Another PA question

I've done some research but wanted some opinions, my buddy and I will be going to the Dorney event in May.

We also would like to go to SFGad, Hershey and then head down to DC/Baltimore area for some sightseeing.

My question is this: I have been looking for a central location to where we only have to drive a couple hours tops to get from our hotel to the sites, and I was looking at Norristown?? Is this a good location or would somewhere else be better?

Any advice if this would be our best option to the places listed above, since we will be flying into Philly and then renting a car for the week.

norristown would probably be a good spot since you are at the junction of the pa turnpike and the extension of the turnpike up to allentown. Hershey, Dorney and GAdv are all within an hour and a half. DC/Baltimore would be about 2-3 (don't know why i thought longer) hours so yeah that sounds like a good area. *** Edited 2/18/2005 6:19:17 PM UTC by dragonoffrost***

C4C,

If you look for any hotels online, look under King of Prussia or maybe Valley Forge. That's the area right where the Turnpike, NE Extension (476), the Surekill, I mean Schuylkill Expressway, 202 and 422 all come together. That's probably the location most chains would use, since it sounds more high class. There's a kazillion of them in that area.

King Of Prussia isn't a bad idea.

Approximately (depending on exactly where in KoP you stay):

50 miles to Dorney
60 miles to SFGadv
75 miles to Hershey

You could be to each park in around an hour or less.

It's about 140 miles to D.C. - so you're only looking at 2 hours at the very worst in that direction.

Sounds like a solid suggestion to me. :)

I had looked at King of Prussia as well, I will have to check that out.

I like Priceline.com as I can usually get a better deal for hotels than booking thru the hotel so I will look into that as well.

Thanks for the info.

hey C4C, theres a Motel 6 right there at King of Prussia, and its a really nice one, very well kept up. it runs about $50 a night or so, which is the best deal you are gonna find in the area. and like Lord Gonchar said, your right there near a major junction. i go to college right there in that area, so if u have any questions, shoot me a PM and ill see what i can do for ya. enjoy the trip dude:)

And, the area of King Of Prussia is not devoid of any restaurants you may be looking for, due to the second biggest mall in the U.S.

Josh

King of Prussia has been mentioned... Baltimore has been mentioned... And J Bird mentioned Restaurants.

Two words... Cheesecake Factory... either at the King of Prussia Mall or Baltimore's Inner Harbor.

Yeah I live 2 minutes from a Cheesecake Factory so I know all about that.

I may be a little biased, but why make a drive for yourself to each park? Dorney is just about in the "middle" of the other 2.

If you stay at one of the hotels across the street from Dorney:

1. You'll save on parking at Dorney (you can walk there and keep your car in the hotel parking lot)

2. Hershey is only about 1-1.5 hour drive straight out 78 (depending on your speed ;) ), GAdv is about 1.5-2 hour drive the other way (again, depending on speed).

3. If you have a CF pass, you can hit a couple rides (Hydra/Talon/SF) real quick right before you pack up and leave to go home.

4. The Hess station right across from Dorney is usually one of the cheapest places to buy gas in the area. :)

1. Except that the Comfort Suites is sold out that weekend and the HoJo is trying to get $139 a night. I'm the biggest proponent of "just friggin' pay for a room already" that this site has, but $139 for a HoJo is laughable at best. The Wingate adjacent to the park has rooms on Friday the 20th for $109, but are sold out on the 21st. I wouldn't blame anyone for not paying the price to stay at the HoJo.

2. If you drive like Gonch, Hershey is an hour (it's only something like 66 miles from Dorney) and the Gadv drive can be easily done in under an hour and a half. The only issue with that is the extra hour to the DC area, but that might be made up by staying closer to Dorney, I guess it's something to weigh.

3. Good point.

4. Because filling your car up and saving a few pennies a gallon is going to make all the difference in your life. ;)

Just playing with you, dannerman - well, except for the hotel thing. :)

heh.. no worries - living 5 mins from the park, my knowledge is lacking on the hotels (other than I know they're there :) )

I used to live in Whitehall (late 2001 to fall 2003) and my wife is a hotel GM.

In other words, I know WAY to much on the subject. ;)

I do miss being that close to a park. Our driveway to Dorney was 4.9 miles. Now I have to drive across Pittburgh (20 some odd miles) to get to Kennywood.

^And from someone who knows, driving ACROSS Pittsburgh sucks, especially when you have to drive through both tunnels. Who ever knew 26 miles could take 45 minutes on a good day. (When is that Mon-Fayette expressway ever going to get done?)

Speaking of Dorney, can anyone suggest a campground nearby? *** Edited 2/19/2005 2:36:15 PM UTC by loriu***

Uh-huh...both tunnels.

It's not so bad coming back from PFN at 1 in the morning though... :)

What, you don't like the 51, Loriu?

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SLFAKE said:Two words... Cheesecake Factory... either at the King of Prussia Mall or Baltimore's Inner Harbor.

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Forgive me, but what the hell is so special about Cheescake Factory? I mean, I've been hearing people rave about the place since I was about 6 years old. I've gone to several of them and they were *at best* a slight step up from Chilli's/TGIF?etc. I just dont get the facsination...

BTW: Eli's Cheesecake is a *whole* lot better...

jeremy

The cheesecake it delicious.. and there's quite a variety.

Yeah, but the food is average at best and way-hey-hey overpriced.

Yea LG, both tunnels (we live in Beaver County). Once the expressway to the airport is finished though, it'll be smooth sailing to the Wood.

Dutchman, I hate 51. I lived out that way for 6 months one time and couldn't wait to get the hell out. Sometimes we go past Station Square and take 837 the whole way out, but that's not much better with all the lights.