Written by Robert Niles
Published: July 8, 2004 at 5:46 PM
Employees at two local theme parks recently e-mailed me, asking that I give poorly-reviewed attractions at their parks a second look. With some time on my hands, thanks to a generous buy-out from the Tribune Company and a new day job not set to start until next month, I've decided to take a step beyond that. It's time for a blow-out theme park tour.
Next week, I'll be visiting five Southern California theme parks in five days. And reporting each day's trip here on Theme Park Insider. Then, it's off to Orlando for a week, with visits scheduled to some of Central Florida's parks. After that, I'm back to L.A. for a week's rest before flying to Ohio.
Here's the tentative schedule:
If you are a cast member, employee or regular visitor to one of these parks, and have some tips for what I ought not miss, let me know. If there's a show or ride that's gotten an unfair shake on TPI (in your opinion), tell me and I'll give it another look. If there are major rides that will be closed when I'm visiting, or rides I ought to be certain to see first thing, let me know, too. You can respond below or e-mail me.
I won't be at each park from open to close. With so many parks on my agenda, I just couldn't stand up to that schedule. So I'll be hitting each park at opening, and staying through the early afternoon. With single rider lines, and a good (I hope) schedule, that ought to provide enough time to see the eight top attractions at each park that I want to see. (The exception will be Cedar Point, which, believe it or not, I've not visited before. So I'm devoting a full day for that park.)
With so many parks to see in such a short period, I'll be able to make apples-to-apples comparisons on who's doing the best job running their parks. Typically, I visit parks with my two kids in tow. But this time, I'll be seeing most parks solo, allowing me complete freedom on what to ride, and when.
So what do I need to see? What should I do first each day? Where should I have lunch in each park? What ought I avoid at all costs? The TPI rankings will guide me, but I'd love to hear some personal appeals and anecdotes from folks who want to make a case for a place that's been overlooked or misunderstood by TPI readers.
And I'll see you back here each day throughout the tour for my daily trip reports!
The shows at these parks aren't exactly golden, riding is the pasttime around here. The food is good though. Famous Dave's BBQ, Johnny Rocket's and Macaroni's is good at Cedar Point. For Kings Island, LaRosas Pizza, WINGS, and Bubba Gump's Shrimp are some good choices.
One more thing, if Top Thrill Dragster is open, get in line for it...in fact if you see it running, leave the line you are in and get in line for it. It still isn't operating 100 percent of the day, and many people have made the mistake of putting it off until later, only to be disappointed because it was down. The ride is an unbelievable experience, but it still has some downtime. It would be a shame to miss it.
good ridin at PKI:
The Beast, Flight of Fear, Delirium, Drop Zone, Vortex, White Water Canyon, Backwards Racer, Flying Eagles (snap the cables), Tomb Raider, and if you like a little pain, Son of Beast. This ride is cool, but makes the Psyclone and any other rough ride out west feel like a massage.
good ridin at Cedar Point:
Dragster, Millenium Force, Raptor, Magnum XL 200, Wicked Twister, Snake River Falls, Gemini, Power Tower, and Blue Streak. Most of those are coasters, but there is a reason for that.
Just some words of wisdom to maximize your fun and minimize your headache....brought to you by your resident Ohio park junkie.
And thanks, Derek, those are exactly the type of tips I'm looking for. Any SFMM employees (and you know who you are...) have any tips for their park?
And to J. Dana, well, I'm not going to the N.Y. Times. But I feel like I'm the only one who isn't....
Will you check out the tea cup attraction at Disneyland? We noticed they were slow on our June trip. A cast member told us someone fell out (or Disney was worried someone would). I wonder if the attraction really is slow, if it will remain that way, and why Disney hates me so to ruin another of my favorite attractions. (I'm still bitter every time I'm on Splash Mountain and I see all my favorite America Sings' characters. I sing the characters old songs to my young teenage nieces --- "Who shot that hole in my sombrero? . . ." --- the teenagers are not amused!)
Really pay attention to the status of Dragster the few days before you go, as it will greatly affect when you should ride it during the day. If it seems to be running well, grab the FreeWay, if it isn't, then just wait in line for it. And remember to walk through the park back-to-front, as you won't have to deal with long waits in the morning.
If you end up with some spare time, go to Town Hall Museaum in Frontier Town and see Snoopy Rocks! ON Ice or Extreme Splash! 2004. Both shows are very good this year and the museaum takes a step back into the history of Cedar Point and how it all started.
And I almost forgot, be sure to arrive early at the park, as they let guests in a limited area inside the park before opening for Donut Time. And new restaurant that serves freshly baked donuts and Starbucks Coffee; great way to start the day. (If anyone was at the IAAPA Convention this past year and saw the donut making machine, it is the same thing).
Good luck on your trip, if you have any questions on Cedar Point, I will most likely know the answer.
also Fastlane is not accepted at Riddlers Revenge
John K, you're an entertaining fellow. keep up the good work!
It's unfortunate you can't see BGT or SeaWorld Orlando. Those are two parks that sound great, but there aren't very many trip reports on them.
My advice: have fun. Try to be less of a critic and more of a fun-loving tourist. For example, Epcot is one of my favorite theme parks, yet the ratings are horrible. Try to lay back and enjoy the experience. Stop and smell the flowers (at parks that offer them). Watch the street entertainment. Have a blast.
That's all I have...
Anyhow, why Disneyland and California Adventure? Spend those days driving north and do Paramount's Great America and Six Flags Marine World. PGA is pretty crappy, but SFMW isn't a bad little park. And there'd be more than two people on this site who have been to them!
Why not do all three Ohio parks? See what Cedar Fair is doing to the old Six Flags park. You could write a good column on whether or not Ohio is a worthy vacation destination for the theme park lover.
http://www.cleveland.com/business/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/business/1089453342282361.xml
I wouldn't advise a trip to Geauga Lake for the purpose of critiqing. It's nowhere near ready to be examined. There are a couple of things still waiting to be reopened, as well as some of those other first season bugs. After all, this was touted as one of the worst Six Flags parks. They have had four months to fix it all. Cedar Fair is good, but not that good...in fact, I don't think that anybody is that good. The word is that they have made some improvements, (new water show, maintenance...etc) but I say give them a little more time before putting them under the microscope.
In mid August I will be going to Geauga Lake for the first time since SF threw in the towel. I'll come back with a trip report of Cedar Fair's GL, and stack it up with the former SFWOA.
As for Knotts, purchased in 1997 by the way, it doesn't have the money of a Disney or Universal, and it's not at the top of the food chain in the Cedar Fair company. Despite that, I would bet that the majority of visitors prefer Knotts to the mess that is Magic Mountain in terms of park experience.
Make no mistake, Cedar Fair is not a theme park company, it is an amusement park company that places rides over theming. They outperform every other theme and amusement park chain in the stock markets and turn a handsome profit every year without the income and help of movie studios and media companies. They got that way by providing customers with great rides and a good overall park experience, so yes, they are good.
CF has themselves a hefty task. They had to open the park and fix it at the same time, and believe me, it needs a lot of fixing. It's a transitional year, and we all know how those times go in business. In my book 4 months isn't enough time, so I will save cold hard judgement for CF's Geauga Lake until next year, and I think that critics should do the same.
Anyhow, what has CF done that has been so fantastic? And don't use the money thing. They have thrown a lot of money at the park: Supreme Scream, Ghostrider, Xcelerator, Perilous Plunge, La Revolucion, Riptide and the new coaster. I wouldn't be surprised to hear they have actually spent more money here than at Cedar Point on attractions lately. Yet it still sucks. And, unlike Cedar Fair, there is actually a lot of really nice theming here. Ride selection is the problem, including some of the ones CF has introduced.
Right now it has only one must-do attraction, and that is Ghostrider. Xcelerator almost makes it, but far too many shy away from it. SFMM has X, Batman and Riddler's Revenge and several that get close - Deja Vu, Goliath and Scream (hey, it has a 9 on this site). Yes, SFMM has a lot of garbage in their lineup, but so does Knotts, and their garbage makes up about 2/3 of the park. SFMM's makes up less than half.
So don't give me caca about CF fixing up Geuaga Lake by next year. AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN. Five years? STILL NOT GONNA HAPPEN. If CF is opening the park before it is ready for the public, then they deserve negative comments. Period.
Amidst your yelling Kevin, you forgot that all the rides you mentioned are in serious question. Some of the rides (X, Riddlers Revenge) have extremely low capacity and long lines, while others you mentioned (Deja Vu) aren't ever open. In fact when was the last time that SFMM had all of their rides running on one day> I think that it's a crock that you can never really count on any of them to be open. Batman might as well sit on the bench when Knott's inverted gets finished, and I've seen some of the reviews that the other MM coasters get, (anybody for a ride on the Psyclone??). Add to that some of the worst food and security ever seen, and you have yourselves a park with just a lot of wasted potential.
Knotts may need a few more good rides,(what did they even have before Cedar Fair in the first place??) but at least they are all open, and the food is edible. I may have to drive a little ways, but I will leave with my sanity and with the knowledge that I could enjoy my day without any worry. Cedar Fair has owned the park for 7 years, which still isn't a very long time when you look at how long it took to build Cedar Point up. They are not Disney, who have big fat checkbooks and can pump hundreds of millions into a new theme park every few years. They also are not Six Flags, who grossly overextended themselves and forgot about the basics of making the customer happy. They don't overspend and go into lots of debt. (what a novel idea huh???)
Has Knott's seen improvement every year?? I think it has. Will Geauga Lake? Yes, but it takes time. At the very least next year it will be in much much better shape than it was as SFWOA. and I never said that it would be the place to visit next year. I said that it would be a lot better and on the right track to being a good regional park.
Robert,
I will be quite interested in your review of Cedar Point. I have been to many parks but, I have not had a chance to visit this park. I know IOA captured the award for best theme park on this site, but I know from visiting other sites, Cedar Point has a very loyal following.