Coaster road trips.

I know exactly what your're talking about Magnum Force!!! I find it funny that everyone else in the USA says soda! Well, I just look at it like us Michiganders are more cool than anyone else, since we're just different.;)

Kentucky Wendy's- "What kind of coke do you want? Hello! I see you have pepsi right in front of me!"

"No, I want pepsi"

"Exactly" 

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Welcome back riders, how was your ride...Enjoy your day, here at Cedar Point, America's roller coast.

 I love road trips its a lot more fun to drive than flying to youre vacation parks. I love driving through Wisconsin, Chicago area, Indiana and defently Ohio plus Pennsalvania. Yes you can get hotels for $18.00 a night I remember I had to make a pit stop because I was so tired of driving in Missiouri back to Minnesota I saw an motel for about $21.00 a night it wasnt the best condition but at least it had cable it was somewere on I-44 going to Chicago. Reguarding Motels or Hotels how many of you use Econo Lodges? They seem to have the best deals. You can get rooms for $39.00 a night.

I normaly tend to bring about $80.00 for food along the way like stopping at Mcdonalds or Taco Bell. Gas money is pretty good for my 99 2Door Silver Dodge Neon. Everytime I go out to the eastcoast every year I only stop 4 times on the way and back usualy spend about $150.00 for gas. Last year I spend about $800.00 for gas, lodging, parking and amdissions.

This year I already have about $500.00 saved up for my coaster trips in May 29th through June 10th. 3 Days at Holiday World, Indiana Beach, Six Flags Great America, 2 Days at Cedar Point, Six Flags Worlds of Adventure and Paramounts Kings Island plus Timbers fest at Michigans Adventure. So you can go on a good coaster trip for under $800.00. Looking foward to this year.

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Wild Thing: 75Laps! Power Tower: 73 Rides. Valleyair Security 2002! 8Years Working at Valleyfair! 30Days till BGW & Kings Dominion Opening Weekends 1st trip of 2002!!

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SFGAMDie HARD said:

Now my real question, have you taken a semi-major coaster road trip, please share experiences, idea's, costs, etc. 

I have done a couple of coaster road trips--the longest, and most recent, being 9 parks in 9 days (101 total rides on 71 different coasters) last July.  Some observations follow:

--Make hotel/camp site reservations.  It sucks to leave Cedar Point in the evening and not find a motel room until Buffalo at 1:30 am and be told you were lucky because the next available room would have been in Syracuse.  This will also help in planning your budget.

--Be sure to get enough rest.  Being out in the hot sun all day takes a lot out of you.  I do not camp on road trips in the summer because it is too hot for me to sleep.  Falling asleep at the wheel is deadly.

--Find a companion/coaster buddy or two.  Not only does this cut down on espenses, but shared memories tend to be better. 

--Drink lots of water while in the parks.  It is either free or very cheap.

--Do not ride a water ride immediately before getting in the car for a long drive unless you bring a change of clothes.

--Put a rag or small towel in your cooler.  It is unbelievable how good it feels to wash your face with a cold rag after a hot day in the park.

--Slow down!  While it is possible to ride all the coasters in a park once and then hit the road for 4 hours to get to the next park, you miss out on things.  Parks can be beautiful after dark.  Night rides on many coasters are incredible.  Reride--Some coasters are totally different experiences depending on which seat you get for your ride.  It might rain--if your schedule is too tight you will miss something.

--Take notes.  Even if you never look at them again, it helps reinforce your memory.  After riding 70+ coasters in a little over a week they can start to blend together a little.

--Don't skip the clones just because you have already ridden one.  They can vary drastically between locations.  There is very little bang in the Vekoma hang-'n-bang at Wild Adventures, for instance.

--Make a budget plan so you do not get surprised. 

--Remember that you should make better time driving than Mapquest and the others will tell you.  Double check your directions--there are places in this country where you really do NOT want to get lost.

--Don't get caught up in all the hype, good and bad, about the coasters.  I had good rides on "bad" coasters, bad rides on "good" ones, and some of the best rides were on the ones I'd heard very little about.

--Above all, have FUN!  Don't try to live up to someone elses idea of what your trip should or shouldn't be. 

Alan

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*** This post was edited by Alan T. on 2/20/2002. ***

This is funny I was just planning our June Road trip. Saturday Chicago to Knoebels

Saturday night Knoebels to Dorney

Sunday  Dorney all day

Monday Hershey

Tuesday Hershey tour,  Lakemont Park

Tuesday Night Lakemont Park to Kennywood

Wednesday Kennywood all day

Thursday Kennywood to Six Flags WOA

Thursday Night Cedar Point

Friday COASTERMANIA!!!

Saturday Go home & start planning August Indiana, Kentucky trip

I have taken a trip similar to what I have planned.  It involved 2 days.  I visited SFKK and HW on the first day and PKI all day the second day including a 4.5 hour drive home.  It is fairly simple little thing.  I booked the same hotel room for the 2 nights I stayed there so that I didn't have to keep going through the process of booking a room for another hotel.  I made very good estimates on gas from previous experiences of traveling in my car and set aside food b/c I know I don't have to eat alot.  I printed out maps for every place that I drove to so that there wasn't anyway I could get lost.  In case those maps were wrong somehow, I brought an Road Atlas just in case of emergency.  I highly recommend bringing a credit/debit card with you with a good deal of money in the bank.  For the trip of the larger size this year, I took all of that and expanded it to accomendate (SP?) the entire trip.  Hope this helps.

Coasterman Mike

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Now, a card carrying member of ACE.
Total rides on Pittfall: 255
Total rides on Superman:UE : 633

Their is no way i could take a month out of my summer to go on a coaster trip. I have baseball untill the end of july and then have golf starting up the second week of august so that is the only vacation time my family has so we don't "waste" it on a coaster trip. We usually go to the beach or something

In addition to the above, I would say to be scared of official themepark website directions. Knoebels hadn't updated their site last summer, and all the exit sign numbers had been changed on I-81 (I believe) to reflect actual mileage. Thank goodness the old exit numbers were still posted (in tiny type, of course) at the bottom of each sign.
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If you have to figure out how to ride a coaster to be comfortable, then that's not a coaster worth riding.