Theme Park Discussion / Park opinions

Hello all:
I'm going to have some time off from work at the beginning of summer and I'm considering going on a few short trips to theme parks. I've listed some that are the closest to me, and I was wondering if anyone had any opinions on which I should shoot for? I appreciate any info from someone who has knowledge of any of these parks!



Silver Dollar City, Branson, MO - 2 hours away
I've been here hundreds of times growing up, it's fun but I would enjoy something new.

Worlds Of Fun, Kansas City, MO - 3 hours away
I haven't been here in awhile and I was young when I was here last. I don't remember it being all that impressive.

Frontier City, Oklahoma City, OK - 3.25 hours away
I've never been here, nor have I heard anything about it, but it came up on a search. I guess Six Flags used to own it?

Six Flags over Mid-America, St. Louis, MO - 4 hours away
I've been here a couple times, they have some fun rides and I wouldn't mind going back.

Adventure Lands of America - Des Moines, IA - 6 hours away
I don't know anything about this park.

Six Flags over Texas, Arlington, TX - 6.5 hours away
I don't know anything about this park.

Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom, Louisville, KY - 8.5 hours away
I don't know anything about this park.

Six Flags Great America, Chicago, IL - 10 hours away
I don't know anything about this park.

Cedar Point, Sandusky, OH - 14 hours away
I really want to visit Cedar Point sometime, not sure if I want to drive 14 hours... is it worth it?

since I live in the area... left out the ones I haven't been to

Silver Dollar- eh... live close as well... nothing new here. visit it or not

Worlds of Fun- been a while but I remember Mamba being fun but nothing much else... Oceans of fun is one of the better water parks I've been to however... worth looking into unless you're going out of your way

Frontier City- not really worth it unless you are passing through OK (like I was)

Six Flags Mid America- yeah, good but not great... my home park so I can't really say it's amazing

Six Flags Over Texas- skipped this one to go to Six Flags Fiesta which was actually a pretty impressive park... a lot of good rides and impressive scenery. I'd go the extra mile to Fiesta Texas if it were me.

Cedar Point- driven directly past it like 5 times and died a little inside each time =(

Cedar Point, Sandusky, OH - 14 hours away
I really want to visit Cedar Point sometime, not sure if I want to drive 14 hours... is it worth it?

Yes. and if you roadtrip there I would recommend you stopping at Kings Island for the Beast which is IMO the greatest wooden coaster ever build.

Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom, Louisville, KY

That one's closed.. so I wouldn't recommend it.


I actually just visited SFOT about a month ago and had a great time. Lots of rides and a really nice classic feel being the first Six Flags park and all. I missed a lot of things due to the weather, but I'd love to get back down to there.

The only of the others I'd been to is Cedar Point which is a sure recommendation. If you're going to make that drive, stay for a few days. You'll probably need to anyway, to grab it all. I usually spend 3 days up there, using a Cedar Fair season pass. It's certainly my favorite park.

Adventure Land (The Monk, Iowa) - Quaint park. Has 3-4 coasters, can't quite remember, but I loved it because it makes me feel like I'm in one of those small village-like theme parks in RCT2. When I was there a few years back, there was a circus in back, classic steel coaster with a back-to-back double loop called Dragon, a woodie by the of Outlaw which I thought was pretty great with its layout, and another woodie that was a classic out-and-back winding alongside the Dragon. All-in-all, a good quaint park - great for families with young kids, but not crazy enough for a huge teenage crowd.

SFOT - Only thing you'll be missing if you go this year is the Texas Giant due to some repairs and track replacement (people said it was getting a bit rough - I say they had to destroy the greatness that is the Giant). Otherwise, Titan's 0-g second hill is fantastic, Judge Roy Scream is great out-and-back, and there's not many places you can ride a bobsled coaster in America, so La Vibora is a must as well. Just be prepared for the heat if you come in the summer, as well as a humongous amount of people, too. Invest in the FastPass or whatever they have named it this year, and try to fit it all in. Oh! get on the Oil Derrick (again, maybe there's been a name change, it happens a lot) and check out the new stadium just a mile away and maybe jump on over to Hurricane Harbor. Actually, just give me a ring and I'll show you around.

Cedar Point, Sandusky, OH - 14 hours away
I really want to visit Cedar Point sometime, not sure if I want to drive 14 hours... is it worth it?

Highly recommend to visit Cedar Point. IMO, the best amusement park in America. With rides such as Raptor, Wicked Twister, Maverick, Top Thrill Dragster, and my personal favorite, Millennium Force this park has it all. The park has such an amazing atmosphere with its location on a wonderful peninsula overlooking Lake Erie.

is fuel so cheap in the us that it would actually be worth considering to drive 14hours x2 = 28 hours than to fly there?

is fuel so cheap in the us that it would actually be worth considering to drive 14hours x2 = 28 hours than to fly there?

I talked with CP6 about flying in the USA once, he said it was very expensive and the oil prices are lower in the USA then we have here. Due to the high taxes in Europe. 

American airlines are wayyy more expensive to begin with, and then when you add on all the extra fees they charge, round trip usually starts about ~$250 (depending on how far the trip is and where you get your ticket from). So yeah it is sometimes cheaper to drive long distances. I haven't been to any of the parks you listed Ozone, so I can't help you. But my friend and I are planning on a road trip and hitting up Dorney, KI, and CP in August.

Worlds of Fun - This is my home-park, so I can give you a little advice here.
This park is more of a "along-the-way" park then a park you stop for, whatever vacations you plan see if you can stop by WoF for a couple hours and then move on.
I can usually get done everything in the park in about 2-3 hours, the rest of the time is re-riding your favorites, this park is rarely busy, Saturdays are the only bad time to visit.

Timberwolf is a piece of shit now, I always feel obligated to ride all the coasters in the park and 1 ride on that is enough to keep me away for the rest of the day.
Mamba is still fun, but it's gotten pretty rough, you can try to enter from the back entrance of WoF and get a lot of rides on Mamba before the crowd settles in, but I've never tried this.
Prowler is where you'll spend most of your day, on a usual day it's about a 10 minute wait, but on weekends expect an hour wait, or even more if it's night time. (Don't forget to get a good night ride on Prowler, unforgettable)
Patriot is awesome, and won't have to big a wait either, I usually divide my time between this and Prowler since they're relatively close by.

Try Ripcord too, its extra pay but it really is a lot of fun. I usually do that once a season.

Apart from that, you'll see the common midway rides you see at every park, we don't have a Screamin' swing or pendulum ride, the only rides apart from roller coasters you should seriously think about riding are The Fury of the Nile (If you don't mind a cheap waterfall soaking at the end) Monsoon, and Viking Voyager (If the disgusting water doesn't change your mind first)
Those are all water rides though, some other decent things are the Taxis if you're bored out of your mind, the train is actually very decent, you get awesome views of Prowler and the rest of the park.
Spinning Dragons usually has an amazingly long line, don't fall for it, it's not that good, a night ride on it is good, but only if the line is short.

All of the sit down shows are crap, but the new Hot Summer Lights or whatever they call it looks great, (Copy of the Starlight Experience at CP) I assume that'll be worth a visit.


Eating is overpriced and pretty disgusting. If you visit try to pack a lunch that you can eat in the picnic area or parking lot, or you can get on the interstate and travel a couple minutes for some fast food.

But if you must, the All-Stars grill at the front of the park is pretty good, I usually eat Panda Express, and there's a Subway (Prices changed, no 5$ Foot-long)
Snack wise, Grandma's Funnel Cakes are delicious, the Kettle Corn stand is great price compared to the rest of the food, and isn't half bad.
A Watermelon slushie/smoothie is the best "drink" in the park.

But of course, everything I just said is all for if you visit, I guess I just wanted to share my vast knowledge of this park.

Opinion wise, it's still an along-the-way park, I would choose this over Six Flags St. Louis, but not over SDC.
But if you go to SDC a lot, why the hell not? Go to WoF.

SDC - Always wanted to go, since it's about 6 hours from us we may go this summer. Heard great things about their coasters/atmosphere.

WOF - Seven hours away... Been there twice a couple years ago (once a regular visit, the other time for their incredible Halloween Haunt). Have really been wanting to go again to ride their latest coaster. Patriot was a blast and Mamba provided some pretty sweet airtime.

Frontier City - An hour and a half away... driven by it (yesterday, in fact) but still have yet to go there. Maybe this summer... nothing really stands out there from the drive-by.

SFOT - Three hours away... went the first day of the season this year, and most of the coasters/rides were closed due to it being at such low temperatures. Titan was great (nearly an exact replica of Goliath @ SFMM, my former home park), and the combo tower ride was just great (had no idea it shot up then shot down like it does). We have a pass so we'll most likely go again sometime this season to try out all the other rides.

Silver Dollar City: really an amazing park. Great theming, amazing atmosphere, stupendous rides and the most friendly people you'll meet anywhere. Definitely do NOT miss out on this one.

Worlds of fun: of course I'll preach for my own park. But it really is one of the nicer cedar fair parks and has probably grown substantially since you were a kid. Granted, the entrance fee is a little high for something that rarely takes more than 4 hours to get through completely. However, there are some great rides and great atmosphere.

that guy- didn't know you lived here too. cool. the last times i was on mamba it wasn't rough (definitely go in the back btw), and that was a few weeks ago. prowler is good, but imo not worth spending most of your time on, unless you're in the front or back, sort of the same with patriot. I normally go to the all-star grill too. Everything is super expensive though.

Six Flags St. Louis: this one is a gem. its one of the parks that six flags built from scratch and its really fantastic. there's actual theming and although I haven't been since e.k. and tony hawk were built the rides are fun. if you have a six flags season pass definitely hit this one up.

cedar point: I'm not really sure you're allowed to miss this. Its just so classic; it took me 3 days to get through everything, and I didn't even get a ride on TTD. However, it is really annoying in the rain (they close EVERYTHING), and it rains alot. But there are some of the best rollercoasters in the world and it doesn't feel to dumpy either.

sorry I didn't really add anything to parks you haven't been too. I haven't been to them either. but definitely hit up cedar point.

Edited by Cocoa, 10 May 2010 - 06:07 PM.

Thanks for the info everyone! My wife and I are planning on going to KC for a Royals / Cardinals baseball game in June and I think we'll go a day early and hit up Words of Fun while we're there.

Aside from that maybe we'll make a trip down to Dallas and hit up SFoT and possibly Frontier World along the way there or back.

In regards to driving 14 hours vs flying I think it is worth driving for a few reasons here - I live in a pretty small town, so I would probably drive a couple hours to get to a decent sized airport. The flight would be expensive, and then when I reached the destination I would have to rent a car as well. If I drove I would already have a car there, wouldn't have to worry about the added hassle of flying and I could have all my luggage with me. Plus, it would still be cheaper than a couple of plane tickets.

sdc- about 4 hours from me. been 2 times. really great themeing and rides & shows. if you're going to branson at all, you have to see a show.

sfstl - 45mins away from me. normally go every year. i went back in april, and it was fun. if you go, riding mr.freeze is a must & same with the boss even if it's a little rough. fun atmosphere, just be prepared for a lot of up hill walking, mostly on the east side of the park[mine train/ninja areas]

hope that helps.

Edited by Nokia, 10 May 2010 - 06:44 PM.

the only park i've been to from that last is (sadly) Six Flags, and that's because its about 10 minutes away from me (and about 5 mins away from my school). if you guys go, you will probably see some of my friends working there. i like it, but i don't go very often despite the nearness of place.

haven't been to Silver Dollar City but i've heard its pretty damn cool.

I would normally advocate my home park SFoT, but with The Giant out of service, Judge Roy Scream not running as good as it usually is (well it was pretty bad during spring break, as in slow) and having shockwave down (actually it may be back open now), I'd say wait for 2011...
Otherwise Titan, Batman and Mr. Freeze are gonna have crazy huge lines.