Help planning Summer Road Trip

Hi everyone! Been reading the forum for a long time now but don't post very often. Time for that to change! I have a few questions about a holiday I am taking with the family this August from the UK. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

The route we have decided on is;

Sat 01: Fly to JFK

Sun 02: Six Flags Great Adventure

Mon 03: Travel to and explore Washington

Tue 04: Kings Dominion

Wed 05: Busch Gardens

Thu 06: Travel to Carowinds

Fri 07: Carowinds

Sat 08: Travel to Dollywood/Gatlinburg

Sun 09: Dollywood

Mon 10: Travel to Kings Island/Kings Island in the evening

Tue 11: Kings Island in the morning/Travel to Cedar Point/Cedar Point in the evening

Wed 12: Cedar Point

Thu 13: Travel to Hersheypark

Fri 14: Hersheypark

Sat 15: Dorney Park in the morning/Fly back to London from JFK in the evening

The only park on this list wev'e visited before was Dollywood last summer so it is pretty much all new territory for us. Unfortunately early August is the only time we can go on holiday so we are expecting the parks to be rammed. We are budgeting for Fast Passes at Great Adventure and Cedar Point definately. Is It possible to play it by ear with the other parks and buy fastpasses if it gets really busy or do these sell out too quickly for that?

Another question is about season passes. We are going to buy the Cedar Fair Platinum Passes, do we have to get these from the Kings Dominion website as this is the first Cedar Fair Park we visit?

Any other tips about the parks or the journeys between would be greatly appreciated, it has been a big task arranging this trip but also a lot of fun so far.

Sorry for the massive post!

I know this is the "Ask Alvey" area but if it's alright here's my opinion...

So everything sounds good but here's the huge problem... Day 13 doesn't involve Knoebels. That's terrible... you need more Knoebels in your life.

Taking I-80 to the Danville area to get to Knoebels adds about 40 minutes to your travel time to Hershey but it's worth it. I'm assuming you were planning on taking advantage of that deal at Hershey where you get a preview the day before with a single day ticket but just forget about that and go to Knoebels because it's a way better park anyway. Knoebels is only 5 1/2 hours from Cedar Point so if you get there early in the afternoon you can a lot of time there (which is good, because it's one of the best parks in America). Just get a wristband if it's available that day and ride / eat everything in the park. Hershey is only a little over an hour from Knoebels so you can stay until they close.

You're welcome. Your trip is now infinitely better.

If you arrive at Hershey on Day 13, be aware that you can buy your ticket that night for Day 14 and they will let you into the park for free the last 2 hours on Day 13. It makes the second day a little more manageable by hitting some rides the night before.

If you arrive at Hershey an hour before the preview hours start you can easier spend an hour in Chocolate World (free admission) and ride the dark ride (but don't waste money on the upcharge 3D movie). Also, keep parking ticket from the Day 13 preview is good as that is good for free parking on Day 14.

Of course going to Knoebels for 3-4 hours on Day 13 is a good option also, but don't buy the wristband as you will not be able to recuperate your money. Buy $20 in tickets and per by the ride.

Thanks for the advice. I had no idea about that Hersheypark ticket preview deal and didn't realise Knoebels was so close. We will definately do one of these two as we will have some spare time that night.

Knoebels.

As a follow up... I should have mentioned this but to help make your already easy decision (Knoebels) even easier, Hershey has a skip-the line pass so you'll have no problem fitting everything into one day without being rushed even if you spend the previous day at Knoebels. It's called Fast Track and there are 2 options... one of them is $50 and last year it allowed you to skip the line on 9 coasters (one use each after a scheduled time) or for $25 you can get an evening pass that's good for 5 select coasters with the same setup. Much like Dollywood's skip the line program, it's such a great deal (the evening one) it's almost crazy not to do it.

This guarantees you'll be able to ride a lot of rides at Hershey in one day so there's no need to waste any time there the day before when you could be at the much better park in Elysburg Don't get me wrong... the preview that Hershey offers on one day tickets is really cool. But it's not Knoebels cool... and as much fun as visiting all of those great corporate parks for the 12 days leading up to it will be, by then you'll want a park that's totally unique and effectively the anti-corporate park in every possible way (amazing food, cheap food, no admission fee, no parking fee, amazingly fast and friendly operators, no need for a skip-the line program, flats that run fast and long cycles, great classic dark rides, classic rides you've never seen anywhere else, the best bumper cars and flyers anywhere, a flying turns and 2 world class wood coasters... plus a brand new steel looping coaster coming this year).

Okay Knoebels the night before Hersheypark has been added. It's not like it's a major detour to go there and and we can't really miss out on riding The Pheonix at night!

Like everyone else is saying, Knoebels is definitely worth adding to your route. If you really wanted to, you could just go to Knoebels for about 3 hours and then head to Hersheypark, but I'd recommend spending the afternoon and evening at Knoebels and doing one day for Hersheypark. Although it's not a big park, Knoebels has enough to do that it could justify a full day (though a full day isn't required) and Hershey can be done in a day if you're mainly focusing on rides. If it is really crowded, Hershey does have a skip-the-line pass but I would advise against it unless absolutely necessary as it's a bit of a rip off.

One other route suggestion would be to leave Dollywood early (say 8 P.M.) and drive a bit so that you are within two hours of Kings Island the next day (the Lexington, KY area would probably be a good place to stop). This would give you a full day at Kings Island, and then you could skip it the next morning for more time at Cedar Point. The way you have it planned barely allows enough time for Kings Island and would make a Fast Lane pass mandatory in order to do everything, as you wouldn't be arriving until mid-afternoon and would probably need to leave by 1 P.M. the next day. If you want more time for Dollywood or the Pigeon Forge area, you could drive up after Carowinds, as you'll probably be done there before dinner (when I visited several years ago an opening to 4 P.M. visit was sufficient even without Fast Lane).

Depending on what time your flight is you may want to skip Dorney Park. If you'd only have an hour or two for the park it probably wouldn't be worth the stop, but if you've got around 4 hours I'd recommend visiting (especially if you have a Platinum Pass). There's nothing special about the park, but the two B&M coasters are fun and it does have a few unique attractions. Just remember that it's a 2 hour drive to the airport from there.

The rest of the route looks good. As for your other questions:

-I've never seen a park so crowded that you couldn't buy a skip-the-line pass that day. You're also better off waiting until you arrive to purchase one so you don't end up wasting money when it's not needed. For this trip, you will definitely want Fast Lane on your full day at Cedar Point (don't buy it for the partial day) and will want a Gold Flash Pass at Six Flags Great Adventure. Depending on crowds, you'll probably want Fast Lane at Kings Island and Kings Dominion as well, though you probably won't need at Carowinds. Don't worry about Fast Lane at Dorney Park, as it is rarely crowded (on my Saturday visit this summer nothing was more than a 3 train wait). As for other parks, Dollywood's Q2Q is worth buying simply because it is really cheap. Hersheypark's Fast Track is overpriced for what it offers, so I would only buy it if you find the park extremely crowded. You probably won't need a Quick Queue at Busch Gardens Williamsburg as there aren't that many rides there and you'll be visiting on a weekday.

-Yes, buy the Platinum Pass at the first park you'll visit (Kings Dominion in this case). If you buy it at another park you may not be able to process it at Kings Dominion.

Like everyone else is saying, Knoebels is definitely worth adding to your route. If you really wanted to, you could just go to Knoebels for about 3 hours and then head to Hersheypark, but I'd recommend spending the afternoon and evening at Knoebels and doing one day for Hersheypark. Although it's not a big park, Knoebels has enough to do that it could justify a full day (though a full day isn't required) and Hershey can be done in a day if you're mainly focusing on rides. If it is really crowded, Hershey does have a skip-the-line pass but I would advise against it unless absolutely necessary as it's a bit of a rip off.

 

One other route suggestion would be to leave Dollywood early (say 8 P.M.) and drive a bit so that you are within two hours of Kings Island the next day (the Lexington, KY area would probably be a good place to stop). This would give you a full day at Kings Island, and then you could skip it the next morning for more time at Cedar Point. The way you have it planned barely allows enough time for Kings Island and would make a Fast Lane pass mandatory in order to do everything, as you wouldn't be arriving until mid-afternoon and would probably need to leave by 1 P.M. the next day. If you want more time for Dollywood or the Pigeon Forge area, you could drive up after Carowinds, as you'll probably be done there before dinner (when I visited several years ago an opening to 4 P.M. visit was sufficient even without Fast Lane).

 

Depending on what time your flight is you may want to skip Dorney Park. If you'd only have an hour or two for the park it probably wouldn't be worth the stop, but if you've got around 4 hours I'd recommend visiting (especially if you have a Platinum Pass). There's nothing special about the park, but the two B&M coasters are fun and it does have a few unique attractions. Just remember that it's a 2 hour drive to the airport from there.

 

The rest of the route looks good. As for your other questions:

 

-I've never seen a park so crowded that you couldn't buy a skip-the-line pass that day. You're also better off waiting until you arrive to purchase one so you don't end up wasting money when it's not needed. For this trip, you will definitely want Fast Lane on your full day at Cedar Point (don't buy it for the partial day) and will want a Gold Flash Pass at Six Flags Great Adventure. Depending on crowds, you'll probably want Fast Lane at Kings Island and Kings Dominion as well, though you probably won't need at Carowinds. Don't worry about Fast Lane at Dorney Park, as it is rarely crowded (on my Saturday visit this summer nothing was more than a 3 train wait). As for other parks, Dollywood's Q2Q is worth buying simply because it is really cheap. Hersheypark's Fast Track is overpriced for what it offers, so I would only buy it if you find the park extremely crowded. You probably won't need a Quick Queue at Busch Gardens Williamsburg as there aren't that many rides there and you'll be visiting on a weekday.

 

-Yes, buy the Platinum Pass at the first park you'll visit (Kings Dominion in this case). If you buy it at another park you may not be able to process it at Kings Dominion.

Thanks a lot for the advice. The plan is now to travel from Cedar Point and arrive at Knoebels at 4ish and stay till close, then just have the one full day at Hershey.

The only reason we've added Dorney in is because it is right on the way back to the airport and also because our plane doesn't leave till 9pm, So we will have a fairly large amount of time to kill that day. Plus Talon does look pretty good!

I was a bit worried about the Kings Island part of the trip, as KI shuts at 8PM that day too. What you suggested is a good idea and we will probably do this, as I think Dollywood shuts at 7PM that day anyway.

Thanks everyone for the previous advice, it was very helpful to us.

We have just booked the hire car, all the hotels and brought our platinum passes, so all that is left to buy are the non Cedar Fair park tickets. I know that the Six Flags website is probably best for Great Adventure tickets, but does anyone know the best value way of buying tickets for Busch Gardens, Dollywood and Hersheypark.

Many thanks in advance.