We did a bunch of “Staycations” this year...long weekends close to home. We loved it. Last week we took the kids to Kings Island (courtesy of a former employer). We had a blast.
We bought 2010 season passes for the family for Lake Compounce in Bristol, CT
Clean park, mostly families. The wild teens go to Six Flags, so the people at Lake Compounce are pretty civil, in general.
Nice park for pre-teens and under. Some good thrill rides too.
Has the best wooden roller coaster in the world (Boulderdash)...runs along the side of a mountain.
You can’t go wrong w/ any of these too: http://www.cedarfair.com/ I believe that they are Christian Owned.
Disneyland, Great Adventure and their clones you can keep. Paying a huge entrance fee for the pleasure of waiting in two hour lines isn’t my idea of a good time- Wildwood is. Just want to ride the roller coaster or the Ferris wheel one time, by the tickets and do it. If you don’t want to ride anything but your kids or companions do, you can watch them on the rides for free; no admission just to go on the piers and watch. Oh, and there is Wildwood’s huge, beautiful and free beach (watch out for Canadians in Speedos, though). And the food on the boardwalk is far cheaper than in the captive customer theme parks (and deliciously just as bad for you - mmmmmmmmmmm porkroll, fried onions, mushrooms and cheese on a burger).