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Introducing 'Top Tips for Visiting Theme Parks'

By Robert Niles
Published: August 29, 2008 at 2:42 PM
We've got a new feature on Theme Park Insider, starting today. It's a "top tips" list, and I'm asking for your help in building it.

Just click to http://www.themeparkinsider.com/tips/ to get started. There, you can submit your most useful tips when visiting specific theme parks and theme park resorts. They can be about what rides to go on first, what to eat, what to look for, anything.

Here's where it gets cool. Once you've submitted a tip, then you and any other Theme Park Insider reader can vote on it - yes or no. The most popular tips will rise to the top of the list. (And the least popular ones, eventually, will disappear.)

(It's like Digg, but for snippets of advice, instead of for webpages.)

I hope that you'll be generous in sharing your best "insider" tips for getting the most from a theme park visit, and that you will keep checking back to vote on the tips that others have submitted. Over the weekend, as we get more tips in the database, I'll be adding links to park-specific tip lists from each park's listing page, as well as from the home page.

Finally, I am sure that TPI readers have plenty of tips to share on other topics, as well, not just theme parks. So I invite you to beta-test my new site TipReel.com, which is based on this same concept. Tell your friends, too.

Thanks, again, for reading Theme Park Insider.

Readers' Opinions

From Anthony Murphy on August 30, 2008 at 8:27 AM
Excellent!
From Scottland Jacobson on August 31, 2008 at 11:17 AM
The Disney Extra Magic Hours one needs clarification.

You should go to extra morning hours and then leave that park about 2 hours after the normal opening time and visit another Disney park without Extra Magic Hours.

The extra evening magic hours can be killer at such parks as Animal Kingdom. We took advantage of the evening hours at AK and rode Expedition Everest about 10 times in a row with no wait.

From Robert Niles on August 31, 2008 at 10:27 PM
In general, if you think you have a better way of phrasing a tip, or if you disagree with a tip, submit your own version (or better tip), and let folks vote yours up over the other.
From Deidre Dennis on September 3, 2008 at 3:51 PM
Absolutely go as early as possible. We went to Disneyland the week of August 16-22 and decided to be there at gate opening (8am). The back of the park (New Orleans Square, Adventureland and Frontierland) were literally ghost towns. I even took pictures and it's only us in those areas. We rode Splash Mountain back to back where we didn't have to get out of the boat; the same with Indiana Jones. I've always heard about going early but it was insane. Felt like we had the park to ourselves. Particularly with Disneyland, I think most folks are taking their little tots to do all the Fantasyland stuff right away since it gets so crowded.

Also, late in the evening, around 9-ish, there were no lines or waits for a lot of the attractions in Fantasyland.

We went to Magic Mountain during this time, too, and the only one with a long wait was X2, which by the way felt rougher to me than I remember in '07. Anyway, to ride all the other popular rides the longest wait was maybe 20 minutes, and the park was packed. We arrived at 10:30am and ended up leaving around 3 because we hit everything, and had time to eat in the park.

I think the day of the week factors in, depending on the time of year. More importantly then any of the stuff mentioned above, always give yourself enough days to visit any of the parks so that you don't get frustrated when you are visiting on a busy day.

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