Best Theme park in America

[disneywiseowl]

Originally Posted by SleepingBeauty

The theme park I live closest to (Busch Gardens Williamsburg Virginia) is often named the most beautiful theme park in America. And it is stunning and has lots of great rides.
The terms Theme Park and Amusement Park are sort of interchangeable in the US, but yes, I agree there is a subtle difference.

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Love it. Used to go fairly often when my daughter lived in C’ville. It was fantastic at Halloween. My girls loved Kings Dominion but wouldn’t let me go - said the rides would be too extreme for me. Boohoo.

[duchy]

Originally Posted by amy56

That sounds as though there is a direct correlation between this and the results. I haven’t been to either for a long time, but reading some of the comments on here it doesn’t sound as though it’s improved a great deal since my last visit.

I too suspect it might have something to do with value for money as well, as I know a few people on here pay for sea world/DC/aquatica tickets and no longer pay the prices of WDW/universal so perhaps cheap and cheerful suits the people voting.

I can’t imagine I’d ever prefer SW over UO and WDW, but perhaps it’s time to give them another try?

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I don’t think it’s just about value, much as I love Disney , I’m tired of paying top dollar for a crowded experience that requires planning months ahead. I don’t want to have to decide months ahead what parks, rides and even what restaurants I’ll feel like every day . A few E ticket attractions yes , every blinking day no
When we do I Drive , it’s not a Disney substitute but an entirely different style of holiday, we like spontaneous . We honestly don’t miss Disney one bit those trips.
I do think for many the days when Orlando automatically meant Disney are gone . People are far more savvy about options nowadays.

[Fraser789]

Originally Posted by duchy

I don’t think it’s just about value, much as I love Disney , I’m tired of paying top dollar for a crowded experience that requires planning months ahead. I don’t want to have to decide months ahead what parks, rides and even what restaurants I’ll feel like every day . A few E ticket attractions yes , every blinking day no
When we do I Drive , it’s not a Disney substitute but an entirely different style of holiday, we like spontaneous . We honestly don’t miss Disney one bit those trips.
I do think for many the days when Orlando automatically meant Disney are gone . People are far more savvy about options nowadays.

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Yea I do agree too. It's getting to a point now where Disney isn't really worth the money. We aren't doing it this year and I'm really looking forward to a more relaxed holiday rather than clock watching constantly for reservations and fast passes.

[cornishfrogboy]

I wouldn’t argue at all with the result as I would have voted BG, SW, 6 Flags Valencia, Islands.

Seaworld and Busch are both brilliant parks IMHO.
Above 54 inches and there are some great coasters.
Whether above or below the 54 inches, there are plenty of other attractions.
The parks never feel claustrophobic or over crowded and although they are clearly run to make money, I never feel that I am being shamelessly gouged at every opportunity.
‘Value’ may also be a factor in the voting and few could argue that a D.C. Ultimate represents great value, when compared with Disney or Universal offerings.

I can see why 6 flags parks also score regularly and highly. The Valencia one is excellent. I intend visiting several others in the coming years, particularly BG in Williamsburg.

It is also worth remembering that this is a Disney dominated forum as the title suggests and therefore many DIBBERS are all but blindly loyal to the brand as can be seen by frequent references to’Pixie dust’, ‘Magic’ etc. I have never bought into any of that stuff.
Some DIBBERS have not even tried the alternatives, certainly not Nationwide, having never ventured outside of Florida.
Not every amusement park attendee is a Disney devotee, myself included. It ain’t for everyone and I personally find a lot of it rather sickly and schmaltzy. The overcrowding may also put off many, likewise the depth of planning ahead required to fully exploit the rides. I like to simply roll up on the day, finding Disney simply far too complicated with its FP system. Other than when staying in a Universal Hotel or a D.C. day, we decide at breakfast where we are going on any given day. That is why we no longer buy into Disney.

Each to their own and clearly many US citizens look way beyond WDW.

I would agree that a theme park is different in some ways to an amusement park.. but maybe Americans prefer the quality of the ride experience to the theming.
It is also of note that SW was not even in the top 10 for 2020!

[YorkshireT]

Try Dollywood if you haven’t been - it’s great there.
In fact I was saying to Mrs YT we should go back to the Smokies as there’s still a lot we haven’t seen and it’s 10 years ago we went.

[YorkshireT]

I also enjoyed Hershey Park a few years back. Not aesthetically pleasing the park itself, but boy, it’s got a good selection of rides. This includes the most terrifying launch coaster I’ve ever been on, that holds you in by just a bar pressing on your thighs! Water park on it too.
Very interesting place. All around it, it’s very rural. We stayed in a Hampton Inn I think it was in a little town just down the road. Then suddenly there’s a massive theme park with a great big stadium bolted on the side. Guns and Roses were there just after our trip. It also has a zoo on it and a chocolate factory.
Then the town of Hershey itself is quite nice, where even the street lights look like chocolates.
Also Amish country.

[amy56]

Originally Posted by duchy

I don’t think it’s just about value, much as I love Disney , I’m tired of paying top dollar for a crowded experience that requires planning months ahead. I don’t want to have to decide months ahead what parks, rides and even what restaurants I’ll feel like every day . A few E ticket attractions yes , every blinking day no
When we do I Drive , it’s not a Disney substitute but an entirely different style of holiday, we like spontaneous . We honestly don’t miss Disney one bit those trips.
I do think for many the days when Orlando automatically meant Disney are gone . People are far more savvy about options nowadays.

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I totally see what you are saying, even for someone like me who is all about Disney, I’m finding the planning every tiny detail and the crowds these days tiresome. And you are right with the nickel and diming everyone is not sitting comfortably with me, and we do go less and less these days to Orlando (I wouldn’t go to Orlando without Disney/UO visits - I’d sooner go to other parts of the States) - we haven’t been since 2017 and we used to visit at least once a year.

Also can see exactly what CFB means when he says about folks buying into the pixie dust etc. I guess that is me, I’m generally not an amusement park fan (I am not remotely bothered about Alton Towers etc here) and whilst I enjoy Disney’s E-Ticket rides, they are as adventurous as I get and I am much more about the submersiveness of the whole Disney/Universal lands (I love just wandering around WWOHP and Seuss’ Landing as examples).

So perhaps I’m just a Disney/universal fan and not a theme park fan itself? I have looked at the likes of Six Flags, Hershey’s (above) etc when visiting other states but I don’t really focus on the rides (I would do very little in terms of coasters) and I generally just look at the theming and Disney/UO win hands down for me for that, but I suspect for many that’s not really what it’s all about 👍

[disneywiseowl]

[QUOTE=YorkshireT;15048597]I also enjoyed Hershey Park a few years back. Not aesthetically pleasing the park itself, but boy, it’s got a good selection of rides. This includes the most terrifying launch coaster I’ve ever been on, that holds you in by just a bar pressing on your thighs! Water park on it too.
Very interesting place. All around it, it’s very rural. We stayed in a Hampton Inn I think it was in a little town just down the road. Then suddenly there’s a massive theme park with a great big stadium bolted on the side. Guns and Roses were there just after our trip. It also has a zoo on it and a chocolate factory.
Then the town of Hershey itself is quite nice, where even the street lights look like chocolates.
Also Amish country.

After reading your posts about Hershey (thx), we stayed there a few years ago (road trip). We loved the park but only my eldest daughter went on that evil roller coaster - 3 times. Most extreme coaster she’s ever been on. She wouldn’t let me do it. To be fair, I was 67 with mobility issues etc. Lol. It’s the only roller coaster I’ve ever declined. 😢. I am determined to go on Velociraptor ASAP.

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by amy56

That sounds as though there is a direct correlation between this and the results. I haven’t been to either for a long time, but reading some of the comments on here it doesn’t sound as though it’s improved a great deal since my last visit.

I too suspect it might have something to do with value for money as well, as I know a few people on here pay for sea world/DC/aquatica tickets and no longer pay the prices of WDW/universal so perhaps cheap and cheerful suits the people voting.

I can’t imagine I’d ever prefer SW over UO and WDW, but perhaps it’s time to give them another try?

See more...

I like Seaworld and always enjoy my visits there. It’s a different experience to the “regular” (and busy) theme parks at Disney and Universal which concentrate more on rides.

Having said that, I think I also prefer WDW and UO. I voted for Seaworld because (a) I thought everyone else would be voting for MK and (b) Seaworld asked to vote for them and none of the other parks did.

I was surprised the Seaworld parks won. But that’s a good thing IMO.

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by SleepingBeauty

The theme park I live closest to (Busch Gardens Williamsburg Virginia) is often named the most beautiful theme park in America. And it is stunning and has lots of great rides.
The terms Theme Park and Amusement Park are sort of interchangeable in the US, but yes, I agree there is a subtle difference.

See more...

I visited BG Williamsburg many years ago and enjoyed it. My best mate moved to Virginia so visited it with him. However, that was the park where I first began feeling nervous and uncertain about rollercoasters. I didn’t like Apollo’s Chariot (I think it was that anyway).