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East coast trip


jjh209

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Hey! Thinking of coming on a two week trip to the east coast next year for some themeparking. Have done a bit of research and thinking the following:

 

Fly London to Norfolk?

 

Two days at Busch gardens

Two days at kings dominion

Two days in Washington DC

Two days at Hersheypark

Two days at six flags great adventure

 

Reckon this is enough time at each park, and the correct way round to do it (ie Norfolk to New York!) Any other parks recommended to replace any of the above?

 

Also, best time of year for east Coast parks (ie when not as busy!) when would you recommend?

 

Thanks!

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we just did similar, and I'd recommend 3 days in Washington. .there is simply SO much to see with the Monuments, the Government buildings, and the Smithsonians. . I would have liked another day for just the Zoo.

 

so here's what I'd do:

 

-- Two days at Busch gardens (plenty of time to do shows and rides)

 

--ONE day at kings dominion (plenty of time to ride everything multiple times. . we did 1 time for each and only spent about 6 hours total there).

 

-- THREE days in Washington DC (there's a lot to do. .you'll want at least 3 days)

 

-- ONE day at Hersheypark (you can do two, but if you use the evening admission the day before you go for your full day, then you can knock out most of the "big" coasters, and avoid those lines for your full day.

 

-- use the day you saved at Hersheypark to drive the 2 1/2 hours to Knoebel's. . very much worth the trip (and parking and admission are free).

 

-- Two days at six flags great adventure (can't comment here. . haven't done this park)

 

 

Here's a link to my current trip report (covering BGW, Kings Dominion, and DC)

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=70573

 

and here's the TR I did last year (covering Kennywood, Hersheypark, Knoebel's, and Dorney):

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=68306

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Sounds like a fun trip. I think you might be budgeting in too many days for those parks. I visited BGW last summer on a Monday in late July and was able to do everything I wanted (and more) in one day. The crowds were relatively light, and the ride operations were extraordinarily efficient. I rode all the rides I wanted to, with easy multiples on my favorites (11 on Apollo's Chariot and 11 on Griffon)...all without purchasing their skip-the-line passes. I went to Kings Dominion the day after, and had a similarly easy time there (though not nearly as efficient as BGW). All the rides were walk-ons to station waits. The exceptions were Volcano and Intimidator 305, so I used the Fast Lane for that. Easy to do in one day. Hersheypark doesn't require 2 days, especially with the evening admission. SFGAdv doesn't require 2 days (depending on what day you are going there and if you get a Flash Pass).

 

Aside from that, Bert gave good advice. There's tons to do in DC, so more time there would be better. If you can get the time, Knoebel's is definitely a gem of a park. I visited for my first time last summer during the TPR Mini East Coast Tour. Before visiting, I was thinking "I wonder what the big deal is". After visiting, I thought "Ok, I get it". It's a great, charming park, and the airtime on Phoenix is glorious.

 

WIth all of this, keep in mind that I don't do shows or anything like that. I really just go to parks to ride roller coasters as many times as I can manage. So, make sure to interpret my advice accordingly. Have fun!

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we just did similar, and I'd recommend 3 days in Washington. .there is simply SO much to see with the Monuments, the Government buildings, and the Smithsonians.

I think that depends on each persons interest level, though. Remember, you're an American. Not sure a British person would have as much interest in American history as someone who is born and raised here. I can tell you that we just recently did a quick Washington D.C. trip and did a *LOT* in a couple of days. You might not hit everything, but you'll most certainly get a very good whirlwind tour of US History in that time.

 

If there is any one thing I'd say to change is that you probably don't *need* two days at Busch and KD if you get the Fast Lane and QuickQueue passes. And that might free up some more time to do hit up another park like Knoebels, which you'll be about 90 minutes away from when you're at Hershey.

 

I'd say a day at KD with a FastLane pass should be plenty.

Edited by robbalvey
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Here's maybe what I would suggest:

 

Two days at Busch gardens (on your second day, leave early to drive to KD)

One full open to close day at kings dominion. Stay somewhere nearby the park

Get up early and drive to DC and hit up two days in Washington DC

Two days at Hersheypark (The first day should be your driving from Washington DC to Hersheyday, and get the pass that allows you to have the night before included at Hershey, and then do all day the next day.)

One full day at Knoebels

Two days at six flags great adventure (and like Hershey, drive in the morning, do a half-day in the park, and then the next day to a full open-close day with a Flash Pass)

 

This way your trip isn't "death march-ish" and you have plenty of time to rest and drive without doing a crazy schedule of back to back parks with little to no sleep.

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we just did similar, and I'd recommend 3 days in Washington. .there is simply SO much to see with the Monuments, the Government buildings, and the Smithsonians.

I think that depends on each persons interest level, though. Remember, you're an American. Not sure a British person would have as much interest in American history as someone who is born and raised here. I can tell you that we just recently did a quick Washington D.C. trip and did a *LOT* in a couple of days. You might not hit everything, but you'll most certainly get a very good whirlwind tour of US History in that time.

 

 

Very true, and a good point.

 

although the Zoo, and the Smithsonians (museums, even with the focus on American for some, the Air & Space, and Natural Science don't really) transcend borders.

 

but you are correct, it will all come down to the person's interest level.

 

For BGW, for example, we were determined to see the shows, so we needed 2 full days (actually 3, if you count us going back to catch Celtic Fyre, and reride a few things on the last day)

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Every time I see a thread about an East Coast trip I always pop in to make sure you're either going to Knoebels already, or if not everyone already told you that you should alter your plan and go to Knoebels. Luckily everyone here already corrected the problem so I'll go ahead and leave now. Great advice everyone! lol

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Thanks for all the advice! Didn't think of knoebels! Will look that one up!

 

And Washington - I stopped off there briefly once for a day before but missed out so much so need to go back to see the rest.

 

What time of year is best for these theme parks in terms of lowest queues? Fairly flexible on dates. Are they the same as UK parks eg Alton where they close during the winter months?

 

Also hadn't thought of parking fees! I remember doing magic mountain the parking fees are quite steep in America!? (Well compared to the UK parks!)

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^ If you can hit up late may or early June (just NOT over the Memorial Day weekend holiday) that's usually a very good time. Make sure the parks are all open during your visit though. Some of them don't go daily until late May.

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Also hadn't thought of parking fees

 

... and neither has Knoebels.

 

In all seriousness though it's the park where just looking it up like you're talking about may not really do it justice, but once you get there you'll understand why it's so highly regarded.

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  • 1 month later...

So I've sadly had to postpone doing this trip for a year or so HOWEVER going to new york in 28tg August to 6th September. Looking to just visit six flags great adventure. Few questions:

 

- best day of week to visit?

- what will the queues/crowds be like? (Understand schools go back towards end of that week)

- can you get fast track, and is it worth it?

- do six flags parks have buy one get one free entry vouchers like our English parks do?

 

Thanks!

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  • 3 months later...

I'm planning a trip for the east coast next year. It would take place in mid June. We already have our SF Season Passes

Day 1- Drive to Hershey and go to the park in the last 2.5 hours of the day

Day 2- Full day at Hersheypark

Day 3- SF America

Days 4-6 SF Great Adventure leave early on third day to get to Connecticut

Day 7- Lake Compounce

Day 8- SF New England

Day 9- Great Escape for half the day then drive back to Pennsylvania

Day 10- Knoebels and return home

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Ok so just based on the info at hand and ignoring the possibility that you want to do stuff outside the amusement parks which affects your timing, here's my reaction to that itinerary:

 

1. If you're looking to not be rushed and want to go to Hurricane Harbor, do the safari, and see lots of shows, you probably are good budgeting that amount of time for SFGAdv. If you're going to be mostly focused on rides though, I think two half days and one full day might be a little excessive. Depending on when you leave Maryland and when you want to leave for Connecticut you can really get most of a full day at the park either of those two days, so having both of them plus a full dedicated day is probably overkill.

 

2. I really recommend you try to slip in a quick visit to Quassy on your way to LC. If you do it as a credit run for Wooden Warrior (an extremely fun little coaster) you can easily swing the whole stop in under an hour and for less than $10.

 

3. I also recommend trying to be at LC on a Friday or Saturday night. Boulder Dash is a good ride during the day but a world class ride at night, so anything you can do to maximize your BD night riding time is a plus. Also, those nights are more likely to see Boulder Dash running two trains, which usually makes up for the additional crowds.

 

4. With those three things in mind, I would look into the possibility of cutting that third day at Great Adventure and instead using that day to drive up to Lake Compounce with a stop at Quassy on the way. If you're able to leave Jackson by 9 (or even get started the night before) you should have enough time for a visit to Compounce. It's a little bit of a risk that you run out of time there, but I think in most cases doing it that way would give you sufficient Compounce time while letting you cut out a night at a hotel and get a ride or two on Wooden Warrior.

 

5. I would think about cutting Great Escape entirely. Obviously it's tempting with a SF pass and being closer to it than you usually are, but ultimately I don't know that there's anything there which is worth the extra 2.5 hours driving. IMO the extra time at Knoebels or a stop at a different park (Dorney, Morey's, Rye Playland, Coney Island) is probably going to be better value for your time and money than GE.

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