The PA/NY Roadtrip

[Crosshairs007]

Hello. Remember my Hersheypark trip post, so the trip has gotten way bigger. Now, I will be visiting multiple places in a week. Here are the following destinations that I will be going to. (The date is not officially confirmed yet)

 

- Philadelphia, PA

- Dorney Park

- New York City

- Hersheypark

- Knoebels

- Waldameer

 

I would like an advice for this trip. Thank you.

[bert425]

you should go to Kennywood outside of Pittsburgh.

 

well worth a trip, lots of one of a kind, and classic rides too. .

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Don't try to do all those places in a week, that's way too much. I spent 2 1/2 days in Philly, and that seemed about right to do everything. New York is probably at least that much time. You want preview day at Hershey, 2 days at Knoebels, and about 3 hours at Dorney is fine. Not sure why you'd go to Waldemeer but skip Kennywood. And you're going between Philly and New York but not going to Great Adventure?

 

Since you're in Virginia, you have some options. It's not like you're never going to be in this area again. So don't try to do it all at one. You're going to need to make this trip smaller and focus on the places you really want to go. I'd recommend either cutting out New York or Western PA. Waldameer and Kennywood are both practically on the Ohio border, and that's several hours west of all the other PA parks. New York is a huge city, with huge city traffic. You can't just pop in and ride the Coney Island Cyclone, then pop out again.

 

This would be my recommendation:

 

Friday (Day 0): Drive to Pittsburgh or as close as you can get after work

Saturday (Day 1): Kennywood

Sunday (Day 2): Waldameer, start driving toward Knoebels as far as you can get

Monday (Day 3): Knoebels

Tuesday (Day 4): Knoebels/Hershey preview

Wednesday (Day 5): Hershey

Thursday (Day 6): Dorney/Great Adventure preview

Friday (Day 7): Great Adventure

Saturday (Day 8): Philly cultural stuff

Sunday (Day 9): Philly cultural stuff, drive home

 

This route does pretty much everything in PA. Leave NY/NJ for a separate trip.

[Canobie Coaster]

Waldameer is a fantastic park, but I do recommend Kennywood over it if you're heading towards Western Pennsylvania.

 

I think it's possible to do all the parks in Pennsylvania in a week, but fitting all the tourist items in New York and Philly into a day are challenging. Without knowing what you like, I don't know how long it'll take. I assume you want to hit Coney Island. If so, keep in mind that it's a 60-90 minute subway ride from downtown Manhattan.

 

On the park side, I'd recommend the following time:

 

Dorney Park- Credits can be grabbed in 2-3 hours. I'd recommend 4-5 hours so you aren't too rushed. Lines are never bad here. Just knock out the Wild Mouse first if you want to ride it.

 

Knoebels- 1 full day minimum. The rides, food, atmosphere, capacity, and everything are exceptional. Know that you can only get an unlimited ride wristband on weekdays. Some rides aren't included like the Haunted Mansion, but be sure to hit it since it's exceptional. I'd recommend hitting Flying Turns first since it gets an hour wait sometimes. Impulse can too, but at least it has a single rider line.

 

Waldameer- I think everything can be hit once in 3-4 hours if pressed for time. I definitely enjoyed having a full day here. It was a really charming classic park.

 

Kennywood- I'd recommend a full day, but all the credits and 1-2 flats could be hit in a half day. Knock Exterminator out once it ooens since that will easily be the longest line (60 min on most days). The park also has some great flats and dark rides. Also know that the park often reduces their hours if they get busy, sonyou run the risk of a shortened day if you show up later in the day.

 

Hersheypark- 1 day minimum. You need a whole day to hit this park. If you want to ride Laff Trak, ride that one first. I went on a day where everything else was a walk-on yet Laff Trak was still a ahalf hour wait. Fahrenheit is the other one with a slow moving line. The other coasters shouldn't exceed 20 minutes on most days. If you're into water parks, I'd also anticipate their new water coaster having a long wait since their water park is always nobbed.

 

DelGrosso's & Conneaut- You will pass both these parks on your routes. DelGrosso's has 2 coasters, but they are well run and habe excellent food. It's pay per ride, so it's a quick stop.

 

I haven't been to Conneaut since they were closed due to rain when I passed them. I haven't heard too many great things on the park, but they do have a classic wooden coaster.

[pryonisys]

Waldameer is a nice park. If you're there on a weekday lines are typically quite short. You can get to everything on the dry side of the park pretty quick. The water park is nice also though, so if that's your thing it's fun. Biggest problem with Waldameer is that on a PA park trip, excluding Kennywood, most of the parks are in the center or East of the state. Waldameer is significantly closer to Cedar Point then it is to Hershey for instance (Even living here my whole life I'm always amazed at how wide PA is). If you do Waldameer I would recommend swinging by Conneaut Lake Park (just off of I-79 between I-80 and Erie so it would work on the way in or out of Erie) if you have any desire for a classic wooden coaster. There isn't a lot there but Blue Streak is a bit of a random surprise in the middle of nowhere.

 

If the West side of the state is in your plans Kennywood would be a good park to go to also, just so you have more than Waldameer to go to on this side of the state.

 

I agree with the others who have said you'll likely be stretching yourself a bit too thin if you try to do the parks and NYC and Philly tourist stuff all in one week. If you have desire to do the cities and parks I would save the West side of the state for a separate trip to cut down on travel time.

 

Just my opinion though, I hope this trip ends up fun for you.

[Taylor Finn]

Okay, yeah... Philly will definitely take a little less time explore the big sights than NYC. My girlfriend moved there for two months on a short lease she found and literally explored the city for two months and still was finding new things to do. 2 days would be the minimum, especially if you're planning Coney Island. Stay in Jersey City and take the Path into town to save time and money. Coney Island is really at its best at night, but if the beach is more your speed, obviously go during the day. They do have fireworks during the summer, so you might be able to coordinate that.

 

Waldameer is great, but I recommend Kennywood if you're gonna pick one. Eat Potato Patch fries or at the Parkside Cafeteria. Must hit non-coasters, in order of importance: Kangaroo (last of its kind), Noah's Ark (last of its kind), Bayern Curve (unique and my favorite flat), Ghostwood Estate, Turtles (one of two), Auto Race (last of its kind), Garfield's Nightmare (sucks, but is historic for the ride system), Train, Whip, Carousel (beautiful). Can easily spend most of a day there. The woodies are all in incredible shape, Phantom is not showing its age one bit, Exterminator is a fun little mouse, and Sky Rocket is a good fit for the park. TIP: If going to Kennywood during the week, go to a local Giant Eagle grocery store. You'll save like $12/ticket off of gate price.

 

Knoebels: it is often hard to get your money's worth on the wristband (that's why they don't sell em on weekends), unless you ride, ride, ride. TIP: Weiss Market sells $20 ticket books for $16. When two of us go, we'll do two days and buy 4 ticket books for $64 (instead of $80). That usually does us pretty good. Flats cost $1.50-2 and the coasters cost $3. There's not much in between those two price points. What I would suggest is to go on to their website and kinda add up as you go the rides you would like to ride. If you approach the cost of the wristband (accounting for the discount tickets), go for the wristband so you can get some coaster re-rides (which you'll want on Phoenix and Twister).

 

Unique non-coaster rides (no order, they all rock, personal preference which to ride): Skooters, Flyers (wilder than you can ever know), Train, Skyride, Merry-Go-Round (brass rings), Haunted Mansion, Loopers (if nothing else, they're historic), Log Flume, Downdraft, Whip, Satellites, Antique Cars, Helter Skelter Slide. Other non-ride things: Fascination, Carousel Museum, Mining and Park History Museum, Bald Eagle Exhibit. Food: Good pierogies (by the Oasis stand), waffle ice cream Sandwich, pork chop/bacon/chocolate covered bacon on a stick, cheese on a stick, sweet tea slush, breakfast at International Food Court (just a great way to be in the park right when the rides open up), roasted peanuts, and probably quite a few more things that other people love that I haven't yet discovered. Basically, spend the whole day here and just take it slow.

[prospekt88]

Waldameer is the only park that makes this tricky otherwise it's easily doable. I would do something like:

 

Day 1: Drive to Philly

Day 2: Full day Philly

Day 3: Dorney in morning to afternoon/Hershey preview at night

Day 4: Full day Hershey

Day 5: Full day Knoebels

Day 6: NYC

Day 7: NYC

 

This would be a really well paced trip. You can easily spend more time at each of these parks (other than Dorney), but I think this would allow you to get everything done without being rushed. There's plenty of great park advice above I don't have all that much to add. If you have any interest in the new Boardwalk additions at Hershey, and really the waterpark in general, I would do that at opening.

 

For lodging it all depends on budget but the Hershey Lodge is a really nice resort operated by the same people as the park. You can camp at Knoebels which is great if you're into that sort of thing and it'd save a little money to use on other accommodations throughout the trip. There isn't really much too close to Knoebels in terms of hotels.

 

As for the cities it's 100% based on your preferences. I could give some advice for NYC depending on what type of sight seeing you're trying to do (Museums, food, landmarks, etc), but need more info from you.

[A.J.]

Harrisburg to Erie is a slog, and Harrisburg to Pittsburgh isn't much better. I suggest you not consider Waldameer OR Kennywood, and instead do Knoebels, Dorney Park, and Hersheypark.

[pryonisys]

Harrisburg to Erie is a slog, and Harrisburg to Pittsburgh isn't much better. I suggest you not consider Waldameer OR Kennywood, and instead do Knoebels, Dorney Park, and Hersheypark.

I agree, Waldameer/Kennywood almost make more sense if you're doing an Ohio trip (almost).

[djcoastermark]

If one would do Waldemeer to Kennywood, or visa versa, Conneaut is along the way and makes for a quick and quirky detour, that really, if you are passing by, you shouldn't miss. You might only spend an hour or two there, but, boy oh boy, the stories and memories you'l have.

[Crosshairs007]

Update: My friend and I have extended the trip to two and a half weeks now. I've added two more parks, Kennywood and Six Flags Great Adventure. My friend and I would do one day for smaller parks and two days for major parks.

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Oh wow, with that much time, yeah, go have fun!

[A.J.]

Big loop then. Start west, go east, and back west.

 

Kennywood, Waldameer, Knoebels, Dorney Park, New York City, Six Flags Great Adventure, Philadelphia, Hersheypark. Your longest leg of driving within Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York will be from Waldameer to Knoebels. Perhaps break it up by driving a few hours after Waldameer and stopping for the night in Salamanca, Corning, Clarion, Clearfield, or Williamsport.

 

Possible tolls include PA Turnpike Route 43, New York's bridges and tunnels, Garden State Parkway, NJ Turnpike I-95, Delaware River bridges, PA Turnpike I-76, and PA Turnpike I-276. Highly recommend grabbing an EZPass if you don't have one already.

[pryonisys]

Big loop then. Start west, go east, and back west.

 

Kennywood, Waldameer, Knoebels, Dorney Park, New York City, Six Flags Great Adventure, Philadelphia, Hersheypark. Your longest leg of driving within Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York will be from Waldameer to Knoebels. Perhaps break it up by driving a few hours after Waldameer and stopping for the night in Salamanca, Corning, Clarion, Clearfield, or Williamsport.

 

Possible tolls include PA Turnpike Route 43, New York's bridges and tunnels, Garden State Parkway, NJ Turnpike I-95, Delaware River bridges, PA Turnpike I-76, and PA Turnpike I-276. Highly recommend grabbing an EZPass if you don't have one already.

I try to avoid the PA turnpike at all costs, but if it hinders your trip to do so I agree, get an EZPass they're quite useful.

[A.J.]

Yeah, if you want to avoid the PA Turnpike going from Philadelphia to Hershey you can use I-76 westbound to exit 327A, then follow US-202, US-30, PA-283 and PA-743. However, that will add at least a half hour to that particular drive because you drive on a pretty long stretch of two-lane road through Amish country, as well as a 55 MPH expressway around Lancaster. PA Turnpike I-76 is 70 MPH the entire way.

 

EDIT: It's also worth mentioning that the PA Turnpike is gradually making it worse and worse for ticket-takers. It's now much more expensive to use tickets along the mainline, and some interchanges are now EZPass only.

[Crosshairs007]

UPDATE: The official date for the trip has been finalized. It goes from June 3rd - June 20th.