Have neither the time nor will to rank the 122 domestic parks I've been to but I'll give my top 11, aka my top 10 if anyone want's to DQ disney to level the Playing Field
1. Disney (all of em for the sake of ease, both FL and CA) 2. Islands of Adventure 3. Busch Gardens Williamsburg 4. Knoebels 5. Kennywood 6. Silver Dollar City 7. Waldameer 8. Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk 9. Canobie Lake 10. Silverwood 11. SFOG
For reference SFGAm would probably fall somewhere in 30's
And don't like to dwell on them so I'll only list the 3 absolute worst parks I've been to
120. Michigans Adventure, though it's on the upswing 121. Indiana Fun Spot (Defunct) 122. Mt Olympus
Favorite Wood Coasters: The Voyage, Ravine Flyer II, Thunderhead, Balder Favorite Steel: Steel Vengeance, Expedition GeForce, Olympia Looping Parks visited: 222, Coasters Ridden: Steel: 822, Wood: 178, Total: 1000
I'll Just do 5 Parks that have left bad tastes in my mouth and Why
Wild Adventures- For sending A Boomerang with 6 empty seats on purpose (The seats kept changing) during a 30 minute wait and Gnats. Seriously, Invest in Bug Zappers.
Dollywood- For not pushing the restraints on Mystery Mine and then telling me a bogus story about how in 2007, They pushed down the restraints and cracked someones ribs. That didn't happen and I hope they were fired for saying that. Even the parks GM/PR guy had no idea what was going on.
La Ronde- Every Six Flags stereotype rolled into one with guests smoking getting off rides, closed rides, Gravel parking lot, The worst SLC I've ever been on (Out of 10), And employees having no idea which carousel is the old carousel.
Dutch Wonderland- I ask Guest Relations where is Philadelphia (Near my Hotel) and they sent me to Pittsburgh Airport. Not the best thing to see at 2am. This was before I used GPS and used Mapquest (HORRIBLE) only.
Uncle Bernie's Theme Park- 1 Employee and I was so lucky to be at the park during her lunch break. And people say Six Flags has horrible staffing?
And yes I did tell Pete both of the HFE Stories
Honorable Mention (Cause this was guest related and not park related) Silver Dollar City- I was holding spots for my family cause they were about to light the tree for their Christmas event and after about 10 minutes (Cause they were getting coats and blankets) and A Lady asked if she could sit down and I said I was holding them and then accused me of being inappropriate with her female accomplice who was mentally "R". Her words not mine. Not a great encounter during a Christmas trip with my family.
For overall park experiences - quality of rides, theming, quality cleanliness, landscaping, attractions for everyone, etc
These are the "A" Class Parks in the US 1. Disney-Magic Kingdom 2. Disneyland-Magic Kingdom 3/4. Dollywood/Silver Dollar City 5. Hersheypark 6. Busch Gardens Williamsburg
"B" Class 7. Universal Orlando - excellent theming, lack of attractions, too many video based attractions 8. Kings Dominion - beautiful park, mediocre attractions, lack of family attractions 9. Cedar Point - lots of rides, no theming, lack of family attractions, too much asphalt 10. King's Island - not as beautiful as Kings Dominion, good coaster lineup, lack of family attractions
Other "B" class parks Busch Gardens Tampa - excellent theming, landscaping, great coasters, awesome cable skyway. Too many attraction closures without replacements. Other Disney US parks - most of them lack enough attractions to be full day parks Knoebels - going back in time is great. Best bumper cars & worst restrooms in the US. Holiday World Knott's - same as other Cedar Fair parks
No Six Flags park would appear anywhere on an A or B list in my opinion. The parks are run down, poorly themed, poorly maintained, poorly managed, and lack family attractions. That being said, Great American in Gurnee has the best overall coaster lineup of any park in the world. But the other things matter a lot too! Six Flags has done a much better job with Gurnee than Paramount did to Santa Clara!
Carowinds would make the "C" list because of what the park used to be compared to what it is now.