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Mega coaster trip 2017 help.


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It's about that time of year again that we go on a mega coaster trip. Last year, we did a bunch of parks in the east part of the country. This year we are focusing on central, and western states. We are trying to mostly do parks we have yet to visit, or parks we need more time at. This year however, we are going to squeeze in a few "culture" oriented stops as well. Here is the preliminary game plan in order.

 

1. Leave Michigan around 5pm, drive till midnight.

2. Finish driving, then spend the day at vallyfair.

3. Nick universe in the AM, then head to Arnold's park in the afternoon.

4. Visit MT Rushmore early, then head to Denver to lakeside park.

5. Spend 4 or 5 hours at Elitch gardens, and head west to Cali for sfdk.

6. Drive, then possible hit sfdk the pm.

7. Sfdk

8. Alcatraz visit in AM, then Santa Cruz boardwalk in PM.

9. California's great adventure.

10. In AM, head to magic mountain and spend half day there.

11. Six flags Magic Mountain.

12.Drive to and spend day at Knotts berry farms. Drive a couple of hours after.

13. Visit Hoover dam, and half a day of the grand canyon.head to Phoenix.

13. Drive, a quick stop at cliffs amusement park, and continue driving to Oklahoma.

14. Frontier city theme park, drive to Tulsa.

15. Silver Dollar city with dinner at Lamberts.

16. Start driving home to Michigan, maybe stop for a night ride on the beast at kings island.

 

Again, this is just a rough draft and can(and probably will a few times). I realize there are some parks I'm skipping over, but either we have already been to that park or we just couldn't fit it in durring this trip.

 

I guess I'm interested in some insight from my fellow coaster nerds like pointers, money saving, suggestions, and just anything that may help us out.

 

Thank you for any advice.

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While I understand that this coaster blows, I should point out that I-15 is going to take you right by Desperado (I mean literally within a few hundred feet of the ride), so if you haven't ridden it or if you have ridden it and actually enjoyed it for some reason then you may want to pop in and ride it if you happen to be there on a weekend. Take note of their ridiculously stupid hours though.

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Technically this trip might be possible based on operating hours, but you're gonna skip past a ton of parks and be driving some enormous distances. I'd love to give you some tips about what to hit, but you don't have enough time really built into this schedule to add almost anything.

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While I understand that this coaster blows, I should point out that I-15 is going to take you right by Desperado (I mean literally within a few hundred feet of the ride), so if you haven't ridden it or if you have ridden it and actually enjoyed it for some reason then you may want to pop in and ride it if you happen to be there on a weekend. Take note of their ridiculously stupid hours though.

 

 

That would be great, but we will be in that area on July 12th(A Wednesday), and unfortunately the coaster is not open that day. Your right about the weird hours.

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Technically this trip might be possible based on operating hours, but you're gonna skip past a ton of parks and be driving some enormous distances. I'd love to give you some tips about what to hit, but you don't have enough time really built into this schedule to add almost anything.

 

Some parks out that way, we have already been to. Others may have to wait for another trip. With a cedar fair platinum pass, and six flags passes, we are leaning more to those parks to cut costs down.

 

A few parks we had to put aside for the next trip are...

 

Disneyland(Just spent 2 weeks at Disney world)

Seaworld

Universal

Legoland

Gilroy gardens

Lagoon

Sfga

Santa's world...kingdom...or whatever they are calling it these days

Vegas

Pacific pier

And a few other mom and pop parks.

 

Also, any suggestions on hotels near California's great America that are under $100 per night? Hotels in that(and surrounding) areas are crazy expensive. Even a Motel 6 is over $100 per night....crazy. Also, it looks like cedar fair operates Gilroy gardens. Does a cedar fair platinum pass get you in?

Edited by thrillrider
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I'm assuming you're driving I-70 though Colorado. Can I recommend stopping at Glenwood Caverns? If anything, it would take less then an hour to stop by ride the Giant Canyon Swing, and another ride or two.

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^I love Glenwood Caverns, but a stop off there adds at least two hours to his travel time. Also, in reading his PTR, it is clear that thrillrider is also very value oriented and making a quick stop at Glenwood Caverns Adventure (and not taking in everything) doesn't allow him to stretch his dollars.

 

While I understand that this coaster blows, I should point out that I-15 is going to take you right by Desperado (I mean literally within a few hundred feet of the ride), so if you haven't ridden it or if you have ridden it and actually enjoyed it for some reason then you may want to pop in and ride it if you happen to be there on a weekend. Take note of their ridiculously stupid hours though.

 

That would be great, but we will be in that area on July 12th(A Wednesday), and unfortunately the coaster is not open that day. Your right about the weird hours.

 

I know Wonderland in Amarillo has wacky hours also, but it is only 3 miles from I-40. Costs are cheap, it is never crowded and has a great Bill Tracy dark ride.

 

My PTR can give give a few BBQ/brisket ideas as you pass through Amarillo, Oklahoma City and Tulsa. All places I went to were very reasonably priced. About $5 for a brisket sandwich.

 

http://themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1618755#p1618755

Edited by larrygator
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I'm assuming you're driving I-70 though Colorado. Can I recommend stopping at Glenwood Caverns? If anything, it would take less then an hour to stop by ride the Giant Canyon Swing, and another ride or two.

 

Interesting...may have to check this out. Thank you!

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I know Wonderland in Amarillo has wacky hours also, but it is only 3 miles from I-40. Costs are cheap, it is never crowded and has a great Bill Tracy dark ride.

 

My Photo TR can give give a few BBQ/brisket ideas as you pass through Amarillo, Oklahoma City and Tulsa. All places I went to were very reasonably priced. About $5 for a brisket sandwich.

 

http://themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1618755#p1618755

 

Thank you Larry, will be using using this for advice this year! Sorry to get off track.

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I have to be honest, I can't really help here because this trip looks miserable to me. Soooo much driving for a lot of B parks. But, it's your vacation and your money so go for it! Also, hotel prices are up everywhere and that area near California's Great America has always been expensive.

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For Day 13, is there something drawing you to Phoenix? It's halfway across the state, and you'd have to retrace your steps to get back to I-40 to go on to Albuquerque the next day. I'd suggest staying in Flagstaff instead.

 

When looking at my mapping, we will be coming from frontier city park, to get to the Hoover dam. After a second look, you are correct. Flagstaff is a shorter distance.

 

However....

 

It's actually a toss up. It's 14.4 hours from frontier city to the grand canyon, and 16.3 hours to the Hoover dam. But it's only 8.2 hours to cliffs, and another 8.4 to the Hoover dam. So basicly, it's an extra hour drive to add cliffs into the mix. So it's just a question of weather or not cliffs is worth an extra hours drive.(all drive times are based on no traffic)

 

Keep up the suggestions, as this list is just a rough draft and can/will be tweaked many times. Again, I appreciate it.

Edited by thrillrider
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To balance out my snark, I do recommend Glenwood Caverns. Unfortunately Giant Canyon Swing was down when I went but their alpine coaster was excellent. I think I read that this year they'll be getting a drop ride that goes into a mine shaft, which sounds kind of cool. If you can shift things around a bit, I would definitely recommend you try to do Lagoon. Fun family park with a top 25 ride in Cannibal.

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For Day 13, is there something drawing you to Phoenix? It's halfway across the state, and you'd have to retrace your steps to get back to I-40 to go on to Albuquerque the next day. I'd suggest staying in Flagstaff instead.

 

When looking at my mapping, we will be coming from frontier city park, to get to the grand canyon. After a second look, you are correct. Flagstaff is a shorter distance. May pass on cliffs if it will save us a few hours.

 

Cliffs is in Albequerque and there's no shorter route to get there from the Grand Canyon. As is, it's still 17 1/2 hours of driving to get from the Grand Canyon to Tulsa, and you're attempting to do that in three days, plus drive from roughly Barstow to the Hoover Dam and to the Grand Canyon (another ~5 hours in the car) and go to Cliffs and go to Frontier City. I mean, again, it is theoretically possible (I think?), but you basically are dedicating yourself to to fast food and minimal sleep. I don't even know where you fit in breaks for the bathroom or refilling gas, much less can I go about making lots of suggestions to do different things or add ons.

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Good God.

This is the kind of trip that could destroy a family.

 

I legitimately laughed out loud.

 

I got nothing, never been to a single one of these parks. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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Ok...doing some changes, but have a few questions.

 

Does lagoon offer a fast lane?

 

Is a fast lane necessary at either California's great America, or Six flags discovery kingdom? We will be at both parks around the 9th and 10th of July.

 

Is vallyfair a full day park?

 

Is Gilroy gardens a cedar fair park, and is a platinum pass accepted for entry?

 

Looks like we are putting off the grand canyon, Hoover dam, lakeside, elitch and cliffs for another time, so now we can sqweeze just over half a day at lagoon on the return trip home and lighten the load a bit.

Edited by thrillrider
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Good God.

This is the kind of trip that could destroy a family.

 

I legitimately laughed out loud.

 

I got nothing, never been to a single one of these parks. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

Hah-- well the trip looks more like a multi-state flight from the law than a vacation.

 

I don't know what parks the OP has been to or what the budget limitations are, but I would seriously consider breaking the mega trip into two separate ones. Maybe one that was more Northern US focused--Pacific Northwest/Silverwood, Northern California, Utah, Colorado and a different one that included the Southern Cal/Southwest, North Texas, Oklahoma, Silver Dollar City-Missouri parks.

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Is vallyfair a full day park?

Yes. You will probably hear from some single people who only care about coasters that it's not, and for that sort of person, it isn't. But we have three kids who wanted to do the water park, Planet Snoopy, Route 76, Dinosaurs Alive, and the coasters, and so for us it absolutely was a very full and very fun day. We were there open to close and didn't want to leave even then.

 

Nick Universe is a half day park though. We spent a whole day at Mall of America, but a lot of it was spent in the mall portion, at the aquarium, restaurants, and shops.

 

Arnolds Park is worth going to with young children. We spent about 4 hours there, really took our time and re-rode everything. You could easily do the park in an hour, though.

 

Unless you're really sold on California, it may be worthwhile to you to do a western Midwest tour for a slower pace. Maybe these?

 

Little Amerricka

Valleyfair

Nick Universe

Arnolds Park

Adventureland

Worlds of Fun

Frontier City

Silver Dollar City

Six Flags St. Louis

Holiday World

Kentucky Kingdom

Kings Island

 

Still offers the advantage of having three parks on Cedar Fair Platinum Pass and a bunch of smaller/less expensive parks too. Less time driving, more time riding!

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Ok....new itinerary...

 

1.sfstl to pick up season passes and spend a few hours in the AM.

2 Drive to Lamberts for lunch and head over to silver dollar city for the after 3 deal. Can't believe they close so early(7pm) durring the busy July travel season.

3. Silver dollar city, drive to tulsa after.

4. Frontierland.

5 Drive/wonderland park/Drive

6. Drive/ knotts

7. Drive/magic mountain in the afternoon

8. Magic mountain

9. Drive/tour of Alcatraz at 1pm/Santa Cruz boardwalk at night

10. California'sgreat America

11. Six flags discovery kingdom/Drive a few hours

12. Driving day

13. Lagoon for half a day/ Drive

14. Drive/Mt Rushmore(open till 11pm)

15. Drive/ Arnold's park/drive/Nick univers

16. Vallyfair/Start driving back to Michigan

 

We are probably getting fast lanes at sfdk, and lagoon if they offer it. Also for sure getting fast lane one day at magic mountain.

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Ok...doing some changes, but have a few questions.

 

Is a fast lane necessary at either California's great America, or Six flags discovery kingdom? We will be at both parks around the 9th and 10th of July.

 

 

I went to each of these parks back in 2014 on Saturdays. I noticed the following on the crowds:

 

SFDK- Superman got the worst wait of the roller coasters. If you go there first, you can get 3-4 rides on it without a wait. Kong has VR now, so if you did want to get a headache, that line could be very slow moving. Medusa's line got no longer than 20-30 minutes because of its capacity. The worst line by far in that park was for the river rapids, which I had to skip on both visits.

 

Great America- Gold Striker easily gets the worst line in the park. If your pass gets you in the park early, I highly recommend marathoning it. That is what I did with my Great America season pass and I was able to get 7-8 rides on it in that hour of early entry. During normal park operating hours, the Saturday line for it was around an hour. Flight Deck had a short line early in the day, but got up to 30-45 minutes in the afternoon. Psycho Mouse and Grizzly have two very slow moving lines that can easily be in the 30-60 minute range.

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Ok...doing some changes, but have a few questions.

 

Does lagoon offer a fast lane?

 

No.

 

Is a fast lane necessary at either California's great America, or Six flags discovery kingdom? We will be at both parks around the 9th and 10th of July.

 

If the Sunday after 4th of July isn't madhouse, I'll be shocked.

 

Is vallyfair a full day park?

 

I'd personally say no. Probably more of a 5-6 hour park, realistically, but that also depends on how much time you want to spend on rides.

 

Is Gilroy gardens a cedar fair park, and is a platinum pass accepted for entry?

 

It should be. Platinum Passes at CGA offer entry there and your pass should mimic all other's in terms of access.

 

1.sfstl to pick up season passes and spend a few hours in the AM.

2 Drive to Lamberts for lunch and head over to silver dollar city for the after 3 deal. Can't believe they close so early(7pm) durring the busy July travel season.

 

Why don't you just spend the whole day at SDC and go to Lamberts after the park closes? It's open until at least 9PM, the park closes at 7PM; that's a two hour window. You're obviously not that concerned about super long drives and tight turnarounds timewise. Then you can leave that next morning, drive to OKC, do Frontier Land, and even put another hour or two on the road in before settling in for the night if you so desire.

 

5 Drive/wonderland park/Drive

 

1) July 4th: People will show up.

2) Park not open until 1PM. You have 16 hours of driving to cover between this point and showing up at Knotts to, I would assume, ride everything on July 5th.

 

If I give you being able to mop up the entire park in 2 hours, that means you're done by 3PM. If you manage to cover the ~1,075 miles between these two in 16 hours plus sleep/get ready for 8, that means the absolute best case scenario is you appear at Knotts Berry Farm at 1PM Pacific Time. If you stop for absolutely anything, the clock stops moving backwards. Food from something other than a drive thru? Any tourist sights? Any rest? You can't do it without it cutting into your Knotts time at absolute peak season. BTW: You know it's gonna be really hot in some of these places, right? Amarillo in July is brutal.

 

8. Magic mountain

9. Drive/tour of Alcatraz at 1pm/Santa Cruz boardwalk at night

 

Are you planning to leave early from Magic Mountain? You're probably going to run into some delays on that route and its over 5 hours away. You're also double backing to go to Santa Cruz at night.

 

11. Six flags discovery kingdom/Drive a few hours

12. Driving day

13. Lagoon for half a day/ Drive

 

I-80 through Nevada is a wasteland. You have a day built in for that but not the longer drive between Amarillo and Anaheim which has exponentially more interesting stuff along the way. I don't understand.

 

16. Vallyfair/Start driving back to Michigan

 

If you don't clear Chicago metro that same day, you're gonna end up swamped in traffic trying to come home that Sunday up until about the time you'd get to the I-94/I-69 interchange. You could take one of the ferries across, but you're still not getting home until the next day. It's at least 11 hours to get back to the Detroit metro area from Minneapolis by car. Why don't you just drive home? Or only do Six Flags Great America? If you start going the opposite direction, at least you can take the Badger.

 

Look, I get that you clearly have your heart set on going to the West Coast. I see it, I grasp it, that part makes sense to me. But you have some monster drives and I'm not sure that this is being spaced at all correctly.

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Ok...

So I crunched the numbers, and it looks like if I rearrange the order and routes, it becomes more realistic. Here is what I come up with....

 

June 31st...leave home around 5pm, drive 8 hours in the direction of vallyfair. I'll be driving past Chicago late at night, so traffic should be better than daytime.

July 1st...finish the drive to, and spend the day at vallyfair.

July 2nd...nick universe and Arnold's park. After roughly 2 hours at Arnold's park, start driving to My Rushmore.

July 3rd...Finish drive to mount Rushmore and spend about 2 hours there. Drive 8 hours in the direction of Lagoon.

July 4th... Drive the remaining 2 hours to lagoon and stay there till around 6-7. Start the 10.5 hour drive to sfdk. Drive around 4 hours.

July 5th... continue drive, and get to sfdk for a couple of night rides.

July 6th... spend day at sfdk.

July 7th... Do a tour of Alcatraz in AM, and Santa Cruz boardwalk in PM. If Gilroy is included with my platinum pass, I "may" try to squeeze it in after Alcatraz. The claim that Alcatraz is a 2.5 hour experience.

July 8th... California's great adventure, then drive a few hours tourds magic mountain.

July 9th.. continue driving, and spend day at mm

July 10th... MM

July 11th... Drive and spend day at Knotts. Drive about 4 hours tourds Amarillo.

July 12th... Drive tourds Amarillo and hopefully get to Wonderland park to grab some night credits.

July 13th...Drive 4 hours to frontier city and spend day there till 6-7pm. Drive to Branson.

July 14th... Silver dollar city till they close at 7, then off to Lamberts for dinner.

July 15th.. Drive 3.5 hours to sfstl, spend 3 hour there(been there a few times already) and head to cinncinnati. Or possibly go for beach bend park instead of sfstl...not sure yet.

July 16th...spend a few hours at kings island, and drive back home to Michigan.

 

With this new route, it breaks up the driving a bit more. I looked at park hours as well when figuring this out.

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Have you been to Mount Rushmore? Honestly, block out 2 hours if you want but if you want to bail after 30 minutes to make the remainder of that drive less stressful nobody would blame you.

 

I don't blame you for stopping, but we found it incredibly underwhelming.

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Have you been to Mount Rushmore? Honestly, block out 2 hours if you want but if you want to bail after 30 minutes to make the remainder of that drive less stressful nobody would blame you.

 

I don't blame you for stopping, but we found it incredibly underwhelming.

 

That could be the case, I just wasn't sure how long it would take. I was just guessing 2 hours.

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