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US Parks

bluesonichd

bluesonichd

TS Member
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Q: If you were going to the US for a holiday and you love your thrill rides, were would you go?
East or West coast, what are the better parks to visit.
 
The East Coast has a hell of a lot of good parks you can visit. These include Six Flags Great Adventure and New England, HersheyPark, Dorney Park, Kenny Wood, Cedar Point, Bush Gardens Williamsburg and King's Dominion, and that covers from Massachusetts down to Virginia which is over 600 miles.

Not sure about the West Coast, I know that has SFMM, Knott's and Disneyland/California's Adventure.
 
Depends what type of trip you want. If you don't mind a lot of travelling and driving around over there then I'd definitely say the East Coast. There plenty of great parks to choose from and a number of viable road trip routes you can plan.

However if you want to be in a more concentrated area with less travelling the West may be for you. I've not been but in and around LA you've got the two Disney parks, Universal, Magic Mountain and Knotts Berry Farm.

:)
 
I have done the West Coast and LA area and i am going again latter this year, If you are going just for theme parks then you can do the LA area with very little driving, we stayed in the Hollywood area for 4 days with no car, visiting Universal, santa monica and other area attractions all easily via public transport. we then had a car and drove up to Sixflags magic mountain staying two nights in a hotel less than half a mile walk to the turnstyles. we then drove to Anaheim and handed the car back, we stayed in Anaheim for 6 nights, visiting Disney, knotts etc. The hotel in Anaheim was half a mile walk to the disney parks and there is easy public transport to visit knotts, shopping outlets and other attractions. Overall we had about 7 theme park days and 5 non park days. You also have Seaworld and Legoland around 1.5hrs drive from Anaheim which we didn't visit.

However the West Coast has some amazing non theme park places to visit where you would need a car and you could easily spend three weeks doing without visiting a theme park.
 
Thanks guys, is looking like LA is winning, as never been to th US before dont want the first visit to be meh!
Florida does sound a lot more touristy, not that I have any expectations that California will be any different.
Have read online that some who have visited 6 Flags have felt very unsafe there and lots of gangs. Not realy an ejoyable day then.
 
Yep although LA area is great if you havn't been to the USA before i would go to Orlando as your first USA holiday.

We didnt have any probs at Six Flags, it was Fright fest when we went so park open from 10.30-1am, even at night never did we feel unsafe. Worth getting a flash pass though as not the best operations and ensures you get on all the main coasters and re-ride the best ones.
 
Can't speak for the LA area, but trust me when I say that if you like theme parks, Orlando is where it's at - Disney takes it to a whole new level, and Universal has some mind-blowing moments too. Plus, if you're after thrill, there's Busch Gardens. There's always the argument of tourism vs. culture but in Orlando, tourism IS the culture. International Drive is proof of this. But if you do feel like seeing a bit more of America beyond the parks, there is the Kennedy Space Center nearby, as well as loads of alligator tours, old Floridian towns and even plantation tours if history is your thing. In terms of theme parks though, Orlando is the place to go.
 
If you want to do other things as well as theme parks, I personally would suggest LA. San Diego is only a couple of hours away from LA and home to the Belmont Park Giant Dipper, as well as being a lovely area. In LA itself, you have the touristy stuff like Hollywood Boulevard, a trip to the Observatory is well recommended with great views of LA and the Hollywood sign. Take a drive along Mullholland drive and try and spot some celebs. Drive to Santa Monica and relax by the beach or go to Venice Beach.

About 4 hours away to the North is Monteray Bay and Santa Cruz, with the other Giant Dipper in California which is well worth a trip up too.

Theme Park wise, there is of course Six Flags Magic Mountain.... My happy place. It gets slagged off by most, but I love the place. Been there 4 times and going back for another couple of days next year. I have never felt intimidated in any Six Flags parks and I have been to 7 of them including Great Adventure which does get a bad rep. Never seen any trouble in any of them and always had a great time.

We have been fortunate to visit 27 US states so far and we absolutely love California. The people, the culture, the climate. Florida is OK, but we hated Orlando. Even as theme park geeks, we couldn't hack Orlando. Also Disneyland is far better then Disney World !!!;)
 
:)

Well yeah, when you get into a Disney park at 9am and leave at 2am, it kind of put us off the whole Orlando "thing". Plus the parks were packed and it was like, "just get us the hell out of here".

We don't like the area of Orlando at all. Islands of Adventure we liked, but that was about it. This was in 2009 by the way, before Potter opened.

We just prefer California and their parks. We did the San Diego to San Francisco, so experienced some great parks, whereas Orlando parks with 1 exception were blah.

Disney florida is nothing in comparison to Disney California in our opinion. It will be a long time before we go back to Orlando. Although we did like Miami etc.
 
I don't have the distaste for Orlando that PeteA has, and I'm looking forward to going back after some years, but I also prefer California these days. I think the two Disney parks there are equal to four scattered in Florida, with an in-replicable 'magic' at the core of the original. Also, Orlando is unhardly pleasant, but it's a scenic and cultural wasteland. If you're looking for a more invigorating trip with different flavours, CA offers a lot more.
 
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