Parks that Don't Get Crowded

[ScreaminNewEngland]

People swear that Dorney gets crowded but even on it's most crowded day you'll never wait more than 15-30 minutes for the major coasters. The water park is a different story though.

 

^ Kings Dominion can get absolutely slammed during Haunt (though that's true of most parks not named Dorney). Last year when we went on a Haunt Saturday Volcano had a 3 hour wait, Even Windseeker and Drop Tower were posting hour plus waits. We had Fastlane though so we didn't care.

 

True. I used fast lane on a saturday. The biggest lines in the dry park came from Talon, Hydra, Possessed and Dominator ( between 30-50 minutes). Oh yeah and all the water rides had an hour plus wait, not including the insanely packed water park.

 

Dorney has amazing opperations and even on those wuiet days, they use two train opperations and three trains on steel force. Plus they dispatch like crazy.

[rcjp]

The only park that I've visited which seems to fit this is indeed Dorney. I went there on a Saturday in late August last year and although it looked like there were some people, the lines were always small.

[Porsmond]

This is a bit of a touchy subject IMO, you cant really say that this park(insert name here) doesn't get crowded, because they will always have some really super busy days and they will always have a general quiet day, lots of factors actually go into each day don't forget like what day it is(Obviously saturdays and sundays generally are busier than weekdays for example) but I've still been to plenty of parks on saturdays and found a park quiet and that can still be on a nice sunny day, Also weather is always a huge factor each day,School and Public Holidays can affect crowds and even travel conditions(accidents on major local roads to the park etc) can affect crowds too. I will always remember going to Legoland UK on a monday once which wasn't near any school holidays or anything like that, and the weather wasn't even great that day, I thought it was going to be quiet, but infact the park was crowded like you wouldnt believe.

I also did Alton Towers on a saturday for Fireworks 2 years ago(the park is usually absolutly rammed all the time on fireworks weekend) but the crowds were shocking quiet, It was the quietest saturday I had ever seen the park on fireworks and thats never happened before(me and my friend just couldnt understand it whaosoever) we were not complaining though, We got on loads of rides that day,and generally didn't queue up longer than 30 mins max for anything.

 

Going back to try and give a good answer to this thread though, Europa Park is a good park in that it can get pretty busy most times but it never seems to be really crowded, I think the park works well in that it is so well spaced out that you will always find good areas you can relax in which not experiencing big crowds around you, also the way they operate the park is amazing and you rarely queue up longer for an hr max for any ride even if the queue is spreading out the entrance, the queues just move slick and fast all the time, oh and will you see any rides braking down, I dont think I did once when I went there for 3 days total 2 years ago, amazing park

[GCI Wooden]

I've never had a problem with lines at Nickelodeon Universe ( Mall of America), but all the rides have TERRIBLE capacities.

[King of Ka]

It might just be that they're smaller parks but I've always found that Knoebels and Lake Compounce seem to have a good combination of lighter crowds and good operations which makes their lines pretty reasonable almost every time (granted I've only been to LC with 2 train ops on Boulder Dash).

[DoinItForTheFame]

I don't know if this has changed over the years, but many years ago when I would frequent Kennywood it was never busy. But that may have changed in time.

[GwaziBSRider1]

^ Kennywood has been getting busier over the last few years. There are many days when it will get slammed.

 

If you want a park that's always empty, go to Conneaut Lake. Of course...that place has got one foot in the grave as it is.

[coasterbill]

Conneaut Lake needs to be put out of it's misery. I'm all for trying to save and preserve classic parks but that one is too far gone.

[Erik Johnson]

Michigan's Adventure and Wild Adventures come to mind. They are both out of the way for most people.

[Jackdude101]

Busch Gardens Tampa outside the Summer months never seems to be crowded. I can't remember the last time that I didn't walk on to Kumba.

[aCoasterStory]

Busch Gardens Tampa outside the Summer months never seems to be crowded. I can't remember the last time that I didn't walk on to Kumba.

 

I've seen Kumba have an hour wait. And then a couple hours later in the day it'll be a walk-on again. The only coaster at BGT I've ever seen with a substantial line is Cheetah Hunt, which tends to stay at 45 mins or more.

 

The great thing about BGT is that there are a several different (but equally valid) ways to hit the park without having to wait in too many lines, even on a pretty busy Saturday. And if you ever get to the point where you don't want to wait for something, there are tons of great animal exhibits to go see, and then you can come back and hit the coaster later when the line is shorter.

[djboss302]

Busch Gardens Tampa outside the Summer months never seems to be crowded. I can't remember the last time that I didn't walk on to Kumba.

 

When I went last week, there was actually a good amount of people there. About half of the coasters had lines. But hey, there was still a good amount of other things to do to keep me occupied.

[BugEyed]

A couple of years ago I went to SFMM on the final Monday in August. It was a gorgeous sunny day, the park was basically empty and miraculously everything was running. I felt like a king.

[CJStephens15]

Whenever I go to Dorney I never wait more than 5-10 minutes for anything, granted I never go on weekends.

[Meteornotes]

Knoebels. Unless it's PPP.

 

dt

[thenewzolt]

Dorney is always walk ones for coasters. Even on Saturdays.

[SaraAB87]

Basically any smaller park on a weekday or an off day

 

Waldameer in Erie, PA is fine on just about any day, when I went 15 min wait or less even for the coasters and it was a Sunday in the middle of summer however I hear the place gets totally mobbed on holidays, avoid on holidays.

 

A park that is never crowded is a park that has one foot in the grave, all parks will have super busy days out of random and all parks will have random slow days. So it's possible you could hit one of those types of days out of random. Other local events, school trips and bus trips and special event days will all affect crowds.

[nswain1110]

I've never been to the park, but I've heard that Wild Adventures is always fairly manageable with crowds.

 

Yep, you're right about that. When I had a season pass and used to go regularly, they only ever had big crowds when concerts were going on - but even then, when it was concert time, all the rides had virtually no lines.

[Propeller Factory]

I've seen a lot on here about kings dominion, and I can tell you that volcano, the rapids, and the log flume get the most waits out of anything. After that fof gets some but it depends when. I305 is either empty or -30 mins (surprisingly). I rode twice in a row last time I went. All of the other rides have -15 min waits at most. It's a fun park.

[Ape]

So if I'm reading this thread right I shouldn't stress too much about making it on everything at kings dominion when I go Sunday June 7th.

[Myself]

Definitely not! I only spent about 6-7 hours there in 2013 and still got to ride all the coasters except Grizzly and half of Rebel Yell, and then that was only because they were closed. This was with two Volcano rides and about 5 I305 rides, plus a good bit of time at the top of the Eiffel Tower.

[Ape]

well now i'm that much more excited. it will be my first time there and at Busch gardens that weekend.

[Josh Linn]

Echoing what others have said, I've gone to Dorney roughly 20 times since the mid 90's and the only time I saw a long line was for Steel Force the year it opened. I've never waited more than 15 minutes for any ride there.

 

Knoebel's gets crowded, but everything is run so efficiently that there's never any long waits. Waited about an hour to ride Twister the week it opened and 1.5 for Flying Turns last fall when it opened, but other than that, nothing even remotely bad.

[Mechanic]

I've been to Gilroy Gardens probably close to a dozen times, at different points in the season, including Saturdays, and never have I seen it unmanageable. The longest wait I usually see is for the classic cars ride (one of the best, so I hear) and even then I don't think I've seen it over 45 minutes. The coasters are rarely more than a 2 or 3 train wait on the busiest days.

[VF15]

Nickelodeon Universe typically doesn't get all that crowded aside from weekends and holidays, but many of their rides usually have some sort of a line since they have lots of low-capacity rides and slow operations (they aren't Six Flags-level ops, but there's room for improvement).

 

Arnolds Park in Iowa was dead the one time I was there (a Tuesday in late July). I was able to ride The Legend (their wooden coaster) 11 times in about two hours, and probably could have done more if I hadn't gone on some of their other rides.