It's been over year since we have been on a roller coaster. It was last June right before my back surgery. It was so much fun, but it's been way too long.

We are in the process of figuring out annual trip that we take every year with our kids. Lucky for us the park we are visiting is located in sunny California and it's open all year long. It has fewer hours in the off season, but it's still open.

The plan right now is to head back to Six Flags Magic Mountain in early November for a few days. Here are the reasons we are choosing this park and that time frame ::

• It's one of the few parks open this time of year.
• It has the most roller coasters of any other park.
• It has a new ride we have not been on.
• We always go during the off season, keeps us from having to use a Flash pass
• With kids in high school trying to work around sports, activities and work gets trickier.  This is between sport seasons.
• It's an affordable time to fly.  It's not yet the holidays and it's no longer summer.
• We will probably really enjoy getting out of the rain into the sun for a few days by then.

So we start the process of watching airfare, figuring out tickets and hopefully using Hotwire to get us a deal on hotel and car. I really like where we stayed last time.

Stay tuned as we put this together, hopefully affordably.

I love roller coasters, thus the blog. I love looking at them, riding them and hearing about them. I love living the dream of heading off to my next roller coaster trip. So you can imagine how sad this makes me to see roller coasters just get abandoned.

This is a picture from Six Flags in New Orleans that was destroyed during hurricane Katrina. The word on the street is that it's too expensive to rebuild yet too expensive to abandon all together, so it just sits there.

There are several posts that talk about this and show all the pictures of the abandoned coasters, rides and walk ways. Check out this post. It's pretty crazy.

It's back! If you are looking for discount tickets to Cedar Point or Coupons for Cedar Point, I have found them.

I am an avid couponer and I make my way to Coupons.com often.  Just today I noticed that you can click and print a $7 off coupon to Cedar Point.

All you will need to do is install a coupon printer on your computer. This will do nothing to harm your computer. Trust me, my husband is an IT guy and he has even allowed me to put it on his so I can print more coupons.  I am not sure how many people can use the coupon.  Just know that if you need more you can print 2 coupons per computer.

Enjoy the ride!!

You should never pay full price for an admission ticket. There are coupons and deals everywhere, you just need to know where to look.

Right now in specially marked boxes of Post Raisin Bran you can get a FREE kid's ticket with the purchase of an adult ticket on weekdays.

Or

Save $15 on a full price general admission ticket on weekends. This offer expires October 10, 2011.

Find out another great tip we found last year at Six Flags for getting into the park quickly. Read on to find out other ways to get the most out of your Six Flag park once you are finally in the gate. Then you can decide before you go if you really need to buy a FlashPass.

Enjoy!!

10. Flight Deck :: Great America, CA – It's a great ride, but I love it more because it was one of the first good ones I ever went on.

9.  Tatsu :: Six Flags Magic Mountain, CA – If you have the time, wait for the front seat. It's worth it!

8.  Batman :: Six Flags Magic Mountain, CA – I don't love this one quite as much as my hubby. The G-forces really get to me.

7.  Medusa :: Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, CA – Great smooth, big coaster

6.  Goliath :: Six Flags Magic Mountain, CA – Awesome, awesome ride!!  The G-forces at the very end do make me black out a little.

The Beast at Kings Island

5.  The Beast :: Kings Island, Ohio – I don't like wood coasters, but this one is so well done.

4.  Maverick :: Cedar Point, Ohio – Fast and tight

3.  Tower of Terror :: California Disney – Not a coaster, but one of my favorite rides even among all these coasters. It's so well done.

It's hard to choose which one is actually my most favorite. I love them both so much. Being that they are both extreme coasters.

Top Thrill at night. All 420 feet.

2.  Top Thrill Dragster :: Cedar Point, Ohio – 0-120 mph in 3.8 secs?  Yes Please!

1.  Millennium Force :: Cedar Point, Ohio – Another extreme fast coaster. You won't be able to stop smiling during this ride.

So what's your favorite ride?  Did I miss it? Are there some that are even better??

See other Top 10's at Top Ten Tuesday.

Here are 6 Steps to Planning the Perfect Roller Coaster Vacation

Use Hotwire to save you money. Here's how to figure out what hotel you might be booking.

Do you really need to purchase that FlashPass?

Make sure you get the most out of your park.

Groupon is a great way to find good deals. Not only on food, but hotels, entertainment and spa. Just to name a few things. Make sure you add the city you will be vacationing to and watch it for deals.

Take the time to research the park you are going to, and make sure it will meet all the needs of your family. Our family does like Disneyland, but since we tend to be more of the thrill seeker type family, we have to head to places like Cedar Point. But for those that don't like thrill, Cedar point is not the best place for you.

My favorite money saving tip of all when going to amusement parks to ask for cups of water at the restaurants. Both Cedar Fair parks and Six Flags will give you cups upon request for FREE. Which is a whole lot cheaper than $4 for a small bottle.

Forced to buy the bottled water, then buy it from a vending machine so you don't have to pay sales tax. Every little bit counts, right?

Need a few more ideas, check out Frugal Dad.

Around here we are always working on some kind of "vacation".  For us getting away for an afternoon or a weekend is just as fun as getting away for a week.  We will take whatever we can get.

We are always looking for vacations that we can do on a budget.  The cheaper they are the more we can do.  Being that I am frugal about my trips you won't be surprised that I am doing a guest post over at Frugal Living NW.  Following her advice is what allows us to save money so we can do trips.

One of the things that we do every year is a roller coaster vacation, thus the name, Vacation Thrills.  I didn't think we would go this year, but right before my back surgery we decided to do one last run.  I know crazy, but I was getting a new disc, so I thought I might as well run the ones I had into the ground. Standing in line is what hurts the most, but we keep ourselves entertained to keep my mind off of it.  Want to know how to plan the perfect roller coaster vacation?

We also like experiencing things right in our backyard.  This year my husband and I celebrated our 20 year anniversary.  Since going away for a week wasn't an option (again that surgery got in the way) we decided to at least get out of town for a couple of days to Hood River.  We had the best time ever.

For us the thrills just won't stop.  So check back as we continue to look for fun vacations, find great places to eat and even become a tourist in our own town.  Like I said we are always up to something.

Loved this place and would go back in a heart beat, but read on for how to make it work best for you.  This place is busy, so be prepared.

Read  my previous posts to find out what all we did at the park and other ways to "discover" Magic Mountain.

First off I went directly to the site and looked for a room with breakfast included for the 4 of us.  With taxes and anything else added it came to $313 for 2 nights.  I did so much better than that.  Check out the whole thing HERE. I did call and have her offer me something a little better, but I did best with package deal.

Since this Hotel is near the park(actually it's the closest) I figured it would be run down and marginal.  I was so surprised to see that it was not only very nice looking, but it was very clean.  I was very, very surprised.  It makes going back to your hotel to rest a whole lot more fun.

Our breakfast was a cook to order, so I wasn't really sure what to expect there.  BIG TIP:  When we were there the place was busy, but not off the charts busy.  I am sure during the busy season this place is a zoo and you really, really need to plan accordingly.

This is a sit down breakfast.  There is a pastry/cereal/toast bar plus a fruit bar.  From there you wait for someone to come take your order for hot food which is eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, pancakes and waffles to name a few.  The kitchen cranks it out as fast as they can, but they do get behind. The servers are running like crazy.  DO NOT think you will eat in 15 minutes or less plan accordingly.  It will take some time especially if you have to wait for a table.

I really, really appreciated the shuttle service. I am sure that since they were not super busy that they accommodated us well.  You have to schedule what time you want to be taken to the park and what time you want picked up.  Spots fill up quickly, so book at departures to the park as soon as you arrive.

We had scheduled a pick up, but some other people waiting had not.  Had we not scheduled it, those people would have never gotten picked up.  The nice thing is since the Hotel is so close they can turn around and come back for the next group within 5 minutes.

I am not sure in the busy season how many trips they become willing to take.  They claim one trip every 1/2 hour, but they were doing more.  At $15 a day for parking this was a great benefit to our hotel.  No other hotels in the area do this.  Not only do you save the $15, but you don't have to walk all the way from the parking lot or back to your car at the end of the day. Drop off and Pick up are right there by the entrance.

We spent a total of 3 days at the park.  Well, our half day the day we arrived, full day on Tuesday, then a half day on Wednesday before we had to catch our flight.  Because we went for 3 days we purchased the season passes.  This also allowed us discounts at stores plus coupons for so much more. We could have gotten into Hurricane Harbor for FREE, but we never did go.

If you are going and you want to get the most out of your day, make sure you go first thing in the morning.  We hit 6 rides in an hour and half.  The day before we had gotten there at 12pm, because of our flight, and we stayed until 6 and we rode 6 rides.  The lines were longer later in the day.  For even more tips about getting in quicker than everyone else make sure you check out yesterdays post.

Let' s back up and remind you of my first secret.  That was checking school calendar.  I realized that California was still in school June 14-16, so therefore the park was not super full.

Everyone runs right for Tatsu and X-2.  If you are going more than one day, pick one day to go the other way first, because very, very few people go that way.

We were on the very first ride of the day on Goliath.  By the time we made our way around to Scream, we sat and rode it 3 times in a row.

If you are a wooden roller coaster fan don't miss The Terminator.  It's one of the best wooden roller coasters.  It is super fast and the seats are ultra cushy making the ride much more enjoyable.  Don't pass this one by.

Because we did run a lot in the morning and hit the opposite side that most people go to, we were able to get in 14 rides on the 2nd day.  We would even take breaks.  Remember that we always pack our snacks, so they are healthy and much more affordable, but we mostly do it because it's just healthier.  We had trail mix and jerky packed in our cargo shorts.  Also, like I said before, we would stop and get our FREE glass of water to have with our snack.

I do also need to mention that we did something we don't often do.  This was do to that fact, that even though I was running through park and riding coasters, I did have back surgery scheduled for the day after we got home.   We did need to take breaks on this trip.  We ended up hitting the park hard in the morning, then we left for a few hours of napping, eating and swimming, only to return to the park right before closing and hitting more rides.  Had we stayed that extra 4 hours we would have had nearly 20 rides that day.

So I guess to answer my question, do you really need a flash pass for Magic Mountain, I would have to say, if you timed it right, there is no reason.  If you HAVE to go in the middle of summer and have the money to spend I would probably get one just so you can really enjoy the park. Read for restrictions before purchasing though.

Tomorrow I am going to post about the Hotel we stayed at and places we ate.

This is linked to Works for Me Wednesday

We have "discovered" some great tips while visiting Six Flags Magic Mountain, sorry it has taken me so long to get all the details out to you.  We have saved some money and time and found ways, that had we know, we could have saved even more money and time.  I missed out, but I am sharing with you, so yo don't miss out.

We like to get to the park just before it opens and stand at the gate and run in. I know we are crazy, but that's what works for our family.

BEST TIP OF THE YEAR:

We noticed that they have a line for Discover Card Holders.  Yep, that's right.  It pretty much looked like an express lane.  Masses of people to your right and to your left about 5 people in line.  We have a Discover card, but we did not bring, because we didn't know.  Bring your Discover card!

Also as you go around the park you get an instant 5% off of most things that you purchase, plus the discount for being a season pass holder. These signs were in all the windows of the gift shops and some of the eateries.  I think we also get 1% cash back on most purchases using our Discover card, so this really does start to add it.  Slowly, but every little bit helps.

All that to say, I guess it really does pay to "Discover" at all Six Flags nationwide.

Check back tomorrow as I share some more great money saving and time saving ideas.