Never thought I would make a "Which park should I visit thread"... but...

A June vacation is quickly approaching.

Definate parks on the list are Camden, Beech Bend, Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom and Holiday World.

The question is then...

After Holiday World, continue west to Eureka MO and visit Six Flags St.Louis... or start the return trip to Pennsylvania at that point, visiting Paramounts (at least for now) Kings Island on the way.

Things that make me lean toward SFStL... we have Six Flags passes... not sure how soon we will get back that way (PKI is closer to home and a trip there is easier than to St.Louis)

Things that make me lean toward PKI... it is "on the way" on the return leg of our trip... Would have a "before and after" view of the park on any return visits after the CF take over.

As far as coaster line ups... from what I see and read, both have pros and cons for me... so none really out shines the other.

So... Any advice from anyone who is familiar with both parks as far as which you would chose to visit?

(BTW... "Why not visit both parks?" is not an option since we have to be back home on a given date for a wedding)

*** Edited 5/22/2006 2:02:02 PM UTC by SLFAKE***

Depends on how much driving you want to do... If you want to do SFStl, you can go another 3 hours - from there, it's about 4 1/2 hours north to Chicago and SFGAm, and then a quick jog south on the way back to hit Indiana Beach, and possibly hit CP or Geauga Lake on the way back (or MiA if you want to go north) You can always add PKI on the way there on that one.

Another possibility would be to do PKI, SFKK, HW, Beech Bend, Dollywood, and then Camden. You could also jump to Lake Winnie and SFOG on that sort of route, since lake winnie is only about 2 1/2 hours from both BB and Dollywood, and SFOG is another 1 1/2 hours from there. Going to SFOG means 3 brand new coasters...

Maybe visit SFStL before Busch takes over? ;)

I loved SFStL, still had alot of the Angus Wynne magic, IMO...

For quantity of rides, probably go with PKI. For atmosphere, it's a toss-up, IMO. For quality of wood, well, "show me" the good wood... ;)

Why not head north and hit Indiana Beach?

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rollergator said:

I loved SFStL, still had alot of the Angus Wynne magic, IMO...

For quantity of rides, probably go with PKI. For atmosphere, it's a toss-up, IMO. For quality of wood, well, "show me" the good wood...

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Then I take that to be a vote for SFStL... (in the "show me" state)

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Isca said:

Depends on how much driving you want to do... ...SFGAm...Indiana Beach...CP... Geauga Lake ...MiA Dollywood... Lake Winnie... SFOG

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If you are being facitious to another "what park should I visit" thread.. then okay...

If you are serious... If I won't have time to do both PKI and SFStL, no way would have time for those others. Besides... IB, CP, GL, MiA were visited last year... Dollywood two years ago. Lake Winnie, SFOG and Visionland (or what ever it calls itself no days) is a future trip all by itself.

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Mamoosh said:

Why not head north and hit Indiana Beach?

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Like I said... IB we visited last year. Would I like to go back again? Sure, someday. However, given a chance of a park I've recently been too, or a few that I have yet to visit, I'll take the new ones.

This is all a moot point IF two schedules work out... my wife and I are hockey fans... AHL's Hershey Bears. IF the Bears beat the Portland Pirates in one of their next three games, then they move to the Calder Cup finals... and their opponents will either be Grand Rapids Griffins or Milwaukee Admirals.

Should the schedule for away games match with my wife's work schedule (possibly starting a new job soon), if I can move my vacation around, and if we can make last minutes for boarding our two dogs, we would like to head west if the possible deciding game for the championship is played on the road.

Personally, should that occur... I am hoping for a series against Milwaukee... then its just a short hop south to SFGrAm, and not too far west to Wisconsin Dells and Mt.Olympus... Other than that... its HW, Camden, SFKK, Beech Bend and SFStL or PKI.

*** Edited 5/22/2006 2:53:08 PM UTC by SLFAKE***

Then I take that to be a vote for SFStL... (in the "show me" state)

Well done, grasshopper...deciphering my posts means you've made the next level... ;)

And truthfully... SFStL is the way I am kind of leaning.... its just the extra travel thing that is keeping me back from making a 100% decision.

After Holiday World, we might just think "We're this close to SFStL... what is a few more hours of driving"... OR... we might think "Eh... let's start heading back home and hit PKI".

Either way we leave York PA on Friday, June 23, head as far west as at least Santa Claus IN (and perhaps Eureka MO), before turning around and heading east to Egg Harbor NJ for my wife's cousin's wedding on Sat July 1.

I never caught the "why don't visit both" section.

I'd just choose which one I haven't been to in the longest... One thing to take into consideration at that time of year however is crowds. I would NOT want to go to PKI or SFStl on the weekend, I'd much rather hit any of the other parks on the weekend. Also, if you are hitting PKI, with the saved travel time you may be able to squeeze in a few hours at Wyandot Lake, before it leaves the Six Flags family.

-Chris *** Edited 5/22/2006 3:54:28 PM UTC by Isca*** *** Edited 5/22/2006 4:03:08 PM UTC by Isca***

No... no SFStL or PKI on the weekends...

Tentative schedule:

Friday: Camden (Huntington WV)

Saturday: Beech Bend (Bowling Green KY)

Sunday: SFKK (Louisville KY)

Leaving Monday - Wednesday (possibly Thursday if we pick PKI) open for Holiday World and SFStL or PKI.

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I'd just choose which one I haven't been to in the longest...

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Never been to either.

As for Wyandot lake... visited it last year.

To try to move you back to PKI, if you are an ACE member you will get a signifigant discount at the gate; and if you have never been to the park its certainly worth the visit to ride the legendary Beast.

Not to go to PKI would be, well... disrespectful.

SLFAKE, you don't think the Bears will sweep yet another series, and win the Cup at home?

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Tentative schedule:

Friday: Camden (Huntington WV)

Saturday: Beech Bend (Bowling Green KY)

Sunday: SFKK (Louisville KY)

Leaving Monday - Wednesday (possibly Thursday if we pick PKI) open for Holiday World and SFStL or PKI.

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If you might have Thursday, why not travel Saturday night to Holiday World, spend the day there on Sunday, leave that night and head part of the way to St Louis, Monday at sfstl, Tuesday back to KK and hit it in the afternoon/evening, then wed at KI. (Or Thursday at KI if you want to spend 2 days somewhere in there). There's not a whole lot to Beech Bend, you could even do Beech Bend in the morning, and be at Holiday World or Kentucky Kingdom later that same day. You might even consider spending a few hours at KK twice if you needed time to get everything in (since you have a season pass and have to drive within 5 miles of it going from st louis to cincy) to ride everything, you have a season pass and the parking for SFKK is run by the state, so it's not $15 for each trip. :)

You could also drive by Tim Couch's RV dealership in Middletown, OH and pelt all of them with rotten eggs for destroying Lesourdesville Lake/Americana *grin* (just a suggestion ;)

At the risk of raising people's blood pressure, I will ask the next question... IS it a good idea to hit Holiday World on a Sunday? (crowds and all... and please, no "I am can't see into the future" jokes)

Not advise for Holiday World specfically but, Sunday is a funny day. I have been at parks on a Sunday in the middle of the summer (SFGAm, CP) and despite absoultly perfect weather have the park be dead; on the other hand Sundays can sometimes be more crowded then Mon-Thur. I try to avoid going Sunday (or for that matter Friday once school gets out) but the only day I never go to a park is Saturday. I guess after this ramble my point comes down to this Clint Eastwood quote: do you feel lucky punk, well do ya?

This is how my trip is looking:
1) Sunday--Leave from Baltimore at 1pm (I've got to work) and try to reach Guirnee, IL or as far as we can get
2) Monday--SFGAm
3) Tuesday--SFGAm--rerides/missed rides and Hurricane Harbor
4) Tuesday afternoon--Drive to Indiana Beach for afternoon ride session of 3-10pm
5) Wednesday--SFStl
6) Thursday--Holiday World/Splashin' Safari and SFKK OR
7) Friday--Sleep in/SFKK
8) Saturday--Beastbuzz at PKI
9) Sunday--drive home and avoid temptation to hit KW (I don't think it'll be hard after the whole week and multiple visits to KW in the past)

Yes, it looks like we might be skipping Beech Bend. SFStl looked to me to be more exciting as it's got a mirror image Freeze (loved the OT version) and a backwards Batman. It's also a chance for me to ride Excalibur which I never once got the chance to ride at Great Adventure.