Road trip advice

I'm thinking of taking a coaster road trip at the beginning of August. Trying to do some research now and would appreciate any advice as I've never been to any of these parks. Rough idea at the moment is to hit 1 park each day, either find a cheap hotel or sleep in the car for the night and move on. With gas prices as they are, I'm thinking about skipping one park (sounds like SFA would be the best choice) and possibly spending a day or two at the beach in VA or maybe a second day at one park.

Day 1 - Six Flags Great Adventure

Day 2 - Dorney Park

Day 3 - Hersheypark

Day 4 - Six Flags America

Day 5 - Kings Dominion

Day 6 - Busch Gardens Europe

Some things that come to mind, is there a good central location between Dorney & Hershey (or KD & BGE) to look for a hotel or should I stay near one & get up early? If you were going to skip one park, would it be SFA? Which parks offer single rider lines? I know SF has the flash pass and BGE has something similar - are they worth it for single riders, do the other parks offer anything? Any other tips appreciated. *** Edited 7/1/2008 4:36:27 PM UTC by isawred77***

When I was at Dorney for the Coasterbuzz Con a few years ago, I stayed right in Allentown and used that as a base to hit SFGAdv, Dorney, and Hershey. Mind you, I did do SFGAdv after landing in Philly and making the drive there and on the way back to the airport in Philly :) If you did a second hotel in the DC area (probably Virginia side) I am sure you could hit the rest of it.

For Hershey and DP, we stayed in Harrisburg so that we could stay there more than one night and already be on the way South.

For KD and BGE - we usually stay in Richmond, VA

Have you considered camping? You can save some considerable money that way.

I would combine Day 2 and Day 3 and maybe do Dorney Park on Day 2, drive to Hershey, camp at their campground and go to the park for the evening. They have a free shuttle so you don't have to pay for parking and you get in for free that night if you buy the next day's ticket.

Unless you REALLY want to ride the coasters at SFA and KD I personally would skip them both. Not impressed with either, but at least SFA has Superman, Roar and Wild One. Three excellent rides. You could combine those two parks if your efficient, neither are very memorable.

Spend a full day at BGE and drive to Virginia Beach!

Knoebel's!!!

Seriously, it's a pretty unassuming park but if you get to ride the Phoenix at night, it will rock your socks.

I hadn't heard of Knoebel's until I started researching (my coaster experience is pretty limited) but it could be an option. With only two coasters, I could use the day to play some golf and hit it at night for a change of pace.

KD seems like it would be pretty good. Especially with the new B&M - Dominator.

Camping is a possibility, it just seems like it might be too much of a hassle to keep setting up & breaking down after a long day.

Kings Dominion is an average park with long lines. IMO not worth it if your looking to squeeze in a beach day or two. Dominator is good, but not better than Medusa IMO and the other coasters are just OK. Again, this is based on my experience at each of these parks your going to.

Knoebels you can hit on your way to Hershey from Dorney in the same day. Do Dorney early, leave around 3-5 pm, then eat and ride at Knoebels and head to rest for your next day at Hershey! Hershey is worth the full day.