Seasonal Parks in April...Who Goes to Them?

Actually, King's Island is perfect for visiting in April. The weather is still cool, and there's NO crowds. Everything is walk-on.

My preferred "travel time" is in April, early May, and in late September and October as far as the parks within 3 1/2 to 5 hours of me.

It's SWEET!

-Tina

Well SFA tends to open the first week of april,sometimes it's nice weatherwise & others it's freezing cold.

Opening weekend in 2005 in particular was pretty cold & breezy<hence the reason why supes vallied on morning test runs that day> & it was so darn chilly that the park closed a few hours early due to low attendance.

From what I've heard PKD/KD will be opening on 3/31/07 this season.

Warning: SFoGswim swoops in with more SFoG info:

This past season, SFoG opened on Saturday, March 4th. That's only 4 days out of February.

Welcome back, red train, how was your ride?!

I know in the past few years that PKD has opened in the middle of March, but now they open near the end. I remember the year that Scooby-Doo and the Haunted Mansion opened that it was very warm outside. I seem to remember fairly decent temperatures for Tomb Raider Firefall as well, since they had the water effects working.

Now with SFA in April, it's been hit or miss as far as weather goes. I've experienced rain on more than a few occasions. In 2002, we were riding S:ROS in the rain and it wasn't particulary warm. We all got drenched to the skin. Luckily, the sun came out later.

But in the "Call before you drive" scenario, I was so excited to go to SFA the first year one day, that I ignored the steady downpour all around me. Sure enough, once I got to the park I was met with a "Clark Grisworld" sign saying that the park was closed due to inclement weather. There was no need to stop at the local rifle shop as I completely understood:)

The year S:UF opened at SFGAdv (2003) we decided to do a quick little two-day April trip. We hit SFA on April 16th and saw summer-like weather with lots of sun and temps in the mid 80's. On our way to Jersey a cold front came through and we spent the 17th at SFGAdv under cloud cover with high winds and temps in the low 40's.

That made for an odd combo. :)

coasterimage - lordgonchar

For PKI, April used to be a big time for training, and such. We used to go during those time because the crowds were always lighter. We'd sometimes go 2-3 times in April before crowds started kicking in around May.

NOW, that no longer works! The past 2-3 seasons we've tried to go during April they've been packed. This past season, our first trip to PKI, (I believe it was opening weekend during the second week of April), they were parked clear out to the road. And season pass lines were nearly a 2-hour wait. For me, that justifies opening in April.

The first month or 2 are very heavy times for season pass holders to buy/visit. The church groups, 3 hour family drives, etc. all wait until July.

^^Chad, I'm guessing that it depends big on the weather. This past April, I seem to recall weather being fairly tolerable. Two years ago in April, it snowed in Northeast Ohio. It was probably colder in Cinci then as well. Certainly though if the weather is nice, then being open is definitely justifiable.

Jeff Young

I have been at KI during opening weekends when Gold Pass exclusive days for the past five years. This used to be first or second weekend of April. Only once I thought the weather was too cold for the park. General opening days have been quite warm except for two of the last five. Last year was quite busy for the entire weekend.

BTW, the first week of April average temperature in Mason is 60oF or higher. In Sandusky, the average temperature during first week of April is 50oF.

I live in Dayton and both of those average temperatures seem high to me. I would ballpark them both about 10 degrees colder. Looking on the web I couldn't find any major sites that had the historical avg. temperatures for the two cities. Where did you get those figures? I wouldn't be surprised if my estimates are a little off also.

According to AccuWeather:

The average temps for Mason, OH in April - The average high the first week is 58 - 60 degrees and it's up to 68 by the end of the month.

The average temps for Sandusky, OH in April - Tends to be about 4 or 5 degrees cooler than Mason.

coasterimage - lordgonchar

I got mine from weather.com daily average temperature lists.

Mason, OH 4/1 - 60oF High http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/daily/USOH0566?climoMonth=4

Sandusky, OH 4/1 - 50oF High

http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/daily/USOH0855?climoMonth=4

Astroland (Coney Island) opens on Palm Sunday every year. This year that is April 1. Riding Cyclone in April can be pretty chilly, but Palm Sunday can be in March some years too!

SFGADV just posted their 2007 scehdule. They open April 2 this year - a Monday - which is a little odd. Last year they opened on a Friday in late March.

Maybe I've just had bad luck with spring visits to parks in Ohio. Seems like it is always chilly and breezy when I go. Riding coasters usually means hats and gloves to avoid frostbite.

PKD/KD opening dates have varied over the years. Both during the Paramount years and Pre-Paramount years. The opening dates have been from the 3rd weekend in March to the 1st weekend in April. Closing weekends have been from the first weekend in October to the 1st weekend in November. The last 2 or 3 years the closing weekend has been the 1st weekend in Nov.

As far as the Cedar Fair seasonal parks go, the earliest 2007 opening date I have seen is Carowinds, which opens Saturday, March 24th. Kings Dominion follows the following Saturday, March 31st. PKD/KD has not set their 2007 operating calendar yet (days and hours open). For some reason, they are usually last in updating their web site among the other Paramount Parks. Don't know if that is going to change under Cedar Fair.

I remember going to PKI last year, it was about 25-30 degrees in Cleveland and near 60 in Cincinnati. I can understand why some parks are able to be open sooner/later than others, just depends on where the park is located like everyone has been saying all along.

~~~~Coaster Lover~~~~~~~~~~

Pagoda Gift Shop said:
Maybe I've just had bad luck with spring visits to parks in Ohio. Seems like it is always chilly and breezy when I go. Riding coasters usually means hats and gloves to avoid frostbite.

It's not so much bad luck to me, it's more about just where we live. You know how it can be 65/sunny one day, and the next day it'll be 40/raining. We still go down to PKI opening weekend despite the temps./weather. Whatever the forcast is at home, (in Dayton), we almost always see the opposite when we get to the park.

Now, if their is such a thing as bad luck we have it at CP almost every May. Two times in the past 5 years I've had to buy a jacket or hoodie because I was underdressed for the weather. One of those years we went one day and it was in the 70's/partly sunny the first day, and the second day it barely broke the mid-50's, and was overcast/windy all day.

Lord Gonchar said:
The year S:UF opened at SFGAdv (2003) we decided to do a quick little two-day April trip. We hit SFA on April 16th and saw summer-like weather with lots of sun and temps in the mid 80's. On our way to Jersey a cold front came through and we spent the 17th at SFGAdv under cloud cover with high winds and temps in the low 40's.
That made for an odd combo.

Yeah, pretty wild isn't it? I have seen that at many parks, especially Cedar Point. Nothing like going from 45 degrees and hail to 75 and sunny within 24 hours. ;)

-Tina

Now you are talking Missouri weather. It is not unusual to have to use both your AC and your heater in the same day (without even going anywhere).

Late in the season can be cold too. I once rode SROS at SFNE in the snow one year and this year at Super Hero Celebration it was in the 30s at nightERT. *** Edited 1/5/2007 5:11:46 PM UTC by Ajrides***