MSN's Picks for Top Ten Amusement Parks

I understand that anytime there is a list of top ten rides or parks, not everyone is going to agree with the list. Yet, it would not take a whole lot of effort for a professional reporter to find out Camp Snoopy and AstroWorld are not considered the top ten parks in the country. Anyone looking for work? MSN could sure use the help.

http://national.citysearch.com/feature/40939 *** Edited 7/13/2005 2:31:25 PM UTC by rc-madness***

Lol, yeah.

I mean really, some of the stuff that those people write must have taken them five minutes. It's almost like they try to name ten parks and put them in a order of how well his five-year-old daughter liked them...sheesh...

Can you say MSN got some cash for that list... or that they wanted a mix of park types in there? BTW this list has been the same for awhile along with AOL's list which was similar last time I saw it. No I am not going to find AOL's list since I detest AOL and only use it when I absolutely have to use the service.

Why isn't Camp Snoopy top ten park? Cuz it doesn't have big enough coasters?

Of course, you realize it outdrew every Six Flag park in America except SFMM and SFGA last year. Not bad for six measly acres, huh?

-'Playa

I have nothing against Camp Snoopy or parks in malls. Yet, to advertise to millions of people that it is a top ten park, also suggests that it is a better park than BGW, SFMM, Hershey, Holiday World, Kings Island, Silver Dollar City, and the list goes on. I have not been to Camp Snoopy, so I would love to hear why I should skip my plans to go to all these other parks to bask in Camp Snoopy's splendor.

And I don't believe parks have to be big to be great. Legoland is a great kids park. Bonfante Gardens is also a very special small park overlooked by this list. Is it better than Camp Snoopy? Hell ya. *** Edited 7/13/2005 3:02:26 PM UTC by rc-madness***

They hardly need me to 'defend' it or your change of plans. It already outdrew four of the six parks you listed there without any 'help' from me.

Placement in a mall that outdraws the top three amusement parks combined gives them all they need.

We may draw our travel plans around rolly coasters. Meanwhile, in the real world, there's a gazillion other people who don't. And for them, Camp Snoopy bears mentioning.

Just making sense here. Don't mind me.

-'Playa

Let me do some logical deduction here

Astroland Amusement Park - Brooklyn, N.Y. = NYC Area and Home of the Cyclone
Busch Gardens - Tampa Bay, Fla. - Pick one of the Busch Parks. Tampa over Williamsburg due to more coasters
Cedar Point Amusement Park - Sandusky, Ohio - not even explaining this see Busch though
Disneyland - Anaheim, Calif. Pick a Disney park.
Kennywood Park - West Mifflin, Pa. Old school park, list is old this was a pay per ride park at the time of the list
Knott's Camp Snoopy - Bloomington, Minn. Inside MOA. that in itself is reason to put it here.
Magic Kingdom - Lake Buena Vista, Fla. OK so Disney got 2 guess what they both belong here
Paramount's Carowinds - Charlotte, N.C. Carowinds is the token Paramount park
Santa Cruz Boardwalk - Santa Cruz, Calif. Represnts the boardwalk parks
Six Flags Astroworld - Houston, Texas Six Flags park and what a bad choice.

Also notice the nice spread out through the country selection with on CA and FL getting 2 on the list.

Ok time to stop beating a dead horse.

Sorry about the links I was too lazy to type the list so I copied and pasted. *** Edited 7/13/2005 3:18:00 PM UTC by dragonoffrost***

Don't you mean the can of dog food? ;)

You have a point that the largest mall in America has helps this parks attendence. Other parks don't need a Mall of America to create a draw based on the park's quality alone. I'm not here to knock Camp Snoopy, but the dismal reporting efforts of MSN misleading the public to the more popular parks, to parks more aggressive in advertising, not to the best parks. There is a difference. Half the list is just plain wrong, in my opinion. *** Edited 7/13/2005 3:28:30 PM UTC by rc-madness***

The real question: Best to who? They don't have to agree with you. Or me.

There's also a difference between one attendance at a park where you can go in and snag a single ride for your kid for a few bucks, and one attendance at an Orlando park that is over $50, and you stay for 12 hours and spend $30 on food and souveniers. The same kind of thing is true when comparing many beach parks with major parks.

Haven't we seen this same "list" for the last several years now?

Amusingly, it generates the same discussion every time.

What else was I gonna do while waiting for HW? ;)

MSN's top ten list for several year now?! Its worse then I thought. If this was some half hearted attempt to make some deadline on a parks article, not such the big deal.

The fact they keep recycling the same disinformative article blows my mind. You would think someone at MSN would have stumbled upon a better park after years of travel, or letters encouraging a more accurate list. But then maybe they just don't care what the list says.

Some poor family in Virginia ends up traveling all the way to Mall of America to one visit one of North America's top ten parks, while BGW sits in their back yard. I guess that's what you get for trustin' MSN. *** Edited 7/13/2005 5:39:32 PM UTC by rc-madness***

Astroland -*shudder* Went there a few years back with a bit of a nasty hangover while visiting some friends in Houston. We decided to ride the Log Flube/Bamboo thing to relax. There was a weird smell with the water that was really bad. It actually made one friend throw up after. I'll never forget that smell....

Top 10 park indeed...

Why are you guys freaking out about this? It's a list of "parks we loved as kids," for some unspecified 'we' that presumably comprises 'our editors', whoever that is.

In other words, two guys sat around a table four years ago after being asked to "write something about amusement parks," and this is what they came up with.

To put this another way: any moron can publish a web page saying anything they want. A well-funded moron can put one up that looks convincing and official. If the moron in question doesn't offer any evidence that they are qualified to speak on the subject, you shouldn't pay them any attention. Anyone who does is probably also ordering free cable devices, getting Viagra delivered by the truckload, and investing in lots of "hot stocks poised to move."

Well, what else is there to do with the millions deposited in one's bank account from the surviving heir of a Nigerian oil family?

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rc-madness said:

Some poor family in Virginia ends up traveling all the way to Mall of America to one visit one of North America's top ten parks, while BGW sits in their back yard. I guess that's what you get for trustin' MSN.

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Annual Mall visits - 42 million

Annual Camp Snoopy visits -2.5 million

No--that's what you get for not reading the big sign that says MALL.

-'Playa

You know, there's certain topics that pop up regularly (every year, every spring, every off-season, etc), but this MSN article has to be the most recycled.

Seems someone complains about it at least once a month.

Cropsey...just clarifying....

AstroLAND is Coney Island, home of Cyclone (aka MOM), and Deno's Wonder Wheel Park.

AstroWORLD is in Houston, and you're absolutely right, it's a DIVE...considering the quality of the *other parks* in Texas, naming AstroWorld is a sad joke at best. (Although it DOES feature two quality Antons and the best of the Cy-clones)....