Who in their right mind thinks Discovery Kingdom is best park? Six Flags has rumors of getting rid of or moving it.

They should’ve separated these more. Nobody sane would think that either of the two six flags are better than Disney or Universal. But they’re two very different things. I go to Six Flags when I went to ride roller coasters. I go to Disney when I want to have immersive experiences.

Alternative title: "A rental company had listed the theme parks most profitable to them."

Medusa is the best

I mean...you all can come to Vallejo if you want?

What the hell are their criteria for best?

Lol absolute garbage list, they include Pacific Park and Belmont's over the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk?

Seems they just popped the first 10 google results on this "article" in a random order.

I have no clue how they could put California Adventure under Pacific Park, like Disney or not, there's simply more to do and better rides. Same with Universal Hollywood, even though I don't love it, it is better.

This has to be one of the worst lists I have ever seen. I’ve never visited the NorCal parks, so I’ll hold my tongue on those, but putting Disneyland and Universal below BELMONT PARK is nuts. Below Knott’s and SFMM is understandable if you’re just talking coasters (although even then SFMM should be above Knott’s), but it is absolutely insane to claim that Belmont Park is better than both Disney and Universal. Are they doing this based on price or something???

I thought Top Ten lists were supposed to be ordered and not random.

Knotts exceeded my expectations when I went ( and be sure to do the log ride and mine train)

Depends on how much you want to travel.

North of LA is Universal and Magic Mountain.

Knotts and Disneyland are south of LA.

And then Seaworld is practically right next to TwitchCon, same with the San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Park.

So it depends on what you want. If you want animals, San Diego's got you covered, but if you want rollercoasters, you might have to suck it up and deal with the long drive to Magic Mountain. And if you want really well themed rides, Knotts or Disneyland.

What about Knott's?

If you don't particularly care for marine life, visit Knott's. Magic Mountain has little to offer beyond excellent coasters and it's a pain to reach from LA, let alone San Diego.

Magic Mountain yo

Definitely come during Halloween time and visit during Knott's Scary Farm.

Glad you enjoyed Knotts! Such a shame about California's Great America, its such a fun park. Plus Railblazer is so much fun and that carousel is iconic

Scary Farm is the best, hope you get to experience it

You should see it when they turn it into Halloween Haunt.

Welcome to buena park, glad u had a good time.

This is my answer too, but I haven’t been in 20 years or so, but I love the ersatz Euro theming and the rides are fun. And it’s a nicely shaded park too.

Definitely. It's not the biggest. But I've had worse times in Universal Studios and Disneyland. Id rather have a great time in a less crowded place with better food and cheaper prices, then a huge place with better rides and crowded with too many people.

I went with a large group on a day when the morning was solid downpour. Not long after we got there, it stopped but it was enough that we had the park effectively to ourselves - we all got to ride, front seat, on every roller coaster there, multiple times. It is one of my single fondest memories!

It's sadly gone downhill a bit. We went last year on an average day in summer and half.of everything is closed, assuming to save on staffing. It's becoming increasingly imbalanced in terms of ride locations as well.

Disneyworld in Florida. It's also the only amusement park I've ever been to. When I was 4. Trips like that were too expensive to do more than once.

Action Park

Cedar Point in Sandusky Ohio is arguably the best roller coaster park in the world, I grew up about 2 hours away so we'd go there a few times every year. It's right on Lake Erie, the drive there was through farm country and along the lake and small towns, just an idyllic All-American place for many reasons.

Magic Mountain would like a word.

Traction Park

Six Flags: Definitely visit if you both LOVE rollercoasters and thrill rides. The rides here are fast, forceful, and fantastic! Almost all of your time here will be spent riding the rides because that's what this park is known for. The only issues are that the location is a bit outside of Los Angeles, and there's not too much to do out there besides visiting the park. Also, some of the rides are extremely intense and can knock you out for an entire day if you get motion sickness or have had injuries in the past.

Knott's Berry Farm: There are quite a few thrill rides and fast rollercoasters but not as many as six flags. However, you'll also want to make time to try out the food here because there are some great options. If you guys are into California history there are some fun activities and exhibits to see that cater to that. I can't think of many downsides because this park tends to be an all-around crowd-pleaser. By no means does that make this a bad choice because you'll definitely find something that the both of you will enjoy here.

SeaWorld: This one's sort of a mix between an aquarium and an amusement park. This park has a leisurely pace to it because your day is split between strolling through exhibits/animal habitats and riding a few rides. There are some great shows to watch so I'd definitely try to make time to see at least one. The only issues with this park are that there's been lots of controversy behind the care of their animals so if you guys are serious about that stuff maybe avoid this one. Furthermore, the park is a 2-3 hour drive from Los Angeles so there's that.

Disneyland: Oh Boy! We've made it to the big one. I could write novels about the good and the bad with this park but I'll just try to hit some key points here. Most of the rides cater to children and families yet are still worth a try because they're masterfully done, and almost all are very immersive. There are still a handful of faster rides but they aren't as intense as Six Flags or Knotts. This park definitely has the most activities because, on top of the rides, you can see shows, eat all kinds of food, meet costumed characters, shop yourself to bankruptcy, the list goes on and on. You can definitely do these things at the other parks, but no other theme park does it like Disney does IMO. Whatever you choose to do here will most likely be worth your time. And now for the negatives. Let me just say that it's easy to get stressed over this park. I often think of this place as visiting a big city. Some people may find it stressful that there are more things to do here than there is time (and that's not even including the second park). Here at Disney, you'll be waiting in long lines and squeezing through thick crowds of tourists. You'll notice that you can get from one end of the park to the other by passing through Mainstreet but surprise!! The pathway is temporarily closed to a parade and you'll have to weave through a maze of people who refuse to move out of your way because little Jonny MUST see the Buzz Lightyear float go by. Now here's where the population divides between those who hate Disney and those who love it. On one side you have the people who will curse at little Jonny (in their mind of course because excuse me you're at Disneyland), and leave the situation stressed, angry, and in need of the gosh darn tram back to the parking lot. On the other hand, you have the people who will embrace the situation and enjoy the parade alongside little Jonny as the both of you belt out every lyric to "Under the Sea" while waving at Arial as she passes by. And that's just 5 minutes of your jam-packed day that'll be filled with an even greater amount of highs and lows. I guess you've just got to have an open mind to anything happening at Disney haha. This park has a slight risk of you and your husband not enjoy your time here due to the stress, but I can guarantee that it can lead to high rewards. Don't be afraid of the crowds though because I'm sure they aren't as bad due to the pandemic. Plus there are many tips online that can help you maximize your time and minimize your stress (and I could give you some if you'd like). I know this is getting long, but one final issue is the price. To be brief, this park is definitely the most expensive of your options. Overall, Disneyland is a strong choice.

Another option: Since you'll be in the Los Angeles area I would highly recommend considering Universal Studios Hollywood. If you and your husband are into movies I'm sure you'll have an amazing time at this park. Even people who haven't seen all the Hollywood movies love visiting this park because it's just so much fun. I'd say this park is like a Disneyland for teens and adults. The rides are some of the best I have ever been on, some of which can't be found in any other theme park. There are also great shows and other activities that'll really immerse you into that movie-making magic. The only downside to this park is the price which is equal and sometimes even more than Disney.
In regards to reservations, I would definitely buy your tickets online in advance for any park that you visit. This way you can save time at the gate and go straight in. When buying the ticket online you pick the day that you plan to visit which will be your reservation for the park. If you plan to buy tickets at the gate I believe all parks require a reservation but I'm not 100% sure sorry.
Hope this all helps :)

TLDR: Six Flags for extreme thrills; Knotts for food and fast rides; Seaworld for animals and a leisurely day; Disneyland for the best that money can buy; and Universal Studios for the state of the art rides and that Hollywood feel.

Okay so if you like nostalgia then it’s Disneyland, if you enjoy roller coasters and actually getting on rides then it’s 6 flags and Knotts Berry Farm.

Personally, I’ve been to all 3 multiple times and Disneyland is the most overrated and expensive place I’ve ever been.

Knotts is my all around favorite because it’s fairly cheap has some good rides and also has some cool history to it.

My favorite for strictly roller coasters is 6 flags by a mile, but the ride lines can be long and it can be hot. It’s also the furthest of them all. 6 Flags is Warner Bros themed so if you like Looney Toons and DC comics you’d like 6 Flags.

I guarantee most people here will vote Disney just because it’s cliche and the most popular, but I’m adamant that it’s over priced and overrated

Name would sound familiar for the most people I would say.

Even though Disney and Universal are much more immersive, I still prefer Knotts and Six Flags MM over Disneyland and Universal Studios Hollywood

Knott's is the reason anyone has heard of boysenberries.

For coaster fans yes but I don’t think it’s well knows. Parks like Cedar Point or Dollywood are popular in their own way but not huge outside of certain groups

I think Kevin Murphy or another of the crew is a rollercoaster enthusiast. Because they do have a few references to rollercoasters in some of their Rifftrax stuff. Most notably a reference to Mystic Timbers at KI. Knotts is also known to most who have a Cedar Fair home park because it was bought out by them in 1997. The crew may know of it because of Valleyfair in Minnesota.

Anyone that’s into theme park history will be well aware of Knott’s. The connection to Walt Disney and Imagineering also makes the park well known by Disney Parks fans. And there’s also the coaster enthusiasts, mentioned by other comments.

Knott’s is the #11 most attended park in North America by attendance, according to the 2023 TEA/AECOM Theme Index. The 2024 report should be out soon.

I think you nailed it. It must feel lackluster compared to the other socal parks but they also likely need to have higher quality to compete with them. I've always wanted to go but for now the nicest park I have been to was Fiesta Texas.

Idk maybe it’s because I go here all the time or the park gets mogged by Disney/Universal/Knott’s, but I have terrible experiences at SFMM quite often. The coasters are amazing and I have no complaints in that area, but the operations are god awful and make it hard to enjoy the park. One train operations are so common and many rides are often closed. It also doesn’t help that the food is bad and the park looks like crap in many areas, completely unthemed with just concrete for hundreds of feet.

place was not at all busy when i went. but it was also 113 and i almost passed out so idk if it was worth 😅

Magic Mountain is my home park and I've been going there several times a years since I was a kid. The quality and quantity of coasters has always been our best feature, but a lot of things in the park have gone way down in quality in recent years. It seems like they are little by little trying to get things back in shape, but it's nice to see that it still was a good experience for someone new coming in. Glad you had a good time!

are there still paper maps????

DinoLand USA was never really based on Dinosaur (2000) to begin with. As much as I love Dinosaur (2000), as it's one of my guilty pleasures, I think DinoLand USA should've had a more generic "prehistory" theme, which it already was (minus the Aladar statue). I agree with you when you say that edutainment is dying at Disney parks. I miss when Disney rides taught things to people instead of just slapping a bunch of popular characters everywhere. As a kid, I didn't know I was learning something, but I was.

Paleo Media (other than the Jurassic franchise) is seeing a bit of a resurgence, especially with shows like Prehistoric Planet and games like Prehistoric Kingdom and Paleo Pines. I love DinoLand USA because it's a paleontology-themed area at a major theme park that ISN'T Jurassic Park/World. Disney is really missing out by rejecting dinosaurs for Indiana freaking Jones.

To quote Liz Lemon, "I want to go to there!"

A land that you can’t access by foot? Cool idea for sure but accessibility for all kinds of reasons is real.

Cool speculation and project. But making so many areas about fictional creatures kinda defeats the purpose of the park.