This Years Big Trip

This year we are planning one major trip. Since many of these parks are new to me, I would like some help as to tips, things not to miss, places to avoid etc.

The tentative schedule is shaping up like this.

7/3 Kennywood
7/3 Waldameer in the evening
7/4 Darien Lake
7/5 Canada's Wonderland
7/6 La Ronde
7/7 Great Escape
7/7 Six Flags New England in the evening
7/8 Six Flags New England
7/9 Lake Compounce
7/10 Rye Playland
7/10 Coney Island Cyclone & Deno's Wonder Wheel
7/11 Six Flags Great Adventure
7/12 Dorney Park
7/12 Knoebels
7/12 Lakemont

Yes, I know it is a lot of parks and a lot of driving. I figure I will be buying a case of 5 hour energy. Some of the days have multiple parks where we only plan on getting the credits and going such as Dorney where I need to ride Talon but will probably take a lap on Hydra and Steel Force.

Thanks
Dave

On that last day, you will be going right past DelGrosso's Family Amusement Park. I recommend stopping there for the crazy mouse credit, and eating at the amazing Texas Hot Dog stand there. It's also one of the cleanest parks you'll ever see too.

Remember that you need a Passport to go between Canada and the U.S.

Dorney's coasters should have short lines if you go while the water park is open. Everyone is bobbing up and down in the wave pools.

Six Flags Great Adventure will probably require a flashpass. I always just add it to what I plan to spend there, because I've never not needed it. Good luck though.

I haven't been to more than half of the parks in your list.

I dont know if you need a day and a half at SFNE. You are fairly close to Canobie Lake (a park that can be done in an evening and has discounted evening tickets) you might want to look into that.

That is a brutal schedule. Pretty close to the trip we took back in 2003 where the wife said, "Never Again!" :)

Our trip looked like this:

Day 1 Conneaut + Martin's Fantasy Island
Day 2 Darien Lake
Day 3 SFNE
Day 4 LC
Day 5 Coney Island +NYC
Day 6 SFGAd
Day 7 Hershey

Lot's of driving, and the little one was 8, and she only ate chicken fingers from Burger King, you can guess the rest. :)

Difference here is my wife is the one that came up with the schedule. We arranged this trip so there is no leg that is over 3 hours.

In your trip, the Darien Lake to SFNE & Hershey to home looks like the back breakers to me.

The total trip is just over 2000 miles. I have done 1600 mile trips in 34 hours including a day at SFOG. But then I have also been known to drive from Columbus to Maryland for lunch.

Its a shame you're doing Kennywood in the day and not evening. Phantom at nite is a life changing experience. As far as not to miss, I'd say don't miss anything at Kennywood, even if you are just going for credits. The Kangaroo is great, Noah's Ark is Great, the coasters are Great, Pitt Fall is great, etc.

I was done with Coney Island in about an hour (and that was with rain and just missing the Mermaid Parade as we didn't know it was that day). Cyclone is expensive for rerides, but, then, I didn't want to ride it again. Wonder Wheel is fantastic. I didn't do the dark ride at Deno's and that's my only regret.

Even though I've never been, I'm planning on SFNE and Canobie this summer at some point. I'd suggest Canobie during the evening and then SFNE the whole next day. SFNE isn't a huge park.

When you get to SFGAdv, go to SUPERMAN FIRST! It commands long lines all day, and I was told to head there first regardless, and I'm glad I did. If the park is having a good day, then do Ka as soon as it opens (if it doesn't open with the park, you can do Toro and Rolling Thunder while you wait, and also see the tigers. You'll be near Bizarro too). The log flume at GA is fun too.

You only need 2 hours (or less) at Dorney if you're just going for a credit run. And that will still give you time for a re-ride or two. I spent open to close there for my first visit last summer. NEVER AGAIN. It's a nice park with good coasters, but there were never any lines.

Have fun on the trip. I'm also looking to SFNE and Knoebels for my first time(s) this year.

I agree with Tekwardo. If you can switch Waldameer and Kennywood I would do that. Sure Waldameer doesn't open until 12 noon, but Kennywood would probably be open later. KW at night is just fantastic. I get what you are trying to do though as its easier to get the credits at KW earlier in the day.

Good luck! Looks like a lot of fun!

~Rob

I said it last year and I will say it again this year.. I need to have Daves job.. :)

I just cant get away that much.. Granted this is a shorter run than last year, but still..

Is Canobie really worth it?

With only 2 coasters I just wonder if it is worth the $100 it would cost for our group to go.

As to Kennywood, I can get up there easily as my in-laws are in Wheeling. This does not mean that we will be skipping much of anything. I have just found that even on a realitvly busy day you can still get everything done in 4-6 hours. The other advantage is Waldameer's Night rider discount which starts at 6.

At SFGAdv we already have all the credits but KK. If we need to we will purchase a GFP.

Ken, my job does not really allow me to just go. I have made a decision to just do it. I will close my shop for the week and have a great time with my family. It is just a matter of personal priorities. I am not saying that coasters are my priority, just that spending time with my family making memories is. We just happen to all like amusement parks.

Strange that you'll consider not spending an extra $100 for Canobie, but would spring for a gold flashpass for your entire family for gold flashpass, just for KK.

My experience with GAdv. is that KK is usually the best first stop. You never know when it will go down and if it's running less than 4 trains, it can be a pretty long wait for a pretty short ride. S:UF does get pretty bad as well, though.

For what it's worth, I can't imagine actually enjoying that trip. After about the 3rd or 4th park, it would all start to blend together.

Our big trip this year is one day at KI and one day at HW (and maybe an afternoon at Beech Bend). Any more than that and it stop being worth it.

July 3rd at Kennywood might be more than "relatively busy." That's part of the whole "Celebrate America" week. I think last year it was 7 or 8 days long, as opposed to the 5 days this year, but it was one of the strangest weeks all season. The first couple days were cool, and maybe rainy, and had to be in the top 5 slowest days all year (probably second only to the day where they closed at 2 because it was raining all day and literally no one was in the park). Toward the middle of the week, the weather remained subpar but the crowds got bigger. For the 3rd and 4th last year, (a Friday and Saturday respectively) the weather was downright gorgeous and the crowds were the largest up to that point in the season, or at least very close. So whereas the first couple days of that week were the some of the slowest all year, the 3rd and 4th were also some of the busiest.

To be honest though, I can't remember how long the lines were. On the busiest of days, Jack Rabbit backs out of the queue and wraps all the way back to the exit. If that's what you mean by relatively busy, than you're fine. I want to say that is how busy we were, but I honestly don't remember. What I do remember was the impression left of me from that week, which is what I already told you in the first paragraph.

Yea, Jack Rabbit was backed up all the way around the fence and then some. It was still just a 15-20 minute wait.

I really like Canobie, but it was my first amusement park. The Yankee Cannonball on commands my #4 spot. It is an airtime machine. They also have a really good log ride, a classic Sally (ie no shooting) dark ride, a mirror maze, and indoor scrambler, and a fully functioning (canopy comes down) caterpillar.

Fully-functioning Caterpillar....dubbed "Canobie's Canopies" = one of two in the US...= <3

LostKause said:
On that last day, you will be going right past DelGrosso's Family Amusement Park. I recommend stopping there for the crazy mouse credit, and eating at the amazing Texas Hot Dog stand there.

I'd pass on the 'weiners' (aren't nearly as good as the place I go to in Hanover, Pa.) but I would make the stop for Murf's potato salad at the park.

I want to mention all of the quaint stuff there is to do at Great Escape. If you are just going for the coasters, you might not like it as much as other parks but if you enjoy a traditional style park, this place is great. The front part of the park that used to be Storyland has a great swan boat ride and there are statues of different nursery rhymes. There are also little houses and buildings that you can walk through and two walk-through areas, one is Alice in Wonderland and the other is a Looney Tunes one in the kids section.

Also, I agree with other, you only need a day at SFNE.

That said, Comet is incredibly fun, especially at night.

I agree. I <3 Comet. I could ride that thing all day. I also hear the bobsleds are quite fun, but they were closed when I went last summer. :(

DaveStroem said:
Is Canobie really worth it?

With only 2 coasters I just wonder if it is worth the $100 it would cost for our group to go.

You can discount cupons at local Mcd's AND the local AAA offices. The Cannonball is worth the trip. Besides, Canobie has a balanced package. Besides, it's FREE parking AND there's a evening pass that starts at 4 or 5, depending on the day. Even better, you'd be less than 1.5 hours from SFNE.