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Critique my coaster road trip!


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My friend and I are planning a coaster road trip! I live in Orlando, and he is flying in to meet me here from Vegas. The first day and the second morning, we plan on hitting some Disney Parks in hopes of getting a Pandora soft. After that, I've put together a trip that I hope isn't too ambitious. These are the parks that we'll be going to:

 

WDW parks (I live nearby)

Carowinds

BGE

King's Dominion,

SFGADV

Dorney (for 3 - 4 hours)

Hersheypark

Knoebels

Cedar Point (day and a half)

King's Island

Holiday world

Kentucky Kingdom

 

I have not been Carowinds, King's Island, Holiday World, or Kentucky Kingdom. It's been 20 years since I've been to BGE, Knoebels, or Dorney. My friend has not been to most of these parks. We're pretty excited.

 

Here is the game plan:

 

352714781_Coaster2017.thumb.png.e13fb9cf77610a090c0c2368dad7489e.png

Our mode of transportation will be a rental car. It's $5 a day to rent a car out of Florida in the beginning of Summer, as long as you drop it off somewhere up North. We will also be mostly staying at Hyatt Hotels. My wife works there and I get a Friends & Family Discount.

 

Please critique my trip or give me advice! This is the kind of thing that I dreamed of doing as a kid, and I can't wait to make it a reality!

Edited by Pseybert
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1) Where the F*ck did you get a $5 a day rental car? That price is amazing on it's own, but it's even more amazing when you consider the fact that you're not even picking it up and dropping it off in the same location. I hate New York... I hate it so much.

 

2) You really don't need to get to Carowinds that night. It's a one day park, so if Pandora opens or something, just hang out there. If you get to Carowinds, great. If not, the world won't end.

 

3) You'll drive right by Six Flags America. I think that's the right approach (skip it), but I figured I'd make sure you knew how close you'd be in case you want to find a few hours to pop in and pick up some credits (if you're into that kind of thing).

 

4) Be flexible. You can easily get a hotel a few hours away from a park if you feel tired and finish driving in the morning and get there by park open (and in some parks, it doesn't even matter if you're there a little after park opening).

 

For the most part though, this isn't that crazy.

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Thanks for the reply!

 

1) Where the F*ck did you get a $5 a day rental car? That price is amazing on it's own, but it's even more amazing when you consider the fact that you're not even picking it up and dropping it off in the same location. I hate New York... I hate it so much.

 

Toward the beginning of summer, rental car companies are looking to move inventory out of Florida. Most of the major companies do this as long as you pick up from Florida and drop it off somewhere up North. I'm renting from Alamo. It's a Full Size rental, too.

 

 

2) You really don't need to get to Carowinds that night. It's a one day park, so if Pandora opens or something, just hang out there. If you get to Carowinds, great. If not, the world won't end.

The only reason I'd want to go the first night is to get a night ride on Fury. The next day, we'll have to leave early to start heading to Richmond (I have a Hyatt booked there).

 

 

3) You'll drive right by Six Flags America. I think that's the right approach (skip it), but I figured I'd make sure you knew how close you'd be in case you want to find a few hours to pop in and pick up some credits (if you're into that kind of thing).

Wow! I completely forgot that this park existed. I lived in Philadelphia when I was young, and tried to get my parents to bring me here one summer (we always had Annual Passes to SFGADV). Thankfully, they never did!

 

 

Looking at the site, Membership passes are *much* cheaper if I get them at America. Do you think it's worth it to leave King's Dominion at around 3PM, drive 2 hours, pick up our passes, and ride a few rides here? I've been to King's Dominion when Intimidator first opened and got on each coaster at least once. My friend has never been.

 

4) Be flexible. You can easily get a hotel a few hours away from a park if you feel tired and finish driving in the morning and get there by park open (and in some parks, it doesn't even matter if you're there a little after park opening).

I actually have all of the hotels booked already. As I said in my post, my wife gets me a pretty killed Hyatt discount, and I'd rather stay in the Hyatt's for cheap than a cheap motel for around the same price or more. This is why I made the sleep/drive/park graph - to ensure what I was attempting to do would be realistic.

 

The only night that I don't have booked as of yet is at Cedar Point. I'm considering splurging for Hotel Breakers.

 

 

For the most part though, this isn't that crazy.

I figured this would be the reaction on this forum. I know that people here have done much more! It's still reassuring, though!

 

Thanks again!

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1) Looks like a solid plan. Of course it is not possible to hit every park along the way, and the only major one "along the way" that you could add would be Kennywood, but I don't see how you do that with completely reworking the schedule and drooping another park. I would change a thing.

 

2) I love your excel template, I may need to steal the design. My spreadsheets contain all the same info but I never laid it out to visibly reflect all 24 hours

 

3) Don't forget that Kentucky Kingdom has discount tickets for out-of-state residents, but the details are not on their website yet.

 

4) It appears you are using the preview plan at Hershey which is a great deal. As Bill said be flexible, don't be afraid to leave Dorney early, as soon as it is complete to get the Hershey. Even if you get to Hershey before the preview plans starts you can get a head start and visit Chocolate World and ride that dark ride. Those last few hours before Hershey closes are less crowded than midday and you can knock out the low capacity coasters and get a feel for the park layout. Also, remember that your parking receipt from preview night can be used the next morning for free parking.

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Toward the beginning of summer, rental car companies are looking to move inventory out of Florida. Most of the major companies do this as long as you pick up from Florida and drop it off somewhere up North. I'm renting from Alamo. It's a Full Size rental, too.

 

Oh f*ck you and everyone who lives in Florida.

 

Why the hell do we live in the northeast? Why. What the hell is wrong with us?

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Ooops...

 

No way to spend 2 days at Knoebels?

 

 

I can't tell if this is a serious question, so I will treat it as such. My last time there was about 22 years ago when I was 9. I remember enjoying the park- but two days? I was worried a full day would be too much!

Edited by Pseybert
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Ooops...

 

No way to spend 2 days at Knoebels?

 

 

I can't tell if this is a serious question, so I will treat it as such. My last time there was about 20 years ago when I was 11. I remember enjoying the park- but two days? I was worried a full day would be too much!

 

Some people on this site would spend 10 days at Knoebels, fell free to ignore their jingoism.

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In all seriousness, one day for Knoebels is reasonable unless it's a BOGO Wristband day or something. A lot of people spend multiple days there because it's a spectacular park, but you'll be able to get on mostly everything in one day. When we spend multiple days, we're usually just re-riding things, doing things you wouldn't do with a wristband like playing mini golf or (in the case of PPP) checking out the Covered Bridge festival.

 

... or just eating one of everything.

 

By the way, keep in mind with Knoebels that unlike every other park it's frowned upon to eat breakfast before you get there. Their food is cheap, and most people (myself included) consider it the best theme park style food in America. Eat at Knoebels. Seriously, just try one of everything. Even if you're not a flat ride guy, don't miss the Bumper Cars, Flyers, Sky Slide or Carousel since you can sit on an outside horse and grab for brass ri.ngs. If you are a flat ride guy, basically every flat ride they have runs an amazing program so just ride them all. The only Knoebels Flat ride that runs a mediocre program is Merry Mixer but it's probably because it's a million years old and that alone makes it awesome.

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Just glancing at your spreadsheet, I like how you have 29 hours one day, and lots of 25 hour days... lol! I don't think your plan *is* possible :-P

 

Bill, Florida isn't all it's cracked up to be. Living there is completely different than visiting there. Besides, no Knoebels.

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Just glancing at your spreadsheet, I like how you have 29 hours one day, and lots of 25 hour days... lol! I don't think your plan *is* possible :-P

 

Bill, Florida isn't all it's cracked up to be. Living there is completely different than visiting there. Besides, no Knoebels.

 

I counted my days as previous night hours slept - next time going to sleep. To that extent, some days will be longer that others.

 

I enjoy living in Orlando. The heat drives me crazy, but I enjoy being here more than I did Philly / NJ.

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Toward the beginning of summer, rental car companies are looking to move inventory out of Florida. Most of the major companies do this as long as you pick up from Florida and drop it off somewhere up North. I'm renting from Alamo. It's a Full Size rental, too.

Sheesh, I work for them in Georgia and even I can't get that good of a rate. Are you sure you have a reservation for a full-size car? And a one-way no less?

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Toward the beginning of summer, rental car companies are looking to move inventory out of Florida. Most of the major companies do this as long as you pick up from Florida and drop it off somewhere up North. I'm renting from Alamo. It's a Full Size rental, too.

Sheesh, I work for them in Georgia and even I can't get that good of a rate. Are you sure you have a reservation for a full-size car? And a one-way no less?

 

IMG_3529.thumb.JPG.fc4d0598f97c2f62ce55c3ab9e7755a8.JPG

 

I'm sure

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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