Amusement Parks seem to have skyrocketing prices, so please share your favorite lists for parks and even rides within the parks. If you know of any money-saving tips for visiting those parks, here's a great place to share them as well as in the reviews.

Here's one tip I'll share--parking is often quite high at amusement parks, so if there's a way to get around it, that helps (use a shuttle, etc.) However, if I have broken down and paid for parking, I'll load up a cooler with drinks and foods. Most parks will allow you to leave and re-enter the park (check first before exiting!), and it is much cheaper than buying food and drinks in the park itself!

Here's a list of amusement parks that I particularly liked when I visited them:

• Lowry Park (near Tampa, FL)
• Busch Gardens (near Tampa, FL)
• Carowinds (near Charlotte, NC)
• Magic Kingdom (nighttime parade is especially fun, near Orlando, FL)
• Hershey Park (in Pennsylvania--went there when I was a little kid but remember I loved it)

We tried Santa's Land (near Cherokee, NC) a couple of years ago and were pretty disappointed. I had checked the website and we planned a vacation around the opening day that was listed and drove for a couple of hours to get there with two small children. When we got there, they had a sign up saying that they had decided to open a week later. It's a good thing they didn't have a big moose sign up (anyone see the Chevy Chase movie?). We ended up going the next week and I distinctly remember riding a little roller coaster that they ended up closing after we rode it--some pieces were falling off the back! The kids did enjoy the little rides they had at Santa's Land but I wondered if we might have picked a better fun place.