# Best amusement parks? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 21, 2012, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-amusement-parks/628973 "2012-07-21T17:59:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-amusement-parks/628973/21 "2012-07-22T20:19:43Z")
> [@Mdcastleman](#): > > Southwest does fly to Cleveland so I may just have to go out there with or without my sister next summer. I hope others who live in Northern Ohio will be around the next few days to offer suggestions on other things to do in Northern Ohio. Check flights into Toledo and Akron-Canton also, just to see if you can get a better deal. They’re all close enough to Cedar Point. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-amusement-parks/628973/22 "2012-07-22T20:25:44Z")
> [@Mdcastleman](#): > > Thing’s we’re interested in: > Myself: huge bridges, prisons, roller coasters of course, driving roads I haven’t been on before. > > My sister: zoos, anything nautical, good food, literary sites (we saw the Louis Mary Alcott home when we were in Boston), unique/regional resteraunts. > > Both of us: seeing iconic attractions: we’ve seen Biltmore, the FL Keys, the Freedom Trail, Mt Rushmore, I’ve also seen the Gateway Arch, the DC area attractions and the Space Needle. Also anything historical, and just seeing other areas of the country, especially if scenic. > > I did try for an excuse to make her want to go to Ohio, but the best I could do was the Toledo zoo. Sounds like you kept your radius too tight - try rejiggering with your itinerary to include Macinac Island. Yeah, it’s 6 hours away - but you’re looking for an excuse to get to the roller coaster Mecca, right? ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-amusement-parks/628973/23 "2012-07-22T21:03:55Z")
Cleveland has one of the world’s best orchestras and one of the world’s best art museums, along with the natural history museum. There’s also a nifty children’s science museum, all basically in the same block. Around Sandusky, there’s a bunch of water parks, including a Great Wolf Lodge. There’s a wide variety of tourist type attractions in there area, like the African Safari park where you drive through the animals. There’s boating and beaches. You can take a ferries out to Kelly’s Island or the Bass Islands. South Bass was the site of a naval post during the War of 1812. There’s a big tower monument to Admiral Perry there in Put-in-bay - a nice little Great Lakes town. It commemorates the Battle of Lake Erie. Out on Middle Bass Island, there’s a vinyard and winery. They have a resort out there now, too, called St. Hazard’s, but I’ve never been. Those islands are about an hour by ferry from Sandusky. For a longer ride, you can head to Pelee island, which is in the middle of the Lake and is the southernmost point of Canada. Cedar Point itself is maybe the best thing Ohio has ever done. The park has historic displays from a hundred years ago. They have a bunch of famous and historic carousels and some of the oldest operating rides around in addition to the latest thrills. If you’re a fan of amusement parks, you owe yourself at least one trip. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-amusement-parks/628973/24 "2012-07-23T01:28:04Z")
Got a passport? Canada’s Wonderland, in the suburbs of Toronto, rivals almost any other park for rollercoasters; I believe it ranks third in the world for total coasters, and many are excellent. It’s also in a substantially less boring place than Sandusky. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-amusement-parks/628973/25 "2012-07-23T03:58:36Z")
That would be true, except for the fact that it’s full of Canadians. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-amusement-parks/628973/26 "2012-07-23T04:38:20Z")
> [@Merneith](#): > > Around Sandusky, there’s a bunch of water parks, including a Great Wolf Lodge. Sentences that start that way will never be the same again. ---
**Author:** ![Curiosity\_Kills\_Her](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@Curiosity\_Kills\_Her](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Curiosity_Kills_Her)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-amusement-parks/628973/27 "2012-07-23T05:07:13Z")
The internet called! **Mdcastleman’s** sister better pack an OSU shirt 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Jilaad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jilaad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jilaad)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-amusement-parks/628973/28 "2012-07-23T07:40:58Z")
Busch Gardens Williamsburg. The park is beautiful, there’s a variety of rides, the coasters are fun, the food is good. And in the area is Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, Yorktown, a ferry across the James river, Civil War stuff in Richmond, and you have Virginia Beach if you want the ocean ---
**Author:** ![oreally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7ab992/32.png) [@oreally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oreally)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-amusement-parks/628973/29 "2012-07-23T11:33:28Z")
All true but not relevant to the OP I’m afraid (ie roller coasters being the priority). And frankly VA Beach is one of the worst beaches in the country and that whole area is an armpit. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-amusement-parks/628973/30 "2012-07-23T12:42:20Z")
The Dutch [Efteling.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Efteling) > [@](#): > > Efteling is the largest theme park in the Netherlands, and as it opened in 1952, it is one of the oldest theme parks in the world. … > Originally the park catered towards children with a fairy tale theme. In over fifty years the park has evolved from a nature park with playground and a Fairy Tale Forest, into a full-sized theme park. It is twice as large as the original Disneyland park in California and predates it by three years. Nowadays, Efteling caters to both children and adults with its cultural, romantic and nostalgic themes and its variety of amusement rides. ---
**Author:** ![howye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9adbd/32.png) [@howye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/howye)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-amusement-parks/628973/31 "2012-07-23T13:04:09Z")
> [@Mdcastleman](#): > > I came close to getting to Cedar Point, in the yearTop Thrill Dragster opened a Cedar Fair Gold Pass still got you into any park and my friends were considiering going by car, but Cedar Fair had an awful time getting TTD to work so we couldn’t guarentee it would be working by the time we drove our there. > > Thing’s we’re interested in: > Myself: huge bridges, prisons, roller coasters of course, driving roads I haven’t been on before. > > My sister: **zoos** , anything nautical, good food, literary sites (we saw the Louis Mary Alcott home when we were in Boston), unique/regional resteraunts. > > Both of us: seeing iconic attractions: we’ve seen Biltmore, the FL Keys, the Freedom Trail, Mt Rushmore, I’ve also seen the Gateway Arch, the DC area attractions and the Space Needle. Also anything historical, and just seeing other areas of the country, especially if scenic. > > I did try for an excuse to make her want to go to Ohio, but the best I could do was the Toledo zoo. You do know that one of the best zoos in the nation is just about an hour and half drive from there? [Literary site?](http://www.thurberhouse.org/) Bet you can find one. (Speaking of books: [http://www.bookloft.com/](http://www.bookloft.com/)). Regional resturants? You don’t need to take one of their tours, but I would suggest their itinerary: [German Village Tour - Columbus Food Adventures](http://columbusfoodadventures.com/2011/tour/german-village-tour) ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-amusement-parks/628973/32 "2012-07-23T16:18:32Z")
Holy shit, Valleyfair?! Hee! I used to work in Shakopee, in the industrial park just down from there - take a left and you’d run into what used to be my office building. Ah, memories. Haven’t been in ages. It’s not a bad park, but it’ll never make any “Best of” lists, that’s certain. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-amusement-parks/628973/33 "2012-07-23T17:42:35Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > 90% of The alleged awesomeness of Cedar Point is 100% better than what I hear, which is that you’ll be lucky to hit even half the park because the lines are so long. Objectively it’s better, but is it really? Waiting in line for hours at every coaster is hardly my idea of fun. They premiered a new fastpass system this year - basically they have 2 lines, and they alternate loading for every coaster between the two lines. But to get in the 2nd line, you need to buy a $30-50 (group discount) wrist band on top of your ticket. But they sell a maximum number of wristbands - something like 7-10% of the park capacity - so the wait on those lines is like 1/5th what it would normally be. Which sucks for the regular proles who now have to suffer even longer lines. What’s strange to me is that apparently they don’t usually sell out of these things. If you’re a local making a day trip to the point, I could see not buying them - but if you’re flying out specifically to stay there, going to a hotel, making a vacation out of it - why wouldn’t you spend an extra $40 to make the whole experience a lot better? It’s a trivial amount on the whole trip. I’m going in September - and by that time unfortunately the park is only open on weekends. So the weekend crowd aspect scares me. But maybe since September is past peak travel season, it won’t be that busy. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-amusement-parks/628973/34 "2012-07-23T19:07:31Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > They premiered a new fastpass system this year - basically they have 2 lines, and they alternate loading for every coaster between the two lines. But to get in the 2nd line, you need to buy a $30-50 (group discount) wrist band on top of your ticket. But they sell a maximum number of wristbands - something like 7-10% of the park capacity - so the wait on those lines is like 1/5th what it would normally be. Which sucks for the regular proles who now have to suffer even longer lines. > > What’s strange to me is that apparently they don’t usually sell out of these things. If you’re a local making a day trip to the point, I could see not buying them - but if you’re flying out specifically to stay there, going to a hotel, making a vacation out of it - why wouldn’t you spend an extra $40 to make the whole experience a lot better? It’s a trivial amount on the whole trip. Canada’s Wonderland (another Cedar Fair park) has the same system and it hasn’t seemed hugely popular to me; certainly the express lines have been way less than 1/5 as long as the regular lines (like 1/10 or shorter). But I suspect there aren’t many people making a vacation solely for the purpose of going to Wonderland. ---
**Author:** ![TimToyGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@TimToyGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimToyGeek)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-amusement-parks/628973/35 "2012-07-23T20:43:30Z")
Though I am often stuck behind and/or giving directions to all the tourists that come to Los Angeles during the summer, I would have to recommend the LA area for your vacation needs: 1. Magic Mountain, just north of Los Angeles. One of the best of the Six Flags parks with most of the up-to-date rides and a lot of roller coasters that other parks don’t have. 2. Disneyland and California Adventure. While they don’t have the biggest rides, they have some of the most well-thought-out ride experiences like Space Mountain. CA Adventure has some fun thrill rides and one of the best show experiences - World of Color - I’ve ever seen. 3. Knott’s Berry Farm. More great rollercoasters. 4. Universal Studios. Definitely 4th best, but fun if you like movies. They are the only park in the USA that has the Transformers motion ride currently. 5. If you include San Diego (about 2 hours south) you get the very nice San Diego Zoo, SD Wild Animal Park, Legoland, and Sea World. 6. Not to mention lots of culture, food, history, uh…roads full of cars? Tim ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2012, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-amusement-parks/628973/36 "2012-07-24T03:45:45Z")
I’ve not been back to Hong Kong since they opened a Disneyland there, but I used to like to go to [Ocean Park](http://www.oceanpark.com.hk/html/en/home/). It’s where I talked the wife onto her first and only triple-loop roller coaster. I could never understand the allure of a Disneyland if they had this to begin with. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2012, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-amusement-parks/628973/37 "2012-07-24T14:41:51Z")
Cedar Point, for real. Accept no substitutions. Other stuff in the area that is worth checking it if you have a few days would include [Kelleys Island](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelleys_Island,_Ohio). ---
**Author:** ![tallcoldone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9a140/32.png) [@tallcoldone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tallcoldone)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2012, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-amusement-parks/628973/38 "2012-07-24T16:37:39Z")
> [@Mdcastleman](#): > > …Thing’s we’re interested in: … prisons, roller coasters of course, driving roads I haven’t been on before… > > My sister: … anything nautical… Also anything historical… Within reasonable distance from Cedar point: Prisons: how about where Shawshank Redemption was filmed? [http://consumer.discoverohio.com/searchdetails.aspx?detail=63664](http://consumer.discoverohio.com/searchdetails.aspx?detail=63664) Nautical: you have access to the entire Lake Erie shore and islands: [http://www.shoresandislands.com/](http://www.shoresandislands.com/) Historical: (sort of, if you’re into music) the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame www.rockhall.com or Presidential sites [http://www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/profileohio/ohiopresidents.aspx](http://www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/profileohio/ohiopresidents.aspx) ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2012, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-amusement-parks/628973/39 "2012-07-24T17:01:42Z")
That reminds me, the [Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Museum](http://www.rbhayes.org/hayes/museum/) is in Fremont. First of all, it was the first Presidential Museum. Second, Rutherford B. Hayes, holy obscurity, batman. Third, it’s just off the highway. Last, Hayes’ inaugural ball was a costume ball, and the family went as the the Washingtons. The museum has the costumes. How kickass is that!? ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2012, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-amusement-parks/628973/40 "2012-07-24T19:14:07Z")
> [@Merneith](#): > > Cleveland has one of the world’s best orchestras and one of the world’s best art museums, along with the natural history museum. There’s also a nifty children’s science museum, all basically in the same block. > > Around Sandusky, there’s a bunch of water parks, including a Great Wolf Lodge. There’s a wide variety of tourist type attractions in there area, like the African Safari park where you drive through the animals. > > There’s boating and beaches. You can take a ferries out to Kelly’s Island or the Bass Islands. South Bass was the site of a naval post during the War of 1812. There’s a big tower monument to Admiral Perry there in Put-in-bay - a nice little Great Lakes town. It commemorates the Battle of Lake Erie. > > Out on Middle Bass Island, there’s a vinyard and winery. They have a resort out there now, too, called St. Hazard’s, but I’ve never been. > > Those islands are about an hour by ferry from Sandusky. For a longer ride, you can head to Pelee island, which is in the middle of the Lake and is the southernmost point of Canada. > > Cedar Point itself is maybe the best thing Ohio has ever done. The park has historic displays from a hundred years ago. They have a bunch of famous and historic carousels and some of the oldest operating rides around in addition to the latest thrills. If you’re a fan of amusement parks, you owe yourself at least one trip. To the poster who is interested in prisons: About an hour south of Sandusky, on the north side of Mansfield, is the [prison where The Shawshank Redemption](http://www.forgottenoh.com/OSR/osr.html) was filmed. You can get a tour. They even do a deliciously creepy haunted house at Halloween. [/Shameless promotion of the only claim to fame my hometown can boast] Oh yeah. P.S. As a former employee of Cedar Point, I might be biased. I don’t have a lot of experience with many other amusement parks. After a long hiatus (I hadn’t been there in at least a decade, maybe two), I went up there last summer. When I returned, I declared CP to be the best amusement park, hands down. Ever. And not just because I used to work there and there’s other cool stuff to do in the area. But because it’s a friggin’ _awesome_ park. At all the Disney parks in the Orlando area, every step in every park, you are barraged constantly by advertising designed to separate you from your money. While CP isn’t cheap, at least they keep the tawdry neon marketing to a minimum while you are already \*in \*the park. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-amusement-parks/628973.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-amusement-parks/628973.md?page=3)