Jump to content
  TPR Home | Parks | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram 

East Coast/Midwest road trip 2018


Recommended Posts

I rediscovered my lost love of coasters on a recent trip to KD and BGW (last coaster ride prior to this was Thunder Road at Carowinds in 1995). Looking to take my 15YO daughter on a coaster tour next summer. I like to plan far in advance, but am willing to change itinerary mid-trip.

 

Here's what I have so far, heading out from Greensboro, NC taking 10-12 days:

 

Six Flags America

Six Flags Great Adventure

Dorney Park

Knoebels

Hersheypark

Kennywood*

Cedar Point

King's Island

Kentucky Kingdom*

Dollywood

Six Flags Over Georgia*

Carowinds*

 

*parks we may drop due to schedule/time issues

 

I know this is an ambitious list and may need to be trimmed. We may add King's Dominion since it is on the way depending on day of departure and the fact that we have Platinum Carowinds passes for next year. We are mainly looking to ride coasters and skip most, if not all, flat rides/water rides. So we may be able to do two parks in a day (Dorney & Knoebels looks like an easy double dip?)

 

Will we need to FL to get all the coasters at CP or KI in one day if we hit mid-week late August?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 39
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

So we may be able to do two parks in a day (Dorney & Knoebels looks like an easy double dip?)

 

You're going to have to wait for another credit whore to come by and help you then! The idea of doing Knoebels as a half day because of their credit line up is pure sacrilege to most people on this board. Throw in Dorney that same day and it's like a super insult!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah that kind of a death march, credit run trip isn't my thing. You probably won't get a lot of help from us, to be honest, because it's not the way to like to do trips. See, we actually *LIKE* visiting theme parks and will sometimes take a day, even more to explore a park and do everything a park has to offer. This "run in, get the credits, run out" mentality is not something we are into, sorry!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I totally agree with Robb and Elissa. I'll try to help, but a lot of my "helping" is going to be trying to convince you to re-think your plan. I'll break this down the best I can.

 

Six Flags America

Honestly... go ahead and death march this park. If you want to ride nothing but coasters and then bail then go for it. You could even try to combine this with Kings Dominion or go the same day you leave from Greensboro, but beware the Washington DC traffic if you do that as it can really screw you up and the EZ Pass Express Lanes won't be heading your way in the afternoon if it's a weekday. Even if you don't plan to use them, this will f*ck you up royally. If you leave at night after work and get there at park open feel free to ride the coasters and bail and get to Great Adventure early.

 

PS: You sound like a total credit whore so you might be interested in this... I won't recommend kiddy credits because that's pathetic, but on the way to Great Adventure if you get off of exit 4 on the turnpike there's a wild mouse literally right there (like RIGHT THERE, like 2 minutes out of your way round trip) at Funplex Mount Laurel. Clementon is nearby too but it's expensive and it sucks.

 

Six Flags Great Adventure

If you're only there for one day budget for Flash Pass. Personally though I would plan to be there the evening of the day you go to Six Flags America and maybe even the morning of the day you go to Dorney. This is a coaster park mostly, but don't miss the Safari or Zumanjaro. They have other cool rides too like Justice League (have you ridden one?), Houdini, the Skyway from the world's fair and America's only remaining parachute drop.

 

Dorney Park

It's Dorney, so nobody would be offended if you hit this place quick and bail BUT if you don't ride Demon Drop and Thunder Creek Mountain then you're skipping 2 of the 3 best rides in the park. Ride Steel Force in row one so it feels like you're riding a roller coaster and not sitting on your couch at home for the duration of the ride. Be sure to check out their new chicken tender stand next year. It's going to be amazing.

 

Knoebels

If you're the kind of person that wants to visit Knoebels (the greatest place in the history of the world) just to ride the coasters and leave then you should spend most of the day at Dorney riding Steel Force like a loser because that's what you deserve.

 

All (sort of) kidding aside, no. Knoebels is a full day park. Go on a hand stamp day. Ride EVERYTHING. Eat EVERYTHING. Here's a trip report I just wrote if you need inspiration. Here's a pierogie map. Knoebels has some of the best "park food" of any park in America, they have the best carousel in America (and you can catch brass rings), they have 2 of the best classic dark rides in the world, they have THE BEST bumper cars in the world, they have THE BEST flyers in the world, they have a great flume, one of the better drop towers in America, Downdraft which is wonderful, a great Paratrooper, possibly the only Satellite and Looper rides in America, an awesome slide that totally shouldn't exist in America, and a 1001 Nachts ride that's apparently so good that some crazy b*tch married it. It's a full day park, if you're just going for the coasters you're completely missing the point.

 

Hersheypark

I don't really have any tips here other than to ride Coal Cracker and check out the Chocolate Tour.

 

Kennywood*

Who the f*ck would go to Kennywood and only ride coasters? WTF? I feel the same way about this one as I do about the Knoebels one. Maybe you can afford to get there a little late and leave a little early so you're not death marching from Knoebels and to Cedar Point but spend most of the day here.

 

Cedar Point

Budget for Fastlane, MAKE SURE you get there for Early Entry (since you have a Platinum Pass).

 

King's Island

This park often closes the last week of August mid-week so watch that when planning this trip. This is another park that offers Early Entry, though not on the same scale that Cedar Point does (it's generally on 2 major rides, check the website for details as they switch them throughout the year). You'll never be able to get there at a reasonable time from Cedar Point if you stay until close, and you'll need to if you're trying to cram it into one day. Personally I'd spend a full day at Cedar Point, then stay near the park and go back to Cedar Point the next morning for early entry to get more rides in on Steel Vengeance, Maverick, Millennium Force, Valravn and/or Gatekeeper and anything you might have missed. Leave whenever you want and head to Kings Island for some rides that night and spend the entire next day. If you can, try to go to Kings Island on a day with a 10:00 close because Beast night rides are amazing. This plan costs an extra day but makes your days at Kings Island and Cedar Point much less stressful and depending on crowd levels might save you money on Fastlane at one or both of the parks since you now have extra time.

 

Kentucky Kingdom

This is not a full day park at all, so you have a few options with this one. I know between the drive from Kings Island and the drive to Dollywood you'll have about 6 hours of driving and I've factored that in but I would either...

 

1) Spend the morning at Kings Island and go for early entry to get more rides in.

 

2) Stop at Cincinatti's Coney Island on the way to Kentucky Kingdom. It's cheap and they have a coaster but more importantly they have fun flat rides and a Rock O Plane. They also open late (usually around 11am or noon) and the idea of sleeping in after so many crazy days might be pretty appealing by this point). You can do Kentucky Kingdom in like 2-3 hours if you're not doing the waterpark and this is a park where you're not wrong at all to just hit the coasters and bail.

 

3) Go to Kentucky Kingdom early and bail early so you can get to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg early and check out all of the awesome local attractions.

 

By the way, Kentucky Kingdom has an out of state special that includes 2 days admission and free soda. You don't need 2 days admission, but it's infinitely cheaper than actually buying a regular one day pass. You need to buy it at the gate and present your North Carolina drivers license.

 

Dollywood

If you seriously go to Dollywood and only do coasters you should be ashamed of yourself. I normally hate shows, but their shows are amazing. See the shows. Also, ride Slidewinder, Daredevil Falls, the train, Barnstormer and Drop Line.

 

I have no advice for the last two. You probably go to Carowinds all the time so you don't need tips and I've never been to SFOG.

 

My only other advice is to budget a lot of time to get through northern Virginia because DC traffic is hell on earth and if you don't already have one, get an EZ Pass. You can also get an NC Quickpass since it has interoperability with EZ Pass and (if you ever make a road trip down south), Sun Pass.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you, coasterbill. I am guessing that a credit whore is like a ticker in disc golf or craft beer (two of my passions), as in someone who plays a course or tries a beer once just to say they've had it, never to revisit. Not my intent at all.

 

Before this year my last coaster ride was Thunder Road at Carowinds in 1995, my last visit there. My daughter went this year with a youth group and asked if we could go back. I offered to go to KD and BGW instead so she could try some new coasters and I could see some new parks I never made it to as a kid. We did Dominator first and I realized that coasters had changed a lot since I last rode one. We rode every coaster (except Intimidator, one and done) many times that day. We also rode a few other things but decided we really liked the coasters and focused on those the following day at BGW.

 

We spent all day at BGW as well and rode every coaster multiple times. It was overcast and drizzly and there were no lines. I think we rode Gryffon the most at 11 times. We actually caught a show as well during a 90 minute thunderstorm break. My daughter is 15 now and I'm not sure how many more trips she will be wanting to make with dad in the future as she gets older, so I was trying to pack in as many coasters as possible for this trip. I will certainly consider any suggestions made here and maybe even split it onto two trips or pare the park list down.

 

I hadn't thought about doing afternoon/following morning visits. thanks for that thought. That would work fine at CF parks and Six Flags as we will probably get gold passes for them as well.

 

Skipping KD is basically all about missing DC traffic. We may leave on Thursday afternoon to cruise through DC around 8-9 p.m.

 

I will probably take Carowinds and SF Georgia off this trip list as those will be easy to do full day combos from Greensboro. That would make a more reasonable 10 parks in 10-12 days. Thanks again for the feedback.

 

Also, she has talked me into Scarowinds this Saturday, so wish me luck. The reviews make it sound very crowded.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^ This info sounds very different than what was originally posted above. That's a good thing. It also sort of goes to show that, when people want advice on trips it's probably best to give as much information as possible. We get asked questions all the time like "What are the best parks in the US to visit?" or "What are the best rides at Disney to hit?"

 

And I always answer back "It really depends on the type of person you are and if you give us more information about you, we can probably help more."

 

Your original post made it sounds like you were more of a credit whore, meaning run in, get on all the coasters once, and leave.

 

Glad to hear that isn't your intent.

 

Anyway, I'm going to move this into the main forum so maybe you can get some help from other people as well...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The drive from Cedar Point to Kings Island is a huge drag after a full day at Cedar Point. When I was in my 20's and 30's or when I had a second driver it was easier. So I would plan not to be at Kings Island at opening and to plan for FastLane, and coasterbill's advice about hitting up Kings Island for Early Entry on a second day before heading to Kentucky Kingdom fits into this strategy.

 

Of all the parks you mentioned Six Flags America and Dorney Park are the ones with the least memorable coasters. Any type of coaster at those parks you will be able to find a better type at another park you are visiting. Superman at SFA might be the only coaster at the those two parks that you might consider riding more than once. Joker's Jinx looks unique, but it is the same exact layout as Flight of Fear (at Kings Dominion and Kings Island). Therefore, you can spend less time at these parks. As coasterbill stated Kentucky Kingdom has two phenomenal coasters but you also don't need more than 3-4 hours at the park

 

The volume and variety of coasters at Great Adventure, Hersheypark, Cedar Point and Kings Island make them whole day parks. Knoebels, Kennywood and Dollywood can also easily be full day parks because there is so much to do at these parks outside of the coasters. Hersheypark and Dollywood also offer preview plans where you can sample the parks for a few hours the night before your day visit to the park.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the tips, guys! Should be a great trip. We will plan on full days at all the parks recommended for that. I pulled the trigger on Gold Season Passes for SFoG today so we will probably go pick them up in November. Looks like six coasters will be running then.

 

Smoky Mountain Alpine Coaster in Gatlinburg looks cool. Anybody ever done that one?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This sounds like it could be an utterly epic trip. Assuming you're taking two weeks off work to do it, I'd go ahead and stretch this out to 16 days for a more relaxed vacation and a better experience. I'd also skip Kings Dominion amd Carowinds on this trip, because they're both so close to you that each can be done on a weekend trip. Definitely do those, just separately.

 

Get a Six Flags America Gold season pass if you don't have one already, as it'll be cheapest there.

 

Day 1 (Sat): Drive to SF America, have fun, drive to NJ or as far as you can get depending on traffic and how long you stay at SF America.

Day 2 (Sun): Finish driving to NJ if needed, SF Great Adventure. Get a Gold Flash Pass. Do the Safari.

Day 3 (Mon): Go back to Great Adventure, go straight to El Toro, ride it non-stop until the other park guests figure out it exists.Leave and go to Dorney, plan about 3 hours there, then continue on to Knoebels. You can camp there if you like camping; otherwise, there are hotels about a half hour away.

Day 4 (Tues): Knoebels! This is the best park on your itinerary. Get a handstamp, spend all day there, ride everything. Get some pierogies, they're the best I've ever had outside Poland.

Day 5 (Wed): Go back to Knoebels, but get tickets this time. See the free museums, ride whatever appealed to you most the previous day, leave mid-afternoon for Hershey. Get to Hershey about an hour before the preview plan begins and go through the Chocolate Factory Tour. Once the preview plan begins, go into the park proper and ride Skyrush and all the low capacity coasters.

Day 6 (Thurs): Hershey all day. Be happy.

Day 7 (Fri): Drive to Kennywood, stay all day. Be happy.

Day 8 (Sat): Drive to Erie, go to Waldameer for a couple of hours, drive on to Cedar Point, and make your own "preview day." Ride the coasters at the front of the park because the lines will be short when you get there in the late afternoon/early evening.

Day 9 (Sun): Early entry to Cedar Point, stay all day. Probably gonna want Fast Lane +.

Day 10 (Mon): Early entry to Cedar Point, stay until about noon, then head out to Kings Island. Get to Kings Island around 5 (yeah, it's a long way between the two, took me about 4 1/2 hours), then ride a couple of things and wait for nightfall. Ride the Beast at night, it'll blow your mind.

Day 11 (Tues): Early entry to Kings Island, stay all day. May need Fast Lane +.

Day 12 (Wed): Early entry to Kings Island, then Kentucky Kingdom. Drive to Jasper, Indiana, and have dinner at Schnitzelbank.

Day 13 (Thurs): Holiday World. Probably not an all day park if you're not into waterparks. Four great coasters, and the second best service of any park on your trip, behind Knoebels. Drive part of the way to Pigeon Forge that night.

Day 14 (Fri): Finish driving to Pigeon Forge, ride the mountain coasters, do tourist trap stuff, get to Dollywood for the preview.

Day 15 (Sat): Dollywood all day. Probably gonna need Time Saver Pass. Don't miss the shows or the museum. Eat cinnamon bread. Be happy.

Day 16 (Sun): Drive back home exhausted and depressed that you have to go back to work after all this fun.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for all the info, guys. I will be going to Dollywood and SFOG next weekend and just went to Carowinds this past weekend so I'm taking those three off of this itinerary and plan on spending a full day at each park,most likely taking 3 days to do CP/KI. Maybe an extra half day at SFGA if needed.

 

I am drooling over some of the food recs, but diabetes has cut pierogies and cinnamon buns out of my diet

 

I wish I could take two full weeks off of work, but my job does not allow that to happen. I think 8 or 9 parks in 11 days is much more doable than my original plan.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

One thing I hadn't figured on is that I get an additional week of vacation next year. So now I'm thinking this is going to be two trips. Trip A will cut CP, KI, and Kennywood and bump them to the second trip. And add Great Escape and SFNE. This should leave plenty of time to add Waldameer and Holiday World to trip B. One early June, one late August.

 

So it would look something like this: (9-10 days each)

 

Trip A:

SFA

SFGA

Dorney

Hersheypark

Knoebels

Great Escape

SFNE (maybe)

 

Trip B:

Kennywood

Waldameer

CP

KI

Holiday World

KK

 

Any thoughts on what order to do these trips in would be great!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For Trip A, that should be doable in 10 days. SFA and Dorney can be done in the same day, a day for Hershey Park, a day for Knoebels, a day for SFNE, and a day for SFGAdv (on your way back, it makes more sense this way). Great Escape seems to be a bit of way-out-of-the-way for a rather mediocre lineup with nothing really unique (unless you REALLY like Intamin Bobsleds). I'd recommend scrapping it and build in stops at Rye Playland, Quassy, and Lake Compounce, all of which are kind of "on the way" from Knoebels to SFNE.

 

For Trip B, I think you're spreading yourself too thin if you're only limited to 9-10 days. Cedar Point is a two, if not three, day park and most people will recommend 2 days for Kings Island as well (though I've been extraordinarily lucky with my trips there this year and in 2008). I'd cut out Holiday World and Kentucky Kingdom and instead build some more time in for recovery periods.

 

Edit: You asked for orders.

 

Trip A:

Day 1: Drive north, hitting SFA and Dorney on the way. Stay near Allentown.

Day 2: All day Hershey Park. Stay near Hershey.

Day 3: All day Knoebels. Stay near there.

Day 4: Drive east, hitting Rye Playland, Quassy, and Lake Compounce, arriving near SFNE. Stay there.

Day 5: All day at SFNE. Stay there.

Day 6: Drive south, spend the rest of the day at SFGAdv. Stay in the area.

Day 7: All day at SFGAdv.

Day 8: Drive south to Wildwood, go to Morey's and drink. Stay in Wildwood.

Day 9: Drive south, taking the scenic route of the Cape May Lewes Ferry and Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, home.

(Alternative Day 8: Drive home the boring route through Delaware and the Baltimore/DC region).

 

Trip B:

Day 1: Travel day only. Drive north, stay near Kennywood.

Day 2: All day at Kennywood.

Day 3: Drive north, go to Waldameer, then head west for Cedar Point. Check into hotel, do whatever you can at Cedar Point.

Day 4: All day Cedar Point

Day 5: All day Cedar Point

Day 6: CP in the morning, drive to Mason Ohio, check into hotel, KI in the evening.

Day 7: All day Kings Island

Day 8: All day Kings Island

Day 9: Drive home

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
For Trip A, that should be doable in 10 days. SFA and Dorney can be done in the same day, a day for Hershey Park, a day for Knoebels, a day for SFNE, and a day for SFGAdv (on your way back, it makes more sense this way). Great Escape seems to be a bit of way-out-of-the-way for a rather mediocre lineup with nothing really unique (unless you REALLY like Intamin Bobsleds). I'd recommend scrapping it and build in stops at Rye Playland, Quassy, and Lake Compounce, all of which are kind of "on the way" from Knoebels to SFNE.

 

For Trip B, I think you're spreading yourself too thin if you're only limited to 9-10 days. Cedar Point is a two, if not three, day park and most people will recommend 2 days for Kings Island as well (though I've been extraordinarily lucky with my trips there this year and in 2008). I'd cut out Holiday World and Kentucky Kingdom and instead build some more time in for recovery periods.

 

Edit: You asked for orders.

 

Trip A:

Day 1: Drive north, hitting SFA and Dorney on the way. Stay near Allentown.

Day 2: All day Hershey Park. Stay near Hershey.

Day 3: All day Knoebels. Stay near there.

Day 4: Drive east, hitting Rye Playland, Quassy, and Lake Compounce, arriving near SFNE. Stay there.

Day 5: All day at SFNE. Stay there.

Day 6: Drive south, spend the rest of the day at SFGAdv. Stay in the area.

Day 7: All day at SFGAdv.

Day 8: Drive south to Wildwood, go to Morey's and drink. Stay in Wildwood.

Day 9: Drive south, taking the scenic route of the Cape May Lewes Ferry and Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, home.

(Alternative Day 8: Drive home the boring route through Delaware and the Baltimore/DC region).

 

Trip B:

Day 1: Travel day only. Drive north, stay near Kennywood.

Day 2: All day at Kennywood.

Day 3: Drive north, go to Waldameer, then head west for Cedar Point. Check into hotel, do whatever you can at Cedar Point.

Day 4: All day Cedar Point

Day 5: All day Cedar Point

Day 6: CP in the morning, drive to Mason Ohio, check into hotel, KI in the evening.

Day 7: All day Kings Island

Day 8: All day Kings Island

Day 9: Drive home

 

Thanks for the recs! We won't be needing much recovery time (well she might, but she can sleep while I drive) and driving long distances is not an issue. There won't be any drinking on this trip.

 

As for trip A, I'm thinking of picking my daughter up on her last day of school (June 8) and heading to KD for as much time as we can get in. I am an early riser so we shouldn't have any trouble knocking out SFA on Saturday and maybe even getting some evening rides in at Dorney. We have Platinum/Gold passes for CF and SF parks, so any of those we can go to in the evening are already paid for. The more I look at it, Great Escape does seem skippable. We aren't credit whores and most likely won't be doing Wild Mouse or kiddie coasters unless they are super unique and cool. SFGA on the way back sounds good. maybe even drop in on KD again on the way back home if the mood strikes. I will check out the smaller parks you listed.

 

As for trip B, KK has been a maybe since I first started planning this trip. We do plan at least 1.5 days at CP and KI. We also can take 10 days if necessary. Skipping KK would give us two full days each (or more) at CP and KI.

 

Also, we will mainly be riding coasters and flumes. Neither of us really care for MOST of the flat or dark rides that we have ridden and she won't do drop towers or tall swings (no idea why) that I do like. I know that puts us in the minority around here but it's how we like to enjoy parks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like Mike's plan, except don't go to Rye Playland. To get from Knoebels to Quassy, Lake Compounce and Six Flags New England you should take I-80 to I-81 to I-84. It's not worth dealing with 287 and the Tappan Zee (or whatever it's called now) bridge just to go to a terrible amusement park.

 

Their coaster collection sucks, the only reason to go there is to ride the Derby Racer and Old Mill. Their flume is good too... it's an average flume, but that's good enough to make it one of the top 2 or 3 rides at Playland by default.

 

we will mainly be riding coasters and flumes.

Sounds like a great trip!

 

There won't be any drinking on this trip.

... oh

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

There won't be any drinking on this trip.

... oh

 

I drink a lot less these days due to diabetes anyway. And my ex has become Puritanical about it around my daughter. We will be taking a rental car and she will be a newly licensed driver so it really isn't that big of a deal. I will be dropping off a big box of local beers on my unsuspecting friend in Cleveland, though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

The only thing you need to explain is why you don't care for flat rides or dark rides. Hopefully you make an exception at Knoebels.

 

I liked Flight of Fear, Blazing Fury, and half of Mystery Mine. Do those count for dark rides?

 

Honestly any ride that may upset my stomach (scrambler, frisbees, etc) might reduce my coaster riding time. And we can't have that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you liked Blazing Fury, you have to ride Black Diamond at Knoebels. And really, ride Haunted Mansion, it's awesome. Probably won't upset your stomach. I have similar issues, but no problem with Haunted Mansion at all. It's a $2 upcharge, totally worth it. Lines at Knoebels go super fast, so don't worry about it taking up coaster time. You'll get right on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 months later...

The first trip is nigh. Current itinerary (version 37 or so)

 

Saturday, June 9: Leave Greensboro NC around noon. Get 3 hours or so in at SFA Probably skipping Mind Eraser, Apocalypse, and Batwing unless someone has a good argument for any of them. We will plan on riding ME at SFNE since it appears to be much better from what I've read here. Three hours should be enough, I think?

 

Sunday, June 10: Knoebels.

 

Monday, June 11: Dorney/Hersheypark preview

 

Tuesday, June 12: All day Hersheypark, drive toward SFNE

 

Wednesday, June 13: All day SFNE, maybe Wooden Warrior at Quassy first, drive toward SFGAdv

 

Thursday, June 14: All day SFGAdv

 

Friday, June 15: Flex day. Back to SFGAdv if we didn't get everything in or just want more. Philly touristy stuff if not. Drive south a bit

 

Saturday, June 16: King's Dominion because it's on the way and we have Platinum passes. Drive home

 

Sunday, June 17: Relax

 

Monday June 18: Carowinds b/c it's close and I took that day off as well

 

We have platinum CF passes (and platinum dining) and Gold SF passes. I realize there is some backtracking in PA, but I really wanted to hit HP, SFNE, and SFGAdv on weekdays. From the map it would seem to make more sense to do HP on Sunday, then Knoebels, then Dorney, but I assume crowds at HP will be a lot lighter on a Tuesday.

 

One other option I've considered is dropping SFNE from this trip and going to Kennywood at the beginning.

 

As for the second trip, Kentucky Kingdom and Holiday World are out and two days each at KI and CP are in. Maybe 2.5 days at CP.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Get 3 hours or so in at SFA Probably skipping Mind Eraser, Apocalypse, and Batwing unless someone has a good argument for any of them.

 

I would usually ride Mind Eraser several times and Apocolypse usually once, when I can actually get there with 3 hours available. If you feel rushed or want to spend more time with the other coasters, sure skip them. 2/3rds of the time I'm there it's cold enough to wear a hat on Mind Eraser, which helps. Riding Apocolypse is mostly about missing Shockwave but it only makes me miss it more. Batwing is hilarious but after once there's no real reason to ever ride it again. And my trips there don't include a bunch of other parks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You could probably ride every coaster in the park in 2-3 hours, but nobody would blame you if you skipped those 3. They're um... not good.

 

Kinda figured. I hated Vortex and Georgia Scorcher was not great, either. So I plan on skipping stand-ups unless a majority says it's good. My last ride on Nighthawk was not pleasant and I've read that Batwing is very similar, if not identical.

 

I would usually ride Mind Eraser several times and Apocolypse usually once, when I can actually get there with 3 hours available. If you feel rushed or want to spend more time with the other coasters, sure skip them. 2/3rds of the time I'm there it's cold enough to wear a hat on Mind Eraser, which helps. Riding Apocolypse is mostly about missing Shockwave but it only makes me miss it more. Batwing is hilarious but after once there's no real reason to ever ride it again. And my trips there don't include a bunch of other parks.

 

So, no good argument.

 

We will also be skipping all Wild Mouse coasters and will ride every wooden, adult-sized coaster no matter how rough. I will be searching each park's thread for tips on how to tackle them based on a coaster-only approach. And will take the standard "go to the back of the park and work to the front" approach if I come up empty. I've already bookmarked boldikus' guide to SFGAdv. If there are any others, feel free to send them my way.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^ Except Hersheys mouse because its the best (and no I'm not talking about Laff Trakk)

 

edit: I am actually a huge fan of Apple Zapple also.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Six Flags America

I went to Six Flags America on a Sunday and it was completely deserted. I rode every coaster except for the kiddie credit and Mind Eraser (already had ridden it) in less than 3 hours. That included multiple rerides on Superman and Wild One. I also hit a few flats too.

 

The only coaster with any sort of wait was Ragin' Cajun. If you don't care to hit mice, this sounds skippable for you. I remember getting a good ride on Batwing back in 2012, but it was pretty rattly on my ride this year.

 

Quassy

 

Obviously you're here to ride Wooden Warrior, but if you're a fan of crazy spinning flats, make sure you hit Reverse Time and Frantic as well.

 

I'd argue that you should hit Lake Compounce instead if you've never been. It'll cost more than Quassy, but Boulder Dash is the superior wooden coaster and you also have Phobia and the recently retracked Wildcat. On a Wednesday, you won't encounter any waits there. Just watch out since Compounce usually closes well before sundown.

 

Six Flags New England

On a weekday, you should be able to ride everything without a Flash Pass. Pandemonium will have by far the worst wait, but fortunately it has an unmarked single rider queue. Just go up the Flash Pass line and let the operator know. You'll likely be on in less than 5 minutes.

 

Wicked Cyclone and Superman's queues could reach 30-45 minutes at worst on a weekday. It will add an extra 20-25 minutes to your wait, but make sure you ride Superman at least once in the very front. That is the absolute money seat on that coaster.

 

If you see Goliath open, ride it immediately. There's a high chance it will breakdown at some point and it's low capacity causes it to get a sizable wait. It does have a single rider line, but you can't access it until you're through most of the queue.

 

Batman and Riddler Revenge shouldn't have bad waits at all. Thunderbolt will have a slow moving queue, but the line can't hold more than 30 minutes of people.

 

Hersheypark

 

If you don't care about Laff Trakk, I'd hit Fahrenheit first. I know it'll be extremely tempting to hit Skyrush (and I don't blame you for riding it early if it's your primary reason for visiting), but the line is it's absolute worst at the beginning of the day because of its location. If you return later, Comet and Skyrush won't have much of a wait at all.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use https://themeparkreview.com/forum/topic/116-terms-of-service-please-read/