Tips for Visitors to Amusement Parks
♦ Routes (free): Detailed travel itineraries in USA
One of the most famous symbols of the USA is its amusement parks – THEME PARKS. When talking to a child about a trip to the USA, they immediately think of Disneyland. There are many different types of amusement parks in the USA, all united by their enormous size and the abundance of activities offered. Each park is like a small city with rides, activities, shows, shops, restaurants, and sometimes even hotels.
Book Tickets from GetYourGuide:
Powered by GetYourGuide
In order to enjoy all the abundance offered and manage as much as possible, here is a collection of useful tips for visitors:
Early Planning:
Since an amusement park is a huge place where it is difficult to manage to see and do everything, it is advisable to know what it contains before arriving. The best way to get information about the park is through the websites. Below are the web addresses of the major parks in the USA. The information on the sites is vast: ranging from opening dates and hours to the park map, detailed descriptions of the main attractions, including their suitability for the visitors' ages, and details of shows and special events. Partial descriptions also exist in travel books and brochures. Once you know where things are located and what you want to see most, it will be easier for you to navigate the park and quickly reach the places that attract you most.
Recommended sites for purchasing tickets:
Orlando:
♦ Book entrance tickets to the amusement parks in Orlando from Expedia: Expedia
For Disney parks, Universal, Legoland, SeaWorld, and many more attractions!
Purchase tickets from Viator:
♦ In Orlando: Amusement parks, attractions, shows, tours, and more: Top Orlando Tickets & Passes
Los Angeles:
Tickets for amusement parks and attractions in the Los Angeles area from Expedia
New York:
CityPASS - New York - 6 top attractions in one ticket.
Las Vegas:
♦ From Viator: Tickets for attractions and tours Top Las Vegas Tickets & Passes
Throughout the USA:
Tickets for sports events, theater, and concerts
Avoid Busy Days:
Try to visit the park not during the busiest times. Weekends, specifically Saturdays, and holidays are the most crowded days. It is most desirable to arrive at the park during the off-season, or at least at the beginning or end of the season but not at its peak. On busy days, the average waiting time in each line can reach more than an hour, compared to just a few minutes on quiet days.
Arrive Early, Stay Late:
Try to reach the popular attractions early, before all the crowds arrive, and thereby save valuable time later. Most people arrive in the late morning and stay until the afternoon, so the busiest hours are 12 PM to 5 PM. During these hours, walk around the area, enjoy the less popular activities, eat a good meal, watch shows, or take a break for rest and refreshment at the hotel if it is nearby (just don't forget to have your hand stamped when you leave the park so you can return). This way you can return fresh and charge with renewed energy in the evening at the attractions where lines have started to shorten. Also, you will have the strength to stay for the evening shows, which are stunningly beautiful in many parks: fireworks, parades, light shows, lasers, fountains, and more.
Dress Comfortably:
Since there is a lot of walking and standing for a long time in lines, it is recommended to dress in comfortable clothes. Good walking shoes are essential! In parks with many water-related rides (boats descending a steep slope, tubes floating in a turbulent river, etc.), it is advisable to wear clothes that dry quickly or bring clothes for changing.
Eat a Good Breakfast:
Food prices inside the parks are sky-high, and in most cases, the food is not very exciting. Therefore, if you eat a good and satisfying breakfast, you won't be hungry soon and can eat a late lunch during the hours when lines for rides are at their peak but lines for restaurants and food stalls are short. Remember that Americans usually eat "Lunch" between 12-1 PM. Don't do as they do! Take plenty of drinks and snacks with you so you won't have to waste valuable time (and a lot of money!) every hour or two on buying drinks or "junk food," and you can utilize the time standing in lines for rides for snacking and drinking from your bag.
Use "Lockers":
If you brought a lot of equipment with you to the park, including food, drinks, and extra clothes (as I recommended in the previous sections), it will be difficult for you to lug all the equipment around all day. It is highly recommended to rent a "locker" immediately upon arrival at the park (lockers are usually located at the entrance to the parks) and leave most of the equipment in it except for some food and drinks for the coming hours.
Plan Your Day:
Immediately at the entrance to the park, take a map of the park (preferably one for each family member who can read); it is very difficult to manage without it! Additionally, obtain the schedule of shows and their times (at the park entrance or at the ticket booths) so you can plan your time well. In some parks, there are very spectacular shows: ranging from fireworks and lasers to glitzy musical theater productions in giant halls. Decide which shows you want to see so you can reach them on time (remember that the parks are large and crowded). For popular shows, it is advisable to arrive well in advance to get good seats. Indoor shows can be an excellent place to give your feet a rest and cool off from the hot sun.
If the major shows and parades don't interest you, utilize the time to visit attractive rides located far from the show area. There is a good chance that the lines will be significantly shorter during a famous show.
In Orlando, it is recommended to stay in a luxurious villa which is ideal for a family also in terms of price. This way you can return in the middle of the day to the villa and pamper yourselves in the pool and rest, and in the evening head out with renewed energy for the evening shows and fireworks.
♦ Recommended villas with a private pool in Orlando and its immediate surroundings from Booking.com
Don't Try to Do Everything in One Day:
Some parks are so large that you cannot manage to see everything comfortably in one day. Instead of exhausting yourself achieving the impossible, it's better to relax and do only the things you are most interested in. If you have enough time, it is recommended to buy a two-day ticket in advance, which is sold at a discounted price. On the second day, you will be more familiar with the park and can start with the major attractions you didn't manage to do the previous day.
Strollers for Young Children:
For families with young children, it is worth bringing a folding umbrella stroller with you from home. This is a very useful accessory, especially after hours of intensive wandering around the park. Even children aged four or five who haven't ridden in a stroller for a long time will sometimes need it on exhausting days. Even if you don't have such a stroller or forgot to bring it to the park, don't despair. In most parks, you can rent especially charming strollers for 5-8 dollars a day: shaped like a car, a dolphin, etc. Your children won't want to get out of them! You can even rent double strollers. When entering a ride or show, you leave the strollers outside the ride in the designated area, and don't worry, the stroller will be waiting for you when you come out, and if not, you'll get another one for the receipt you paid.
Child Swap (Guard Duty for a Small Child):
Some amusement rides have age or height restrictions: children below a certain height are not allowed on the ride. If both parents want to go on the ride but don't want to stand in line twice because of this, there is an arrangement called: Kid Exchange (or Rider Switch) where the whole family stands in line together, and when one parent goes on the ride with the older children, the second parent is taken to the ride's exit, and when their family members come out, they enter it without a line. My older children took this opportunity to go on every ride twice, once with Mom and once with Dad.