Help planning a summer trip

My family lives in Richmond, Virginia, which puts us in close proximity to King's Dominion and Busch Gardens Williamsburg and within an easy drive of some other good roller coaster parks.

I'm looking for insights into a good park to visit this summer.

We did Cedar Point last summer. We're going to Magic Mountain in a couple of years.

We have a Six Flags pass because Great Adventure is close enough for a drive.

I'm especially looking for thoughts on the two Six Flags Parks in Texas and the one in Atlanta.

Thanks for your help.

Not sure if either of the Texas Six Flags or the one in Georgia are really worth a trip just for the park. Those seem to be "I was in the area, so I made a park day out of it" kind of places. I could be wrong though.

The Cedar Point/Kings Island/Holiday World trip is always a good one. As is the Cedar Point/Kennywood/Hershey/Dorney trip (although I have never gone as far east as Dorney)

Do I gather you ^ haven't been to Texas or Georgia either?

I have not been to the Texas parks. I have been to the one in Atlanta, but probably 20 years ago.

I'm kicking around the idea of flying in to Texas and hitting both the Six Flags (if worth it) as part of a bigger trip.

If you do go to San Antonio for SFFT, don't miss Sea World. Steel Eel is surprisingly good and the park itself is just a really nice park (as are all Sea Worlds, IMO).

ApolloAndy said:
If you do go to San Antonio for SFFT, don't miss Sea World. Steel Eel is surprisingly good and the park itself is just a really nice park (as are all Sea Worlds, IMO).

Wait I thought SWSA was underperforming and had chronic bad weather and that's why Sea World is ending their Orca shows & breeding program? 😜

Just remember that TX in the summer is going to be hot hot hot! Are you flying in or driving? Flying, I might go so far as to suggest that you just fly into San Antonio or Austin (whichever is cheapest) and do all that you can in both of those cities. You'll have SFFT, SWSA, and ZDT's, Where you can get all of the coasters you need. Austin is one of few downtowns I would recommend as a tourist destination (we're more of an outdoor, hiking kind of family) but you could easily spend days there. (Don't forget to see the bats emerge at sunset, an absolutely mind blowing sight.) Austin and San Antonio also have plenty of outdoor activities just outside of the city limits that would keep you busy too.

DFW, honestly, I really can't think of much there to make it worth the diversion. And I used to live there. Yeah, SFOT is a great park, but there's very little else to do. (depending on your families other interests of course.) I could recommend one park for outdoor activities that actually isn't too far from SFOT, or else I'd say visit downtown Ft Worth for city stuff.

If you are indeed driving, and are taking the Southern route through Houston, Don't forget Boardwalk Bullet in Kemah, and Galveston pier. Though that might be a big diversion, depending on if you're trying to make good time.

And for love of all that is holy, you have to stop at one of the giant, Walmart-sized Buc-ee's along the highway. Puts Sheetz, Wawa, and all the others to shame, (ir)regardless of how you feel about FUMES!

Hope that helps.

Any trip to San Antonio is incomplete without traveling up to New Braunfels to go to Schlitterbahn.

I'm making a week long trip down there this year, here is my itinerary:

Day 1: Fly in, Riverwalk
Day 2: Sea World and Aquatica (have a Busch platinum pass)
Day 3: SFFT
Day 4-6: Schlitterbahn
Day 7: Fly back

Three days is overkill unless you love water parks, but 2 days is more then worth it. Spend the extra day seeing the historic sites (which I've done already.)

And in grand Coasterbuzz tradition we have suggested every park within 8 hrs. of the places you originally mentioned. :)

Still waiting for the requisite "There's so much else to do in X, you shouldn't go to ANY parks!"

What's going on here? I had to park mid-Texas and just got here.

Thanks for all the good information and suggestions. Leaning toward focusing on the San Antonio area and staying away from DFW.

For those who asked, we will be flying.

Appreciate all the input.

Hope everyone has a great summer.

It's such a shame that SFOT is 4 hrs away from SFFT. The park is worth visiting. It will come down to what kind of time you have and what you want to do. Myself, I am a person that wants to fit as many coasters into a trip as possible. My thinking is always: I don't know when I will be back in the area. Another option is go 4 hrs east and do Kemah Boardwalk and Galveston Pier. If I had the time, I would lean toward the latter option. It would take less time to take those places in. Then save SFOT for a separate trip where you can spend a few days there. If you are a credit whore (like I am), there is a Zuma Fun Center in Houston with a Miner Mike you could hit on way to Kemah.

How long do you have to spend before flying back out? What I tend to do is get the schedules for every park I want to visit so I can figure how much time I can have at each place. Big parks, I try to plan weekday visits if possible as they will be very crowded. Being summer trip, SFFT and SW will most likely need more than one day for each. Small parks like Kemah & Galveston can be done in same day. ZDT wouldn't need much time either.

I consider myself a Clark Griswald type of person. We usually have a limited amount of time to go somewhere, so I plan as much as possible into a trip.