IOA Tip

If you are going to Islands of Adventure, stay at one of their hotels. I did last week and I stayed for 3 1/2 days and got on the hulk 75 times! Along with riding all their other rides numerous times mainly Spiderman and Dueling Dragons. It really helped since most of the rides had 75 minute waits but in half a day, i got on the hulk three times, both dragons in front, and spiderman. I will post a trip report later on.

Next time I go down to IOA, I'm staying at Hard Rock Hotel. Front of the line access doesn't really matter to me(how could you mind waiting in line at IOA?,)but it's a plus. The hotel looks really cool too.

75 times in a span of 3 1/2 days?

I would rather hit some of the other parks in the area (SW and BGT over on the Gulf) than spend all the time riding one coaster over and over and over again.

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"I wasn't always this cynical, but then I started kindergarden..."

stay at portofino, its so much nicer, but eat at the palm at HRH. Ive stayed at both and Portofino is worth the extra 20 bucks a night

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HurricaneGeauga- Just in case

Alright, I'll have to check out both. Thanks.

I had a 4 day pass from the HRH but dang, I only did the hulk 23 times. 75 times? dang.

I'd much rather save the money at one of the offsite hotels, and visit other parks. Hotels are typically only a place to sleep at night. No sense in paying $200+/night to sleep when you could easily pay less than half of that.

It's about $4/hour to visit a theme park, but nearly $20/hour ($200/10) to stay at a hotel that you're only at for a short amount of time. Yeah, there's a fancy pool and theming and the front of the line access, but if you plan your day right, front of the line access won't matter too much.

I agree - I'm only at the hotel for a few hours at best! No matter where you stay, you can always work your driving time to be at the park very early, and stay very late. Some parks, of course, don't have hotels 1/2 mile or whatever away (Cedar Point for example, the only way to beat the traffic due to the causeway is really to stay at the resorts). The tip I'd give is to stay close, since that way you won't have so far to go. Any Hampton Inn would be my recommendation, since I've never found their service to be lacking and they're relatively inexpensive as well.

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Po!nt of View: A different look at Roller Coasters.
http://www.crosswinds.net/~justmayntz/thrills/

Well, I personally agree, and when I get older i'll settle for the most finacially wise hotel. My dad insists on staying at the best hotels, for some reason.