10 US parks · independent & unofficial

Know exactly what your family can ride, eat, and skip.

Recorded height requirements, attraction guides and curated snacks across the parks we cover — checked, dated, and built to work on park WiFi. Our catalog is guide coverage, not a complete official inventory or a report of what is open today.

Check what your kid can ride Build a snack list

Independent and unofficial We buy our own tickets. No park pays for a place on this site.
Every fact is dated Each page carries the month it was checked, and says so when it is overdue.
Rankings are not for sale Affiliate links exist and are disclosed. They never change an order or a verdict.
Works without signal The tools keep running on park WiFi, or on none at all.

The 10 parks

Start with your park

Each park hub links to the attractions currently covered, recorded height rules, dining, a printable diagram, accessibility notes and a first-timer plan. Check official park information for the complete inventory and same-day availability.

SoCal

Six Flags Magic Mountain

The self-declared coaster capital of the world, and for once the marketing is close to true.

10 attractions covered10 height limits4 tracked snacks

Opened1971
Plan for10–12 hours

SoCal

Knott's Berry Farm

America's first theme park — a real ghost town, the boysenberry, and the haunt that started the entire industry.

11 attractions covered4 height limits4 tracked snacks

Opened1920
Plan for8–10 hours

SoCal

LEGOLAND California

The brick-built first-coaster park — Miniland, a dragon's castle, and the friendliest height ladder in Southern California.

8 attractions covered1 height limits3 tracked snacks

Opened1999
Plan for7–9 hours

SoCal

SeaWorld San Diego

A marine park with a real thrill lineup — Emperor's dive coaster, Electric Eel's spike, and the bay it all sits on.

7 attractions covered5 height limits3 tracked snacks

Opened1964
Plan for7–9 hours

Orlando

SeaWorld Orlando

Three B&M coasters and a marine park — Mako's airtime, Kraken's loops, Manta's flight, on the water.

8 attractions covered5 height limits3 tracked snacks

Opened1973
Plan for8–10 hours

Orlando

LEGOLAND Florida

The brick-built park on the old Cypress Gardens — a dragon's castle, historic botanical gardens, and Florida's friendliest height ladder.

6 attractions covered0 height limits3 tracked snacks

Opened2011
Plan for7–9 hours

Texas

Six Flags Over Texas

The 1961 original that named a whole chain — oil derricks, the Shock Wave loops, and the ride that started the hybrid-coaster era.

8 attractions covered5 height limits3 tracked snacks

Opened1961
Plan for8–10 hours

Texas

SeaWorld San Antonio

The Texas SeaWorld — coasters, animal presentations and a show-paced San Antonio day.

6 attractions covered2 height limits2 tracked snacks

Opened1988
Plan for8–10 hours

New Jersey

Six Flags Great Adventure

El Toro, Nitro and the empty sky where Kingda Ka stood — the Northeast's biggest coaster park, an hour from Manhattan.

7 attractions covered6 height limits3 tracked snacks

Opened1974
Plan for9–11 hours

Chicago

Six Flags Great America

Raging Bull, Goliath, the original Batman invert and a pair of racing woodies from 1981 — Chicago's coaster park.

8 attractions covered6 height limits3 tracked snacks

Opened1976
Plan for9–11 hours

Halloween 2026

Select days September 12–November 1, 2026

Confirmed

Seasonal overlay

Kids Boo Fest at Six Flags Great America

Saturdays and Sundays September 19–November 1, 2026

Confirmed

The Halloween guide Every event, the whole year

Tools, not listicles

Three things we do that a search result cannot

Interactive

Height Checker

Drag one slider to your child’s height and see, park by park, the recorded height conditions, rules that need checking and near misses.

Save, share or print

Food Tracker

Mark 31 listed food items as want, tried or skip. Save when browser storage is available, share or print. Load online and test offline access on your device first.

Printable

Park maps

Printable guide diagrams showing areas currently covered. Use the current official park maps for actual layout and navigation.

Timing

Thinking about when to go

Every month graded on crowds, cost, weather, and what is actually running — including the months we think you should avoid.

September A September can offer quieter ride days, while Halloween events start on different dates and often bring larger evening crowds. Moderate crowds Moderate cost October B October offers the widest Halloween selection, with family events by day and haunts on selected nights. Check the date and ticket rules. High crowds High cost

Rank the months by what you care about All twelve, graded

Planning

The guides people actually need

Height requirements at every park on this site: the complete ladder, 42 to 54 inches The listed minimum heights at ten parks, with current Magic Mountain corrections and a reminder that height is one requirement, not permission to ride. Line-skip passes at ten parks: current products and park-specific choices Magic Mountain sells Fast Lane Reserve and Ultimate; the SeaWorld parks sell Quick Queue; both covered LEGOLAND parks offer Fastrack. Check each park’s current product, terms and date. Your first coaster park trip: how to plan it, what to ride first, and the mistakes everyone makes A first trip to the big regional parks runs on three arithmetic problems — height, crowds and heat — plus one skill: the rope drop. This guide solves all four and names the rookie mistakes that cost the most riding time. Oscar's Rocking Eel is closed — Bay of Play became Sesame Place Oscar's Rocking Eel was the rocking boat in SeaWorld San Diego's Sesame Street Bay of Play kids' area. That area closed and became Sesame Place San Diego — a separate, separately ticketed park that opened in March 2022 — so the ride no longer exists inside SeaWorld. This page says what happened and what a young rider does instead.

All 4 guides

Seasonal calendar

The whole year on one page

Season ranges for parties, festivals and overlays. Colour shows how much has been confirmed; check each event page for its exact dates.

Event JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Fright Fest Both

Scary Farm Both

Howl-O-Scream Both

Brick-or-Treat Both

Tricks and Treats Both

Kids Boo Fest Both

Confirmed Expected Last confirmed cycle

Open the full calendar

Comparisons

Settle the argument

We commit to an answer on every comparison page. Hedging is not a service.

Every park on this site, ranked 1 to 10 for a coaster trip Magic Mountain is the best coaster park on this site, and Great Adventure is the best one-day version of it. The full ten-park ranking, the criteria it runs on, and the strongest case against each placement.

All comparisons

How this site pays for itself

A small number of affiliate links, mostly to authorized ticket resellers, and nothing else at present. That is the entire business model today. Display advertising may follow; if it does, it will be disclosed here before it ships. Affiliate links are disclosed directly above the link, not buried in the footer.

What that money does not buy is placement. No restaurant, ride, or reseller can pay to be ranked higher, described more kindly, or added to a “best of” list. When we think something is overpriced or overrated, we say so — including things we would earn a commission on.

Independent and unofficial. Not affiliated with Six Flags, Knott's Berry Farm, LEGOLAND, or SeaWorld. We buy our own tickets.

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