How Much do you Research a Park Before a First Visit?

[jayjay]

You've found a park that's worth visiting. You plan a trip to go and see what it has to offer. Are you the sort of person who just looks at the opening time and entry price, or do you like to see the ride line up, follow construction, and read reviews? I noticed that I tend to stay out of the construction threads so that things are a surprise for me, so I wondered what other people like to do?

 

[Hixee]

Good topic, it'll be interesting to see what people are like.

Usually my research is:

• Opening times
• Entry price (and offers)
• Getting there, either by public transport or car
• Creds
• Some other rides if I feel like it or I know it has something else notable

I don't think I've really researched things like park layout in a very long time. I usually have a brief idea, but I usually just work it out on the day.

I do follow construction of rides if I know I'm going to a particular park (for example, Star Trek as I know I'm going to Movie Park this season), but I generally try to read most of the forums too so I do end up seeing most of the other updates. I'd say it's reasonably rare for a coaster to surprise me (in terms of existing), but I don't tend to get really hooked into watching all the POVs and things.

That said, the amount of research I do on rides is a little higher if the park is a little more obscure. Don't want to waste time on something that's closed or crap. Big, well known, parks don't need as much looking at as I generally know they're possible and relatively easy.

 

[gavin]

Next to nothing. I just tend to make sure how many coasters there are so I don't miss any creds and that's about it. Well, I'll work out where it is and how to get there, but that's not really a park thing.

 

[Chris Brown]

Im awful when it comes to saving a new parks magic for the first visit, I wont research any of the important logistics but I will have watched POV’s and off ride footage of all the coasters, will have studied the parks map, will have looked at it on google maps and will have probably explored it using street view too. I just cant resist, there are a few creds that I will make a real conscious effort to stay out of touch with and ignore layouts and POV’s, rides such as Taron and Helix aren’t too bad as the layouts are so long and non-repetitive that its hard to really spoil the elements by watching a few videos. In an ideal world I’d go to a park with no idea what was their beyond main coasters but as they say, curiosity killed the cat.


You could also take the view that the more you know about a park the more you look forward to it. There’s not a better feeling than following a coaster from rumour to construction and finally pulling that restraint down for the first time, you just have to sit there and take it all in really.

 

[TLARides]

-Entry price.
-Ride line up.
-Popular times.
-Food prices.
-Nearest restaurants.

If a park has too expensive food I normally try to find a nearby restaurant that I can eat at for a cheap price. Whenever I go to Kings Island I stop by the McDonalds or the Skyline Chili just down the street from it and come back. When I was at Cedar Point I brought my own food since there were no nearby restaurants.

 

[Howie]

My research used to consist of going on RCDB and looking up places that had massive B&M's. That was usually all I needed. Does it have massive B&M's? Yes. Can I get there? Yes. Boom. Sold.
Since then I've diversified a bit - even massive B&M's can get a bit 'samey' when you've ridden a few - and nowadays I seek out all kinds of other stuff too, but the principal is still the same. What coasters do I really, really want to ride? Where are they? Can I get there?
And that's about it for me. Sure, I'll look at the rest of the ride line up before going but on the whole I find it nicer to 'discover' a park on the day.

 

[Hyde]

I like to think that I put in so much research effort in high school when I had nothing to do, that I do not need to do any more for the rest of my life.

My biggest study when visiting a park is simply travel directions, park open and close, and ticket price. Other than that, I have a pretty good feel for each park already on whats good and what's not.

 

[DelPiero]

If it's an organised trip such as Euro CF Lives then I won't do too much research, usually just check out the cred list and any other main attractions.
Main thing is travel, as I'll happily swan off to a number of parks on my tod when away for work, so maximising the parks is important. Getting Quassy, SFNE and Lake Compounce in 1 day took a lot of planning for example.
It also depends on the park, anything with a high cred count (8+) gets a plan of attack in order to get everything done, such as Great Adventure and Cedar Point. I'll usually map out my route for the day well in advance and will look for tips on forums before I go. Gavin's recent TR to Chicago would get a read when I go to that area for example.
Smaller parks, same as the Euro Lives, cred list, maybe quick look at a map and knock out the lowest capacity ride first.
Any trips with the family don't get planned, it's a free for all nightmare usually, but I'll step in to make sure the kids get the creds if we run low on time.

 

[Ian]

When I visit a new park, I'm usually visiting for a specific reason and (to the sound of that Boyzone song): Don't love me for fun, girl. Let me be the one, girl. Love me for a reason, let the reason be creds.

I always look to see how many creds the park has before I visit. I then study what types they are and deduct, from experience, in what order to tackle them. Throughout consideration, likelihood of downtime etc.

The next step in my pre-visit research is to work out how to get in as cheaply as possible. This could be online ticket sales, sharing a BOGOF voucher or capitalising on my position as Ian From CoasterForce by contacting park management (all goon group chiefs do it, but I'm one of the few who admit to it AND will pass on the savings to the rest of those attending with me. Remind me how much everybody paid to get in Liseberg on the CF trip last year...). Getting through to the right person is usually the toughest part of any pre-visit prep.

Finally, there is working out how long it's going to take me to get there. A quick search on google maps and I'm set.

If I want to know anything else, thankfully there's this fab community called CoasterForce who I can ask because at least one person will know the answer.

(I would give you an insight to what goes on with CF Live prep but that would only spoil the magic. Let me bash heads, you get the creds.)

 

[Howie]

...or capitalising on my position as Ian From CoasterForce by contacting park management (all goon group chiefs do it, but I'm one of the few who admit to it AND will pass on the savings to the rest of those attending with me. Remind me how much everybody paid to get in Liseberg on the CF trip last year...).

We paid nothing to get into Liseberg on the CF trip last year, Ian, because you're the greatest goon group chief of them all.

 

[Pink Cadillac]

I do a fair amount research but much more planning. I usually know a bit about prospective parks already -I know all the creds, usually if there are any important non-creds, I have a rough layout of the park in my mind. But I look through trip reports, and park/google maps just to make sure I'm not missing anything (obviously I need to know about getting there opening/closing times and prices too). After, I aim to optimise my day by knowing the layout of the park, looking at how many rides I want to do (including re-rides), the location of each ride in the park and specific ride operations etc to plan a route/itinerary for the day. Sometimes unforeseen circumstances might mess some of that up when I'm there, but having done all the planning I can reevaluate quickly and easily. I also need to know the location of toilets and lockers to cut down on any time wasting.

I'm also similar to @Chris Brown in a way that through watching POVs, I know how all the rides go! I don't really leave surprises to the park visit, but this way works better for me! It all sounds really regimented but it never feels that way when I'm there - I can focus on the park instead of thinking about what I should do know or wandering around trying to find something. I don't visit parks as much as other people so I really need to maximise the amount of time that I have.

 

[Bat Fastard]

Not too much really. I just check out the main roller coasters and big flats. I like to be surprised. Silver Dollar City is my second favorite park, and I think part of the reason is because I just didn't know about some of the awesome stuff about that park before visiting. Sure, I knew way too much about their coasters, especially that beautiful sex machine known as Outlaw Run, but I didn't really know much about some of the other major stuff like the Marvel Cave (I knew it was there but had no idea it was as big and grand as it really is). Cedar Point though, was a much anticipated park for me, so I knew everything there was to know about the park and even then it still exceeded my expectations. I think it just depends on the park.

 

[Edward M]

I'm a big planner personally. I really enjoy that aspect of any park trip, and I feel that it really helps to build up excitement and anticipation. What I tend to do is look up where to go for my first few rides then leave the rest of the day up to surprise. I never look up POVs if I know I'm going, so, usually, most elements of the ride are a surprise to me. This is especially true with Disney rides. I think this really helps my experience and gets excited to see what all the excitement is for.

For parks like Six Flags, I tend to just know what to ride first and second then just look for shortest queues. A lot less planning is needed for these parks I feel; it is all about the spontaneity of what ends up being a short queue (or what I end up wanting to ride again the most).

I go very in depth with Disney or Universal trips. I plan out all the fastpasses, know the longest waits (and when they are shortest), get reservations, and have a general idea of each day's first rides as well as every ride I want to ride. Still, it's those things I don't plan that really make these trips for me. I just like going in prepared, gets me even more excited.

 

[Blackhole6670]

Great topic!

I am one where I love to plan a lot. This is because I normally don't have time to go to theme parks. The closet amusement park near me is beech bend park (I live in Nashville Tennessee), which if you look at what posts I have created, I ask people about the ride experience of rides, or even line times. I also look at how thrilling each ride is, how many people enjoy that ride, and if I should ride it based upon the other rides. You look at how nervous I was, the amount of questions I ask, and how scared I was was, and you will realize that I have changed a lot.

When I finally created my trip report for beech bend (went to beech bend park in august of 2016 on a weekend), the detail was immense. In fact, my detail was so immense, that someone nominated me for best trip reporter (I am so sorry if I forgot your name), and I am very happy about that.

My advice? Do a fair amount of research, but don't overdo it (I used to do that and you don't want that), and you should be fine. Just research the rides, food, lines, and whatever else you want to learn about. Hope this helps.

Thanks, Blackhole6670.


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[Snoo]

Next to nothing. I just tend to make sure how many coasters there are so I don't miss any creds and that's about it. Well, I'll work out where it is and how to get there, but that's not really a park thing.

This.

I like to know coasters and thats pretty much it. I like surprises, even with the coasters.

 

[HeartlineCoaster]

At a minimum, study the ride lineup.
I like to make a little list of things I definitely need and things I might want after that.

After that it depends on the type of trip, rushed or relaxed, as to how deep I dig.

 

[GuyWithAStick]

Price, directions, hotels nearby, creds, and sometimes a map to know how to get to what.

 

[Thekingin64]

Opening times, prices, how to get there (car and/or public transport), if there's a parking charge and ultimately, if the park is worth the hassle (i.e. any decent rides?). If I have the time, I may also look at the roads outside the park on Streetview to get an idea of the area it's in (and the exact location of the bus stop if going by public transport)

 

[Howie]

Of course, one of the most useful bits of research you can do is "When is the park quietest?"
And then where possible go on the quietest day of the week in the quietest month of the year.
I tell ya, get that right and it can be like having a private ERT session of the whole park. Goon heaven!

 

[Jamesss]

I spend copious amounts of time trying to deduce the quietest day of the week to visit a park.

I also like to make sure the main attractions are likely to be open.

Tend to avoid looking at pics/POVs so it's more of a surprise.


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