Cross Country Road Trip (Cedar Fair vs. Six Flags?)

[rollercoasterfreak91]

Longtime reader, infrequent poster here. I've been pondering this question in my mind and just had the genius idea to place it in front of the theme park obsessed minds on TPR. So here it is:

 

Me and my best friend are planning a cross country road trip come October (yes, planning ahead!) I'm going to fly out to Philadelphia and we're going to drive back to LA together, making sure to swim in both oceans! While we want to see some major touristy things, and eat at lots of delicious restaurants, (Thank you Yelp!) I'd really like to visit theme parks along the way. So I'm trying to decide whether to get a SF pass or a CF pass, or possibly both. We're looking for the greatest number of high rated roller coasters in the least number of days/ out of the way travel. Things to consider:

1. I have been to Great Adventure (SF) and Valleyfair (CF) My friend hasn't.

2. I am basically obsessed with Goliath coming to SFGAm. I think I caught myself drooling once.

3. I live next to Magic Mountain but have never been to Cedar Point. I'm dying to go and compare!

4. I already have a Knott's Berry Farm pass for 2014, but it isn't good for all the parks. I do not have a SF pass this year. My friend has neither.

5. By October, one of the companies may be offering their "Buy in 2014 and get 2015 too" discounts, which would be a great value.

6. Buying both passes could definitely be a possibility, but then we'd feeel obligated to go to EVERY park on the way!

7. Gas is expensive. (Duh!) And apparently there are "other things" that do not involve roller coasters. Sounds sketchy, but I'd love to check out these "non-theme park attractions."

 

So there it is. I know some of you have visited many of these parks and can tell me which ones are skippable and which are can't miss parks! So your advice/opinions would be appreciated!

 

*Since I'm not a frequent poster, I'm not quite sure if I posted this in the right place/correctly. Feel free to move/modify/edit/add pictures of donkeys.

Edited April 18, 2014 by rollercoasterfreak91

[Superbatboy]

SF for the value for sure, and a number of SF parks have top rated coasters (EL Toro, Texas Giant, Bizarro, Irat, Nitro etc)

[DanTheBooker]

While I'm a CF>SF guy, I'm still going to say go CF if you can. If bombast coasters is what you're after... I305, Banshee, Beast, Millenium Force, TTD, Raptor, Magnum, Mamba, Prowler, etc. I don't know your time line, but if you stay North, you could do Dorney, KI, CP, SFGAM (totally agree about Goliath), WOF, CGA.

 

If the Quantity of parks is what your thinking than maybe SF. Like GrAdv, GrAm, Stl, OT, FT could all be done.

 

But in closing, regardless of what chain you go with. Make CP a stop. If you dig coasters, it must be done.

 

One more thing, unless there are non park things you want to see... I'd skip over VF. And it's my home park. LOL

[Homeboy23]

Keep in mind in October parks excluding Florida and California will only be operating on weekends.

[DirkFunk]

Me and my best friend are planning a cross country road trip come October (yes, planning ahead!) I'm going to fly out to Philadelphia and we're going to drive back to LA together, making sure to swim in both oceans! While we want to see some major touristy things, and eat at lots of delicious restaurants, (Thank you Yelp!) I'd really like to visit theme parks along the way. So I'm trying to decide whether to get a SF pass or a CF pass, or possibly both. We're looking for the greatest number of high rated roller coasters in the least number of days/ out of the way travel.

 

If you live near Valencia, and your plan is to drive from Philadelphia back to the greater LA area, that does color my opinion a bit. First off (and very important): It is October. Weekend operation is the rule. If you want to go to a park on a weekday, that will require some serious advance planning; Knoebel's is typically open now the Thursday and Friday of PPP weekend. There's also fairs in the Northeast and Southeast at that time, and they'll be open weekdays. Silver Dollar City and Dollywood too. And there's random closures also - Hershey is, for no good reason, closed the first couple weekends of October. But that's not really your question, so I guess I should get to that.

 

Going East->West, the Six Flags parks that are open which you might be able to hit are:

 

New England (if you drive north to start the trip, personally I'm not sure about that being the best idea), Great Adventure (near Philadelphia, relatively speaking), St. Louis, Great America, MAYBE Texas and Fiesta Texas. Maybe.

 

And for Cedar Fair:

 

Dorney, Cedar Point, Kings Island, Worlds of Fun, MAYBE Valleyfair.

 

If you plan on basically driving an S across the US, going east along the I-80/90 corridor until you reach Chicago, then heading SSW for St. Louis, SDC, then the Texas Parks, you could jump on I-10 and barrel across the desert and that would make a Six Flags pass your best (and cheaper) option. You'd still be headed in the correct direction to stop into Cedar Point also.

[Diamondbacker27]

Do a mixture of both, study up on the parks you like in the area you are traveling. Find the ones you like best out of CF and SF and go to them. I am going to recommend Kings Island and Cedar Point for a must visit though. Excellent parks, and excellent rides.

[larrygator]

Keep in mind in October parks excluding Florida and California will only be operating on weekends.

 

^What he said. October is not a good time to try this.

 

Find a time in the summer when you can plan the trip. Otherwise you are not getting the most out of either pass unless you are traveling for the whole month.

[simon8899]

I second that. As I plan my 2015 trip I looked into this years opening calendars of the parks - and as I wanted to start mid-May I moved the start of my trip to the last week of May. And even there many smaller parks are still closed during the week - at least amjor parks are open then.

 

Somehow weird considering major Euro parks are open all week April-Oktober...

[rollercoasterfreak91]

Good call on the weekend operation! Being in Socal I frequently forget the strange phenomenon called weather and that it happens all over the rest of the country. We'll probably end up shoehorning theme parks in on weekends, and then doing other things on weekdays. I'm leaning toward CF, since the only SF park I really want to see is GAm (Been to GAdv, although El Toro was closed, so that may be worth another trip!)

[djboss302]

From Six Flags Great Adventure, take I-195, to 276, to 476, which will take you to Dorney. From Dorney take 476 N to I-80 west, which should take you by Cedar Point. If you want to stop by Michigan's Adventure (not recommended), take I-80 to 475/US 23, than take I-96, which should take you to Michigan's Adventure. From there take I-196 south to I-94 W, which should take you by Six Flags Great America. From there, take I-94 to I-294 South, than from 294 take I-55 South, than in St. Louis take I-44 west, which should take you by Six Flags St. Louis. From there, go to I-44, exit on Missouri Route 100, follow some state roads, than go on I-70 West towards Columbia, which should take you to Kansas City for Worlds of Fun. From Kansas City, take I-70 West towards Topeka/Wichita. Take I-335 south towards Wichita, than take I-35 south towards Oklahoma City. Continue on I-35 south until you reach I-35 W South, which should take you by Six Flags Over Texas. From there, take I 20 W to 1-10 W towards Los Angelas. You decide from there for either Knott's or SFMM.

 

This way, you get El Toro, Talon, Millenium Force, Raptor, Maverick, Shivering Timbers, Goliath, American Thunder, Prowler, NTAG, Xcelarator, and YOLOcoaster.

 

You don't have to take my advice, but just remember, the Mountain states are completely void of Cedar Fair and Six Flags Parks, so you might want to make some substitute stops (Elitche's, Lagoon, Adventuredome, etc.).

[larrygator]

Good call on the weekend operation! Being in Socal I frequently forget the strange phenomenon called weather and that it happens all over the rest of the country. We'll probably end up shoehorning theme parks in on weekends, and then doing other things on weekdays. I'm leaning toward CF, since the only SF park I really want to see is GAm (Been to GAdv, although El Toro was closed, so that may be worth another trip!)

 

In that case if you have enough days you can do the following do maximize your Cedar Fair pass.

 

Weekend One - Starting in Philly you can visit Dorney Park on Saturday and hustle down to King's Dominions for Sunday (5 hours apart).

 

Week One - swim in the ocean and explore the food of Philly to NYC region

 

Weekend Two - Get to Cedar Point for Friday night and spend the day there on Saturday, also. The 4 hour drive to King's Island is a drag but if you rotate drivers it's not a problem late at night or early AM. If this is Columbus Day weekend you'll have an extra day for park's .

 

Week Two - you have time to weave from Cincinnati through Chicago to Minneapolis in search of food. You could always hit Nick Universe at Mall of America since it is indoors.

 

Weekend Three - Valleyfair on Friday night, Saturday afternoon. Drive to Kansas City for Worlds of Fun on Sunday in 6 hours.

 

Then all you have left is the 24 hour drive back to California.

 

Disclaimer: I have not looked at park calendars to confirm theses park usually have limited hours on Friday nights in October. And be ready to purchase Fast Lane, you'll need it.

 

That would be the best way to maximize a CF pass if you have 2 1/2 weeks. It's crazy but doable.

Edited April 18, 2014 by larrygator

[theymitbgi]

Do 't forget most parks would have halloween events going on, just adding.to the crowds. This seems like a disappojntment trying to schedule this time of year.

[DirkFunk]

Michigan's Adventure closes for the season the weekend after Labor Day. No point in discussing it for an October trip. I mentioned the zig-zag - you could skip Six Flags St. Louis and hit SDC on the way towards Texas. That would shorten the trip, definitely.

[larrygator]

Michigan's Adventure closes for the season the weekend after Labor Day. No point in discussing it for an October trip. I mentioned the zig-zag - you could skip Six Flags St. Louis and hit SDC on the way towards Texas. That would shorten the trip, definitely.

 

Interesting, I assumed all CF parks had Halloween events.

[yankeeman311]

This would be my best advice for 4 weekends. Get a SF Pass. For the route you're taking this is more worth it imo. If you're sticking almost exclusively to SF parks then here's my route:

 

Weekend 1: SFNE, GAdv and SFA only if you really feel the need. Explore NYC, Philly and DC if you have the time/$.

 

Weekend 2: I believe CP/KI have a deal that lets you buy a pass to those 2 parks. If that's the case, do CP Friday and Saturday then KI on Sunday and Columbus Day.

 

Weekend 3: SFGam and SFStl. If you have the extra $ I'd add SDC to this weekend or replace it with SFStl.

 

Weekend 4: SFOT and SFFT.

 

With this route you can get up to 9 SF Parks and 2 of the best CF parks for the cheapest price. Plus a SF pass is almost $100 cheaper than a CF pass.

[gisco]

Where are you going to get the car? Does he live there or do you plan on renting one?

[rollercoasterfreak91]

Lots of good advice, thanks! He'll have his car out there and be driving it back to Southern California.