The Best & Worst Park Surprises: Expectation vs Reality

These are the best and worst park surprises I've experienced! Focusing on parks that exceeded or fell short of expectations.
Darien Lake: My Experience - • Six Flags Darien Lake ...
Canada's Wonderland: My Experience - • Canada's Wonderland - ...
Six Flags New England: My Experience - • Six Flags New England ...
Is Six Flags America Really THAT Bad? - • Is Six Flags America R...
Music in this video, as found in the KZbin audio library:
Pre-intro background music: Savage
Theme music: Black Vulture
Main background music: Fine

[@pigeon1873]

"the trains are bumping into each other"- the entire uk just collectively winced

[@pigeon1873]

@Boxopizza Inurfridge the collision wasn't very fast maybe 20 tops and it was a joke

[@leitakcoc]

Christian Moss *big dipper* oof

[@ponkypink3147]

I wanna make a smiler joke from this but it's too dark and it wasn't even that coaster's fault

[@Ithinkicaughtayds]

Dang the smiller ain’t smiling again after this joke

[@invertingthrills]

@@Ithinkicaughtayds the smile killer

[@SiebayPlays]

“I don’t usually hate on parks, with a few exceptions...” Groans in Six Flags America

[@vapoet]

Since my kids grew up and left, I almost miss hating that park. Almost...

[@SiebayPlays]

Hayden Jones I love this park for what it's worth. It's not the best by any stretch of the imagination, but I could never hate on it.

[@moozdoomz7573]

Dies in Elitch Gardens

[@metrofilmer8894]

We know that Neglected and sold Six Flags parks were gonna get unnecessary hate

[@johntheo6751]

My biggest surprise was was gemini, it was so fun

[@wutduh8697]

Yeah that ride surprised me as well. It's small on paper but it manages to look and feel pretty big in person

[@skstonesmith]

Fr! That ride is sooo much fun man!

[@bro6374]

I’m going right now to ceader point it’s closed right Gemini’s closed all weekend

[@wut7640]

Agreed. It’s not the most thrilling or forceful ride but it’s just plain fun

[@mrman12w]

Why does everyone love Gemini, when I rode it in the back I got no airtime and it was boring

[@fawful7457]

Remember when visiting a park, you always got to have the right expectations. So if you expect La Ronde to be absolute trash, then you will not be disappointed.

[@DoswarePictures]

Toxin of meeenes it’s the kind of park that makes you realize that Blame Canada from the South Park Movie should’ve won the Oscar for Best Original Song over You’ll Be in my Heart from Tarzan.

[@fawful7457]

@@DoswarePictures But Canada's Wonderland states otherwise; therefore, that's why South Park's Blame Canada did not win Best Original Score.

[@austintayloradt]

Elitch's was my home park growing up, so I have fond memories of just spending time with family and friends. Now my home park is Cedar Point, and let's just say I never knew growing up what I was missing out on...

[@pacevoez1929]

Best surprises: Monster at adventure land Classic coaster at Washington's state fair Talon dorney park Ragin Bull Great america and Oscars wacky taxi at sesame place

[@thepolicyoftruth]

Pac Evoez Also Hydrus at Casino Pier

[@spider0804]

Ayyyy some Monster love, the other coasters are kindof crap but the park hadnt gotten a new coaster in a very long time. I hope they keep up with adding them.

[@thequackenscoasterchannel2927]

Monster was awesome! Very underrated, and my personal favorite Gerstlauer! If Airtime Thrills loves hangtime, then he'll love Monster for sure

[@MEGalomaniac6829]

Talon, much like Dorney itself, is very underrated.

[@connorfeezel3946]

Boardwalk bullet too

[@hannahbennett6304]

I’m so glad you’re giving Worlds of Fun another chance. Because that’s the only park in the area I grew up going there, and I can’t tell you how amazing this park is to the people that go every year. Once Mamba is open, and the retracking is done on Timber Wolf (which deserves way more love than it gets from people), it’ll be a better experience. So much history at the park that no one talks about! I hope it’s more enjoyable this time around.

[@bubblegaminglol]

“It’s your funeral” -GPS

[@johnpatrick7426]

Hey King, I’m not GP but also not a super enthusiast. I keep up with a couple coaster channels. Just wanted to say I appreciate how you not only put out consistent content, but you switch it up and have original ideas and content!

[@ryanfrieman733]

Great video!! I live one hour away from Six Flags America. That place is just awefull!! I do love Six Flags Jersey!!

[@vortexluigirosalina5557]

Hopefully Corona doesn’t disrupt your visit to Canada’s Wonderland

[@amybanman3218]

Same for me

[@samuellamothe1065]

You should try la ronde 😂😂

[@susgib296]

Vortex Luigi Rosalina 55 Ontario is not doing too well currently but it might start to flatten like its doing in British Columbia

[@vortexluigirosalina5557]

@@susgib296 glup

[@susgib296]

Vortex Luigi Rosalina 55 English?

[@sportscommentaryplus4445]

“I don’t want to visit Worlds of Fun” *going to worlds of fun twice this year*

[@pacevoez1929]

He must really want to get on mamba

[@AirtimeThrills]

Kansas city happens to be a great city to start and end the trip sooo

[@sportscommentaryplus4445]

Airtime Thrills I mean we have Patrick Mahomes here sooo

[@psyclone500tv8]

thats only if the virus is under control by then, and also technically your trip would be starting and ending at your house

[@mutoneon]

@@AirtimeThrills The ribs at Q39 are absolutely amazing.

[@CoasterRoaster]

Worst surprise for me: I went to Six Flags America on December 28, 2019 and it was so busy that they were using the overflow lot. I've never seen it used before and actually didn't even notice that it was there until this visit. The worst part though was that only about a 1/3 of the park was open, which I expected, but I just wasn't expecting it to be so packed. Best surprise: Coincidentally, my best surprise was at the same place as my worst. I visited for the first time in June 2019, and to my surprise, every coaster was running 2 trains. There were no breakdowns. The park was clean, and there was almost no one there.

[@patrickdowns1538]

I can relate to your visit in June. I went there during October of 2019 and there were no lines even though it was Fright Fest. I think that Six Flags America is very underrated. The end of December is always packed for Six Flags parks because it's the end of the season and they have bring a friend free for members.

[@triplej755]

The Coaster Roaster I was at Six Flags America just 4 days after you. LIT!

[@gametime2473]

Your best surprise has been my experience at the SF America overall and I have been to that park dozens of times. It almost never has long lines. No one talks about Joker's Jinx which surprises me. It's Flight of Fear without the darkness which is pretty cool IMO.

[@bb5bucks]

My day at Silver Dollar city was wack. Powder Keg and Outlaw run were closed, but the day was saved by the food and time traveler.

[@smoothee5804]

You always expect to go on all the rides but then the big crowds ruin it for you

[@zbfuller]

You know Elitch is bad when their most popular coaster is an SLC! I'll consider myself lucky that all the coasters were open on the day that I went.

[@aaronscibelli7078]

I would definitely agree with the Fun Spot one, at least for Kissimmee, as I didn’t get to go to the Orlando one, even though we were going to. It is affordable, well kept, and has a nice collection of rides, especially now with Hurricane.

[@alex33952]

Six flags New England is a great park! Glad you enjoyed my home park. As soon as goalith is gone and get a good number three we rise more!

[@motorwayt-s628]

Alex Wilcoxon i think Goliath could be saved if they got better trains and weatherproofed it

[@evanvicker5758]

Six flags great America is my home park! Always happy when it gets the love it deserves :)

[@CoasterHour]

Good surprises: HersheyPark Universal Hollywood (after Harry Potter Opened) Knott’s Berry Farm Bad surprises: Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (I always seem to leave disappointed, only have visited in Spring though)

[@themeparklunatic1996]

Coaster Hour my last 2 or 3 visits to DK have been disappointing don’t think I will return anytime soon operations there are so stupid

[@irus5877]

Canada's Wonderland is my home park, and it can get insanely busy in the summer. I get a season's pass but only go in May and June. Once elementary/high school is out and July comes, it's no longer worth it.

[@initial8648]

agreed, even vortex has a long wait in July but August is a bit better

[@squigglesquirel3652]

Agreed. I try going during a school day in may and there's normally very small to zero lines. Don't even need a fast pass lmaoo

[@grumpygoomba9763]

I visited last year but due to the crowds and poor decisions we only got on Vortex, Wonder Mountains Guardian and the log flume. I'm so pissed, especially that I didn't get to go on Leviathan. And I'm in the UK so will probably never get the chance to again :(

[@amybanman3218]

Canadas wonderland is my home park but you have to appreciate that it's there for everyone and you can go in September on a weekend and there is like no one there

[@urboijacob2154]

I agree I went there once in July and it rivaled Disney World crowd maybe even more than that.

[@yab0i_christian956]

I REALLY wish that six flags would for a few years take a break from their bigger parks like Magic Mountain and Great Adventure and really focus on building up their smaller parks like my home park Six Flags America and another park like La Ronde. When people trash on my home park it really hurts :(

[@loganr7108]

I had really high expectations for Carrowinds and they were certainly surpassed. The park was dead and I had fast lane plus, so almost everything was a walk on. I got like 10 rides on Fury, 12 on Intimidator, and 9 on Copperhead Strike. That trip was definitely my best park visit.

[@strangerdanger8491]

I never understood why Dollywood gets all the praise when Silver Dollar City exists. SDC is a far superior park experience.

[@cfurman79]

Because it's the only reason SDC is open. DollyWood makes roughly 75% of HFE s profit.

[@enfynet]

Dollywood is a show park. Plus Gatlinburg is a huge tourist spot.

[@ironfistde_way945]

Well sdc is better then Dollywood.

[@gregh6961]

I disagree, I went to SDC recently and was disappointed. Aside from Time Traveler, the rides were way too short.

[@DuckOfRubber]

Even though I had high expectations going in due to what I had heard about the it, Holiday World was still all pleasant surprises for me. They’ve got coasters that rival or in most cases exceed the giant parks, but still manage to keep the feel of a small family run park. I mean, what kind of insane park owner offers guests free parking? They must get it back with the food prices once they trap you inside the park. What? Everything except soft drinks is very reasonably priced, and the only thing “unreasonable” about those is that they’re free too? They’re less than a day drive from Six Flags Great America, Kings Island, and Cedar Point, but they more than hold their own against any of them.

[@brady_06]

14:07 Coming from an enthusiast. That can't be safe

[@sharkheadism]

It's fine

[@A_Red_Fox]

9:12 They always run one train on everything.

[@tismejaytee]

ONE TRAIN OPS

[@_lucas_1k_]

do they even own more than one train on anything? 😂

[@justiceleaguebattleformetr9239]

TheRandom Tantrum

[@A_Red_Fox]

@@_lucas_1k_ The On Thing That They Have Multiple Vehicles Of In Their Log Flume

[@CaptainCroissant]

Airtime Thrills, fav coaster channel, keep it up man, Sophie was rlly cute in the pier review!!

[@fawful7457]

Clearly better than Coaster Studios.

[@ravenfuckantifa2000]

@@fawful7457 I dont mind CS but I haven't watched many of his videos in awhile. I've been binging watching Airtime Thrills lately and only found him less than a week or so ago.

[@Lake.ishhhh]

Six flags Great America is my home park, and i’m honestly really happy to see you liked it! I’m not an enthusiast by any means, but I found this channel and have been obsessed with it! Thanks for making awesome videos my dude!

[@Okaycoasters]

That Cedar Point line at the beginning was perfect! Great video !!!

[@JonahTV]

I always tell people this: Disney World is FAR better than Disneyland/CA Adventure, but Disneyland is better than Magic Kingdom.

[@winningfreak1]

While fair, WDW is a whole is better than the DLR.

[@ducksfan_1149]

JonahTV nahh DCA can stand up to Hollywood studios and Epcot is a joke. animal kingdom slaps tho I won’t lie.

[@Valhalla05]

Based on experience and speculation: 6. Hollywood Studios 5. EPCOT 4. Magic Kingdom 3. Disneyland 2. Disney's California Adventure 1. Disney's Animal Kingdom (#2 and #1 can be swapped)

[@ducksfan_1149]

@@Valhalla05 coming from a big DCA fan, love to see it that high. I’ve been to all six at least twice: 1) Disneyland 2) Animal Kingdom 3) DCA - probably bounce up once Avengers Campus opens. 4) Hollywood Studios 5) Magic Kingdom - they don’t maintain their classic dark rides... it’s pretty depressing. Nothing on the level of Pandora or GE. Tron is almost certainly going to be the best ride in the park. 6) Epcot

[@Alex-wy9to]

I was sitting here expecting my home park to be number one bad experience but I was surprised when it wasn’t even on the list (Michigan’s adventure).

[@DoswarePictures]

Alex457 Dog he hasn’t even been there, but once he does this year, he’s gonna find it to be underrated.

[@AirtimeThrills]

I wont go in with any expectations

[@OklahomaCoasterFan]

I went in with very low expectations, and it was so much better than everyone says! I really enjoyed my day there.

[@ThrillRidez]

Dude keep on the awesome videos!

[@habeascorpushalo]

I’m so happy that both of my parks were listed here! Wonderland is my current home park and I worked at California’s Great America when it was PGA from 93-95! Great video!

[@lobsterhelmet348]

I used to live in Denver, so Elitch Gardens was my home park throughout my teens. And simply put, it was never a good park. Even in its best days, operations were glacial paced, food tasted like cardboard while priced like gourmet, nothing would ever get updated, and so on. Back when it was a Six Flags park it was OK at best, but after they sold the park Elitch Gardens still kept the Six Flags pricing in every category. And really they got away with it because they are the largest park in Colorado, and you've have to drive several hours to find anything better (there is Lakeside Amusement Park down I-70, but that's an aging little fairground that needs its own help). Last few years there's been serious talk of the park getting demolished to make room for more housing, and while I'd be sad to see my childhood park close, it might be for the best. If only CO had any real park beyond Elitch Gardens.

[@motorwayt-s628]

Lobster Helmet sounds like Colorado deserves better

[@mahnboichild7217]

Lakeside is WAY better than Elitch Gardens imo. The classic feel and cheap admission are amazing. It may not have as many exciting rides, but you definitely get your moneys worth. It's never crowded and only open at night, so idk how much longer it will be around. I really wish we had a better large amusement park, but at least we have Water World lol

[@FryGuy909]

glenwood caverns has entered the chat

[@rileyberge7945]

I had a similar experience to yours at Elitch Gardens, but a year later! Sidewinder was shut for the whole day and Half-Pipe opened up right before I had to leave. Not sure if I just hated Twister II that much, but Mind Eraser was a very fun ride with minimal head banging (not even being sarcastic). Love your KZbin channel and thanks for following me on Instagram!

[@jamesparkerjr5539]

Great video once again. One Darien Lake note... They only have 1 train ops. Several years ago the 2nd trains for Predator, Mind Eraser, Viper and Ride of Steel were removed altogether, supposedly cannibalized for parts. It's AWFUL. I live about 45 minutes away and I pretty much never go.

[@freshmozzarello]

I love Silver Dollar City! I havent been to all that many amusement parks, but silver dollar city would definitely be at the top of my list for good surprises too.

[@THATDAD]

Cant wait for your elitch gardens experience. It's my home park now, got season tickets last year for the family....never feel I need to go back again until it's been moved with the twister 2 RMCd. I'd rather marathon cyclone at lakeside amusement park all day on a Saturday

[@Orange_Laowai]

I went to King's Island back in 2012, it was truly a great park. As for Elitch Gardens, that park is going to be demolished.

[@spacedust3479]

Six flags great America is my home part and I'm so happy you injoyed it, I go with my mom every year, the new ride Maxx force is amazing

[@shaodynasty1017]

One of the best series you have made

[@glaxiccp7841]

Pro tip, sfgam is not a place to visit during fright fest. Another pro tip, the OG Batman at sfgam has no wait and if it has a line, the OPS send everyone through super fast.

[@jimgoebel5348]

I went during Fright Fest once. Three hours to get on Raging BUll. Never again.

[@mollie-wankenobi8655]

It was really cool to see Darien Lake as one of the good surprises, I live less than an hour away, although Seabreeze technically counts as my home park, and I love going there.

[@bpatrickkramer6226]

That 2012 trip to Disney’s Magic Kingdom also was a timing issue for you. That park was in major flux at that point with the Fantasyland expansion not open yet so it was under serious construction. Also I don’t think it’s fair to call it “Disneyland East”.

[@Coaster-Toaster]

Six Flags Fiesta Texas / Great America were huge surprises for me! Didn´t expect such great and beautiful parks by SF. :) Indiana Beach had a surprisingly nice atmosphere and with the 3 wooden coasters very good rides. Worst surprises were SF St. Louis (I´m still missing the boomerang-credit after 2 visits), Marineland (Dragon Mountain is awesome, but the park itself is very bad), SF Darien Lake (Only Ride of Steel and Tantrum were good, but RoS is the weakest Intamin I know) or Ferrari World Abu Dhabi (3 out of 7 rollercoasters running, Flying Aces in maintenance)

[@Bloopadoops]

I'm so so glad you used lagoon as the great day clip at the beginning! I love lagoon

[@BOI91]

I love how you put your best surprise and worst surprises that has wonderland

[@GreatAmericanCoaster]

Yeah SFGA my home park!

[@thepolicyoftruth]

Great American Coasters Which one???

[@robbycantel7148]

Six Flags Great America SFGA also my home park

[@seanlewis1148]

robby cantel SFGAm

[@seanlewis1148]

Great American Coasters Six Flags Great America SFGAm, or Six Flags Great Adventure SFGAdv?

[@jimgoebel5348]

My home park too!

[@toatao7756]

Toverland was my best experience. Toverlands coaster lineups consist out of many family rides (they started as a indoor playground). They also have 2 great tier A coasters called Troy (a woody) and feñix (wingcoaster) which has crazy airtime. These are both starrides for the park and they clame a shared first place in my top 10 coasters. So if you ever come to the Netherlands, give Toverland a spin!

[@SinksYourBoat]

Texas Tornado at Wonderland was my first true rollercoaster experience. Even though it does have that soul-crushing second loop, it will always have a special place in my heart.

[@sirius5509]

I was SHOOKED to see California’s great America (AKA my home park!) be in the good side of the list! Thank you!

[@tpg1774]

I had a good surprise at six flags over georgia, litteraly everything was open and had short lines and the people and staff wjere noce and all and all, it had good vibes.

[@MrJamieBattle]

11:21 it’ll never get old Good Surprises: Six Flags New England, Kings Island, Universal Studios Florida (TNA Impact taping & Olivia Newton-John performed on my same visit) Bad Surprises: Six Flags Over Texas (half the coasters weren’t running), Six Flags America (It’s my funeral).

[@Tylerhopkins3106]

Awesome video and the best one you have made by far, the best park surprise for me would have to be Six Flags Magic Mountain, I went there on a Wednesday in September and the crowds were light but I got to ride every coaster I wanted except for Full Throttle. As for the worst park surprise I would have to say Dollywood I went there in 2016 and 2017 hoping to ride Lightning Rod only to have it closed both times that I went, however I managed to ride the other coasters at Dollywood that I wanted. One good takeaway from your video is sometimes even with all of the planning in the world things just don't go as planned especially when a ride you want to ride is closed or there's inclement weather, keep up the good work can't wait to see more videos!!!

[@bluemew123]

Wohoo finally someone mentioning Funspot! They're a good, cheap alternative for florida based theme parks, and a year pass lets you go to all of their parks and gokarts are included!

[@GalcianBTH]

I also had a very surprisingly great day at SFNE this year. Used to feel like a few hr park to me but we ended up having fun the full day.

[@AirtimeThrills]

That's funny because last year was by far my worst day at SFNE (after I made this video)

[@GalcianBTH]

@@AirtimeThrills for the first time I can recall I didn't get stapled down on Superman, Wicked Cyclone was running great, and unlike usual I basically always got the seat I requested. Smooth day.

[@helentran204]

Nice to see Darien Lake get some love! I live fairly close to it, like about an hour away. Haven't been there in a long time, though.

[@matts9308]

Seeing my home park as the best surprise makes me soooo happy for some reason lol

[@acerain5363]

Nice to hear you enjoyed California's Great America. It was my home park and I spent a good number of summers going there with my sister when my dad had to work. He lived just down the road and I never have had a bad experience there.

[@kyle.k.art777]

10:54 They changed it to Superman: The Ride

[@AirtimeThrills]

I meant "now known as Bizarro" as in that was the name when I went since it changed from Superman Ride of Steel

[@constable012]

Silver Dollar City blew me away. I was excited about time traveler and outlaw run, but I wasn't really expecting much from the other rides. I found the mine ride a little rough, but everything else was awesome. It is behind only cedar point as my #2 park, which I wasn't expecting given how the coaster lineup stacks up to parks like kings island, magic mountain, great America, or the top 4 at carowinds and top 3 at kings dominion. Atmosphere was just amazing. A very small thing, but starting out the day saying the pledge of allegiance just set the tone for a whole different world than what I've experienced at most other parks. The included cave tour was also a neat surprise. He had a hard time with outlaw run, but I don't think I've seen my dad enjoy a park that much in several years.

[@Ralphinsc]

It's funny that one of your worst park days ever happened to be exactly one day after my best park day ever at Magic Kingdom. And it really had nothing to do with the rides. In fact, it screwed up my entire ride strategy for that day. On 6/8/2012, my family got pulled out of the turnstiles while waiting to be among the first to get in and were selected as Family of the Day. Disney Magic to the extreme, lots of cool VIP character encounters, exclusive pictures, and a private tour, and we got to be in the opening ceremony for the park. Screwed my entire ride plan for the day up, LOL.

[@madamk1818]

Best surprise: Airtime Thrills dropped a new video. Worst surprise: I failed my recipe. Either way, we appreciate your content during these trying times!

[@messydude5461]

Elitches is my home park. Still the worst park I have ever been too.

[@metrofilmer8894]

It’s just unfortunately what happens when all six flags does is add Vekoma clones and dump it to the side. It’s unfortunate because Denver is a great market that’s like Charlotte where if they got good coasters, it would be a good return on investment

[@breeloney2558]

The last thing I expected to see was my home park Silverwood on here. The park is small compared to most because the population in our area is much smaller. But us locals love it. You should come back when it’s scarywood!

[@coasterlover8362]

I have never had anything but an amazing experience at Waldameer. It’s a great little park who is growing every year. So I can’t wait to see where they’ll go.

[@TheJustlittlecrazy]

I had the best experience at Disney World! Give it another try, when you can and do two days with two night events. You can do everything. We’re planning a return there next year. I’m also just 25 miles away from Disneyland! Love it!

[@Sugerloadedgirl789]

I have to write an addendum for Silver Dollar City. I went back on April 5th of this year and they were running on all cylinders! They were extremely accommodating and all the rides were top notch! Outlaw Run was smoother than last time, time traveler is still elite, and even Fire in the Hole was surprisingly fun! Cinnamon bread yes plz! They really recovered from last time, the patrons being less drunk!

[@handle2935]

Hey! Six Flags Great America is my home park, it's always awsome hearing all the praise. What did you think about the custom arrow "The Demon "? It was my first invert and even tho it's kinda rough I just love that thing.

[@wutduh8697]

What surprised me the most other than the rides and atmosphere was how good the food was at Silver Dollar City. I'm used to Sixflags level food so this was a great surprise for me. And shout to my homepark Six Flags Great America

[@angelalewis8539]

Your videos make me so excited that great America (Illinois) is my home park~my mom would literally take me just to ride raging bull and go home, I love that place

[@surferjohnny123]

I'm always so suprised that you really dig Six Flags New England. Especially since you live so close The amazing SFMM. It would really suck to come all the way across the country to a park and not have a good experience. Man you really do a great job on these videos. Makes we want to go ride some coasters. Wait... oh that's right no parks are open. Thanks Coronavirus.

[@Paolo8772]

You had me concerned @ 0:35-0:37. The one train ops during the fair is embarrassing, but thankfully I'm a musician and not in that park. Yet: I was relieved to have come to the end of this video to have discovered you never mentioned the one train ops at Playland during the fair. The rest of this video was great too, BTW. Stay safe and let's hope I can get to SFGA in N.J. for the third time ever, my last being 39 years ago. (During the era of Lightening Loops)

[@thesledgehammerblog]

Silverwood seems like the type of park that would be a prime candidate for an RMC. I mean, RMC's headquarters is literally just down the road...

[@Lady.B0420]

👏👏👏 They are a good park but they need a couple more coasters for sure. I can only go on Aftershock and the two wooden coasters so many times. Although Tremors does pack a freaking punch, it just flies. But the other woody is better, for sure.

[@Golden_DTB]

U quesssed it

[@mopar0IIII0jeep]

They have a new RMC Raptor ride called Stunt Pilot new for 2021. Fun fact the owner of RMC actually worked at Silverwood back in the day and helped set up the two wooden coasters in Silverwood. That was where he really got into coaster design and eventually started designing his own.

[@wingedbunny6211]

As a someone who used to go to Six Flags Great America 3 times a week, thanks for putting us at 2nd 🥰

[@andrewcb9255]

My best surprise was King’s Island during the 2018 season. I’ve been there twice before, but both times as a gp and small child, but my 3rd visit blew me away. I was able to appreciate the history behind the park and their underrated collection of coasters. With Orion hopefully opening this season I can’t wait to go back in the future

[@mattwhite8526]

Love the vid!

[@katdoodlebug7114]

Yeah... my home park had been SFoG for my whole life until I moved to college in Denver. Elitch is about 15 minutes away from campus so obviously I bought a season pass! But oh man that park is a mess. Twister II isn’t that bad but they really don’t have anything I would call “good”. The most I really got out of going was I realized how lucky I was to have such a good home park growing up!

[@darrelleaster5381]

As a fellow Georgian, I must agree that while it might not be the best, we definitely were blessed with a solid home park. Luckily, it might get better now that Fun Spot Atlanta is stepping up the competition.

[@darrelleaster5381]

But Goliath will forever be my favorite Hyper, and Acrophobia my favorite drop tower!

[@seanmasino3974]

3:30 hopefully you’ll come back to Disney World when Tron or Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind opens lol

[@Apollo978]

Best surprise for me by far was Carowinds for the first time. I didn't know Fury 325 existed but it's now one of my favorite coasters. And I have intimidator 305 at my home park lol.

[@juanrojas2595]

Ahhh six flags great America... My home park. I have soooo many memories there, it’s great.

[@dm06012]

SFGAm is always a blast and it’s near impossible to get bored. The variety is great (not just in coasters, but flats as well), and the park is always so busy that you won’t have time for downtime. Also, LOL at being disappointed by Disney World because you didn’t know it was more than the Magic Kingdom. Bruh.

[@MrFlubbergem]

Yup, Canada's Wonderland is my home park and although most coasters have very high up-time; it does have its days where it is overcrowded and you can only get in a few of the major coasters. It essentially forces you to get the fast pass + or schedule your visit for a weekday in May. It has come a very long way since Cedar Fair took over though.

[@QDude24]

American theme park enthousiasts in a nutshell; "Needs an RMC"

[@ATLSloan]

Number one expectation going into any park is their coasters are actually running! Biggest disappointments have always been when rides are shut down and that then drives your actual reality quite quickly. Kings island was a good surprise for you but it was a huge disappointment for me during Xmas holiday at the park cause I couldn’t believe they only had one coaster running despite being unseasonably warm. My fault not knowing going into it but by far my biggest disappointment to date.

[@samuelnowlin4909]

At Dollywood, I went on a rainy day, with hardly any people. All of the rides are up. Sorry you had a rough day there because that park truly is awesome!

[@cadeneldridge7808]

I had only been to Disney World before visiting Busch Gardens when I was 8 with my family and some family friends, and it is where I rode my first coaster, The Loch Ness Monster. I came back with my cousin when I was fourteen and riding the roller coasters and enjoying the familiar atmosphere was amazing. It was even better than I remember.

[@ophiolatrix]

I've had a lot of good and bad surprises over the years, but for me the standout ones were Bad surprise: I was gonna say overestimating my physical limits at Hershey and going on the storm runner and sidewinder back to back, but then I remembered the time I nearly passed out from heat exhaustion at Universal Orlando, thus bringing an otherwise amazing trip to an unpleasant and uncomfortable end. Good surprise: getting over my fears and hangups about going on coasters at Busch Gardens with Verbolten and The Loch Ness Monster, thus turning me into maybe not a hardcore enthusiast (I pretty much just ride what I like rather than trying to get every single credit) but still a big fan

[@dwaterson21]

I was at Cedar Point Opening Day 2018 and, let me tell you, it WAS something else. Ran the bulls to Frontiertown only for Steel Vengeance to be down, Raptor getting evac'd, and Cedar Creek Mine Ride gettinc stuck on a lift hill. Truly insane.

[@adambomb3619]

My 1st trip to cedar point was horrible. It was crowded on a Monday. Fast lanes lines like1 or 2 hours. Rainy and cloudy. Rides kept breaking down. And too thrill dragster was closed. I hope my next trip back is a hundred times better.!

[@lisabernthal4373]

King's Island is a class act.

[@BryanVGK23]

I would love to do a trip like that, cross country, taking our time and sightseeing while hitting various amusement parks

[@DS-ov9pz]

I’ve gone to silver dollar city for years, and it used to be awesome! Although ever since they opened Time Traveler, it’s gotten super busy! When my family used to go, Outlaw Run was a walk on, same with Powder Keg, and Thunderation. Also this last time I went they were running one train on Time Traveler… and the park was at capacity. I love this place, that’s where I had all my roller coaster firsts, they just need to learn how to deal with crowds lol

[@nv_spartan1771]

My wife has lived in Northern Illinois all her life so she has always assumed all amusement parks were like SFGAm. In 2021 I took her to Cedar Point for the first time for 3 nights at the breakers. By the time we arrived at the hotel, her expectations had been extremely surpassed. Now she wants to book a longer stay. She said she had no idea that CP would be as nice as it was.

[@barnsio]

I'm glad someone else took #1 from SF America

[@YourBrother84]

The worst surprise is going to Six Flags America to make fun of it but everything is going fine

[@oregoncoasterenthusiast8564]

My biggest surprise is probably when I went to Cedar Point in October 2019, which was notoriously packed for Halloweekends. I came from Oregon, and it was my second visit with the first being in October 2015, and it wasn’t that crowded then, but the lines were insane on my recent visit. We also went to Dollywood and Kings Island, so I got to ride Lightning Rod and Steel Vengeance both for the first time. We drove up to Sandusky from Mason on Saturday morning and when we arrived, the causeway was backed up and it took us an hour to get to the hotel and I checked the Cedar Point app, and it said everything had at least an hour long wait. Luckily, I did have 2 days there so I was able to ride most of the coasters and I have every credit there because of my past visit, except for Wilderness Run. Steel Vengeance is my new number 1 and Lightning Rod is number 3, so overall, the trip was successful and I will definitely return to Cedar Point on a weekday in August or something haha.

[@stitches3092]

Biggest surprise was that little spinning coaster in Silverwood. I actually had a blast with one of my friends on it and we got tons of re-rides because aftershock and tremors were closed

[@josephdickey5277]

Elitch gardens is being moved this year hopefully they put in some new rides to go along with it.