East Coaster Trip Help

What's up everybody this is my first post on CB but I've been looking on here for awhile and I know how everything works. So off to my post.

I live in Indianapolis and I'm planning a coaster trip to some parks east of me. I am going to be starting out at CP and I'm thinking about ending at SFGAdv. Between them I want to stop at GL, Kennywood, Knoebels, Hershey, Dorney, and SFA. I have a 2 week time span to hit all these and i will be going to CP on a thurs. or fri. in mid-july. I know many of you have done tours similar to this and I was wondering if I could get any advice for my trip. I'm mostly concerned about info and general advice on the parks, cheap places to stay, and the best time to hit the parks. Also any thing else that you want to throw in that I can use is cool too. Thanks in advance to everyone that helps me out on this.

Velocity *** Edited 3/23/2004 2:04:30 PM UTC by Velocity73***

If you aren't already a member, join AAA. You can usually get minor discounts on hotels, and discounts on admission to some parks/other attractions. The AAA on-line triptik tool is also my map/trip-routing tool of choice. Unless your normal insurance already has roadside assistance, that can save your bacon, too.

If you want to get serious about saving money on rooms, consider using Priceline. You won't get much say in where you stay, but people swear by it. http://www.biddingfortravel.com is a good way to learn to use priceline to your best advantage. You might also consider getting an Entertainment book--their prices are probably not as good as priceline's, but you know where you'll be staying, and can cancel. Finally, to save mucho dollars, get yourself a tent and camp it.

Stay away from SFGADV on SAturday or Sunday! Its mad crazy there. Hit parks at open, leave at lunch and return at 4 or 5 and stay to close.

Have a fun trip man!

Consider camping a few nights. Its fun and makes for a cheap trip.

Hit Kennywood when they open and you can get on the major rides with very little wait. I would also say the same thing about Geuaga Lake, the lines are ususally low for an hour or two before the crowds hit.

I think gadv is crazy everyday when its nice out.

If you haven't been to Cedar Point (or even if you have), I would suggest planning a two-day visit. I believe you can do most everything there in a day, but I feel it's better to take my time and hit everything at my leisure over a couple of days.

Don't cram, and don't rush. On a two week trip, plan at least one day of rest. Schedule your trip so you have plenty of time to enjoy the parks you are visiting rather than rushing in, riding the coasters, and rushing out.

Have a weather contingency plan and make your itinerary flexible. That way if you find a park you want to spend more time at, or conversely a park you're done with earlier than you thought, you can adjust. And of course if you run into foul weather and need to stay an extra day at a park you can do that, too.

mOOSH

A few random thoughts...

For Kennywood, Knoebels, Hershey, Dorney, and SFA: Plan a full day at each park. As tempting as some of these are to try an knock off in two days, plan a full day at each. Even if you get done the coasters earlier (easy enough to do), resist the temptation to rush out and get to the next park... enjoy all that the parks have to offer.

As Moosh said, plan at least one (preferrably more) day of rest, and be a bit flexible for bad weather. With the exception of CP (never been there so I don't know) and the area around GrAdv, you may wish to consider "flying by the seat of your pants"... i.e. don't make lodging reservations ahead of time, make it as you go. Gives more flexability. Rained out on a Monday? You can stay an extra day in an area if you don't have reservations made in another area for the next day. Also, if you find you do get done sooner in one area than you planned, you can move on to the next.

For Knoebels, Hershey, and SFA...

If you stay in the Harrisburg PA area, you are easily with in 1.5 hrs of Knoebels, 20 min of Hershey, 2.5 hrs of SFA... all easy day trips. May want to consider Harrisburg area as your "base of operations" for these parks. When my wife and I travel, we find it easier to make small trips like this from one central location rather than go through checking into and out of a few different hotels. Also, be flexable with what parks you do on which days. If you get a dreary, drizzly (even slightly rainy day), you may want to go to Knoebels. For the most part, they keep things running, the lines are short, and Phoenix and Twister are wild in the rain.

Good first post, welcome aboard.

As others have said, camping can be a great way to save some cash. You may want to check out www.koa.com, they have locations all over the place.

On your trip, you don't want to discount some of the smaller parks as well. Pennsylvania is litered with small parks that you can enjoy in just a few hours, and combine together a pair for a full day. In the northwest part of the state there is Conneaut Lake park with its classic Blue Streak, as well as Waldameer Park, which is putting ina new spinning coaster this year. Altoona has Lakemont park with Leap the Dips, the oldest coaster, and the fun Skyliner. Just 20 minutes up the highway is DelGrossos, which is putting in a new crazy mouse, and has some of the best food anywhere. Finally, just 20 minutes from Hersheypark is Williams Grove, which is, well, justa stange little park.

Enjoy your trip, whatever you decide to do.

For the post about how many days I will be staying at the parks I was thinking CP, GL, SFA, SFAdv, Hershey, and Dorney 2 days each and Kennywood and Knoebels 1 day. I'm also going to take that advice and look at getting a AAA membership. Thanks everybody for your help so far and please other people post to help me out.

Velocity *** Edited 3/24/2004 1:17:44 AM UTC by Velocity73***

If you want to save cash when you go to CP, set up a tent at Crystal Rock Campground for $6 a night. Yep, that's right, $6 a night. It's a short 15 min. drive to the park, and the facilities are good if you don't mind roughing it a little.

Season passes make trips like this can help you save a lot of $$$ too. If you don't have them already, I'd go for SFA and Dorney for those passes because they are considerably cheaper than at Cedar Point and Great Adventure.

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SLFAKE said:
If you get a dreary, drizzly (even slightly rainy day), you may want to go to Knoebels. For the most part, they keep things running, the lines are short, and Phoenix and Twister are wild in the rain.

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I'll whole-heartedly second this one. I hit Phoenix for the first time this past year at PPP and it was absolutely incredible in the wet. It was the first time I've ever had a ride that actually exceeded all of the hype I'd heard about it.:)

Later,
EV