ambe_bambe

I think you might be looking at version 1 - there's a reworked version 2 I've posted which includes BGW. SFGA just isn't going to work into the plans for this trip though I agree it's a great park and I'm well overdue for another visit as my last was in 2013. As someone mentioned earlier, the hard thing with USA is that there's always something awesome that's just a little bit further so there's always going to be something you have to skip. Tour B will have an optional Houston & San Antonio portion after finishing at SFOT that will be discussed once I get an idea of numbers, I'm trying to keep the tours to a reasonable length each as not everyone can get away from work for such a long time. As it stands at the moment, Tour A is looking to be 13 Days and Tour B 14 Days, and I feel that adding an extra 3 (or 4) days onto the end of Tour B would just make it too long for many people to get off work, particularly factoring in that 2-3 days of travel is required from AU/NZ. Regarding ERT - I'm not promising anything, I will be trying but I need an idea of group size first so I have something to take to the parks. If I can get some ERT, I don't expect it would be TPR level but fingers crossed I can get at least something... I've been emailing with my contact in the USA again today, she is just waiting on confirmation from one bus company who was after clarification regarding some travel routes and times I requested - my contact is hoping to send me what will hopefully be much more reasonable pricing in the next few days. As noted in one of my earlier posts, everything needs to be run via admin first but once I get admin approval happy to share more details and pricing.

I'm happy to provide the parks however I need to chat with admin before I'm allowed to post any info regarding book or prices - but I can't do that til I'm sure on the prices - it's definitely more than the 2-3k someone has suggested above as its included Top Tier Front of Line passes where available, as well as a majority of meals and anything else I could include in advance - I'm a big believer in paying as much as you can before you go so all you need to worry about is spending money. Tour A Parks: Six Flags over Georgia, Lake Winnie, Dollywood & Splash Country, Carowinds 1.5 Days, Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Kings Dominion, Six Flags America, HersheyPark, Knoebels, Lakemont, Idlewild & Kennywood Tour B Parks: Cedar Point 2 Days (Tour A+B participants 3 Days), Kings Island 2.5 Days, Kentucky Kingdom & Hurricane Bay, Holiday World & Splashin Safari, Six Flags St Louis, City Museum, Worlds of Fun, Silver Dollar City, Frontier City, Six Flags over Texas - optional extension to add Huston and San Antonio Parks to be discussed with group members after booking.

I'm more of a swag girl I have a nice hot pink one that I love dearly. The cost was around $2500-3000 higher than what I felt was reasonable for each trip...

I am! after 9 weeks I finally got costings back from my wholesaler and they were well over what I was expecting and have paid for similar trips before so I've sent it off to another for a second opinion and hopefully a better price!

Find a good Travel Agent - they can save you or often offer bonus value adds (free upgrades, breakfast, etc). Personally, I know which wholesalers/companies give my clients the best rates or inclusions and I definitely exploit that a lot! A good agent will also tell you if you save money by taking an Uber vs pre-booking a transfer, and other tidbits like that.

What time of year are you looking at? My answer will greatly vary - I would assume October-ish if you're talking about Fright Nights... Both Coasts have their pro's and con's - If you're comparing just Southern California and Central Florida - Central Florida hands down is a better "once in a lifetime" if you're looking at Roadtripping, East Coast is better for theme parks in close proximity than West Coast - and features some awesome parks however most parks outside of Florida are seasonal and close over winter, and will open weekends or limited hours depending on the park when outside of Summer... If you need help planning please get in touch - I specialize in Theme Park Travel and have covered a majority of major East Coast theme parks, and of course the SoCal and Central Florida parks. I respectfully disagree here - I visited Vegas as both a 17 and 18 year old and certainly didn't feel I was missing out (at least once I was 18, there were things I couldn't do at 17!) - Short of Gambling and Drinking I was able to do everything else in Vegas, I'm heading back there next year as a 25-year-old and honestly I'll probably do much the same experiences as I did when I was younger, though different shows of course!

Definitely a good minimum, though you can get a 10 Day Disneyland/California Adventure Hopper (exclusive to AU/NZ residents). 3 Days is your bare minimum for Disneyland Resort to get through the highlights. You really don't need any more time than that at any of the other parks to get through everything, only if you're after a lot of re-rides. You could also look at hitting up some of the smaller parks (Castle Park, Adventure City Anaheim, Santa Monica Pier, Belmont Park) as well as Legoland and Sea World San Diego.

I promise it's still coming! I had to rework the itinerary as there was one day where the drive was much longer than permitted for the bus driver, after a day of thought I really didn't like the alternative I had created. The new itinerary is actually based on a longer trip, removing Orlando and adding some Pennsylvania parks. Basically works out as Atlanta - Pittsburg for Tour A (this is completely aligned with QLD school holidays as there are a lot of family-friendly parks) Tour B is Sandusky - Dallas (and an optional San Antonio/Houston extension will be discussed). The only parks removed from the original itinerary were Busch Gardens Tampa, Wild Adventures, Adventure Landing & Magic Springs - but I've been able to add loads more such as Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Hershey Park, Kings Dominion, Knoebels and a handful of others. It's taking a lot of time due to the odd locations that my tour operator wouldn't usually visit & doesn't have contracted hotel rates for. The New Tour Dates are: Tour A: Monday 1 July - Saturday 13 July Tour B: Sunday 14 July - Saturday 27 July with the optional San Antonio/Houston Extension to be discussed with group once bookings in. I really like the idea of finishing in Dallas as it's convenient to fly back to Australia I expect that with the extension of the trip most people will be able to join only one of the other - for anyone on both - there would be an extra day in Cedar Point between the 2 tours.

Hey Everyone, thanks for the feedback so far. I've just finished re-working the itinerary to remove Magic Springs & Lake Winnie and include Six Flags Fiesta Texas and Sea World San Antonio instead - to do this I've had to pop a flight in the middle but I think it will be well worth it in the end!

Fastlane Plus! Any park with any sort of front of line service I've gone for Top Tier. Thank you so much for the feedback, this is what I currently have in the plan but I've had an American friend look over it and flag that the time might be quite tight. KI is one the handful of parks on the trip I don't have personal experience with.

Didn't know grizzly peak was a part of Dreamworld now....

Hey Everyone, I should have my first idea of pricing by the end of the week. Wondering on your preference below. a) 9 Hours at Kings Island and 2 Full Days at Cedar Point b) Full Day at Kings Island and 1.5 Days Cedar Point Keeping in mind everyone will have Fastlane for both parks.

I'm not opposed to babies on tour after the first one, I'll be looking to do a USA trip and another location each year so there's always next time.

That's a great point, it's very hard because you're right, there's always a park just a little further away! I was discussing this with an American enthusiast friend and came to the conclusion that if there was anything to offer in LA i would have routed the itinerary that way to accommodate San Antonio. I love the idea of adding Kennywood however I'm trying to keep the full trip within 3 weeks so it might be something that could be offered as an optional add on or DIY, I think given it's another bit over 3 hours from Cedar Point and based on the routings coming from Texas there's no way to even make it work at the detriment of another park.

It will be marginally more expensive at that time of year, however I have allowed for the fact a lot of the parks are seasonal, and once school goes back in August a lot of parks reduce hours or close weekdays which makes it infinitely harder to do. June is no go as you need to accommodate for any delays in new rides opening. The weather will be hot but if there's a decent water park attached, I'll look to include tickets with the water parks. The dates also work best for Australian School Holidays. The previous set of Holidays over easter are too early and the September Holidays are too late.