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 6, 2026
Kings Dominion opened on May 3, 1975, in Doswell, Virginia, about 20 miles north of Richmond, quickly establishing itself as one of the mid-Atlantic’s premier amusement destinations. The 280-acre park is anchored by a 1/3-scale, 315-foot replica of the Eiffel Tower, a landmark visible for
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tz
/ July 6, 2026
Canada’s Wonderland has been the country’s biggest theme park for more than four decades, but two questions come up more than any other: exactly when did it open, and who owns it today? Both have simple, well-documented answers. The park opened in May 1981 north
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tz
/ July 5, 2026
Theme park news this week was as packed as a holiday weekend queue — a brand-new universal resort for young kids opened in Texas, a record-shattering giga dive coaster entered passholder previews in Arlington, Disney flipped a beloved flying-theater film into a patriotic Fourth of
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tz
/ July 5, 2026
Carowinds opened on March 31, 1973, as a joint venture meant to give the Carolinas their own home-grown amusement park, built at a cost of about $70 million after four years of planning led by businessman Earl Patterson Hall. Its most distinctive feature is geographic:
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tz
/ July 4, 2026
Six Flags America opened its gates in 1974 as a wildlife park east of Washington, D.C., and by the time it closed 51 years later it had grown into one of the mid-Atlantic’s larger theme parks, home to a 108-year-old wooden coaster and seven other
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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
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 park pairs about 10
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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 opened on May 29, 1976, as Marriott’s Great America before Six Flags purchased the park in 1984. Located on 275 acres in Gurnee, Illinois, it holds the title of the largest amusement park in Illinois and remains one of the busiest
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tz
/ June 30, 2026
Six Flags Over Georgia opened on June 16, 1967, in Mableton, Georgia, becoming the second park in the Six Flags chain after the original Six Flags Over Texas. Spanning 290 acres near Atlanta, the park made history at launch as the first theme park operator
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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 opened on May 16, 1975, on 422 acres in James City County, Virginia, just minutes from Colonial Williamsburg. Originally branded as ‘Busch Gardens: The Old Country’, the park was designed around ten European-themed hamlets representing England, Scotland, France, Germany, Ireland, and Italy
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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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