I am going on a trip in June to 8 parks in 16 days and I was wondering if people can give me tips for hotels and stuff, I need the cheapest places. This will greatly help for any tips people can give me,

My trip consist of the following:

SF Darien Lake, SF New England, SF Great Adventure, Dorney Park, Hershey Park, Kennywood, PKI, and CP.


Thanks

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Cedar Point 2003
"Get ready for a new height on Thrills!!!"
RHS SENIOR 2003!!!!!!!!

I'd recommend the current thread on CP Hotels for where to stay and good deals on tickets. Lots of great information there!

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Walk Beyond...

I went to five parks over the summer and we stayed at campgrounds (KOA). It's cheap and although you sort of rough it, you save a lot of money. Camping is a cheap way to go and it's pretty easy. I'd recommend going that way. Most amusement parks have campgrounds right next to the park and you can sometimes get discounts to parks from them.

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ThrillNetwork Editor Emeritus
Voyage is the best roller coaster ever.
2008 Raptor ride count - 126. Lifetime - 1,143.

Do not stay at the hershey campground. I travelled in a motorhome for 3 years. We went to Hershey once, and stayed at the campground. The campground is right next to railroad tracks so all you hear during the night is the train going by every so often. The CP campground on the other hand is very nice.

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Who's the more foolish, the fool or the fool who follows him? - Ben Kenobi

Okay I looked into it. You can look into SFDL Ultimate Guide or the Official Site for assistance on accomodations.

Get a Super 8 and Motel 6 guide. Generally speaking, they are everywhere. At Darien Lake, I camped in the park. They have a cheap campground with wonderful vistas ofthe coasters.

For SFNE, I stayed at a Super 8 in Springfield Mass ($49/nite). While there you should really consider stopping by Lake Compounce. It is about a half hour south of SFNE and you MUST ride Boulderdash. The park is relatively cheap and, early in the season, you don't need the whole day. I went last year on 4th of July and lines were non-existent. One time when visiting Lake Compounce I stayed at a Super 8 in Hartford ($38/night) another time I stayed just north of Hartford at a Marriott Courtyars ($79/night)

There's two motels by SFGrAdv. A Ramada and a local motel. Neither are cheap. Consult the aforementioned motel guides and pick an interstate motel of of I-95.

Dorney has lots of motels in the area. Look for motels in Allentown. Last time I stayed in Bethlehem - Marriott Courtyard - $79/night.

Hershey motels are expensive. There's a Super 8 in Harrisburg about 15 minutes away. It shouldn't be more than $45/nite.

I stayed at a Super 8 outside of Pittsburgh off of I-76 for Kennywood. At CP last summer, I stayed at Breakers Express. It was decewnt, but you had to pay for parking at the park.

At PKI, I stayed at a little motel off the highway. Can't recall it's name. A Little town - great steakhouse in the area - $35/nite.

Good luck...

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Nothing like a big woodie first thing in the morning and before going to bed at night.

After you leave the park at night, drive close to the nearest airport, cheap hotels are always near airports. I learned this last summer while on our way to cedar point, Ohio Turnpike sugested hotel rates 90$+, airport hotel rate (10 minutes from the turnpike) 45$.

Hotels have pretty much been covered. When it comes to Hershey, drive a little further and pay a lot less is the rule there. Go to Harrisburg. What I'll be concentrating on is "side-trips", which is what all enthusiasts eventually turn to doing. =)

First off, You have to understand that not all of the parks you're going to are true "day-parks". Cedar Point, PKI, and Great Adventure will, no matter what, take a full day for a first time visitor to fully explore (assuming the park isn't jam packed, in which case you've got a problem). Hershey and Kennywood border on being ones, and SFNE, Dorney, and Darien Lake, on a good day, can be run through in just a matter of 4-5 hours. This leaves you with a choice; either you stay at the park until closing trying to get as many rides in on the coasters as possible, or you go explore the bustling metropolis its near (which in all these cases, suck). Or, there's another possibility; the side trip.

SFNE Side Trips:

The most important side trip will be listed is, by far, Lake Compounce in Bristol. Simply take 91 south back to Hartford and jump on 84 west until you see the signs. The park has 4 coasters; The Wildcat, a classic old wood coaster dating from 1927, the Zoomerang (a Vekoma boomer), the Kiddie Coaster (as the name states), and CCI's Boulder Dash, which hit #2 on the legendary Mitch's Wood Poll this year. If your travel plans take you to a visit in Boston, you can also stop by Canobie Lake in Nashua, NH. Its home to 3 coasters; Yankee Cannonball (an excellent wood out and back), the Corkscrew, and a Galaxi. If you want ot make it a credit trip and are heading to NY, make runs to Quassy Amusement Park (also off of 84 West, past Lake Compounce; has a old steel mouse and a kiddie coaster) and Rye Playland (home to a spinning wild mouse for 2003, as well as a SDC Hurricane, Funny Flyer kids coaster, and the wooden Dragon Coaster. oh, and the best bumper cars ever).

Dorney Side Trips: There are several choices of side trips here when in PA. Closest (albiet toughest to find) is Bushkill, which, while it doesn't have a coaster, has some odd flat and darkrides in its collection. Further away (but within 2 hours or so) are Dutch Wonderland (home to the Joust kiddie and Sky Princess wood coaster, the first ever built by CCI), Hershey, and Williams Grove (home to a Schwarzcopf Wildcat, a kiddie coaster, and the its-so-bad-its-fun Cyclone wood coaster). And absolutely necessary stop should also be made at Knoebels in PA, which has the Phoenix and Twister wood coasters. If you want a good old fashioned credit stop, go to Sesame Place, get the free one hour shopping pass, ride Vapor Trail (a Vekoma Rollerskater) and leave. You may also want to consider a stop in the morning at Coney Island in NYC (where the most legendary coaster on earth, the Cyclone stands) and then go to Dorney for the half price after 5 deal. You can pick up every coaster there on a good day in 5 hours with no problem whatsoever.

SFDL Side Trips: SFDL, while seemingly way out in the middle of nowhere, has several opportunities for extra coasters. There's Martin's Fantasy Island and Marineland to the west at Niagra Falls (there are 3 coasters and MFI, including a wood coaster from CCI, while Marineland has Dragon Mountain, one of the longest looping rides ever built). To the east, there's Seabreeze in Rochester, which has 4 coasters.

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Alan

You should go to Lake Compounce since you'll be really close to it when you're at SFNE.

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Bryan Wood Thrillnetwork Database Admin and review writer extraordinare

You know what's funny? I think there's some rule or something that campgrounds have to be built by some noisy transportation system! On my summer 2002 trip, the first place we camped at was in Amarillo, TX, and there was a railroad and airport right next to us! During the night we heard train horns and trains passing by and in the morning jets would take off and land. That wasn't annoying!

We also stopped at Springfield, MO, and there was a railroad near us there! Rediculous!

__________________
ThrillNetwork Editor Emeritus
Voyage is the best roller coaster ever.
2008 Raptor ride count - 126. Lifetime - 1,143.

Umm, have fun! Sorry I can't help you. I'm a westcoaster!

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Put your hands up!

Thanks for all this tips and info. I hope I can use it on the trip in June. I need to start putting it toghether. Basically all I need to do is book hotels and I am set, until I get ready to go. I plan to pack a cooler for sandwich meats and stuff for quick lunches and dinners at all the parks. This should bring the cost of food down. Gas is the only thing I have to worry about. The price might be higher when I go, b/c war with Iraq is just around the corner. Thanks again for the info.

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Cedar Point 2003
"Get ready for a new height on Thrills!!!"
RHS SENIOR 2003!!!!!!!!

I was just wondering what your attack plan is... I mean where are you starting at - and in what order are you hitting the parks? It kinda seems like an awkward path. --And you are obviously getting a pass fo SF right? Buying one at SFWoA or SFDL would be cheaper.

At SFDL, ride S:RoS in the front seat, then in the back seat. Wash hands. Rinse. Repeat.

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Bryan Wood Thrillnetwork Database Admin and review writer extraordinare

Actually there are normally state parks that are within 30 or 40 miles of a theme park and the rates for staying there are normally cheaper than an Amusement park's campground, but it will mean you'll need a little more money for gas (Buy Hess, Wilco, or Kroger gas, they're normally cheaper than Exxons, Amacos and Texacos) and probably will need to pay for parking, but I think the money you'll save will be worth it. Of course you're going to have to research to find these campgrounds and parks, b/c I don't know of any state parks outside of my home state, Virginia.

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Life is a rollercoaster, enjoy it, b/c the ride is always too short (If someone's already said this, sorry, I didn't mean to rip it off ya)