Best Way for Pinsiders to Enjoy Florida theme Parks.....Come to IAPPA in November, Enjoy our Local Freeplay Pin show, and the Parks are mostly empty
before Thanksgiving, its cooler, and the clocks havent changed yet, while the Holiday Lights are also up.
One of the Best ways to Enjoy so much here going on.

September is definitely a slower month at WDW, but it is still not really all that slow.

As an example, seven dwarfs mine train average wait time in September of 2018 was 58 minutes. During peak hours (11am to 5pm) it was 68 minutes, and during non peak hours it was 51 minutes.

So, yeah, you can go during September and figure you'll have short lines. They will be shorter than busy months.

But personally I don't want to wait in an hour long line to ride that. I'll stick with my own method of planning, which allows me to never wait longer than 15 minutes. And even waiting that long is rare.

My source for those numbers is laughingplace . com. You can look up any ride, any month.

Has anyone tried to use a GoPro on any of the rides at KI or Dollywood? I'm assuming it's not allowed, correct?

Nevermind, I found out they are not allowed on the rides at either park, unless you get special permission.

I use to take the kids on amusement park vacations. Once was almost 2 weeks of nothing but solid parks from early in the morning til late at night. I would buy a Six Flags season pass at the cheapest park around (prices vary significantly). Then with the cheap season passes - we could visit any Six Flags park for free with the exception of the outrageous parking fees. So off we would go, hitting every park we could find. Besides Six Flags, we did Cedar Point, Sea World, Holiday World, Disney, Universal, Kings Island, Kennywood...and probably a dozen others. I still have all the maps and season passes to this day.

I hate waiting in line, that's no fun. Here's some tips for a great time with a lot less hassle of crowds:

1) Get there when the park first opens...that first hour or so, the park is pretty much yours to pick rides as you please
2) Go to the back of the park first. Everyone is up front getting on those rides.
3) Mid-day: Then go to the front of the park. Now everyone else is at the back of the park or eating.
4) Stay late. The crowds really thin out.
5) Pick dates between holidays. A lot less people (even true with Universal, Disney not so much due to the international crowd). Right after Thanksgiving is a good time.

Universal Orlando is my favorite park. The rides are just jaw dropping. Not a lot of coasters tho, but the tech they use on the dark rides is seriously cutting edge.

Yes, the Legoland Ambassador lifetime pass was $1000 in the early 2000s. It quickly doubled to $2000, and last I checked about 10 years ago I think it was about $5000. But the place has expanded a lot since it first opened. According to their website, they stopped offering it in 2016.

Only reason I didn't get one for her is I did not know it also include 4 guest passes each year, or they didn't at the time or we would have gone that route. Instead our annual passes were like $70- $80 each.

Legoland is the best park for smaller children and adults that don't like being run over by strollers, as it is a super relaxed environment. Even though my daughter is 21 now, she has such great memories there she said she would go back anytime. Ditto for me.

Going to Kings Island tomorrow and Cedar Point Wednesday and Thursday.

Might be a little bit of a drive, but Holiday World is in southern Indiana. Hey, you can pick up a pin from Zach while in the neighborhood!

Yep I try to do them all. Time Traveler is very unique. Holliday World is a fun park as well.

Thanks - you won't be disappointed. Coasters were my favorite for years (and I still ride them), Universal has 3 of them. But Universal's dark rides just knows how to completely fool your senses. On Spiderman, you think you are falling a dozen stories when in fact you're only moving a foot or two, if that. It's really that good despite being nearly 20 years old (but upgraded over the years). 3D 4K projectors, wind, lighting, multi-axis cars, a few sprinkles of water all add up to a lot of fun. On Harry Potter, your seats are actually attached to what is essentially like a robot that they use to build cars, so they can move you every which way for each scene. And in some cases, the movie screen even follows the seats (think of a half circle that is really a screen in front of you and it is following you. When that scene is over, the robot arm you are on then swings around to a new scene. The theming alone probably cost as much as some coasters. Just amazing.

Universal is comprised of Universal and Islands of Adventures (IOA). The best deal is a 3 day pass which also let's you hop between the two parks anytime you want (they are right next to each other). Some nice off site hotel chains within easy walking distance to the parks if you want to save some $$.

We usually hop on an Agilent flight from Fort Wayne in northern Indiana for about $60. Sure beats driving. 2 hrs. later we are in sunny FLA. Interestingly enough, the same time the parks are less busy are some of the cheapest times to fly. Been a few years since we've went down there - a bunch of new rides added since then.

Here's an interesting and short article about the Harry Potter ride mechanicals: https://www.themeparktourist.com/features/20150319/30063/behind-ride-4-mind-bending-tricks-employed-harry-potter-and-forbidden.

Ditto on your Disney comment. Enjoy Universal a lot more.

Just got back from Kings island and Dollywood. For anyone looking for low crowds, this is the week to go. All rides were basically walk ons at both parks. Could ride anything as many times as you want, it was awesome.

On the day I went to Dollywood, lightning rod was closed all day. So that sucked. But that was the only bad spot and overall the two parks were both great.

I said I would report on the Beast and if it is rough. I rode it 4 times in a row first thing in the morning. Here's the deal.

I was shocked at what a MASSIVE difference there is between the cars in the front of the train vs the cars in the rear of the train. If you ride in the back of the train, I would say the ride is downright smooth! Seriously, for a wooden coaster it's not rough at all.

In the front of the train, the ride is really rough! Seriously rough. It's actually how I remembered it being when I was a kid.

Just down the way from the Beast is mystic timbers. This ride was fun, fun, fun! One of the best surprises in my book. And the ending.... Well, I'm not going to spoil it but I loved it.

I wonder if each car can be smooth or rough, depending on the the age of the wheels or bearings - or it really only has to do with location more than anything else (don't know). Beast really is that, a 'beast'. That's one big, long coaster. Always enjoyed riding it at night in the dark since a lot of the ride is out in the woods. Just a completely different experience in the dark.

Glad you had a good time!

Yeah that's certainly a possibility, maybe it's just that I happened to get smooth cars in the back and rough ones in the front. Who knows?

I did want to ride it at night but the park closed at 8 and it was still light out!