Trip Advice...

I just wanted to post and see if I could get some helpful advice for an amusement park outing the first week of August. I'm going to be going down to Nashville to visit my parents and was wanting to take a trip to an amusement park with my younger brother one of the days during the week. Nashville is kind of in the middle of no where when it comes to amusement parks so I just wanted to get some feedback from a couple of my choices;

Dollywood: I've been there several times through my life but not for about 3-4 years. The new wood coaster looks cool as does the new Mine themed one.

Six Flags Georgia: This seems to have the "biggest" coasters and a couple new ones I've never been on before like superman and goliath.

Holiday World: It seems to have an "ok" park and a nice waterpark which would be nice. The wood coasters look nice though.

Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom: After the accident I'm kinda standoffish but if it's worth it I might. Kind of would rather make the trip to Holiday World though.

Anyone who's been to any and all these with good advice of which ones could be better for a 1 day trip I'd appreciate it.

Also, I will be in Birmingham, AL the week before and was wondering if Visionland was worth a look? Thanks!

Who are you going to parks with? What do you enjoy at parks? Do you like water parks? Answer these questions and you'll probably answer your own question more easily.

I'd say....throw out SFKK *immediately*!!!!

Then it comes down to small park vs. big park...if you want a small park then HW over Dollywood for sure!!! (cheaper tickets, free parking/soda, great water park) But if you want a big park, then of course SFOG.

If it was me, and I had never been on SFOG's new coasters....then I'd do SFOG, but it'll be more expensive than HW if you don't have a SF season pass.

Good luck!!

Your younger brother (not sure how much younger) might enjoy HW since it's a very family oriented park. Believe me, HW's park side is more than just 'ok'. :) But if you're not such a fan of wood (which is almost blasphemy here ;) ) , everyone raves about SFoG's Goliath and some of there other coasters, though not about park operations.

Plus, if you're going to HW, you could stop in at Beech Bend, which would be on the way from Nashville, to pick up the Kentucky Rumbler credit.

Definitely HW is your best bet as you would need a couple of days for DW. There is 3 great woodies and you only need a day to do it.

SFOG. Their is just more coasters to do.

Thanks for the replys so far!

By the way, I'm 20 and my brother is 14 and is familiar and likes large rides, he isn't even shaken up by Dragster, maybe a little, but gets on with no problem.

Personally I'm leaning for SFoG but HW is in the back of my mind because of the "world class" wood coasters they have and also the whole cost thing too. Any other tips would be appreciated.

SFOG is my favorite park. That tells you something. They have wonderful rides over there. Go there.

More coasters doesn't exactly mean a better time. I went to SFoG last year around the same time and had an average time. They have a few great coasters but the rest was very mediocre to poor. I also didn't care for the Six Flags operations.

If you have any interest in a water park, head to Holiday World. You probably won't be disappointed. You wallet certainly wont be.

I agree with the majority here. Holiday World, if you are a coasterbuzz club member as well you get in for cheaper as well. Thats what i did last year.

The lines will probably be much shorter at HW than DW as i have been to both and in May it was crowded at Dollywood. Plus in my book they have two cant miss wooden coasters in Raven and Voyage, unfortunately i cant tell you how Thunderhead stacks up cause it was down the day i went. But either way you cant go wrong with either.

You seem to be more a high thrill kinda guy mentioning dragster above, and might have a serious love for the bigger coasters, so maybe that would lean you toward SFOG because of the quantity of the bigger rides, but dont forget quality in all of this.

I think my plan as of now is to hit up SFoG as it seems to be more of a park my brother, and me as well, would be familiar with (Kings Island and Cedar Point were our regulars) with size and number of coasters in mind, plus I've actually never been to a Six Flags park so that should be an experience of it's own.

I know everyone is just gonna say "it depends on many factors like weather, etc" but what are crowds like during the week at SFoG, as say compared to KI and CP. Like a general range for most rides. Any other tips of things to see or to skip would be apreciated. Also what are prices in the park like, parking, food, etc.

Also, since I live in Columbus, OH, I think I may make an evening trip to HW and hit up the coasters on my way back home. Tickets are dirt cheap after 4PM, I think, plus parking is free right? I hate solo trips personally, but Yoyage just looks to good to miss.

My family got back from SFOG last week, and said it wasn't rediculous. I'm in columbus as well and had to give up on that trip for a trip to Cleveland and CP. but i'm going to DP and SFGA this weekend to make up the lost. They rode everything twice, so I would think the lines were that bad. Knowing my family, they wouldn't ride anything if it had more than 45 minute wait, so it would be safe to assume the lines aren't going to be horrible.

If you are looking for a more traditional park, Lake Winniepesaukah near Chatanooga is another possibility in addition to Beech Bend.

Lake Winnie loosened their age restrictions this year by allowing unaccompanied visitors at age 18 instead of 21 which is good news for college age visitors. *** Edited 7/3/2007 7:47:13 PM UTC by Arthur Bahl***