Your guide to the best theme parks and amusement parks. ThrillZing covers the standout rides, must-do attractions, tips, and history for the parks worth planning a trip around — whether you’re chasing thrills or a full day out with the family.
tz
/ July 3, 2026
Six Flags Discovery Kingdom is the only Six Flags park in the country built around a working marine-life and wildlife collection, a legacy of its origins as Marine World in 1968. That means a day here mixes looping steel coasters with dolphin encounters, tiger habitats…
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tz
/ July 3, 2026
Mid America Adventure (formerly Six Flags St. Louis) has entertained Midwest thrill-seekers from its home in Eureka, Missouri, since June 5, 1971, when it opened as Six Flags Over Mid-America. Spread across roughly 323 acres in the Ozark foothills southwest of downtown St. Louis, the…
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tz
/ July 2, 2026
Six Flags New England sits in Agawam, Massachusetts, and traces its roots back to 1870 as Gallup’s Grove, making it the oldest park in the entire Six Flags chain. Long known as Riverside Park from 1912 to 1995, the property was purchased by Premier Parks…
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tz
/ July 2, 2026
Six Flags Over Texas opened on August 5, 1961, in Arlington, Texas, as the very first park in what would become the worldwide Six Flags chain. Developer Angus G. Wynne Jr. built the 212-acre park in just a year for about $10 million, naming it…
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tz
/ July 1, 2026
Six Flags Fiesta Texas opened on March 14, 1992, in the La Cantera area of San Antonio, built into the dramatic rock walls of the former Redland Quarry, which had been mined for limestone until the late 1980s. That quarry setting still defines the park…
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tz
/ July 1, 2026
Six Flags Great America is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2026, marking five decades since it opened as Marriott’s Great America on May 29, 1976. Sitting on 275 acres in Gurnee, Illinois, roughly halfway between Chicago and Milwaukee, it’s the largest amusement park in Illinois…
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tz
/ June 30, 2026
Six Flags Over Georgia packs 11 operating roller coasters (plus a 12th, Georgia Gold Rusher, temporarily closed for the 2026 season), more than 40 rides total, a full-size water park, and almost six decades of theme-park history into 290 acres just west of Atlanta —…
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tz
/ June 30, 2026
Six Flags Great Adventure opened on July 1, 1974, in Jackson Township, New Jersey, conceived by restaurateur and showman Warner LeRoy as a sprawling entertainment complex he called Great Adventure. LeRoy—grandson of Warner Bros. co-founder Harry Warner—envisioned seven distinct parks on a single property. Six…
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tz
/ June 29, 2026
Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park, California, traces its roots to 1920 when Walter Knott began selling berries from a roadside stand. By 1934 his wife Cordelia had opened a fried chicken restaurant that drew crowds from across Southern California, and Walter soon began building…
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tz
/ June 29, 2026
Busch Gardens Williamsburg has been one of the East Coast’s most acclaimed theme parks since it opened on May 16, 1975, but it doesn’t run on a simple daily schedule the way a museum or city attraction does. If you’re trying to figure out whether…
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tz
/ June 28, 2026
This week’s theme park news delivered a genuine rollercoaster of surprises — a record-shattering coaster postponed just days before its debut, a beloved 36-year-old Georgia park announcing its final season, Universal’s newest resort entering preview mode in Texas, and spectacular drone shows lighting up summer…
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tz
/ June 28, 2026
Busch Gardens Tampa Bay is a 335-acre Africa-themed park in Tampa, Florida, that doubles as one of the region’s premier accredited zoos. Opened on March 31, 1959, as a hospitality attraction for the Anheuser-Busch brewery, it evolved over decades into a full-scale theme park featuring…
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tz
/ June 28, 2026
SeaWorld San Antonio opened on May 27, 1988, in the Westover Hills District of San Antonio, Texas, and quickly established itself as North America’s largest marine-life theme park across 416 acres. Built for $170 million by Harcourt, Brace and Jovanovich, the park drew 75,000 visitors…
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tz
/ June 27, 2026
SeaWorld San Diego is the original park in the SeaWorld chain, opened on Mission Bay in 1964 and still evolving more than six decades later with new coasters, a redesigned aquarium wing, and a conservation-focused approach to its marine animal programs. This guide covers everything…
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tz
/ June 27, 2026
Modern theme park operations involve far more complex systems than visitors typically realize. The choreographed flow of 50,000-plus daily guests, the overnight maintenance routines that keep rides running, and the safety inspection protocols that prevent accidents represent some of the most sophisticated operational engineering in…
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tz
/ June 27, 2026
SeaWorld Orlando has evolved from an orca-show park into Orlando’s most coaster-dense marine destination, packing eight roller coasters — including the tallest and fastest in the region — around one of the largest animal-care and conservation operations in Florida. This guide covers every coaster and…
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tz
/ June 26, 2026
The biggest Universal Studios theme park in the world is Universal Studios Beijing, located in the Tongzhou District on the eastern edge of Beijing, China. It opened on September 20, 2021, as the seventh Universal-branded park and instantly became one of the largest single Universal…
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tz
/ June 26, 2026
Shanghai Disneyland opened in 2016 as the newest, boldest castle park in the Disney portfolio — and it pushed the company’s imagineering to new heights. Built to blend Disney storytelling with Chinese culture, it features the largest castle Disney has ever built: the Enchanted Storybook…
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tz
/ June 26, 2026
Universal Studios Florida opened on June 7, 1990, as the flagship park of what would become Universal Orlando Resort. Set on roughly 107 acres in Orlando, Florida, it was originally envisioned as both an active movie production facility and a themed entertainment destination — a…
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tz
/ June 26, 2026
Universal’s Islands of Adventure opened on May 28, 1999, at Universal Orlando Resort in Orlando, Florida. Built as Universal’s most ambitious project since the debut of Universal Studios Florida in 1990, the park was designed around the concept of exploration, organizing its experiences into eight…
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