{"id":836776,"date":"2025-03-26T08:12:27","date_gmt":"2025-03-26T13:12:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/26\/grab-the-kids-and-the-sunscreen-heres-when-10-favorite-theme-parks-will-open\/"},"modified":"2025-03-26T08:12:27","modified_gmt":"2025-03-26T13:12:27","slug":"grab-the-kids-and-the-sunscreen-heres-when-10-favorite-theme-parks-will-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/26\/grab-the-kids-and-the-sunscreen-heres-when-10-favorite-theme-parks-will-open\/","title":{"rendered":"Grab the kids and the sunscreen \u2014 here’s when 10 favorite theme parks will open"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo: Michael M. Santiago (Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The House of Mouse rarely closes. Because both Disneyland (DIS<\/a><\/span>) and Disney World are located in tropical climates, their gates stay open year-round. That\u2019s the same for California- and Florida-located Universal Studios (CMCSA<\/a><\/span>). <\/p>\n

But for theme parks in more northern parts of the country, winter means silent roller coasters and waterparks with empty pools. But soon, turnstiles will be turning, rides will be roaring, and wave pools will be full of happy children. <\/p>\n

Here are the opening dates of some of the more notable theme parks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Photo: Jason Kempin (Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Opening date: March 15, 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dollywood celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, and guests to the Tennessee staple will notice refreshes to familiar favorites, along with a new restaurant and 750-space parking lot, according to the Knoxville News-Sentinel<\/a><\/span>. The newspaper adds that, in total, there were 114 small and large projects during Dollywood\u2019s two-and-a-half-month offseason to prepare for the start of the park\u2019s 40th season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The Phantom is a favorite coaster at Kennywood.<\/figcaption>
Photo: Kennywood (Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Opening date: April 12, 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kennywood is a Pittsburgh-area staple, having been open since 1899. During the offseason, Dollywood\u2019s parent company bought Kennywood, bringing both parks under the same ownership. One of Kennywood\u2019s highlights is The Phantom, a steel roller coaster that takes guests over 3,000 feet of track at up to 85 miles per hour!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Photo: Kings Dominion<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Opening date: March 29, 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kings Dominion (FUN<\/a><\/span>), located about 20 miles north of Richmond, Virginia, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The park features more than 60 rides, shows, and attractions \u2014 including 13 roller coasters and a 20-acre water park. New this year is Rapterra, which, at 145 feet tall and 3,086 feet long, is the world\u2019s tallest and longest launched-wing roller coaster.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Photo: Coney Island<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Opening date: March 29, 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n

The iconic New York City amusement park will kick off its 105th season this year. And The Cyclone, one of the oldest continually operating coasters in the U.S., will celebrate its 98th anniversary. One of the highlights of opening weekend is the traditional Egg Cream Christening of the roller coaster; at noon on the 29th, when the park opens, the first 98 riders of The Cyclone will get a free ride and a classic egg cream.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The iconic Merlin\u2019s Mayhem coaster<\/figcaption>
Photo: Dutch Wonderland<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Opening date: April 5, 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n

Located in the heart of Amish country (Lancaster, Pennsylvania), Dutch Wonderland provides a family-friendly, toned-down amusement park experience. According to the park, the new \u201cHoney Hop\u201d attraction, located behind Storytime Corner, features brown-bear cars surrounding a honey pot as the ride spins and lifts riders up and down. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Photo: Cedar Fair<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Opening date: April 18, 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n

This will be the first full season that Cedar Fair and Six Flags parks are operating under combined ownership. New this year to Six Flags Great America, which is located near the Wisconsin-Illinois border, is Wrath of Rakshasa, the steepest and most inverted dive-coaster in the world. The ride rises 180 feet and then dives into a 171-foot drop at a record-breaking beyond-vertical 96 degrees.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Photo: Kevin Williams<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Opening date: April 19, 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kings Island is consistently regarded as a great value. This theme park, located north of Cincinnati, Ohio, opened in 1972 and was immortalized in an episode of \u201cThe Brady Bunch\u201d \u2014 the episode was called \u201cThe Cincinnati Kids,\u201d even though the theme park is in Mason.<\/p>\n

Kings Island has the world\u2019s longest wooden coaster, The Beast (it goes along 7,361 feet of track), and newer steel roller coasters such as Diamondback and Orion.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Photo: Cedar Fair<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Opening date: May 9, 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n

Located on the shores of Lake Erie, this iconic park is the flagship of the Cedar Fair chain. In 2025, the theme park will debut \u201cSiren\u2019s Curse,\u201d a tilt roller coaster billed as the tallest, fastest, and longest of its kind in North America.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Photo: Holiday World<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Opening date: May 10, 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n

Holiday World and Splashin\u2019 Safari is another value-packed Midwestern theme park. Located in Indiana, the theme park\u2019s \u201cGood Gravy\u201d <\/strong> family coaster was named the best new theme park attraction in USA Today\u2019s \u201c10 Best Readers\u2019 Choice Awards\u201d for 2024.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Photo: ValleyFair<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Opening date: May 12, 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n

Valleyfair is Minnesota\u2019s only amusement park. Located in Shakopee, it features more than 75 rides (including eight roller coasters); a Planet Snoopy area that has 15 children\u2019s rides; and Soak City, a seven-acre water park filled with slides, a wave pool, a lazy river, and children\u2019s water features. Bring a jacket \u2014 the weather can still be chilly in Minnesota in May.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>
\n Kevin Williams<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo: Michael M. Santiago (Getty Images) The House of Mouse rarely closes. Because both Disneyland ( DIS ) and Disney World are located in tropical climates, their gates stay open year-round. That\u2019s the same for California- and Florida-located Universal Studios ( CMCSA ). But for theme parks in more northern parts of the country, winter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":836777,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[211,35668],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-836776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-heres","category-sunscreen"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/836776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=836776"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/836776\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/836777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=836776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=836776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=836776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}