Other than that I definately want to fit in Holiday World, Cedar Point, Busch Gardens Europe and Kings Island. (I'm going to all the Florida parks on a seperate trip this July.) Any other ideas?
Of course, nobody can compete with WDW outside of Universal when it comes to theming, but SFGA still has themed lands very similar to the Magic Kingdom. I know I am bias, its my home park. The town that SFGA is in, Gurnee, has also blossomed due to the park with excellent resturants, shopping, and hotels. In fact, there is a special deal that includes tickets and hotel stay with a indoor water park resort called Key Lime Cove. It is very similar to what Disney or Universal does with their resort hotels.
The two best, from this site it seems, is Six Flags Great America and Six Flags Great Adventure.
I believe the original "Six Flags Park" in Texas (I can't remember which one) is also really good!
Whichever one has the 'Closed' and/or 'Condemned' sign on the perimeter fence.
Surely there are better parks which would catch your interest?
Happy travels, no matter what you decide.
#1 - Magic Mountain (flagship)
#2 - Over Texas (the original SF park)
#3 - Fiesta Texas (supposed to have some of the best theme park shows in the nation)
#4 - Great Adventure (Kingda Ka & El Toro)
Runners-up: Great America is one of the most popular, Over Georgia has the recently renovated and unique Monster Mansion dark ride, SFNE has Bizzaro which is widely considered to be the best steel coaster in the world, and Discovery Kingdom is the SF version of SeaWorld.
Where is the love for Great America? I believe it is one of the oldest parks in the chain, has tons of theming, and their roller coasters are pretty solid!
Plus, you can come and see Chicago!
Great Adventure, Magic Mountain,and Great America are a must see as others have stated. But as you mentioned, go with the other parks as well, to break up the Six Flags overload.
I don't know if this still is included or not, but if you buy the season pass for Six Flags, you can use it at all their parks. I know it did when we went on our trip and it saved alot of money on tickets and parking. But being from the UK, I don't know if this will make a difference when buying a season pass.
(I'll be at Six Flags Over Georgia on Saturday and will be having a great time. First time in two years that the ACE event wasn't marred by rain)
But, if you know a better point to make it look good, I would love to hear as I to need an excuse for my mom to visit that park (and reviews mentioning gangs do not help) :)
I should be writing a trip report about a visit to SFSTL soon.
Besides, who doesn't want to go to Texas at least once in his or her life?
And no, Jake, SFStL did not make my list, although I will be visiting in June to see if it is as improved as you have promised.
Good or Bad for any park, theme or otherwise, is highly subjective. I will admit I probably shouldn't have made that original post, and I apologize if I offended anyone by doing so.
My grudge against SF as a chain, and in regards to their euphemistically-named "Discovery Kingdom" in particular, is based pretty much on the hatchet-job they did on the former Marine World park. I'm uncertain if I will ever be able to forgive what they did to the place. As I've said before, I would rather have seen the place turned back into a golf course than become the horrendous mockery of its former self which it is today.
I don't expect anyone who was not a 'regular' at the original Marine World to understand. With that in mind, I will make an extra effort to keep my keyboard silent whenever SF is mentioned in times to come.
Happy travels.
There is always a crowd, no matter when you go. I don't care if it's raining all day while school is in session, the park is still going to be packed. I've never gotten on everything that I wanted to ride in a day, even before Kingda Ka and El Toro showed up.
The park is dirty, the coasters aren't always maintained as well as they should be. In fact, I don't think I've ever been there on a day where every coaster was open.
The park is dirty, line jumping is rampant, and there's just not enough upside to make up for that.
When I was a teenager, it seemed cool. Now? Not so much. Since I moved away from New Jersey, I have gone back every year to visit friends and family. I've taken time out of those trips to go to amusement parks, but not Great Adventure.
I'm far from a Great Adventure fanboy, even though I've been going since it opened in 1974.It's probably only my 4th or 5th favorite park. That being said:
Crowds? Hit or miss. I've had many days the last 3-4 years where I didn't wait more than 15 minutes for anything. Last October, I got 53 rides on Toro in one day. The park is much cleaner than it was in past years, and line jumping is no longer "rampant" I saw three people being thrown out for that on Opening Day Sunday. It sounds from your post like you haven't been there the last couple of years, but maybe I'm wrong. Maybe it's time to give it another try.
It has the reputation for being one of the cleanest parks around and its chalk full of coasters! (Has been tied SEVERAL times for the most coasters in one U.S park, now secound only to Cedar Point).
Aside from this, Magic Mountain has been the site of several firsts and record breakers in roller coaster history...
-The Revolution (First coaster with a 360 loop in the world, paved the way for what we now know as the modern coaster)
-Colossus (Fastest, largest dual track wooden coaster at the time of its opening)
-Ninja (First suspended swing coaster in the West coast)
-Viper (Holds the world record for the highest vertical 360 loop)
-Riddler's Revenge (Holds the record for fastest and tallest stand up coaster)
-X2 (Worlds first...and one of only two in the world, 4th dimensional coaster)
-Superman the Escape (First coaster to reach speeds of 100 mph)
-Tatsu (The world's tallest, fastest and longest flying roller coaster)
With so much going for it, Magic Mountain is most DEFINANTLY one of the best Six Flags parks around!! I only hope that they keep going with the coaster pace and build more in the near future...I mean, its a pretty big park and they most definantly have the space for it....
In order words...EXPAND damn you! You guys are up in the middle of nowhere with desert mountains surrounding you...build more coasters!! :D
