2011 Summer Trip

I'm planning on a road trip to some parks east of the Mississippi. Below is the map of ones I'm interested in visiting. I'd like to get to 9 of the 12 I've listed. I'm in NE Ohio. Cedar Point will be my first park on the trip, Kings Island will be the last. Planning on only two of the parks in PA. Which two should I go with? Going to be going down the east coast and coming back up towards the west. I'm starting to save my money now. This won't be a cheap trip, probably around $400 just for tickets alone. I'll be turning 16 next Spring, going to take quite a bit of talking with my parents. Planning on getting a $1-$3k car that will make it a couple thousand miles for the trip, then selling it when I'm done, and getting a nicer car probably close to $10k.

You've got yourself a trip. That's gonna take some driving.

If I were to give you a hint it would be to slice out Alabama adventures. Just get a flight to the UK an ride Megaphobia one day.

I suggest going east of CP and take Pennsylvania then down. Replace Alabama Adventures with Holiday world. That way you can avoid a lengthy drive and hit Indiana en route to Beech Bend. from there you can hit KI.

[slosprint]

If you are just going to 2 parks in PA Hersheypark would be my top pick. Then if you are a wooden coaster fan go to Kennywood or a steel fan go to Dorney Park.

Or Knoebels if you like getting bruised thighs.

I'm not going to drop Alabama's Adventure. I've got some friends down there I'll be visiting. I think I might go to Kennywood over Dorney.

[slosprint]

When you go to Kennywood be sure to have some fried Oreos as a snack! they are possibly the best things I've ever had.

I suggest you go to Knoebels. Just as good as Hershey if you like woodies as Pheonix is brilliant and Twister is almost as good.

[slosprint]

Nah, go to HP for steel and Kennywood for wood, they are pretty much the ultimate combo.

Originally posted by slosprint

Nah, go to HP for steel and Kennywood for wood, they are pretty much the ultimate combo.

Kennywood is good but it simply lacks a ground breaking woodie, unlike Knoebels which features what is most likely the most powerful airtime machine in the world.

Hershey sucks. They have all kinds of good rides but their ops are complete idiots.

Knoebels, Kennywood, and Dorney have much better rides and operations people.

[slosprint]

I have never had problems at Hershey other than some guy telling me I had to take off my glasses to ride Stormrunner.

Hey, I'm planning a smaller version of that trip for this summer: KD, BGE, SFA, SFGAdv, HP, and KW are on my trip (leaving from Columbus). If you're in NE Ohio, why not hit Waldameer on your way through? They only have one decent ride, but it's really awesome. Plus it's pay-per-ride and free parking, so you can't go wrong! Won't take much time, and it'll add another park.

I recommend adding Holiday World to your trip for sure. Not been there yet, but it looks amazing and it's gotten beyond awesome reviews. I'm planning a trip for when I go to DCI finals in August.

By the way, does anyone happen to know how Kennywood works admission-wise? Is it a pay-per-ride park?

I don't know about Waldameer. It's a bit out of the way, for one ride. I was thinking about holiday world. I'm guesstimating around a $1000 for the whole trip, minus the cost of a car. But, if its under $4k my parents should pay for the car.

Go for the Cedar Fair Platinum Pass. You have five of Cedar Fairs many parks and the pass will get you into all of them (Cedar Point, Dorney Park, Kings Island, Carowinds, and Kings Dominion) for free. Also, no parking fees. That and most parks will have a "perk" for Platinum Pass holders.

I think the pass costs $160 but it might be different.

EDIT: If you decide to go to Dorney, I am the Blue tag over at Meteor. Right next to Hydra, the green roller coaster.

^No offense, but Storm Runner > every ride at Dorney combined. Great Bear also owns Talon.

While Hershey operations suck...I would go there before Dorney. Storm Runner CANNOT be missed.

[hyyyper]

pfff. Talon alone craps over everything at Hershey and then sets it on fire.

Storm Runner sucks. Talk about anticipointment. Great Bear is nice, but its FAR from Talon's pure awesomeness.

I'm sorry...I rode Talon in just about every seat and it was a typical floaty out of the box B&M. Great Bear does stuff no other B&M invert does and has a sick layout.

And Storm Runner sucks? Oh well one less person in line for a sick launch, ejector airtime, vertical drops, 0g rolls, etc...

Just because you work at Dorney doesn't mean everything there is SO amazing. I live close to SFFT and the rides there all suck.

Park Rankings in PA:

1. Knoebels
2. Kennywood
3. Waldameer
4. Hershey
5. Dorney

Trust me Jake, Dorney bores the death out of me.

I dont know, Storm Runner was fun, but it left me with a "Tats it?" sort of thought. Maybe I was too excited for it but I didnt care for it. However, just the opposite on Fahrenheit. That ride kicks ass.

And I agree with your park ranking list of PA's major parks. But I think it will change in a few years.

[Coasterkidmwm]

Not to be a total bummer, but why don't you save the money for college/trade school instead? You will definitely need it. If you spend this money on tuition you'll probably save a great deal on loan interest in the long run.

^Full ride to college FTW.

I'm just speaking out of experience Tatsu...after this summer I have basically ridden pretty much everything in the country outside of Silverwood and Ohio. Talon just didn't do anything for me...but neither did Montu which people love too. In fact out of all the inverts I've been on the only one that comes close to a top 10 spot is Afterburn @ Carowinds.

Anyways, creator of this thread...sounds like a hell of a trip. Good luck!

The platinum pass is a good idea, would definitely save money. But, I'm planning on applying for a job at Geauga Lake this summer. If I get the job, I get the benefit of free entry to all CF parks. I would hope to be able to go back next summer or apply again if I didn't make it.

I would pick (for PA) Hersheypark and Kennywood. I havn't found a single person (yet) who says they don't like Fahrenheit at Hershey. Also, Dorny is just so f***ing boring.

I'll join you on the Kings Island meet, I always get gold passes and always go there.

Being a car guy, I suggest spending a lot more than 1-3k on the car. When you get 10 years of car experience under your belt, you will realize cost and reliability usually go hand in hand.