Looking for PA must see park recommendations

Besides the obvious, Kennywood, Hershey and Knoebels, I was wondering what other PA parks anyone would recommend as a must see. Not neccessarily just for thrill rides. There would need to be a good kiddie rides selection as well.

Thanks.

Short answer is all of them! But if you're looking for atmosphere and a kids section, you can't go wrong with Idlewild. What it lacks in the thrill department is more than made up for with everything else.

^Hehe, Idlewild does indeed kick serious butt. That "kiddie" coaster and the mouse are worth the trip alone. The StoryBook section I had planned on breezing thru in a half-hour, took almost three times that long...LOL!

Also, do NOT miss Waldameer....even without the new wood, it's still WELL worth a trip (or two, or more)...

Definitely Idlewild! There is plenty there to keep park-loving adults entertained, including two rather fun coasters (a terrain jr. woodie and a wicked Wild Mouse), plus brand new flying scooters, a Vekoma mad house and several others.

There's also Dorney obviously. And Dutch Wonderland sounds appealing to, but I can't vouch for that one...yet.

And Lakemont has Leap the Dips and Starliner, plus some others. But I don't remember the extent of the kiddie section, other than they have a kiddie coaster.

DuWo is a must. Sky Princess is arguably the best kiddie wooden in operation IMO. Plenty there to do for both kids and grown ups.

Depends how "kiddie" is "kiddie"!

Lakemont has a lot of great flats that younger kids can ride like Scrambler and Tilt A Whirl and such. I know they have kiddie go-carts in addition to the big boys, too.

Right up the road, too, is DelGrosso's, another batch of good kiddie rides and family oriented flats. Del Grosso's is probably more very small kiddie-oriented than Lakemont.

In addition to Story Book Forest, Idlewild also has the Mister Rogers Trolley car trip. That park in itself is probably more "family oriented" than any I know of for the wee young-n's.

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Sesame Place, I've never been there myself but they have tons of stuff for kids to do obviously, as well as the waterpark section that even looks fun to me, lol. Alot of good suggestions so far though, I'm heading to Dorney in an hour or so myself.

You can get combo tickets for Hershey and Dutch Wonderland online. I don't know whether Kennywood/Idelwild has a similar deal, but you can buy discount tickets for the second park while you're at the first.

DelGrosso's has a neat little water play area too, and admission is ridiculously inexpensive.

Waldameer Park near Erie is another good Family oriented park. It has a number of kiddie rides, a great darkride and a great walkthrough, a flume, a train ride, a gondola wheel, some good family flats, and three coasters, two of which can be ridden by small children. There is also a waterpark.

This park is quite affordable with a ride/waterpark combination being around $20, less for the little ones. Admission to the park and parking are free and pay per ride is available. *** Edited 7/16/2007 6:49:16 PM UTC by Arthur Bahl***

Waldameer in Erie!

Steel Dragon Wild Mouse family spinning coaster, Ravine Flyer 3 (Children's steel coaster), and the Comet classic wooden coaster, plus great food and alot of family rides, 2 great dark rides, and 3 family-oriented shows featuring Wally Bear...not to mention Waterworld with a huge kids area, alot of great tube and non-tube slides, plus lazy river and a huge concrete hot tub!

$16 for Waldameer and Waterworld combined admisson through AAA...free admission, and you can bring your own food and/or grillable items to use on the available park grilles!...although, their food is all grilled at the park anyways, and their potato patch fries are the best IMO...$7.90 gets you a grilled cheeseburger, boat of fries, and a 32 oz drink!

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RatherGoodBear said:

DelGrosso's has a neat little water play area too, and admission is ridiculously inexpensive.

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Oh yeah I almost forgot, Tipton waterworks/rapids, last time I was there it was only the little play area, not the slides. Stil fun.

Kennywood - Idlewild - Knoebels

or

Kennywood - Lakemont - Knoebels

Thanks everyone so far for the help.

I meant to mention Sesame Place in my initial post here. I was there about 11 years ago with my oldest and it was great. They've added quite a bit since then.