Aust visitor after coaster fans ideas re Ohio

hi i will be coming to the states this summer to visitthe parks of LA, Orlando & Ohio.

I will travelling with a mate &we will be in Ohio for a little over a week.

Cedar Point, Geuga lake & Paramounts King Islandare all on the def list. CP we have alotted 4 days.

Does anyone recommend another parks Ihave not given attention to , we have a car & can travel.

I think we may need the 8/9days just for these 3 but i would love to squeeze one moremega park in.Will have sixflag n cedar fair passes.

thanks

rooboy

Holiday World in Indiania maybe 3 hours from Kings Island. 2 awsome wood coasters.

SF Kentucky Kingdom wouldn't be too bad either. You can use your Six Flags passes too. That may be 2 hours from Kings Island on the way to Holiday World.

I figure these are the closest to Kings Island and not too far out of the way. And If this was the end or start of your trip you could fly out of Louisville to California, or up to Cleveland to save a few hours driving.

I'm not real sure on the driving times since I did that trip a few years ago. Someone else from that area can help you out more.

thanks mate

can i just add i will be visiting IOA WDW (MK) BGT SFMM KBF DCA CP GL PKI & VEGAS

i am trying to make sure i don,t miss a unique ride/park i may have overlooked, but dont want to go to a park and find clones of rides ive just ridden.

1 other question peeps, do you think Busch Gardens is a must or would i be better off with a two day pass for the US parks. Not sure is USF is worth it just for Mummy but then i could have another day at IOA.

Kennywood is in Pittsburgh, PA, and is about 1 1/2 hours from Celveland. Great park. Where are you visiting from?

1ej

MELBOURNE AUSTRALIA

Yeah, definitely go to Kennywood if you can. If you love amusement parks as much as you seem that you do, then this is a definite hit.

I agree with Kennywood. It's a living history museum of pre World War rides, all in meticulous condition and still running.

Plus you'll be walking hallowed ground. These newer parks wouldn't exist if it had not been for Kennywood. During the war, most of the parks closed. Kennywood was able to convince the government that it was serving a legitimate social purpose by staying open. Thus, it kept the flame alive so that later other parks could rise from the darkness.

Kennywood is to amusement parks as Notre Dame is to football and Kentucky is to basketball.

Plus of the parks you're visiting, it will be the only independent.

Not much of a coaster park but Idlewild and Soak Zone is pretty historic and offers some unique rides and country entertainment. It's about 31 miles from Kennywood.

checkin out the kennywood site now

thanks guys

You'll also have to post the dates you'll be at each park. I'm always up for meeting fellow Cbuzzer's at CP.

Kennywood is a definate. Beautiful atmosphere, unique and rare rides, and just all out awesome. Another park you may want to check out that may not be around for long is Conneaut Lake Park. If I remember, it isn't that far from CP or KW, it is in Erie or around Erie PA.

Hope you have a great time and remember to take a lot of pictures.

How long are you planning to be in Orlando for? If you're spending any less than a week there, I'd say you're selling yourself short.

Busch Gardens is great and absolutely empty most of the time. How can you argue against two of the best B&Ms out there without queues?

You dan do Universal Studios in half a day if you've picked a nice day to go. You won't see everything, but you'll do the rides and see some of the better attractions (note: everything at that park with the exception of Back to the Future is better than equivalents in Hollywood). MIB is a fantastic ride, and with Mummy added to the lineup I don't see how you could skip this park.

Don't forget SeaWorld. Kraken is a fantastic coaster - my personal favourite B&M, and Journey to Atlantis is a pretty decent ride. They've also got some very nice shows. I don't know if that's your sort of thing, but their animal shows are on the whole much nicer than Sea World's up here in Queensland. Then again, Shamu isn't everyone's cup of tea. :)

One more thing, you should really try to visit all of the WDW parks, not just Magic Kingdom, especially if you're vising Disneyland back west (you didn't mention it, but I don't see how you could do DCA without Disneyland right there), which is the same basic park. Epcot has two of the best rides in the world, MGM has some great rides and is by far better than any other movie marks such as Universal Studios or Warner Bros. Movie World. Not many people like Animal Kingdom but it's perhaps my personal favourite because it has such a realistic atmosphere.

If you don't want to miss much then I'd recommend certainly not skipping anything in Orlando. I did the same basic trip as you a few months ago, swapping Ohio for Texas. Orlando does get expensive, but if you can afford it, I'd spend as long as possible there.

If you've got a spare day in LA, then consider perhaps going down to San Diego. I'm pretty sure that there's some sort of Metro link all the way down, and it's got one of the best public transport systems I found in America - you could very easily do SeaWorld and Belmont Park (which isn't very far from SW, but also doesn't have too much of interest) and be back at your hotel in LA that night.

Good luck with the trip. If you've not been to America before then it'll be a big and unexpected culture shock (you wouldn't think so, but then neither did I), but that just makes for more fun.

Seeing that you have Vegas and N Orleans in your trip plans, you are probably taking the I-10 interstate. If you go this way Astroworld is right on the way. We have very few clones and the park is very fresh this year. A lot of cleaning and paint.

Unique to the park are the Viper, Swat, Batman ( Not the batman clone) Ultra Twister, Cyclone, and Myan Mind Bender. They also offer a few clones. Check out RCDB and look at them.

I would definetaley welcome you to Houston, and help you with any questions about Astroworld. I can prorbably be a park guide for you for a day if you like.

Just drop me an email and put Astroword in the subject line. Frightman@hotmail.com. *** Edited 4/5/2004 1:48:47 PM UTC by Markieb***

In the Ohio area, Holiday World and Kennywood are must stops. No clones at either park. Both offer coasters that are both excellent and unique.

Don't skip the water park at Holiday World. It has some of the best water slides in the world.

therooboy, I am from Sydney and I went to Cedar Point last August, you are really in for a treat. If you want any tips on Cedar Point let me know, might go back there in August myself.

I can't recommend enough checking out rcdb.com, it has a search feature which shows how far away parks are from each other (as the crow flies but it gives you an idea), and also what direction.

Let me add my opinions as well.

8/9 days is more than enough for Ohio. Heck, it's too much in my opinion. Here's what I would do:

If you fly into Columbus, Ohio this would be a very easy itinerary:

Day One: Arrive in Columbus, Paramounts' King's Island
Day Two: Six Flags Kentucky Kindgom
Day Three: Holiday World
Day Four: Indiana Beach
Day Five: Cedar Point
Day Six: Cedar Point
Day Seven: Geauga Lake
Day Eight: Kennywood, drive back to Columnbus

For Los Angeles, get a three-day park hopper pass for Disneyland.

Day One: Disneyland
Day Two: Disneyland
Day Three: Disney California Adventure, Knotts
Day Four: Knotts
Day Five: Universal Studios
Day Six: SFMM

Also near Los Angeles are the following small parks: Adventure City, Pacific Ocean Park, Scandia, Castle Park, Pharoh's Kingdom, Legoland, and Belmont Park. You can find websites for all those parks at www.rcdb.com

Check out the Travel Tips topic in the general forums, too!

Lastly, one of your best resources are your friends here at Coasterbuzz. Let us know if you need any other info or help.

mOOSH [lives in Los Angeles]
*** Edited 4/5/2004 11:08:59 PM UTC by Mamoosh***

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Jim Fisher said:
Kennywood -No clones at either park.

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Except for that Reverchon we all love called Exterminator. It's an off the shelf ride. Sure the themeing is unique though.

I also believe the kiddie coaster at Holiday World is off-the-shelf as well. Nitpicking, perhaps.

Exterminator is a stock Reverchon, but the themeing is so strong the the experience is quite unlike riding a Reverchon in a normal installation.

hey all

thanks for all your ideas.Kennywood is now a definite stop of our trip.

i shouldve mentioned earlier this isnt my first trip to the states. It will be my mates first time anywhere besidesvegas. I have visited CP & WDW my first trip to the US in 1998,when i visited CP (3days) & WDW (5days) . I have not howver done anything else at all in these states, or surrounding areas.

Six flags Magic Mountain & Cedar Point are definitley my favs, and this trip i will be riding my 100th coaster & also my 100th US coaster.

what about darien lake??worth the drive or not?

i know theres 1 good riide but ?