As the season revs up there seem to be a lot of people inquiring about parks, crowds, hotels, driving directions, and other questions related to trip planning and park visits. Many of those questions can be easily answered with quick searches on the internet or with common sense, so I thought I would start this topic as a "one-stop" place where people could get trip planning trips.

If anyone has something to add please do!

Note to those under 25 years of age: Minimum age requirements for hotels and car rentals vary by state and company, but many require a minimum age of 25. Expect a daily surcharge *if* they allow rentals by drivers below age 25. Call ahead and confirm before you rely on a rental if you're under age 25. Likewise, call ahead and confirm mimimum age requirements with hotels before your trip.

THIS SITE will give you car rental company's minimum age requirements BY CITY:

http://www.bnm.com/uage2.htm

Note to anyone wanting to use a "check debit" card instead of a credit card: Not all car rental companies or hotels accept debit cards, however many of their reservations systems cannot tell the difference between a debit card and a credit card. To make matter worse, many hotels and car agency location bear the name of the corporation but are actually franchises with rules different than corporate.

Many have arrived to pick up a car or get a room, only to find themselves stranded because their debit card was not accepted. It is ALWAYS a good idea to call the exact location of the hotel or car rental agency and ask if such a card is acceptable, even if their reservation agent says they are.

--AIRLINES, HOTELS, and CARS--

Each major airline, hotel chain, and car rental company has their own website with special internet-only fares. There are also companies who receive unsold inventory from airlines, hotels, and car agencies and sell them at a discounted price, such as Orbitz, Priceline, Hotels.com, etc.

NOTE: The latest trend in the travel industry is that many airlines, hotels, and car companies are actually giving less of their inventory to these sites and offering the best deals on their own website. If you find a low fare on one of the sites below always check the hotel's website to see if there is a better deal.

I'm not going to list each airline, hotel, and car rental company website...you can find them with an easy search. Here are some consolidator websites:

www.orbitz.com
www.hotels.com
www.expedia.com
www.priceline.com
www.cheaptickets.com
www.hotwire.com
www.smarterliving.com
www.travel.yahoo.com
www.travelocity.com
www.travelzoo.com

Also, please know that some discount airlines such as Southwest, Jet Blue, and others DO NOT list their inventory on consolidator websites. You must book directly with them.

THIS SITE will give you car rental company's minimum age requirements BY CITY:

http://www.bnm.com/uage2.htm

These three sites will allow you to browse many different airlines and consolidators in a single search:

www.travelaxe.com www.qixo.com
www.sidestep.com

If you are planning using Priceline to bid for airfare, hotels, and cars I suggest researching www.biddingfortravel.com and www.betterbidding.com to find successful bids in the city you are travelling to.

For those of you who are picky about the airplane seats you sit in, this site will be of help:

http://seatguru.com/

YAHOO MAPS - A Quick & Easy Way To Find Hotels, Restaurants, Gas, Shopping, and other Business and Attractions Near A Specific Park or Location

Yahoo Maps offers a feature called Smartview that can show you the actual location[s] of businesses in a specific area. For example use a park's address as the search critria and then choosing the hotel option from the Travel & Transportation section of Smartview and icons showing the location of each hotel in the area will appear on the map. Each icon is a link for further information. You can find lots of other businesses that can be helpful in trip planning such as restaurants, gas stations, banks, etc.

--TRAVEL AGENTS--

Do not overlook your local travel expert. I doubt you'll find anyone more knowledgeable about the travel industry than a travel agent.

--PARKS--

If you have a specific question about a park or rides at a park, start with these three simple steps to find your answer:

1] check the park's website. If that fails
2] call the park. If that fails
3] check the trip reports forum here on Coasterbuzz and on other forums to see if anyone has posted about a recent visit.

If you are having trouble finding a park's website there are two excellent resources online:

1] the LINKS page right here at Coasterbuzz, or
2] the Rollercoaster Database, www.rcdb.com

--CROWDS--

No one here has a crystal ball, so use some common sense. Weekends will be more crowded than weekdays. Summer, especially when schools are out from mid-June to early September, are when crowds are at their peak.

Events, concerts, and school outtings also tend to be crowded. Special events, such as Halloween fright fests, will typically have large crowds. Most parks will show such events on their website but if you are unsure or want to cover your ass CALL THE PARK!

Also, weather can play a big part in how crowded a park will be.

--WEATHER--

You can get up-to-the-minute weather at:

www.weather.com, www.accuweather.com, www.cnn.com, http://intellicast.com/, and www.weatherunderground.com

--PARK OPERATIONS--

Again, no one here has a crystal ball. Rides that may be operating one day may be unexpectedly closed the next. It is never a good idea to plan a trip based on your desire to ride a specific ride, especially a new ride and PARTICULARLY a ride that is notorious for having excessive downtime.

The Disney parks are the only I know that list closures on their website. If you must absolutely know if a particular ride will be operating, CALL THE PARK. Be warned though: hearing a "yes" is still no guarantee the ride will be open when you arrive.

If you are unable to get an answer from the park check Coasterbuzz's Trip Reports Forum to see if anyone has commented on the park you are visiting before starting a new topic.

--GETTING THERE--

Everyone should own an Atlas. Before you plan any trip go to yor local bookstore and buy one. It will be an excellent investment.

Online map/atlas resources:

www.mapquest.com
www.maps.yahoo.com
www.maps.com
www.mapsworldwide.com

US Nationwide traffic alerts & conditions [for outside the US, seach by country]:

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/trafficinfo/
http://www.usroadconditions.com/

There are also a number of trip planning software programs available, including MS Streets & Trips and Rand-McNally Atlas.

I also highly recommend checking with people who live in the area, especially if you are travelling through a large metropolitan such as like Los Angeles.

--PLANNING YOUR DAY--

Again, common sense is your best tool here.

1] As a general rule, new rides tend to be the most popular and have the longest lines. These are the rides guests will flock to at park opening. New rides will also have long lines throughout the day.

2] Rides with low capacity will typically have slower-moving lines. Shuttle coasters, dark rides, some flat rides...you get the idea.

3] Water rides will be most popular on hot days, less popular at night and at the end of the day.

4] Guests typically move around a park in a clockwise direction, so try walking in the opposite direction.

5] Eat meals during off-peak hours. That means lunch before noon or after 2pm; dinner before 5pm or after 7pm.

6] If visiting during peak season take advantage of virtual queue systems such as Fastland, FastPass, Q-bot, etc.

--WHAT ELSE IS THERE TO DO?--

Most cities have a visitor's bureau or chamber of commerce, and many of those offices are also online. Try a Yahoo or Google search for the city you need to know more about.

--SAVING MONEY--

Most, if not all, airlines, hotels, and car rental companies have frequent flyer programs or will contribute to a program. Likewise many credit cards and phone companies offer "points" that can be contributed to frequent flyer programs. JOIN THEM ALL!!

Need a discount ticket or coupon to a park? Go to www.yp.yahoo and do a search in the city you will be visiting for grocery stores and fast food chains. Those are the two most likely places to find discount tickets and coupons.

Many times hotels near the park will offer a package for rooms and tickets to the park. Those deals are usually on the "Lodging" section of a park's website.

Always check brochure racks for coupons.

Join AAA! Many parks and hotels offer AAA discounts, and AAA sells discounted tickets to parks, especially Disney.

Join ACE. Some parks offer discounts for members. Such discounts can be found at www.aceonline.org

Check with your credit union, many offer discount tickets for their members.

Check with your company's Human Resource department. Many parks send coupons for HR to distribute.

Travel with a group instead of alone so you can share expenses.

Many parks sell tickets online at a discount...don't forget to check their website!

Don't mind roughing it? Try camping!

--ONE LAST TIP--

With all due respect to Jeff and this wonderful site, everyone should have the Roller Coaster Database bookmarked. By searching on www.rcdb.com you can find:

*Park address, phone, and website links
*Coaster stats and pictures
*Other parks near the one you are visiting.

--IN CLOSING--

Don't be lazy. If you have access to Coasterbuzz you have access to the internet. Most, if not all, of your answers can be found if you just spend some time searching the web.

*** Edited 4/30/2008 10:21:10 PM UTC by Mamoosh***

As stated in the TOS, you may post a link to your site in your signature, but not use promotional language. That's the rule. I'm tired of getting complaints from people that say so-and-so does it and we have double standards, or whatever. The moderators and I have lives, and we don't read every post.

From here on out, if we see it, we'll nuke your account. Forums are for discussion, not self-promotion. This is non-negotiable.

Thank you for your cooperation.]]>http://coasterbuzz.com/Forums/Thread/16049.aspxTue, 13 Apr 2004 20:27:29 GMThttp://coasterbuzz.com/Forums/Thread/16049.aspxApparently resetting the TOS button didn't get some people's attention. Please DO NOT use the quote feature unless you're going to scale down the quote, and preferably only if it's on a previous page. There's no reason to use the quote for any of the previous ten posts. We can all scroll just fine. If you do it anyway, we're just going to delete them... it's a waste of disk space.

Thank you for your cooperation.

EDIT: You should really view the video tour of the forum as well, as it explains this further.

http://www.local12.com/content/breaking_news/story/Son-of-Beast-Rol...oyUaQ.cspx

Some of them are based in real life and I'm guilty of a few. Others might be too extream, but they get the point across.

1. You drive two hours to check out ONE coaster.

2. When you plan non-coaster road trips, you check to see which coasters are on the route and plan in extra time so you can stop an ride.

3. You move to SoCal or Florida so you can ride coasters year-round

4. Your kids are named after coasters. (Maggie, Millie, Zeus, Beast, ect.)

5. Most of your wardrobe was bought at a park.

6. You considar anything under two hours a "walk-on"

7. If you live somewhere where you can't ride coasters year-round, there are two seasons: Coaster season and 6 months of anticipation.

8. You ALWAYS make sure you have opening day for CP off, even if you live nowhwhere near Sandusky.

9. You've planned your family vacation around opening day for a new coaster.

10. You've built or dreamed of building a coaster in your back yard.

11. The numbers for Intamin AG, Verkoma, Gravity Group, and B&M are stored in your cell phone.

12. You've followed a truck carrying track 300 miles out of your way just to find out where the coaster's going to be.

13. You "barrow" your neighbor's kids just to get a credit on a kiddie coaster.

14. Your wedding picture was an on ride-photo

15. You have a tatoo of a park or coaster. Bonus if it was a coaster that was renamed.

16. You have more season passes in your wallet than photos of your kids.

17. Your cat has a season pass, AND has ridden more coaster than some people.

18. You know more about the ride op's kids than you do your own.

19. You don't remember the origional color of your car because of all the park and coaster stickers covering it.

20. You have a vanity plate on your car related to parks or coasters (Guilty!)

21. There is more than one room of your house full of park souvieners.

22. You'vc already worn out the strip on your season pass and it's only June 1st.

23. It's easier to tell people the coasters you haven't ridden than the ones you have.

24. You have ridden more than 500 laps on a coaster.

25. You buy q-bots in bulk.

26. You can cram a giant stuffed animal into a small locker and STILL have room for two backpacks.

27. There is a "lanyard tan" on your neck.

28. You can remember how to get to all the parks in Pennsylvainia using back roads, but need a GPS to get to work in the morning.

29. The only porn in your DVD collection is "coaster porn."

30. You think the ride op's uniforms are sexy.

For fun, I decided to compare my Ohio park cards (which I tend to preferentially seek out) to the CB database. I was surprised to discover I have a number of parks not on the list.

I'm not the best-versed in the history of parks, though I know a little bit. Any historians who are willing to help, I'd like to check this list against already-established entries. A lot of parks have had multiple names over the years, and I wouldn't want to double-up one or more of these:

Casino Park, Toledo -- not to be confused with the one in Mansfield

Chester Park, Cincinnati

Fairport Harbor, Lake County -- I have a postcard of the beach, ca. 1950's, showing a Spider or similar ride on the sand in the foreground. Not sure if this was a permanent installation or merely a photo of a temporary beachside carnival.

Hiawatha Park, Mt. Vernon

Indianola Park, Columbus -- anyone know if this was merely a different name for Zoo Park/Wyandot?

Lakeside Park, Dayton

Moxahala Park, Dayton

Riverside Park, Findlay

Silver Lake Park, Cuyahoga Falls

Spring Grove Park, Springfield

Stanton Park, Steubenville

Walbridge Park, Toledo

White City, Toledo -- not to be confused with the one in Cleveland

For all the above parks, I have postcard evidence of amusement rides located at the sites.

I also have two Ohio cards that were sold as "amusement park" postcards, but which display no amusement attractions on the card and for which I can't find other corroborating evidence. Anyone know about these two?

Gordon Park, Cleveland

Star Lake, Mt. Orab

On both of those, I have pictures of beach and bathhouse (which frequently but not always accompanied or evolved into traditional parks).

I have a large list of other sites in Ohio that are alleged to have been parks, but for which I haven't had the chance to pick up postcards yet. As I add to my collection, I'll share the results.

Sometime I would love to post my collection online. Unfortunately, my scanner is older than the hills and I don't even know if its resolution is at all decent by today's standards.

What up with that?

An SDC Galaxi from? (being sold in Dollars)

The Run-A-Way Train at Pharaohs Lost Kingdom

A Schwarzkopf Looping Coaster from? (being sold in Euros)

Also, IRG lists a B&M Suspended coaster for sale. Obviously they meant inverted. I didn't find any pictures or other reference to the ride on their site. It says it was built in 1996 and is for sale in Euros. But, RCDB doesn't list any B&M Inverted coasters built in 1996 in Europe.

http://www.ushsho.com/bestrollercoasterpoll.htm

If Kentucky Kingdom is slowly getting rid of their stuff, u know.. we all can dream. I would love to ride this at Holiday World. It would be great in 4th of July

We've continued the tradition of theming the flyer (and event shirt) around a blockbuster movie. Hope you like this year's choice.

Thanks, Paula

http://travel.latimes.com/daily-deal-blog/index.php/cedar-point-magic-mo-5502

Anyone remotely surprised?

Just curious as to how "family friendly" Shapiro means. Wasn't Terminator Salvation: The Ride described as "family friendly" before it was announced?

I was actually hoping for a Splash-Battle type ride for next year...like the Buccaneer Battle at Great America. Oh well, maybe it'll be something they'll consider in the future.

Move too news if you want, I could never submit right!

Good for Dallas and Charlotte, Great people!

A pic of supposed park map after completion http://twitpic.com/pdjnu

The ride looked like a blast. Are there any of these operating these days? I would love to get on one.

There is video(near the end of the clip) of a operating turbo ride at edgewater park detroit. I believe it's from the late 70's.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_2jU3eyjiY&feature=PlayList&p=401477E5F777EAE7&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=53

There are also some pictures of the ride here....

http://www.ride-extravaganza.com/thrill/turbo/

Hilter rips on SF

My name is Mr. Dietrich. A patent has just issued in my name formy new roller coaster technology. This technology achieves what "X" atSix Flags Magic Mountain does, but with less limitations, lesscost and maintenance, and many additional new possibilities. I amanxious to contact those individuals who are capable of putting thetechnology into practice. However, even finding out who to contact isproving to be a daunting task.

I hope to contact B&M's US representative, Robert Mampe, to inquire about the possibility of entering into an agreement withB&M, but thus far, I can only find a name.

Also, I am finding conflicting information about Intamin's USsubsidairy, Intaride, L.L.C / Intamin, LTD. Wikipedia says it is headedby Gary Palmer, MD and Arnold Bernsteiner, though no source is cited(and it seems strange for it to be headed by an MD) and I have found noother information about the two individuals. All other sources wouldleave me with the belief that it is still headed by Sandor Kernacs.In short, I would like enthusiats to have the benefit of ridingmy coasters. If a knowledgable one can help me sort out how to contactthe appropriate persons, I would be very appreciative, and we wouldboth be well served.
Thank you for your time,
Mr. Dietrich

I remember a lot of clearing just behind thunderhawk and next to ww last summer. Has anything come from this?

http://www.abc6.com/younews/68356192.html

http://thegravitygroup.com/gravitycast/timberliner-show-car-photo-a...y+Group%29

I don't get why this guy is there with the audio equipment.

Dave