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 8, 2026
Valleyfair has been the Twin Cities’ go-to theme park for 50 years, growing from a 26-acre park with 20 rides in 1976 into Minnesota’s largest amusement park — headlined today by the 207-foot hypercoaster Wild Thing and the newly expanded Superior Shores waterpark. Ownership changed…
Read more
tz
/ July 7, 2026
Dorney Park traces its roots to 1860, when Solomon Dorney built a trout hatchery and picnic resort on his estate outside Allentown, Pennsylvania. The grounds grew into a full amusement park by 1884, making it the fifth-oldest continuously operating amusement park in the United States…
Read more
tz
/ July 7, 2026
California’s Great America sits on 112 acres in Santa Clara, right in the heart of Silicon Valley, and has entertained Bay Area families since 1976. Nine roller coasters, a full water park included with admission, and dozens of other rides make it one of Northern…
Read more
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…
Read more
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…
Read more
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…
Read more
tz
/ July 5, 2026
Carowinds is the rare theme park where you can stand with one foot in North Carolina and the other in South Carolina — and where getting the logistics right matters almost as much as the rides themselves. This guide covers what’s needed to plan an…
Read more
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…
Read more
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…
Read more
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…
Read more
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…
Read more
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…
Read more
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…
Read more
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…
Read more
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), a full-size water park, and almost six decades of theme-park history into 290 acres just west of Atlanta — but figuring out which coasters…
Read more
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…
Read more
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…
Read more
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 European-themed hamlets representing England, Scotland, France, Germany, Ireland, and Italy…
Read more
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…
Read more
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…
Read more