Favorite amusement park in US that is not Disney

[Anonymous]

Busch Gardens is very nice for any age range or amusement park interest. HersheyPark is great for younger kids. Cedar Point is for roller coaster enthusiasts (it’s “America’s roller coast!” lol), but also has nightly family friendly beachfront parties in the summer at its flagship hotel.

[Anonymous]

For kids your kids ages I would do Dutch Wonderland. Is it the best in the country? Definitely not. But my DD is 10 now and still loves going there. We’ve been to Disney and she doesn’t ask to go back there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Busch Gardens near Williamsburg is pretty fun. I think the quality of coasters is really high, and that's the main thing I enjoy about amusement parks. I much prefer it to Hershey Park, Knottsberry Farms, and any of the Six Flags I've been too. I haven't been to the other Busch Gardens.

For a more retro, kitschy experience, Cedar Point is also pretty fun. It's good to incorporate into a road trip to that part of the country.

I've never been to either of the Universal Studios so can't speak to that, though I'd like to go to the one in Florida in the next few years because I'm interested in the Harry Potter experience for my DC. But currently not sure if we'd just do HP or do the whole park -- would depend on DC's interest.

I am personally not that into Disney. I've been a bunch of times and it's fun, but I think the cost and the hype are overblown for what it is. But again, I'm very roller coaster/ride focused. There's this whole aspect of Disney (the characters, the stuff) that just doesn't do much for me -- my kid enjoys it and I can enjoy that vicariously, but it's not for me.

I enjoyed the Wizarding World of HP very much, but at the end of the day, it’s a lot more of a retail experience than an amusement park experience, if you’re into rides. Yes, there are cool rides, but it’s mostly shops with special effects where you can buy better HP souvenirs than anywhere else (high quality and unique), and restaurants where you can buy the food and drinks from the series. We love HP, so I was happy to buy all the stuff, and I loved the technological wizardry that brought some of the experiences to life, but I wouldn’t go to Universal and only do HP. There are many cool rides in the rest of the park.

[Anonymous]

At that age Legoland, but only if you stay in the hotel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Knoebels Amusement Resort in Elysburg, Pennsylvania. Parking and admission are free.

+1 we loved this when our kids were little. Especially love that it has a ton of trees so lots of shade

[Anonymous]

Sandusky, Ohio
Cedarpoint

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For kids your kids ages I would do Dutch Wonderland. Is it the best in the country? Definitely not. But my DD is 10 now and still loves going there. We’ve been to Disney and she doesn’t ask to go back there.

Interesting. I've never been but was considering it. After reading a bit I was thinking my 10 year old may have aged out. Is that not so?

[Anonymous]

Hershey park, and I love the hotel ( not the lodge).

The hotel pool s great, breakfast buffet in the large dining room is great, and love the grounds. Kids have run around catching fireflies, s’mores while we have a glass of wine, kid friendly putting green, movies by the pool in the summer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For kids your kids ages I would do Dutch Wonderland. Is it the best in the country? Definitely not. But my DD is 10 now and still loves going there. We’ve been to Disney and she doesn’t ask to go back there.

Interesting. I've never been but was considering it. After reading a bit I was thinking my 10 year old may have aged out. Is that not so?

My 10 year old still enjoys it. Depends on your kid, I guess. But we've been to Disney twice and there's something about Dutch Wonderland. It's just low-stress, not that expensive and kind of innocent fun. You don't see the Disney level meltdowns from kids there either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Busch Gardens near Williamsburg is pretty fun. I think the quality of coasters is really high, and that's the main thing I enjoy about amusement parks. I much prefer it to Hershey Park, Knottsberry Farms, and any of the Six Flags I've been too. I haven't been to the other Busch Gardens.

For a more retro, kitschy experience, Cedar Point is also pretty fun. It's good to incorporate into a road trip to that part of the country.

I've never been to either of the Universal Studios so can't speak to that, though I'd like to go to the one in Florida in the next few years because I'm interested in the Harry Potter experience for my DC. But currently not sure if we'd just do HP or do the whole park -- would depend on DC's interest.

I am personally not that into Disney. I've been a bunch of times and it's fun, but I think the cost and the hype are overblown for what it is. But again, I'm very roller coaster/ride focused. There's this whole aspect of Disney (the characters, the stuff) that just doesn't do much for me -- my kid enjoys it and I can enjoy that vicariously, but it's not for me.

This is for a 6 and 8 year old, not an adult.

[Anonymous]

LEGOLAND!

[Anonymous]

Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure (FL) are the runners up to Disney. Theming, rides, onsite hotels, restaurants, shopping.

[Anonymous]

6-8 is still on the younger end theme park wise (my youngest of 3 is now 8). I din’t think you said how long or if they have gone to any parks before. If they haven’t really done parks they would be happy with Dutch Wonderland. They can likely go in every ride, minimal lines, and not so big that the walking around is a big factor. If they have more experience, maybe Hershey Park but they will be young enough they probably can’t ride some of the roller coaster (was just there with my 8 year old who had two height levels to still grow in to). It is fun but also walkable, and you can pay for some sort of priority thing for less time waiting in lines if you want.

For reference, I have taken my kids to Disney, which you don’t want, and to Universal which skews more mature for rides so I think your kids are young for it to be worth it but also it is similar enough to Disney you might not want it (but not sure since you didn’t elaborate on why not Disney). Have also dine Sesame, your kids skew old for that. Haven’t done Cedar Point but imagine your kids skew young for that.

[Anonymous]

Cedar point

[Anonymous]

Harry Potter fan?