I remember doing multiple rides on the same roller coaster without giving up my seat as a teen at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg. At peak times they had 20+ minute lines, but I never considered that as worthwhile.

Disney lines are horrific by comparison. It’s nice they add some theming while you wait, but you will have a far better time just skipping the rides unless you want to run to something at park open or schedule your day around fast pass.

Horror stories about the lines these days, unless you buy the extremely expensive passes that let you skip them, are why I'd hesitate to go even for free. I don't get why people pay for it. 55 minutes in a line for every 5 minutes of fun is a shit deal even if it's free, IMO. Sounds like hell.

Knott's Berry Farm on Thanksgiving used to be one of my family's best kept secrets. People have since caught on but you you used to be able to walk up to a ride and ride it within minutes.

And the fried chicken at Knott's - used to be amazing (late 70's/early 80's). Wonder if it's still a thing with them.

It's been a hot minute (like 20 years), but the Maryland Six Flags used to stay open until 8 or 9 PM in the summer and I could ride the coasters with basically no wait (waterpark was closed, though).

I've been to a number of parks where it seemed like average wait times were closer to 15 minutes rather than 1-3 hours. In fact, other than Disney or Universal Studios that's generally been the norm, and for a while I would go to theme parks multiple times a year.

Cartmanland /s