Multi-Park trip

[warfelg]

Ok ParkFans.net folks help me out! (Sorry if I'm putting this somewhere it doesn't belong and feel free to move)

I want to take a trip late spring/early summer 2019. I'm torn between yet another trip to Universal, a trip to WDW for the first time in a long time.....or lastly a Parks Trip. It's the last one I'm trying to get some help with.

I'm based in Richmond Va, so I'm looking for a good trip to make. I don't mind having a 'drive day' here and there; would like to try for some parks where I can wake up early, be at the next park by the time it opens. I want to find myself at Cedar Point at some part of this trip.

So.....what's going to be a good route to hit up some of the "must sees"; some "hidden gems", and some "you might forgot about it's".

Bonus points for the ability to buy a season pass and travel with it!

 

[b.mac]

Easiest trip for you to do (as a breaking in) would be Carowinds, Six Flags over Georgia, and Dollywood. There's also Wild Adventures and Lake Winnie which are nearby SFoG. Dollywood has a bunch of random bits in the surrounding area as well.

If you want to be crazy you can do what I wanted to do this past June. Holiday World, Kentucky Kingdom, Kings Island, Cedar Point, Waldameer, Kennywood, Hersheypark. You also have Stricker's Grove (depending on what time you go) near KI, Camden Park in WV in the area, Conneaut Lake just south of Waldameer, and a bunch of other odds and ends Pennsylvania will have to offer.

 

[Zachary]

Kentucky Kingdom, Holiday World, Kings Island, and Cedar Point seem like they'd make a great grouping. Kentucky Kingdom and Holiday World are both budget-friendly and you can get a Cedar Fair Platinum for KI and CP.

Also, just as a more general statement, Coast2Coaster is your friend!

 

[Unagi]

If I were you I'd put off a Universal & Disney trip until 2020. By then the new Star Wars land will be open at DHS and IOA will have the new Potter Coaster (scheduled to open in late 2019).

I second Zach's suggestion at a KK, HW, KI & CP trip. HW is one hour west of KK and a straight shot down I-64 out there. KK to KI can be done in under 2 hours if the traffic isn't bad. And if you go to HW you can drive 100 miles south and hit up Beech Bend in Bowling Green, KY and ride their GCI. The long stretch would be KI to CP which is pretty much the same distance driving from KD to Hersheypark.

 

[Shane]

You could do something like I did last year. Buy a Platinum Cedar Fair Pass, and get a dirt cheap SixFlags pass at SixFlags America.

I flew to Saint Louis and rented a car.

1. Did a full day at Six Flags Saint Louis
2. Drove to Kansas City and spent a day at Worlds of Fun
3. Drove to Minneapolis and spent an afternoon at Valleyfair - the park was totally dead b/c there were bad storms that morning so completed the whole park in just a couple hours. Had it been busier the plan was to return the next day.
4. Collected credits at Mall of America
5. Drove to Wisconsin Dells and stayed the night as it's halfway to Chicago, then collected the coaster credits that I could from Mt Olympus. Other than getting the coaster credits there is no reason to do anything else at the park. It's the dumpiest dump I have ever seen in my life. Spent the rest of the day driving to Chicago.
6. Spent a day at Six Flags Great America
7. Spent the next day being all touristy in Chicago seeing the sights and stuff.
8. Flew back home

So you could skip the whole tourist in Chicago part and keep your roadtrip going which was originally my plan but didn't have enough time. You're looking at a roughly 5:30 drive from Chicago to Cedar Point so it's totally doable if you have the time. I highly recommend doing park trips, they make for great credit grabs and can be a whole lot of fun. I do one every couple of years, before the one above we drove up through NY to Niagara Falls and then drove to Toronto for Canada's Wonderland before driving across to Quebec to hit up LaRonde (SixFlags) before driving back down through Vermont where we visited the Ben and Jerry's Factory before heading home through Rhode Island. You could totally include both Kings Island and Cedar Point in a possible Canada's Wonderland/LaRonde roadtrip.

 

[warfelg]

If I were you I'd put off a Universal & Disney trip until 2020. By then the new Star Wars land will be open at DHS and IOA will have the new Potter Coaster (scheduled to open in late 2019).

I second Zach's suggestion at a KK, HW, KI & CP trip. HW is one hour west of KK and a straight shot down I-64 out there. KK to KI can be done in under 2 hours if the traffic isn't bad. And if you go to HW you can drive 100 miles south and hit up Beech Bend in Bowling Green, KY and ride their GCI. The long stretch would be KI to CP which is pretty much the same distance driving from KD to Hersheypark.

What’s kinda funny about the WDW/UO thing is that’s actually why I want to go now. I was thinking of going before two huge attractions open and beat those crowds waiting for it.

 

[warfelg]

You could do something like I did last year. Buy a Platinum Cedar Fair Pass, and get a dirt cheap SixFlags pass at SixFlags America.

I flew to Saint Louis and rented a car.

1. Did a full day at Six Flags Saint Louis
2. Drove to Kansas City and spent a day at Worlds of Fun
3. Drove to Minneapolis and spent an afternoon at Valleyfair - the park was totally dead b/c there were bad storms that morning so completed the whole park in just a couple hours. Had it been busier the plan was to return the next day.
4. Collected credits at Mall of America
5. Drove to Wisconsin Dells and stayed the night as it's halfway to Chicago, then collected the coaster credits that I could from Mt Olympus. Other than getting the coaster credits there is no reason to do anything else at the park. It's the dumpiest dump I have ever seen in my life. Spent the rest of the day driving to Chicago.
6. Spent a day at Six Flags Great America
7. Spent the next day being all touristy in Chicago seeing the sights and stuff.
8. Flew back home

So you could skip the whole tourist in Chicago part and keep your roadtrip going which was originally my plan but didn't have enough time. You're looking at a roughly 5:30 drive from Chicago to Cedar Point so it's totally doable if you have the time. I highly recommend doing park trips, they make for great credit grabs and can be a whole lot of fun. I do one every couple of years, before the one above we drove up through NY to Niagara Falls and then drove to Toronto for Canada's Wonderland before driving across to Quebec to hit up LaRonde (SixFlags) before driving back down through Vermont where we visited the Ben and Jerry's Factory before heading home through Rhode Island. You could totally include both Kings Island and Cedar Point in a possible Canada's Wonderland/LaRonde roadtrip.

I’ll be doing Chicago in two years getting in some family time while I’m there.

 

[warfelg]

So where looking right now is:

SOUTHERN ROUTE - Start with a day at BGW (1). Use the next day driving to Carowinds (stopping for a round of golf) (2). A day at Carowinds (3). Up early to get to Dollywood (4). Up early to get to KI (5). Travel day to CP (golf stop in Columbus or Toledo) (6). 2 days for CP (7-8). Up early to get to Kennywood and drive to moms hous that night (9). Go home (10).

NORTHERN ROUTE - Start with a day at KD (1). Up early to get to SFA (2). Drive that night to Hersheypark. Hersheypark day (3). Up early to SFGA (4). Up early to get to Dorney (5). Up early to Kneobles (6). Drive day with a possible stop (7). Cedar point days (8/9). Drive to moms with a Kennywood stop (10). Drive home (11).

Where I’m torn is the southern route has more parks I would like to see but would end up more expensive. The northern route has parks I’ve been to, but more coasters I want to try, and it would be cheaper.

 

[mtpelepele]

Did one a few tears back (a couple of these are gone, so kinda dates the trip) but this was all done from a Friday afternoon to Sunday a week later. Started in Newport News VA, then proceeded to hit Camden, SFKK (Now just Kentucky Kingdom), Holiday World, Kings Island, Wyandot Lake (Now part of the Columbus zoo), Cedar Point, SFGL (gone), Conneaut Lake, SFDL (Now just Darien Lake, but rumored to be flagged again soon), and Canada's Wonderland. Last day was spent driving back home. Hell of a trip. In an epic show of poor planning, I hit Canada's Wonderland on July 1.