A quality home park or the ability to travel more?

[Bat Fastard]

Some of us may have great home parks, but are maybe not able to travel so often. Or maybe you're just living the life by having both a good home park and the ability to travel to new parks often (which is probably the situation most of us are in). And than there's people like me. I technically have no home park. The nearest park is Frontier City (2 hours away and I've never even been lol) and the nearest "good" park is Worlds of Fun (3 hours). But I do get a good amount of travel oppurtunities through out the season. Although I don't have a home park, I am visiting Frontier City, WoF at least a few times, SDC again, SFOT and MAYBE SFFT and Seaworld SA later in the summer. Not to mention I just finished my huge cred run around the Midwest. Some unlucky enthusiasts may have it the worst- no home park and no ability to travel often. That's brutal.
So what I'm asking, what is more desirable to you? Having a great homepark, where you can go as often as you'd like or the ability to travel to more parks through out the summer but not have a park close enough to where you can randomly decide "Hey I kind of want to go to *insert park here* for a few hours today" whenever you feel like it or whenever you can? Obviously we may not be able to change our situation with where we live and everything, but what would you rather have? I'd say the ability to travel to new parks, because you get new experiences. You may not be able to ride as much and as often, but at least your coaster trips will actually mean something and you won't get bored of the same rides eventually. Now being coaster enthusiasts, most of us probably have a good homepark and travel often. But if you could only have one, which would it be?

 

[GuyWithAStick]

I'm the literal definition of having a quality home park with little travel. I live 5 minutes from Six Flags Great America, arguably one of the best Six Flags parks. And having the ability to go whenever is really nice. If I finish a project or a bit of homework, I can just go to the park for a few hours to relieve some stress. But like I said, I am quite restricted on travel. I have a GP family who thinks that one day at CP w/o Fast Track on a Saturday is enough(and that I take each individual family member on Dragster individually) and that half a day at Hersheypark is enough. I'm only going to 1 new park this year, Adventureland.

But I do think that when I do get to go to somewhere new, it's a lot more of a refresh. It's something new I've never seen before. It's more of a surprise to see new things. I vote for good home park and restricted travel.

 

[Hutch]

I'd prefer to travel around more.

I guess I have 3 home parks: Canobie Lake, Six Flags New England, and Lake Compounce. May not be the best parks out there, but that selection includes quality stuff like Boulder Dash, an RMC, and an Intamin mega. That being said, I don't really visit these parks any more than once per season (I actually haven't been to Canobie in 3 years, and that's a 45 min drive for me).

I'd much prefer to travel to more places. It's not really a hard decision for me; I'd get to visit new places, experience new quality stuff and gain creds!

 

[TilenB]

And than there's people like me. I technically have no home park. The nearest park is Frontier City (2 hours away and I've never even been lol) and the nearest "good" park is Worlds of Fun (3 hours). But I do get a good amount of travel oppurtunities through out the season

Much of the same. The nearest decent place from home is Gardaland which is, according to google maps, a good 3 hour drive away (there are some +1 places that are closer, but nothing less than an hour away). Although I'd love to have some sort of a decent home park with at least one somewhat reridable coaster, I'd prefer to travel around more and see new places.

 

[Pink Cadillac]

I'm very happy I live an hour away from Alton Towers, but being 10 mins from Manchester Airport will always trump that. I hate going back to the same place over and over again anyway.

 

[Hyde]

Same as GuyWithAStick, I grew up 7 minutes from Cedar Point. And even now in Columbus, Kings Island is 1:15 away, and Cedar Point just over 2 hours.

I do prefer having a good quality home park, as it allows a convenient quick evening or weekend getaway with friends. I love traveling and experiencing new parks, however I love even more being able to loop various Ohio friends into a park visit.

 

[Thekingin64]

I'd rather travel. Perhaps it's due to not living with a significant park nearby but I would much rather travel and experience new places rather than visiting the same place over and over. That's also why I've started to get bored of Thorpe even though I live nowhere near and they do have some fantastic rides there.

 

[Ben]

I get bored of the same place over and over again, it's a bit basic.

So ability to travel.

But why do they have to be mutually exclusive? So many Americans are so content with their home park that they just don't bother travelling round their own country.

 

[witchfinder]

I live 20 mins from Alton Towers, which is about as good as it gets in the UK, but I much prefer travelling to new places and discovering new parks/rides. So pretty much the same as everyone else!

 

[GuyWithAStick]

^A lot of us younger enthusiasts still in school don't get as many chances to travel, making a good home park a better option.

Sent from my VS820 using Tapatalk

 

[Ben]

^Thats not an excuse - my count when I left high school was higher than half the Americans that are getting towards the end of their 20s.

Especially cause driving is so ingrained in your culture you all learn at about six.

 

[Hyde]

^Thats not an excuse - my count when I left high school was higher than half the Americans that are getting towards the end of their 20s.

Especially cause driving is so ingrained in your culture you all learn at about six.

Personally, it has been a matter of prioritizing other types travel. I have always been a big traveler throughout life, with a lot of focus on national parks, visiting family in other cities, and other points of interest. Turns out there are not a lot of roller coasters in Utah, Montana, etc. :roll:

While I have a lower coaster count, I would in turn venture I carry the largest national park count.

Indeed however, having a good quality home park vs. traveling is not mutually exclusive. I will be visiting a number of other parks in 2016 - just with more visits to Kings Island and Cedar Point overall.

 

[Ben]

OK, but when my coaster count in your country is higher than yours, there's something wrong.

Like, there's only a handful of Americans who have ridden more American coasters than me (Jerry... and...) and that's because of the culture of just not going far afield even in your own country.

It's strange how across the board it is.

 

[Hyde]

OK, but when my coaster count in your country is higher than yours, there's something wrong.

It's a matter of opportunity cost.

For instance, on my honeymoon, we did swing by Waldameer on our way out to New York to ride Ravine Flyer II. However, on our first night we stayed in Niagara Falls, and did not visit Marineland Canada. That would have been $84 to enter for the two of us, which we instead spent on a lovely dinner overlooking the falls.

On our way driving to Lake Placid, we drove by Martin's Fantasy Island, and literally grabbed gas at the Darien Lake stop. Skipping both of those admission prices ($134 collective) allowed us to spend a bit more on lodging for a gorgeous bed and breakfast. And missing Great Escape near Lake George ($94) gave us great budget for renting a kayak and sail boat on Lake Champlain.

To visit all amusement parks along our trip would have cost $312 in admission (not including parking and sheer time cost). But rather, we spent that money on lodging, food, and activities that were more rewarding than a couple credits here and there; especially when the wife does not enjoy roller coasters all that much.

The point I'm trying to convey is coaster counts are by no means the single indicator of the amount of "travel" one has done. I enjoy roller coasters, and loop in park visits when I can. There are those other experiences I greatly enjoy however that take precedence.

You speak of a culture of fear of traveling within one's own nation. I for one at least do not subscribe to this notion.

 

[Bat Fastard]

^Thats not an excuse - my count when I left high school was higher than half the Americans that are getting towards the end of their 20s.

Especially cause driving is so ingrained in your culture you all learn at about six.

I think another important reason us young enthusiasts may not be able to travel often is simply the inability to check into hotels. In America, you have to be 18 to check into a hotel, some you have to be 21 even. Not sure if it's the same overseas or not. So when you have a GP family who doesn't want to travel halfway across the country for a park without "Disney" or "Universal" in the name, it makes travelling considerable distances yourself impossible until you're 18. I just turned 18 this past fall, and I'm already taking advantage of the ability to check into hotels.... Just went on my big cred run with no parents, because I finally can. My count was 92 at the start of the season, and now I've skyrocketed to 140 with another +15 possible later in the summer, literally because I can finally travel on my own (or without my parents at least).

 

[mouse]

But how do you know how good the quality of your home park is if you haven't travelled and experienced other parks?

The closest 'good' park to me is around 2 hours away, so I guess it would be nice to have one nearby. However even if it was the best park in the world I would never sacrifice travelling to other parks for it. I'm interested in riding a range of ride types in parks with a range of themes and cultures, and with travelling to theme parks usually means experiencing the areas and culture around them. If anything not having a good quality home park encourages and motivates travel, so definitely the second option for me.

 

[Bat Fastard]

If anything not having a good quality home park encourages and motivates travel, so definitely the second option for me.

This. I have the same thought process.

 

[LiveForTheLaunch]

Both, because my home park is Cedar Point and I have done a lot of traveling. Admittedly, my first big trip to mainland Europe I skipped a whole bunch of parks so I could see the cities because I felt it was a more rewarding experience, but I have been going back and scooping up some parks recently. I think having Cedar Point as a home park has been nice, but it has lost its novelty and so I will never be satisfied just hanging out there rather than going on big trips. Of course, a day out there is nice maybe once a season, but would I make continuous return trips multiple times within a few months? Nah.

In a nutshell, I travel for the culture mostly, but try to get to parks when I can, unless I've specifically set out on a trip just for amusement parks. America it's easier for me to just do coaster road trips because the culture there doesn't thrill me much apart from a few big cities which I've already seen. Europe and Asia I'd feel like I was missing out if I didn't get at least some sort of culture while I'm over there!

 

[gavin]

activities that were more rewarding than a couple credits here and there

Society is broken.

The obvious answer is both, and I guess I fit into that category. I count Hong Kong Disney as my home park even though Ocean Park is closer (takes about 15 minutes more to get to HKDL) since I have an annual pass and go more often. They're both major parks though and it's great to have the option to go to either basically anytime I want. Though I rarely bother with Ocean Park, I'll happily pop into Disney for a few hours in the evening. Yeah, I'm a bit bored of most of the rides now, but it's a nice place to just hang out, especially at night. If I had a park full of bigger rides but no atmosphere close to home, I wouldn't go as often.

I'm much more interested to travel to new places/parks though. If HKDL closed down, I'd be really disappointed, but nowhere near as gutted as I'd be if I somehow lost the ability to travel. Although I have done trips purely for parks, I tend to combine it with more general sightseeing for the most part.

Sometimes, the focus will be on visiting a new country/city, and I'll have a look around at what parks are in the area, but at other times there'll be a park I want to go to and then I'll scope out the area it's in later.

For the most part, parks are built close to big cities are other areas geared towards tourism, so it's not as if the two are ever really mutually exclusive.

 

[Error]

Do either. Have fun. Make memories. You're an enthusiast, be happy about going to places.

Not that difficult.