2012 or 2013: GMT-6 timezone trip.

Well, now that I am technically a college student (I start classes at the end of August) I really wanted to do one freaking huge trip during college.

I decided on the GMT-6 timezone for a few reasons:

1: I'd only be 19 or 20 (2012 or 2013), so if I wanted to do a trip somewhere else, I'd likely have to fly there, and car rentals to anyone under 21 - 25 are few and far between.

2: Language barrier. Although I can speak German, I decided to hold off my Germany trip to be my second trip.

3: I have never ventured out of the GMT-5 timezone in my life. The only two regions I haven't conquered in this timezone are the deep south and New England. Though there are good coasters in each, I desperately need to go somewhere that's not on the east coast for my first mega trip.

I actually planned this trip over a year ago. The itinerary is this:


Day 1: Drive 9 hours to northern Indiana.
Day 2: Indiana Beach.
Day 3: Drive 10 hours to Minneapolis. (I originally was going to start the trip here, but two straight days of driving would suck unless it was absolutely necessary.)
Day 4: Nickelodeon Universe.
Day 5: Valleyfair
Day 6: Arnold's Park
Day 7: Adventureland (Altoona, Iowa)
Day 8: Worlds of Fun
Day 9: Six Flags St. Louis
Day 10: St. Louis Museum, just because it looks so epic.
Day 11: Holiday World
Day 12: Drive to Branson, Missouri.
Day 13: Silver Dollar City
Day 14: Magic Springs & Crystal Falls.
Day 15: Frontier City
Day 16: Wonderland Amusement Park.
Day 17: Wonderland Amusement Park. (Two reasons why two days in a row; it's only open three hours a night on weekdays, and it also doubles as a rest day.)
Day 18: Joyland Amusement Park.
Day 19: Drive to Arlington, TX.
Day 20: Six Flags Over Texas
Day 21: Sea World San Antonio
Day 22: Six Flags Fiesta Texas
Day 23: Kemah Boardwalk

(Now, I would have ended the trip there, but I live in Syracuse, NY- so three days straight of driving after over three weeks of parks would be a massive buzz-kill)

Day 24: Drive to the Memphis area. No coasters.
Day 25: Drive to Cincinatti.
Day 26: Kings Island
Day 27: Waldameer
Day 28: Martin's Fantasy Island.

Now, before anyone slams me for trying to drive such long distances in one day, realize that I'm bringing my best friend along, so we can switch whenever we need (and he likes coasters as well; though he isn't an enthusiast) and since some of those parks are smaller, I figured I could do them in the afternoon and evening if we drive in the morning (reference to Frontier City, Sea World San Antonio, and Waldameer; we'd have to leave at about 5:30 for Magic Springs though.)

The only two parks I've been to in this trip were Waldameer and MFI. So virtually the entire trip is a new experience for me.

I calculated every single expense I could think of: I picked out hotels (most of them were Super 8's that had 3 - 4 star ratings) I assumed the average gas cost would be $4.50 a gallon, and 19.5 mpg for my dad's 2005 Toyota Sienna, which he figures he might give me in a year or two. I assumed $50 per day, per person for food (so $100 a day.) Due to the possibility that gas could be as low as $3/gallon, and we could probably get by on $30 a day, especially since most of the Super 8's have breakfasts, (yes I know that's over three weeks of the same food, but I usually do that for breakfast at home anyway, so although I LOVE trying new foods, at least I'm used to this pattern) that means up to 20% of the trip's money is wiggle room in the event something weird happens. The original plan was to actually not do the St. Louis museum and do Joyland for two days instead (same schedule as Wonderland) but I haven't redone the pricing calculations for that. The price difference will be minimal, however. I also figured out gold flash passes for the six flags parks (yes, expensive, but it's worth every penny.) My parents are paying for my undergrad degree at SUNY University at Buffalo (about $56,000 for four years) and my grandma gave me $8,600 for college funds (which I'll use about half of it for books; $2,000 will be transferred from my savings to checking account each year) and I'll use about half of the $2,000 for this year (and assuming I don't get enough money by 2012, the remaining $1,000 for the next year as well) to pay for the trip, because I rarely spend on anything. So that means I can almost completely devote my money that I'm getting at my job to save up for the trip. However, my best friend has to pay for college (same university, same major, and we're rooming together) and he's taking out loans... and he's saving money for a car. So that means that I have to come up with pretty much all of the money for both of us.


The grand total for the trip?

$8200

For you European people, that's about 5650 Euros, to put it in proper perspective.

Yes, it's a LOT of money. I figure I will have to save up my money from my minimum wage job ($7.25 an hour, or 5 Euros an hour for you Europeans) for up to two years. However, on the itinerary sheet, I broke down the prices for each individual day, and I'm at about $1900 (1309 Euros) in my saving account, so I can already afford day 7 out of 28. (That's Adventureland if you don't feel like scrolling back up to see what park it is.) I'm including $1,000 form my grandma's money into that figure. (Technically, I have $3,000 in my savings, but I know about $1,000 will be used on books this year.)


I figure that I will do this trip in July 1 - 28, either 2012 or 2013.

This is so expensive, that I might have to skip out an entire year of riding coasters. I haven't done that EVER in my life (even before I became an enthusiast; I always went to Sylvan Beach and the New York State Fair at least once or twice a year back then.) But in the event that that happens, I figure that I'd have to do a mini trip in May 2012, consisting of MarineLand, CW, and MFI. If I do this before classes are over, I can use college as the "hotel" (because CW is the farthest one away; at about 2 - 2.5 hours) which would bring that trip to about $300 - $400 (I can't remember which.) So I may be willing to sacrifice a month's worth of pay that would otherwise go to the trip fund in order to keep myself sane for that year.

If there's anything that you guys can learn from this, it's this: In this world, you really can do almost anything that you want, just like your parents said. But, it all depends on how hard you want to work for it. If you want a lofty goal, you need to work HARD. And I'm willing to do just that.



So, obviously, you guys can meet up with me on any of those days. Discuss my trip as you wish.

No Great America or Wisconsin Dells?

Why don't you do this trip in multiple trips of like 2 weeks over the course of 2 years? It'd be cheaper (per trip, anyway), and you'd have something to look forward to after you get back from the first one. It'd also save your sanity rather than having you drive like 100 hours in a month.

^^ The original plan was to skip Indiana Beach, Holiday World, KI, Waldameer, and MFI, but I wanted to add them in to break up the multi-day drives. I considered it, but this is as far as I'm willing to go for parks. This is my absolute limit. I love parks, but this is exhausting enough. (And expensive enough.)

^I was considering that, but the thing is, I am quite concerned about the multi day drives; Bottom line, it would be a massive buzz-kill if you had to drive two or three days with nothing to look forward to until you get home; this way, it's only three hours with nothing to look forward to. And the thing is, my sister did a 3.5 week trip with her boyfriend touring most of the national parks. So, although national parks aren't my thing (though I may visit a few eventually because I've gained a recent love of photography) I wanted to do a trip of similar proportions in terms of length.

But the thing is if I wanted to do smaller week trips after that, it wouldn't be impossible, as it will only take about two or three months to pay up for a solo week trip. I already have a good half a dozen ideas for those trips. And you also have to realize that since I may be doing internships with engineering firms, in the event that I do so, I'm pretty much saying goodbye to my summers during my junior and senior years in college, so it's not like I'll have time.

And the thing is, I actually enjoy driving quite a bit, though I would need to take breaks every couple of hours and do some stretching off of the shoulder, or in a rest stop's grassy area or something.

I know you're in NY, so it's probably different for you than me in central OH, but I planned a 15-day trip that made it to about half of the parks you have listed (the farthest south I went was SDC) and there wasn't anything more than a 4-hr drive. If you consider Kennywood as your starting point, you could probably do a similar thing. Then, if you really want to do the southern parks you have listed, you could just fly to somewhere and drive from there.

I am not trying to be a smartass, although I do take pride in that, if you use any sort of navigation or mapping tool they allow you to create several destinations within the same trip to help you create the most efficient route, that way you can minimize the driving and maximize the fun. Also if you are a AAA member you can go into your local district office and they can create a triptik which is essentially a hard copy of what you can get with bing maps, google maps or mapquest, with one added benifit, triptiks show additional points of interest and lodging and food options along the way, not to mention the fact that they are FREE for all members. A AAA membership would be most beneficial for this type of trip not only for the maps and tourbooks, but you get roadside assistance discounts at hotels, theme parks, restaurants and gas stations. I used to be a AAA customer service rep, so, if you have any questions regarding this, let me know, best of all, it is well worth the yearly membership fee of $49 for the standard membership.

^I'm a AAA member, so worry not. But I just thought AAA was for road side assistance. I cataloged every single amusement park on the planet onto Google Earth, so I have a very good visual idea as to where everything is. The thing is, there aren't many parks in this region of the country, so it's very easy to see the shortest route. But my question is, why is the triptik beneficial? I don't have to spend a good chunk of time in the local office waiting for that triptik to be made for me, because I can do all that beforehand by going onto Google Earth, so I can just go straight from point to point.

^^For the first half of the parks, the time between parks is usually 2 - 4 hours. In the south, the parks are just so spread apart, there's no real alternative. And you also have to realize, how will I be able to bring my car to the destination if I fly there? If you think that I'd be able to rent a car, remember I'd only be 19 or 20 (depending on the year that I do it) and as I said before, car rental companies RARELY rent to anyone under 21 - 25. I'm not doing any overseas trips for the reason that I'd require a plane ticket, and therefore car rental.

All good points, but I suppose my point was that there are alternatives to driving around for a month. Wait an extra year, whatever. Do what you want/think is best for you, but these are just things that I would suggest.

in regard to the Triptik, they do take a couple days to be put together. I don't know if they still have it as an option, but, they used to mail them to you so you don't have to go back into the office a couple days later. Also, in some cases certain car rental companies may rent to people under 21, I'm not talking about the major rental companies, but, that is also something you can talk to a AAA customer service rep about. Also, I would talk to a travel agent, they may be able to find you cheap hotels and kind of put together an itinerary with expenses and travel options showing price comparisons.

^I already figured out the entire trip, and most of the hotels are within the $50 - $70 range. It would be nice to get cheaper, but sometimes those are not only few and far between, but I also want a hotel that is clean. I don't care for amenities other than breakfast, exercise area, fridge and microwave, and a TV, but I can get by if those aren't available. As long as my room has all working appliances, no peeling paint, mold, and I don't get placed in a smoking room (Day Inn, Orlando last February; I also found a cigarette burn on my blanket the last night I was in there)

Though it would be nice to get as many discounts on anything possible so I'd be able to possibly do this trip next year, so maybe I might speak to a travel agent.