2016 Northeast USA trip planning

[rollercoasterpics004]

Hi guys! I, along with three other family members (2 non-enthusiast) are considering a trip to the Northeast US and possibly even a tad bit of Canada (because Leviathan ), and I wanted some help to (a) Recommend good parks, alert of waste-of-times, (b) Keep the family members sane (I'm sure many of you have gone through this) and © Tell me some good places to eat, stay, and just have fun at near theme parks or in neighboring cities. We are also planning to pick up a Cedar Fair platinum pass at our first stop, CW. Here is the trip layout (not anywhere near certain yet) so far:

 

DAY ONE

9:43 AM: Board flight AA 1361 to Toronto

5:30 PM: Disembark flight, pick up car and go to hotel

7:30 PM: Dinner

Retire to Four Seasons Toronto ($478) or Trump International Hotel ($465)

 

DAY 2

9:30 AM: Take car, travel to Canada’s Wonderland (20 mins)

10:00 AM: Eat breakfast near park, invest in Platinum Passes.

8:00 PM: Depart park, head back to hotel. Dinner TBD.

 

DAY 3

Day in Toronto. No theme Parks.

8:00 PM: After dinner, depart to Buffalo, NY.

 

Day 4

9:30 AM: Depart to Darien Lake.

10:00 AM: Enter theme park

1:00 PM: Leave Park, depart for Erie, PA

3:00 PM: Arrive at Waldameer World

8:00 PM: Depart from Waldameer World. Stay night in Erie. (Home2 by Hilton)

 

Day 5

9:30 AM: Depart for Sandusky, OH.

11:30 AM: Arrive at CP.

9:30 PM: Go to Breakers Hotel.

 

Day 6

9:30 AM: CP!

12:00 PM: Depart from CP

12:30: leave hotel, drive to Cleveland.

1:30: Arrive in Cleveland. Either explore Geauga Lake or stay in town. Stay at Cleveland Marriott Downtown

(Optional extended day)

 

Day 7

8:50 AM: Flight AA 4562 departs from Cleveland to Philadelphia.

10:20 AM: Arrive in Philadelphia and travel (car) to Dorney Park.

11:30 AM: Arrive at Dorney Park.

6:30 PM: Depart from Dorney Park

Stay at Hotel Monaco Philadelphia

 

Day 8

No theme parks *sigh*

Explore Philly and surrounding areas.

 

Day 9

9:00 AM: Drive to Jackson, NJ

10:10 AM: Arrive at SFGAdv

7:00 PM: Leave SFGAdv

8:00 PM: Re-arrive in Philly, go to dinner.

 

Day 10

9:55 AM: AA 4737 to Richmond.

11:10 AM: Arrive in Richmond, VA. Begin drive to Busch Gardens Williamsburg.

12:00 PM: Arrive at BGW.

7:00 PM: Depart from BGW

8:00 Arrive in Richmond for dinner.

 

Day 11

10:00 AM: Depart for Kings Dominion

10:40 AM: Arrive at KD.

4:00 PM: Depart from KD to Richmond.

(downtime for re-packing)

7:40 PM: Flight AA 2070 departs from Richmond to Charlotte, North Carolina

9:00 PM: Arrive in Charlotte and go to hotel.

 

Day 11/12 (interchangeable)

10:00 AM: Taxi to Carowinds

7:30 PM: Taxi back to hotel

8:00 PM: Eat Dinner

 

Day 11/12 (interchangeable)

10:00 AM: Go to breakfast

(downtime)

1:00 PM: Go to lunch

(downtime)

7:30 PM: Go to dinner

Retire to hotel

 

Day 13

9:45 AM: Board flight AA 2057 to LAX

12:00 PM: Arrive at LAX.

 

Pretty much any advice is helpful, and I am willing on adding on a couple of days for cool sites and other things. Thanks!

Edited June 24, 2015 by rollercoasterpics004

[ytterbiumanalyst]

This word, Northwest, you keep using it...I do not think it means what you think it means.

[rollercoasterpics004]

Oh, my mistake. I meant northeast.

[DirkFunk]

Hi guys! I, along with three other family members (2 non-enthusiast) are considering a trip to the Northeast US and possibly even a tad bit of Canada (because Leviathan ), and I wanted some help to (a) Recommend good parks, alert of waste-of-times, (b) Keep the family members sane (I'm sure many of you have gone through this) and © Tell me some good places to eat, stay, and just have fun at near theme parks or in neighboring cities. We are also planning to pick up a Cedar Fair platinum pass at our first stop, CW. Here is the trip layout (not anywhere near certain yet) so far:

 

DAY ONE

9:43 AM: Board flight AA 1361 to Toronto

5:30 PM: Disembark flight, pick up car and go to hotel

7:30 PM: Dinner

Retire to Four Seasons Toronto ($478) or Trump International Hotel ($465)

 

DAY 2

9:30 AM: Take car, travel to Canada’s Wonderland (20 mins)

10:00 AM: Eat breakfast near park, invest in Platinum Passes.

8:00 PM: Depart park, head back to hotel. Dinner TBD.

 

If all you want from Toronto in your first two days is to get dinner, you're better off staying in the suburbs around Vaughan/Richmond Hill/Markham than trying to negotiate traffic, pay through the nose for parking, and see nothing in the city itself. You'll save an astronomical amount of money. Then go downtown the last day before heading to Buffalo. See below. Also: keep in mind that Canada is indeed a foreign nation. This comes with two caveats:

 

1) You will pay a lot more for rental insurance. I assume you noticed that already trying to price out a one way from Toronto to Cleveland.

 

2) You will go through customs and immigration when flying in from the US. This will take time. It may not take a lot of time, but it could.

 

DAY 3

Day in Toronto. No theme Parks.

8:00 PM: After dinner, depart to Buffalo, NY.

 

Note that you'll be passing through Niagara Falls on your way there. Even if you don't do the amusement parks in the area (Martin's Fantasy Island is decent, I can't in good conscience advise a stop at Marineland due to numerous ethical reasons related not merely to animal welfare), you should stop in and get your family shots in front of the falls and all that nonsense.

 

Day 4

9:30 AM: Depart to Darien Lake.

10:00 AM: Enter theme park

1:00 PM: Leave Park, depart for Erie, PA

3:00 PM: Arrive at Waldameer World

8:00 PM: Depart from Waldameer World. Stay night in Erie. (Home2 by Hilton)

 

Darien Lake for 3 hours is kinda underselling it. You'll probably encounter one train operation on almost everything and you might not get to do anything but ride the coasters before heading out. There's some fun stuff there aside from that. If Waldameer is open past 8PM that day, I'd check in first, drop things off, maybe even rest, then go to the park for a night cap.

 

Day 6

9:30 AM: CP!

12:00 PM: Depart from CP

12:30: leave hotel, drive to Cleveland.

1:30: Arrive in Cleveland. Either explore Geauga Lake or stay in town. Stay at Cleveland Marriott Downtown

(Optional extended day)

 

Quite honestly, unless you do the water park, there's nothing to "explore". You drive past, maybe stop for a picture, that's it. I think your time would be better spent either doing some attractions in Cleveland (especially on the west side) or doing much more Cedar Point and staying by the airport. Some of the best attractions in Cleveland aren't in downtown's immediate vicinty, such as the Zoo, Art Museum (seriously fantastic and free admission; thank the Rockerfellers), or Lakeview Cemetary (home to the enormous mausoleum of President Garfield).

 

Day 9

9:00 AM: Drive to Jackson, NJ

10:10 AM: Arrive at SFGAdv

7:00 PM: Leave SFGAdv

8:00 PM: Re-arrive in Philly, go to dinner.

 

If it is a weekday, plan to leave earlier than that. Great Adventure tends to be dead for the first hour and then picks up rapidly after that, FWIW.

 

Day 10

9:55 AM: AA 4737 to Richmond.

11:10 AM: Arrive in Richmond, VA. Begin drive to Busch Gardens Williamsburg.

12:00 PM: Arrive at BGW.

7:00 PM: Depart from BGW

8:00 Arrive in Richmond for dinner.

 

I think with both this and your plans for getting the car in Philadelphia and heading to Dorney, you're greatly underselling the time frame necessary to get a rental car. Richmond you'll have a better shot of getting in and out quickly *if* you are Hertz #1 Club Gold or in National's Emerald Club (also Alamo has a check in option that may help speed things along) because the cars are in the terminal parking. Philadelphia? Regardless of who you choose, you're getting on a shuttle bus which you must wait for, then ride, then check in. You should be assuming a minimum of 30 minutes between official landing time to being in a rental car speeding away almost always.

 

Day 11

10:00 AM: Depart for Kings Dominion

10:40 AM: Arrive at KD.

4:00 PM: Depart from KD to Richmond.

(downtime for re-packing)

7:40 PM: Flight AA 2070 departs from Richmond to Charlotte, North Carolina

9:00 PM: Arrive in Charlotte and go to hotel.

 

4PM checkout is a huge luxury afforded only to elites on occasion. Maybe you or another family member is Platinum with Marriott. I don't know how you all roll. But you can't bet on that. You'll need to be at the airport by 6PM to return the vehicle and proceed through security, so to come from Kings Dominion, you're traveling at rush hour to get there. 4PM might still be a good departure time, and if you happen to make great progress, stop somewhere around the airport for dinner before returning the car.

 

Day 11/12 (interchangeable)

10:00 AM: Taxi to Carowinds

7:30 PM: Taxi back to hotel

8:00 PM: Eat Dinner

 

A cab to downtown is a flat $25. A cab to Carowinds from CLT is gonna be in the range of $50. I don't know how much money you'll save with taxis vs. a rental car for this leg.

 

Hopefully some of the advice is helpful!

[coasterbill]

I feel like at this point people are playing some kind of drinking game where they all start threads about road trips through Pennsylvania that don't include Knoebels and then ask for advice on those trips just to see how many times they can make me say the word Knoebels in a single day.

 

Seriously though, if you're going to Dorney and not Knoebels then you're doing it wrong. You should go to Knoebels.

[DirkFunk]

I feel like at this point people are playing some kind of drinking game where they all start threads about road trips through Pennsylvania that don't include Knoebels and then ask for advice on those trips just to see how many times they can make me say the word Knoebels in a single day.

 

Seriously though, if you're going to Dorney and not Knoebels then you're doing it wrong. You should go to Knoebels.

 

If he spends 30 minutes waiting for a gate to open at Philadelphia airport and then finds the Avis booth has 2 people working it and 30 in line, he'll be lucky to make it to Dorney that day. I think he's making the wise move by picking the place that's free and closest to where he is.

 

Actually, come to think of it for the original poster- instead of leaving from Cleveland, leave from Detroit and take the nonstop flight to Allentown if you can and do a one way rental. At least then when you land you have a short drive that isn't through urban freeway hell to get to the park.