What pre-planning do you do?

[caffeine_demon]

If you are visiting a park for the first time, and it's likely to be a while before you go back, what sort of planning do you do before hand?

I do a pretty thorough check on what sort of rides are there, and bring some notes so that I'm unlikely to miss anything!

 

[Jordanovichy]

I'd like to know what is in a park in terms of the big rides but apart from that I just take the day as it comes. Queue for whatever, whenever.

 

[ATTACKHAMMER]

Look at the park's website at the rides and check rcdb.

 

[Gavin]

Check rcdb to make sure I don't miss any coasters, but that's it. Otherwise I just show up and take it as it comes.

I think for Disneyland this summer I might plan a bit since it'll likely be heaving, but it'll probably just go as far as checking which rides have single rider or something.

 

[bmac]

It depends on the day I go. If it's on a day where the park is supposed to be packed I plan everything down to the very last detail in order to avoid the crowds as much as possible. If it's on a day where it'll be rather slow I usually just fart around and enjoy the day at my own pace.

 

[Smithy]

Up until 18 months ago it was nothing more than check a CF guide for a quick overview of anything quirky I might miss, maybe search for a trip report or two to get a general idea of the place if it's a bit unknown to me (Adventure Island, Lightwater Valley).

Lately it's been a case of rcdb to make sure I don't miss a credit, CF's youtube for pov's, I like to have a proper plan in place because I'm arsy and I hate feeling like I've missed something, or wasted some time unecessarily.

 

[BBH]

I usually just check RCDB to see what's at the park and in the area and go for it.

I only have one day at Indiana Beach, though, so I may do some planning for that.

 

[Gavin]

^It's not very big and there's not much outside of the coasters. "Only" one day is plenty. No need to plan.

 

[Rachel]

I'm a bit of an organised freak so I tend to go a bit OTT when visiting a new park. I'll go on their website / wiki page to check what rides are there and then check sites/forums and get advice to make sure I don't miss anything.

I was unbearable when I went to Florida, I had an itinerary and everything ha!

 

[DelPiero]

Depends on the park really, I'll do the usual checks on all of them but big parks I tend to go overboard with the plan, especially if it's just me or 1 other.
Everything in the states was planned down to the final detail, so was Europa. Not so much when I went to heide with the goons, and little uk parks I don't plan anything.

 

[jj23w]

If it's a park I've done before like Disneyland Paris I'll go in with no knowledge because I'll know where to go.
If it's something like thorpe then I take an enthusiasts and friends with me.

 

[rtotheizzo17]

For new parks I check out the website for the park map, check out the counting sites to see what the creds are, and make a basic gameplan (walk in and turn left/right/go to the back etc....). I very rarely go to new parks on busy days so usually end up not needing much of a plan.

 

[Gazza]

I'll sort of check rcdb, park websites and wiki articles to figure out what i want to do, which worked out well for Blackpool for instance, because I only had a day and there is so much to try.
For big parks known to be busy ill read trip reports (dedicated 'one park' fan sites are useful) to figure out a good strategy. Often I'll find trip reports from the previous year at a similar time to when I'm going to get an idea what to expect (Eg If I was going to a theme park on a weekend in July, I'd check last years calendar and find TRs dated on July weekends)

For me in particular, any theme park trip outside Australia is at least a $3000 spend, so I'm happy to be a nerd and research to make sure I actually do all what I want to do.

Also, bannister.org has a TR from basically every theme park, so it's a good starting point.

 

[PeskyTrimBrake]

Planning Part 1: Research
1. Coast-to-coaster.com
2. RCDB.com
3. Coasterforce.com (guides/extra help)

Planning Part 2: Booking
1. Plane Tickets
2. Hotel
3. Park Tickets
4. Transportation (if necessary)

Planning Part 3: RIDE

Keeps me organized :mrgreen:

 

[Jake]

If it's just one or two new parks, not a lot.

However if it's quite a long trip with loads of new parks, you have to take some sort of list with you or you will end up missing a cred <///3.

You can't always rely on checking RCDB the night before, what if the Wifi dies? Tivoli small missed!