Rank the regions in the US for best amusement/theme parks

[Bat Fastard]

Which region of the United States is your favorite for everything roller coasters, theme parks, and amusement parks? This is how I would rank them-
5. Southwest- Outside of the two Six Flags in Texas and maybe Seaworld San Antonio, there isn't really anything notable.
4. Northeast- Some great parks and roller coasters, with Six Flags Great Adventure, Hershey Park, Dorney, Six Flags New England, and Knoebels. However, this region lacks a TRUE, BIG theme park.
3. West- All of the California parks are great. There are the 2 Six Flags parks, one of which is the flagship, two Disney parks, and Universal. Not too mention, Knott's Berry Farm.
2. Midwest- This region is in my opinion the best region for the roller coasters themselves. Cedar Point, Kings Island, Six Flags Great America, Silver Dollar City, Holiday World, and Worlds of Fun are all parks with great rides.
1. Southeast- In my opinion, without a doubt, the best region in the country. 4 Disney parks, 2 Universal Parks, the best Seaworld, 2 Busch Gardens parks, Kings Dominion, Dollywood, Six Flags over Georgia, and Carowinds are all amazing parks that make this the best region in the country for the actual theme and amusement parks.

Luckily, I live in the Midwest. cool)

 

[Ben]

Re: Rank the regions in the US for best amusement/theme park

I'd really struggle to call Virginia the South - I dunno where it falls in Americans' eyes, but it's neither geographically nor culturally South IMO.

I'd say the North East has the best coasters (Wicked Cyclone, Skyrush, Bizarro, Boulder Dash) whereas the South East has the best parks (Florida, basically).

California is just fabulous as well though.

The South is a bit eh (I'd call Texas the South rather than South West?) and the Midwest is fab.

 

[tomahawk]

Re: Rank the regions in the US for best amusement/theme park

Virginia is definitely classified as South, mainly as Richmond was capital for Confederacy back in the day.


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[GuyWithAStick]

Re: Rank the regions in the US for best amusement/theme park

1: Northeast
2: Midwest
3: West
4: Southeast
5: Southwest

I'm ranking these by coasters btw.

 

[jackdude101]

Re: Rank the regions in the US for best amusement/theme park

Top 5:

California
Pennsylvania
Ohio
Florida
Texas

Even if California were split between Northern and Southern California, Southern California would still be #1.

 

[Pink Cadillac]

Re: Rank the regions in the US for best amusement/theme park

Florida wins because contains world's best roller coaster

The north east looks literally amazing so that can come second.

The ohio / kentucky / illinois area for third

And California fourth

 

[BigBad]

Re: Rank the regions in the US for best amusement/theme park

However, this region lacks a TRUE, BIG theme park.

Great Adventure has the world's tallest coaster, and it was the fastest through most of 2010. El Toro is routinely ranked as the best wood coaster in the world. Nitro also gets ranked high, and it's one of five B&Ms at the park, which I think is the record.

What is a "TRUE, BIG" theme park in your mind?

1. Northeast. We have Great Adventure's coasters, Skyrush, Bizarro (SFNE), Wicked Cyclone, Boulder Dash, and the world's most famous coaster: the Coney Island Cyclone. It can't be so surprising that the parks serving Philly, Boston, and NYC have the money to build great stuff.

2. Midwest. They have CP and KI. SDC, Great America, and Holiday World all have some world class rides, too.

I could flip these, but then there's a big jump down to my third region.

3. Southeast. The quality is excellent, but if you wanted to hit up all of the good rides, you'd spend a lot of time in your car. Virginia to Orlando is much further than SFNE to Hershey, PA.

4. West. SFMM seems pretty good, but the other parks don't seem like they're worth traveling to from the east. Disney doesn't have much in the way of coasters, does it? KBF also strikes me as meh. I'd visit all of them if I found myself in LA, but I'm not planning to travel there for anything except maybe SFMM. I've traveled to the Midwest and plan to hit up the Southeast and New England this year.

5. Southwest. The big coasters are New Texas Giant (which does look really good), Titan, and Steel Eel.

Does the Pacific Northwest have anything? I can't think of coasters around Portland or Seattle. All that's coming to mind is the opening riff of Spoonman.

 

[GuyWithAStick]

Re: Rank the regions in the US for best amusement/theme park

^The Pacific NW is a place I really think should have something better. All it has is Silverwood(2 CCI woodies and a Vekoma GIB) and a few historical parks. The setting there is in my opinion the best in the US. The terrain there can also be used for some nice things. If I ever get a chance to build a park, I'm putting it in the Pacific Northwest without a doubt.

 

[Hyde]

Re: Rank the regions in the US for best amusement/theme park

How about using the U.S. census regions for ranking?

So in general, it would be fair to classify:

- Northeast (or New England)
- Mid Atlantic
- South Atlantic (or Southeast)
- Midwest
- South (probably best encapsulated as West and East South Central on this map for roller coasters' sake)
- West Coast (Chuck in the mountain regions and Southwestern regions as you see fit - there isn't a lot of roller coasters to be had in general)

Of this list, I'd go for:

1. Midwest - This is by far the largest region (17 states), which carries the largest amount of roller coasters (182). Silver Dollar City, Cedar Point, Kings Island, Six Flags St. Louis, Worlds of Fun, Six Flags Great America, and Holiday World are all solid offerings for this region.
2. West Coast - While the Southeast is the next largest in terms of state size and coaster count (West Coast takes fourth for coaster count, third for number of states), the offerings between Six Flags Magic Mountain, Disneyland, California Adventure, Knott's, Six Flags Marine World, and California's Great America are too good to pass up.
3. Southeast - This region as prescribed above would technically cover from Florida clear up to Maryland. It's quite the territory, and covers a lot of ground from Orlando/Tampa and SFOG to Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Six Flags America, Kings Dominion, and [strike]Six Flags New England (irony, I know)[/strike] ([Edit - No, it isn't]. Honestly? Between these top three you are splitting hairs as each region have a fantastic set of park offerings.
4. Mid Atlantic - This region is only defined as Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey, yet combine for a total of 139 coasters, third overall. Hersheypark and SFGAdv certainly take top billing, with Kennywood, Dorney, Knoebels, Darien filling in behind as a well rounded region of offerings (not to mention a personal favorite, Waldameer). Each of these states simply has a lot of roller coasters packed in, yet still spans quite a distance given that you must traverse the Appellation Mountains to make your way.
5. South - Texas is the only redeeming grace of the region, with SFOT and SFFT as the main draw. Other than that, you can nickel and dime your way across various parks and coasters, but not to the same extent of aggregation or park collection as other regions.
6.Northeast - By this regional divide, New Hampshire carries the state in coaster count. And outside of SFNE and Lake Compounce, can you honestly name another amusement park worth the trip up?

Also for those interested, here is the regional break down spreadsheet featuring coaster count provided by RCDB: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/154 ... egion.xlsx

 

[BigBad]

Re: Rank the regions in the US for best amusement/theme park

And outside of Lake Compounce, can you honestly name another amusement park worth the trip up?

Wouldn't SFNE and thus Bizarro fall in that region?

For doing this, I think you have to consider how spread out the parks are. SFNE, SFGA, and Hershey are not that spread out. That's an easy road trip. It's harder to hit Kings Dominion, Dollywood, and Carowinds.

 

[Hyde]

Re: Rank the regions in the US for best amusement/theme park

^ [strike]The way the regions broke down, Six Flags New England counted towards the Southeast. That ties back to how wishy washy the regions can be, as Maryland can be culturally lumped in to the Northeast, while in other lights you can consider it a Mid Atlantic or (as pictured above) Southeastern state accordingly.[/strike] [Update - I'm an idiot. Massachusetts is not Maryland, you're right BigBad]

The above U.S. Census map is a statistical representation of four areas, which are further broken down to nine divisions, with clusters based on demographics and population density. I proposed the above map as a way to create a constant definition for folks to compare, rather than arbitrarily stating "the South is great" while that defined geography can ebb and flow.

What I found most surprising of the regions I threw out was how well-populated Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey are in roller coasters (third to the Midwest and Southeast). This in part makes sense, as the key market draw for majority of those parks is from within the region. Dorney is focused on New York City, Hersheypark on Philly, SFGAdv on Philly and NYC, Kennywood it's own Pitt, etc. In laymen's terms; there are a lot of people residing in heavy metro areas in this region, despite it only consisting of three states.

 

[Shirofukurou]

Re: Rank the regions in the US for best amusement/theme park

And outside of Lake Compounce, can you honestly name another amusement park worth the trip up?

Wouldn't SFNE and thus Bizarro fall in that region?

For doing this, I think you have to consider how spread out the parks are. SFNE, SFGA, and Hershey are not that spread out. That's an easy road trip. It's harder to hit Kings Dominion, Dollywood, and Carowinds.

No, SFNE is not worth it, and I'm saying that even though it's my home park... However, Canobie is splendid and definitely worth it.

I would consider the highest density of quality parks to be the Midwest just by observation, but of the places I've been to thoroughly the mid-atlantic is definitely up there. The entirety of Pennsylvania is Mid-atlantic and that's at least 3 or 4 major parks there plus many great smaller parks like Waldameer and Idlewild. I'd say only California and Florida have better park density by state, and those are much larger area wise. Then you have SFGAdv, KD and Busch Gardens in other states. (Though I may be biased because BGW is my favorite park in the U.S.)

 

[Hixee]

Re: Rank the regions in the US for best amusement/theme park

^ The way the regions broke down, Six Flags New England counted towards the Southeast. That ties back to how wishy washy the regions can be, as Maryland can be culturally lumped in to the Northeast, while in other lights you can consider it a Mid Atlantic or (as pictured above) Southeastern state accordingly.

I'm confused. Six Flags New England is in Massachusetts, which is definitely in the Northeast according to your map.

 

[Hyde]

Re: Rank the regions in the US for best amusement/theme park

Yeah... Definitely was swapping Maryland and Massachusetts in my head.

I've revised my post.

 

[Bat Fastard]

Re: Rank the regions in the US for best amusement/theme park

However, this region lacks a TRUE, BIG theme park.

What is a "TRUE, BIG" theme park in your mind?

Parks with theming prevalent throughout the whole park. The best example of this in the US is a Disney or Universal park.

 

[Hyde]

Re: Rank the regions in the US for best amusement/theme park

^ That also ties back to the tradeoff between amusement and theme parks, and what is the bigger draw: Immersive themes or large roller coasters and attractions. That question can certainly be subjective, and vary depending on who you are asking. For instance, as many have said in this thread, the Midwest sports a long list of roller coasters which makes it a desirable location. However, there are very few theme parks - Silver Dollar City is probably your best bet.

The West Coast would certainly be a great location with this in mind - SFMM, Disney, etc. offer a great rounding of both theme and large coasters.

 

[Sythe]

Re: Rank the regions in the US for best amusement/theme park

I would say...

1. Wyoming
Lol not really

1. The Midwest
It has a Great selection of some top tier parks, the 1st and 2nd best CF parks and one of the best SF parks. It also has a wide variety of coaster types.

2. Southeast
Definitely a great place for parks. You've got Kings Dominion, a top CF park, and Carowinds, which is also somewhat a top CF park, and SFOG. Also some great theme parks like DW, Seaworld, and USO.
3. West
It has the best SF park and some other great parks too. It's definitely great for coasters.

4. Northeast
It's not the BEST region for parks, although Hersheypark is one of the best parks in the US. It doesn't have anything else too great, there are some okay SF parks like SFGADV and SFNE. They do have Knobels and Kennywood though, which look really great.