BobFunland
Posts: 7962
Registered: 8/9/2001
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 1/9/2006 12:45:44 AM
Alright guys now that I have my UK flight and stuff in line, I also put together my road trip. Feel free to add comments, suggestions or tips since I haven't been to any of the parks, excluding Great Adventure. Let me know if you want to meet me, I'm not sure if I can convince christina to go on this long of a trip (plus she's not going to the UK which makes things tough.
Tue. May 30
Leave Carrollton GA
Approx. 321 miles
Beech Bend
Approx. 110 miles
Spend the night
Wed. May 31
Kentucky Kingdom
Approx. 80 miles
Holiday World
Spend the night
((stay somewhere between NW and IB))
Thur. June 1
Approx. 272 miles
Indiana Beach
Approx. 159 miles
Spend the night
Fri. June 2
Six Flags Great America
Spend the night
Sat. June 3
Approx. 168 miles
Dells
Spend the night
Sun. June 4
Approx. 300 miles
((could be 400 by road, 200 if I take the ferry. If I drive around I'll prob. stay in a hotel 1/2 way)
Michigan's Adventure
Spend the night
Mon. June 5
Approx. 363 miles
Geauga Lake
Spend the night in PA
Tue. June 6
Approx. 455 miles
Six Flags Great Adventure
Approx. 42 miles
NYC - incl. Coney and whatever
Spend the night
Leave Wed. June 7
Virgin Atlantic VS004
Depart 6:45
-- UK --
-- Scandanavia --
Return Wed. June 21
Virgin Atlantic VS003
Arrive 12:10
... still undecided. May head back to family in SW PA
I don't have many specific questions, but here's what I have as of now:
- KK and Holiday World in the same day: do-able, right?
- Parking is free at IB, HW and Mt. Olympus, right?
- Are there any discounts available for Mt. Olympus or either Cedar Fair park?
- Any hotel recommendations or anything else?
- Any short stops that I'm missing? I know of the little woodie in metro Chicago but that's all that I can think of right now.
Thanks for any future help 
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Message updated 1/9/2006 12:46:23 AM by BobFunland
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larrygator
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 1/9/2006 10:03:02 AM
KK and HW are do-able in the same day, I hope HW has late hours that day.
Yes, I recall parking was free at those three parks.
Mt. Olympus usually has a $3 off coupon on there website. If my buy one get one free coupons come in early from owning Cedar Fair stock I'll mail you one if Christina is traveling with you. However, they usually don't arrive until mid-May.
I personally like staying at Candlewood Suites, they are all fairly new and very clean and usually reasonably priced.
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Mom always said, "Don't play ball in the house".
Message updated 1/9/2006 10:03:39 AM by larrygator
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Animan1
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1/9/2006 12:18:26 PM
Hey, I'm not sure if I'll be able to meet you at SFGAm, since I don't think I'm getting a SF Season Pass this year, but it could be cool and I'll see how things work out. Thanks for letting us know the dates and such, and no matter if we do meet up at SFGAm or not, should be a great trip. 
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mrceagle
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1/9/2006 12:41:34 PM
The Coney Island area is verry dence. Hit Wonder wheel and Spookaroma at Dino's but thats about it for worth while rides. If you like Aquariums I have heard allof of good things bout the Aquarion right there in Coney Island. It's right on the other side of the Cyclone.
if you have tiem in NY you may want to pop over to Rye playland. a few good coaster from the looks of it. tickets for rides so you can hit the few thins you want.
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hrrytraver
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1/9/2006 2:19:56 PM
bobf-
i am concerned about your june 6th and 7th leg. western PA to great adventure will be a chunk of a drive. (4-5 hours?) on top of that, great adventure to coney island is not TOO far, but between traffic and parking will be more time consuming than it sounds. combine this with the fact that the kind of transatlantic flight you're taking on the 7th is the classic red eye to europe, a trip i've done many times. now i realize that you're young and healthy, but i always get jet lag from this type of flight. it's wierd being in europe at sunrise but your body still thinks it is one in the morning. you will want to stay up all day and see stuff and that's when things start to feel freaky. between your crazy PA and NYC driving day and then jet lag you might be very burned out the first few days in europe. just something to consider.
on a practical note, coney is a good place to end up before going to JFK (is that your departure point?), because it is not very far at all from JFK. after you leave coney you can check into a hotel near the airport.
on a unique note, it just so happens that i hrryT will be returning from eastern europe to JFK airport on june 6th! i will be tuckered out for sure, but i would be willing to meet TPC members at coney island for rides on wonder wheel and cyclone to cure or worsen my own jet lag. i'm sure that larry and adriahna might want to meet there too. don't miss the cyclone bobf!
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BobFunland
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1/9/2006 3:54:20 PM
Thanks for the tips and such guys
Candlewood looks nice.. too bad there are so few of them 
That second half of the trip does worry me. Western Michigan to Cleveland to Jersey will be tough, but I may try to leave both MIA and Geauga fairly early and stay about hafway for both of those hauls. I'll have to work out times and such still...
As for jet lag I've never had it really effect me but then again the farthest I've flown to date is the west coast  That's why I'm headed over a day early, as I'll be able to rest Thursday and maybe do some of the London tourist stuff on Friday (we don't start the 'parks tour' segment until Sat.)
Larry was right, Astroland isn't open anyhow. Perhaps on the return trip I can take a train or something from JFK over to Coney and spend a couple of hours.
I thought about Rye but I'll probably be tired after getting back (hence me looking to shack up with relatives either in Philly or Pittsburg) and I'm sure this won't be my last time in NYC.
Message updated 1/9/2006 3:54:41 PM by BobFunland
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hrrytraver
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1/9/2006 4:48:18 PM
ah nuts, you're right, astroland doesn't open for summer until the 11th. fiddlesticks! i would enjoy meeting theme park critic members for rides in the back seat of the cyclone (bumpy).
bob-
i find the jet lag is worse when you fly east, AKA europe and beyond. i never get jet lag going to cali. when i was 17 years old i went to france on an overnight flight and didn't get any jet lag but that's because i was full of youthful vigor (didn't sleep a wink on the flight either) and was basically really excited to be in another country for the first time in my life (excluding canada). however, ever since then i get it everytime, in spite of the thrill of being in europe again. it's just strange to be getting off a plane into a brand new day at the time i would normally be going to bed (i go to bed around 1am every night.)
Message updated 1/9/2006 4:49:08 PM by hrrytraver
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Animan1
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1/9/2006 5:17:01 PM
I know I touched on this earlier, but I wanted to elaborate:
I've always wanted to meet up with one or more members from TPC, but have never gotten the chance (and been very jealous when other people did get to meet up ). However, I think I may actually be able to get over to SFGAm on June 2, nothing is definite of course, but it is a real possibility. After all, someone has to show you around the park, Bob.
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BobFunland
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1/10/2006 12:04:04 PM
Sounds good to me animan... I'll bring this back up closer to the trip
harry - I'll just hope for the best and put stock in my youthful energy and habit of odd sleeping hours that I already have.
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Animan1
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1/10/2006 2:28:46 PM
Yep, it would be a great time. Slightly off topic, but this is what you have to look forward to Bob:
Bull
Back Section
Home
I did have one question for you Bob - were you thinking of doing Hurricane Harbor as well? I was guessing no, but if you were, I imagine it would be very tough to do both in the same day.
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larrygator
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1/10/2006 4:51:36 PM
I agree with Animan about SFGAm being an all day park. I fly through parks quickly and I barely got in all the coasters the day I visited SFGAm. I almost missed Whizzer and Raging Bull. If you are staying the night in Chicago after SFGAm, you might want to consider spending 2 hours at SFGAm to catch anything you miss the next morn before driving to The Dells. Then stay at Mt Olympus until you can buy the nighttime discount wristband for Avalanche. You will get plenty of rides on the MtO coasters and dozens of rides on Avalanche.
But I certainly understand how you might have to do Hurricane Harbor if Christina is with you.
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BobFunland
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1/10/2006 5:33:12 PM
Looking at schedules, I'll probably try to stay at a hotel close to G-Am both Thursday and Friday night. IB will probably close at 7 so I could reasonably be in a hotel north of Chicago by 10PM.
Like Larry indicated Hurricane Harbor depends on if Christina comes along. If its 75-80+ degrees, I'll probably end up visiting, even if just for 2-3 hours like at NE. If so, we may 'play it by ear' and Saturday morning could become an option if there is anything we missed that we'd like to ride. I could honestly care less about probably 4 of the coasters... too bad they haven't released their 06 calander, I'd like to know if they will be open 10-10 or 10-8 like they were the same day last year...
Thanks for the links BTW
Message updated 1/10/2006 5:33:36 PM by BobFunland
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Animan1
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1/10/2006 6:07:47 PM
Sure, no problem. Just curious, which coasters were you thinking of skipping? I imagine you could skip S:UF and Deja Vu at the very least, since you have those at SFOG, and Demon, and Ragin' Cajun, are also probably skippable if lines are long for other coasters and you want to make sure you get some rides in. Other than that, I'd recommend everything.
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larrygator
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1/10/2006 8:02:11 PM
and B:TR is another clone at SFoG for BFL
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BobFunland
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1/10/2006 10:13:08 PM
Yea, Batman, Deja Vu, SUF, the spinning coaster, the kiddie.. none really are must-rides. Really, the only *must-rides* to me are Raging Bull, the woodies, and Whizzer.
I would still love to ride DV just to say I managed to hit it on my first try and be able to pick on ours more 
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Animan1
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1/11/2006 12:19:32 PM
I really like our B:TR, but I know you have one at SFOG so I can see where you would skip it if necessary. I also really like Iron Wolf in the front row, it's a cool, unique stand-up, but I can understand why that's not a must-ride for you too. I like your must-ride list though, and I'm glad to see you put Whizzer up there, it's a great ride.
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larrygator
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1/11/2006 12:32:12 PM
I didn't like Whizzer, but any unique coaster like this is a must ride.
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Animan1
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1/11/2006 3:37:38 PM
Anything in particular you didn't like about it? It may not be very tall or fast, but I always find it to be fun whizzing (pun intended) through the trees. Plus, you get a great view of the park from the top of the spiral, electric lift hill.
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BobFunland
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1/11/2006 3:55:17 PM
Larry just doesn't like Schwarzkopfs  
But at least he recognizes the uniqueness... after all, this is the only Speed Racer left in North America
(I think one was relocated to South America but I'm not sure)
I'm still pissed that Flamingoland closed their pair of Schwarzkopfs the year before we went  I've read that Bullet was a great ride...
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coaster05
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1/11/2006 4:12:14 PM
BFL I will keep my eyes open for any discounts to help you out. You are just going to be all up in my area since I live in South Bend. Unfortunately a lot of those days are school days or I would try to meet you and say Hi before England. Any questions you may have you can send to my email you should have it from your site.
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larrygator
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1/11/2006 5:36:27 PM
I guess it was just too built up for me. The whizzing was as thrilling as I was lead to believe. I will have to look at my review to refresh my memory.
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Animan1
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1/11/2006 5:57:29 PM
That's how MF was for me (I know, MF, hard to believe that being too built up). It was a great ride, but I had heard over and over that it was the greatest coaster in the world, which I don't believe it true, so I came away a little disappointed.
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