The 15 Best Amusement Parks To Rival Disneyland

With absolutely no disrespect intended to the Happiest Place on Earth, at that place are tons of roomy, safe, and well-maintained Ground theme parks that don't fall into the Mickey Mouse-eared shadow of Walt Disney. With family vacation season upon us — spring break is almost in the rearview mirror and summertime is upcoming fast — now seems corresponding a good time to think over all but outdoorsy spaces where IT's soft to stand six-feet-apart from other families and enjoy yourself.

Long before there was Disneyland, there have been amusement parks and funfairs. Here's a quick look at just 15, ranging from expensive Disney challengers to quirky local attractions, to some affordable and adorable American English classics. In each case, we've coupled-bent apiece specific amusement Park's website. Just click the name of apiece commons to check out their site and current prices. Have playfulness!

15. Coney Island: Brooklyn, NY

The national birthplace of amusement, this New House of York institution quieten offers thrill rides, arcades, seaside air, and a boardwalk that retains sportsmanlike a suggest of neon carnival tackiness. The iconic Wonder Wheel and vintage Cyclone rollercoaster some towers over the renovated Luna Park, and dissimilar most modern theme parks, the rides and stable are independently closely-held and operated. If you tire of coasters and cotton candy, the Atlantic Sea is right wing there. And be advised: On July 4 this is home to the Olympics of rivalrous eating, Nathan's Known Dog Eating Contend.

14. Pacific Park: Santa Monica, CA

This makes the list for its location as much as its rides: assault the Santa Monica Pier, overlooking the Ocean Ocean. Though smaller than most parks on this list, this one has wholesome entries in its 35 miles per hour W Coaster rollercoaster, Adrenalin-fiend Eurobungy, kid-friendly Red Baron carousel, and the elegant Pacific Wheel, whose 130-foot peak gives you a spectacular view of Catalina Island. While there may be opposite amusement parks in the Los Angeles region, sparing parents bequeath appreciate that this one doesn't charge admittance.

13. Cedar Luff: Sandusky, OH

For years, this has been the premier destination for rollercoaster gourmets, with 18 twisting, plummeting thrill rides—both old-school gems like the Downcast Streak and modern font stress-testers like the floor-less Rougarou, straight-up Unrighteous Cruller, towering GateKeeper, and the absolute crowning terror, Steel Vengeance. That is, the tallest, fasted, steepest, wood-nerve hybrid rollercoaster in the world. There's also no shame in staying with the carousel and other junior-tyke-friendly attractions on this lovely stretch along of peninsula on Lake Erie.

12. Canobie Lake Green Salem, New Hampshire

Like Coney Island's Luna Park, this 100-year-old institution retains a bit of the used-school good luck charm of its peaked origins. Even if we didn't sleep with information technology inspired his recent new Joyland, Canobie Lake would still fit the wayside Recent England of Stephen King. With rides ranging from the 1930s rollercoaster the Yankee Cannon ball to a progressive steel Dragon titled Feral, IT's a flourishing destination for families from Massachusetts to Maine, with lovely lake activities circumferent.

11. Diggerland USA West Berlin, Garden State

Where but midmost New Jersey would the hard-hat realities of construction work spark the seemingly-impolitic, totally-awesome idea of letting kids drive an actual 7,000-ram JCB road shovel? Or a extraordinary-ton Kubota RTV-900? These, along with dump trucks, miniskirt domain rovers, backhoes, tractors, and a range of other kid-proofed heavy metallic is gassed raised and ready to be driven by your offspring in this Tonka-truck dreaming come into being. All this, plus a ropes course, roundabout, waterslides pools, and other family fare for whoever is on their lunch break.

10. Knoebels Amusement Resort, Elysburg, P.A. system

One of the to the highest degree eyeball-pop parks connected our list if only for its admission charge: $0.00. This household-owned, family-friendly park is the largest admission-freeborn single in the country and most every fixture evokes simpler multiplication: a fun, wholesome, asymptomatic-run park with three wooden rollercoasters, a flume devolve on, a 1913 carousel, two toy steam trains, and a time of origin haunted planetary hous ride—plus with liquid, camping, and otherwise low-key, all-ages attractions.

9. Jukebox Universe: Bloomington, MN

This one's a bit of a twofer since it stands within the sprawling funfair that is Minnesota's Mall of America, merely it's extraordinary of the better live odes to cable television service TV, in that case the retro-90s sport of Nickelodeon. So: climb on onto the SpongeBob Squarepants Rock Bottom plunge, the tower-drop Splat-O-Sphere, the Incarnation Airbender, Brain Surge, and other domains of Dora the Explorer, Teenage Ninja Turtles, and the rest of the classical Ding shows. Bonus pull the leg of points for being a certified autism center.

8. Glennwood Caverns, Glennwood Springs, CO

The rides at this put on redefine "last bear upon," atomic number 3 the parking lot itself sits 7,000 feet above sea level, making its Cliffhanger roller coaster North America's highest, something you'll by all odds feel as you take in the sweep of the Colorado River on your climb to the braggy first plunge. As you'd bear for a park in the Rockies, it also has the oldest, and many say, highest-octane alpine coaster in the Carry Amelia Moore Nation: 3,400 feet of track you tear down, while dominant your ain f number. The four-person Giant Canyon Jiv throws you and your crew out over 1,300 feet of fresh melodic line. And if you've had enough, there are tours of the largest "show"—meaning, public or tourist—cave in the state of Colorado.

7. Universal's Islands of Adventure, Orlando, FL

As much as we love low-key, off-the-beaten-path amusement parks, thither's something to be said for a big budget and great expertise going into the kind of boots-on-the-ground magic you'll see at this place. Connected two coasts, Universal is giving Disney a run for its money, and their Wizarding World of Harry Potter remains a standard-pallbearer for the fantasise films come to life. Non only are the Potterverse locations—Hogsmeade pubs, Hogwarts Castle—reproduced in near frightening detail, simply the 3D viewer-assisted mine-trolley steeplechase Escape from Gringotts sets a modern amusement-green standard.

6. The Yard, Governor's Island, New House of York

Imagine a muddied vacant lot with scrap iron, a chromatic box seat spring, damaged piano, a single crutch, few saws, a hammer, and other debris. Imagine it's behind a wall and that only kids are allowed in. Meet the New York interpretation of mostly North Germanic "adventure playgrounds," where the children of non-litigious parents wear closed-toe shoes, get healthy risks, and, usually, have more fun than they've had all year. If your nerves are worn, the spectacular 172- acres of Governors Island look your explorations.

5. Hersheypark, Hershey, Protactinium

A shrine to the American chocolate empire, with ride to charts that range from "miniatures" to "Jolly Ranchers," Hersheypark is atomic number 102 entran to the amusements game, opening Eastern Samoa a resort for Hershey employees back in 1903, adding a whirligig and roller coaster in 1923, and growing into 70 rides that admit 14 roller coasters, a water commons, and an 11-acre zoological garden. The marquee attractions would be the ranked Hershey Treble Tower, which offers candy-ranked drops from the 187-foot Milton Snavely Hershey Loom to the more manageable 80-animal foot Kisses Tower. And by the way, they also have sugarcoat.

4. LEGOLAND

It's a Lego world, grown-ups just sleep in information technology. For over 30 age, the West Coast builder's paradise has explored all permutations of the mighty Brick, spreading out from the freehand Miniland's million-brick versions of the Golden Gate Bridge, New York's Central Park, and the Las Vegas Strip into a kid-sized railroad. a waterpark, ocean existence fish tank, and, lately, a straggling yet impressively detailed tableaux from Star Wars Force Awakens. A killer amusement park in his own right, Legoland, whose New York version is set to open this summer, attests to the DIY thrill of kid-made constructions throughout.

3. Holiday World &ere; Splashin' Safari. Santa Claus, IN

As if a town named Santa Claus weren't adequate of a draw, this large-scale leaf testimonial to quirky Americana is a serious Western rollercoaster contender. Called the best "woodie" in America by aficionados, its 1.2-mile long The Voyage offers a very modernistic-day form of adrenaline rush, banking 90-degrees, giving you 24 seconds in the air, and plunging you through five underground tunnels. The floorless Thunderbird Steel throws a rider barrel-rolling and loop-de-looping through the air, and the full-serving waterpark packs the world's cardinal longest water coasters, the Wildebeest and Guinness Rule book record-breaker Mammoth.

2. Santa's Village, Jefferson, Granite State

Relish the Christmas spirit all year long in this kinky, vacation-themed park. Christmas lovers can enjoy the magic of the Northwest Pole even when it's middle-July by awheel old-timer cars, a Noel train, and rides like the Chimney Drop and elf Hurried School (a circular, flying sled ride). In the summer, you buns smooth enjoy a trip to the water park, which opens in late May.

1. DOLLYWOOD Pigeon Invent, TN

Of the celebrities who've lent their names to theme parks, none are A unimpeachable national care for Doll Parton, and no show the charm and care that abound in the park she's owned and operated since 1986. Snuggled in the Great Smoky Mountains, Dollywood has top-notch thrill rides running throughout its different enclaves—Wilderness Pass, Wildwood Grove, Lumber Canon (home of the 200-understructur Dropline)—while a full-size up steam locomotive and gentler attractions of Country Fair cater to younger children's needs. And those attractions devoted to American language music, like the museum of Doll-ana "Chasing Rainbows" and the Southern Gospel Museum and Hall of Fame are worthy content destinations in their own right.

Incentive:

Six Flags Magic Piles, Valencia, CA.

The Pepsi Cola to Disneyland's Coke, Six Flags cadaver a powerhouse of American entertainment, slightly less sanitized, and—non for nothing—real-life location of Wally World in National Lampoon's Holiday. Experts are divided connected whether this California watershed has bumped Cedar Remonstrate of the nation's top rollercoaster bit. But nary daredevil give the sack sternutation at the likes of Superman, with its 415-foot, seven-second drop and 100 miles per hour speed, or the terrifying Ninja with its 90-degree angle swings, or the dire Slingshot, which is exactly as the name advertises. And perhaps in a higher place every last thither stands the Twisted Colossus, a woodie-steel hybrid that updates the original park's woodie with a 116-foot, 80-stage drop followed away a 360-grade G ringlet, and heart-stopping inverted swing. The fainter of stomach, if non heart, can undertake the new 4-D VR Struggle for Metropolis, in which they bring members of the Magistrate League fighting Lex Luthor or The Turkey. And Toonland offers hair-raiser rides for little kids, and necessary relief for the rest of us.

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