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By making a few inquiries, many areas have decent, no name amusement parks where guests actually spend their time doing something besides standing in line. The Pittsburgh area, for instance, has Idlewild Park, where $20 or so during peak season, gets you on rides that average 20 minute wait times on weekends and 10 minutes during weekdays. It is consistently rated one of the best in the country for actually delivering what they advertise.

My in-laws live in Southern California, but no Disneyland for us or the kids anymore. Several no-name parks offer similar wait times as Idlewild with prices slightly more than half the price of the Disneyland brand.

When we lived in Japan, Puroland, an amusement park run by Sanrio of Hello Kitty fame, also offered minimal wait time because tickets were sold by reservation only. They knew the park's capacity and walk-in tickets were sold only to the extent that reservations were not filled.

Brand names amusement parks simply do not care how long guests wait in line because they collect the same admission fee whether the park is at 90% or 190% capacity. The last straw for us on Disneyland was years ago when we waited in line 30 minutes to buy an overpriced ice cream cone. We resolved never to go back and have kept that promise.

When we lived in Japan, Puroland, an amusement park run by Sanrio of Hello Kitty fame, also offered minimal wait time because tickets were sold by reservation only. They knew the park's capacity and walk-in tickets were sold only to the extent that reservations were not filled. Brand names amusement parks simply do not care how long guests wait in line because they collect the same admission fee whether the park is at 90% or 190% capacity. The last straw for us on Disneyland was years ago when we waited in line 30 minutes to buy an overpriced ice cream cone. We resolved never to go back and have kept that promise.

Bump!

Been to Kennywood Park, but not Idlewild. :-)

By making a few inquiries, many areas have decent, no name amusement parks where guests actually spend their time doing something besides standing in line.

Agreed. Also in the Pittsburgh area is Kennywood - great rollercoasters, including the famous Thunderbolt.

This summer we went to our local amusement park, Geauga Lake here in OH, on Tuesday, July 5th - the place was practically deserted. And when you have 3 kids 8 and under, standing in long lines is hardly a good time. And their admission price, which includes an outstanding water park and the best kids' amusement area I've ever seen, is drastically lower than most - $25 for adults and $15 for kids, under 3 free. The longest line we stood in all day was for lunch.

Then there's the all time family favorite - Knoebels Grove in Elysburg PA - grew up close to it and it's always been affordable. Free admission, buy tickets as you go, or get your hand stamped for 17-30 bucks, or go after 5 pm for about half that.

I can't imagine spending outrageous money at Disney, or even the Six Flags parks - we used to live in NJ and admission for Six Flags there is a whopping 48.99 for adults and 29.99 for kids. Stand in hour-long lines, hit a dozen rides in a day if we're lucky at that price? No thanks.