there are parks staying open for most of the year. The off season is shrinking! Things like Holiday in the Park keep SFDK, SFFT, and SFoT open most the year with their off seasons being just barely 2 months. But like has been said, for travelers coming from afar (like Australia) the best spots are SoCal and Florida. And I would put SFMM and Knott's at the low end of the SoCal parks. Disney and Universal are more fun in my opinion, so if you haven't checked those out, you should. And it saves you 5 more hours of flying time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 In the Winter you'll have to stick with SoCal, Florida or Indoor Parks to actually ride stuff. As others mentioned there are parks that open for the holidays but many of them don't run the rides, or only run them if it's warm enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ernierocker Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 Dollywood and Six Flags Over Texas would be your best bet for riding rides that time of year but unfortunately they are several hours away from the Florida and California parks. Unless you are willing to pay for internal flights just to go to one park, your best bet is to stick to the Florida or the Southern Cal parks like others have said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrillrider Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 Florida would be your best bet. There are several parks open year round, and they are close to each other. Here are a few... Disney world( Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Movie studio, Animal kingdom) Busch gardens Sea world Legoland Universal studios/ Islands of adventure Old town Fun spot action park Wild adventures All of these park(except wild adventures) are within an hour or so of each other. Not sure, but wild adventures in valdosta Georgia has limited operating dates that time of year as well. That park is roughly 3 hours from all the orlando parks. Keep in mind that december is also one of the buiseist times of year for some of these parks due to Christmas events and what not. Hope this helps..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AusCoasterFan Posted March 31, 2013 Author Share Posted March 31, 2013 Thanks for the help! I will have to consider my options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted April 2, 2013 Share Posted April 2, 2013 ^Busch Gardens Williamsburg does offer Christmas Town during December. Usually, at least one coaster is operating, weather permitting (last year it was Verbolten), and most of the park's flat rides run as well. The big attractions are the shows, holiday decorations, and special food offerings. But, yes, your best bet is southern California and Florida. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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