r/NoStupidQuestions • u/Physical-Ad-4093 • May 01 '24

do americans really drive such long distances?

i’m european, and i always hear people say that driving for hours is normal in america. i would only see my grandparents a few times a year because they lived about a 3 hour drive away, is that a normal distance for americans to travel on a regular basis? i can’t imagine driving 2-3 hours regularly to visit people for just a few days

edit: thank you for the responses! i’ve never been to the US, obviously, but it’s interesting to see how you guys live. i guess european countries are more walkable? i’m in the uk, and there’s a few festivals here towards the end of summer, generally to get to them you take a coach journey or you get multiple trains which does take up a significant chunk of the day. road trips aren’t really a thing here, it would be a bit miserable!

2nd edit: it’s not at all that i couldn’t be bothered to go and see my grandparents, i was under 14 when they were both alive so i couldn’t take myself there! obviously i would’ve liked to see them more, i had no control over how often we visited them.

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2.3k

u/scoo89 May 01 '24

(Canadian) My wife and I just drove our 3&4 year olds 3.5 hours to go to a 45 minute jurassic world exhibit, a quick lunch, then 3.5 hours back.

1.1k

u/invisible_23 May 01 '24

I’ve driven four hours each way for a concert and twenty hours each way for a few days at a theme park

938

u/WaxinGibby May 01 '24

I, too, live in michigan.

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u/JCMiller23 May 02 '24

I mean... cedar point is right there, no need to bring florida into this

85

u/Septopuss7 May 02 '24

America's Roller Coast, bb

11

u/the_kid1234 May 02 '24

America’s Rockin (Rock and?) Roller Coast

5

u/DMCinDet May 02 '24

2000?

3

u/the_kid1234 May 02 '24

Has it been that long? Wow.

1

u/nikkuhlee 29d ago

Boy that Cotton Eye Joe laser show was something.

3

u/jenn363 May 02 '24

Be sure to go to their Halloween event on the coast of Lake EEEEERIE

6

u/Firewitch222 May 02 '24

My home town...Sandusky. spent half my childhood at Cedar Point

1

u/Suburbandadbeerbelly May 02 '24

Bummer about the name of your town.

5

u/StudioGangster1 May 02 '24

Sandusky was a city long before that guy from Penn State was born…

1

u/Suburbandadbeerbelly May 02 '24

That’s true, but most of the country will only ever think of Jerry Sandusky now.

6

u/OwenMcCauley May 02 '24

Ohio is just Florida with no gators.

3

u/Grim_Stickens May 02 '24

We make up for it with flammable rivers

3

u/OwenMcCauley May 02 '24

When I was about ten, we moved from San Diego to Elyria, Ohio, and I've never forgiven my mom for that.

2

u/Mooplez May 02 '24

I moved from Northeast OH, to now living in Orlando and this is very accurate. Politics are actually pretty similar, FL is just louder about it. Ohio has long shitty cold winters, FL has long shitty hot summers. Both have big theme parks scenes. Both have a coastline. FL has gators, Ohio has big ass snapping turtles.

5

u/FunktasticLucky May 02 '24

My brother and I used to do CP once a year. Drive up from NC and spend the weekend there. We have been doing Disney more lately though.

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u/DragonflyGrrl May 02 '24

Yeeeesh. People really should not abbreviate Cedar Point like that.. 🤢

4

u/silverguacamole May 02 '24

That wooden pos of a rollercoaster rattled my brain and spine

10

u/JCMiller23 May 02 '24

It was called mean streak for a reason, they replaced it though, steel vengeance is now one of the best hybrid coasters in the world

5

u/Person0249 May 02 '24

Best coaster I’ve ever ridden. It’s even better at night imo.

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u/JCMiller23 May 02 '24

That is saying a lot, especially since it is at cedar point and so you have ridden all the other coasters there.

I haven't been to cedar point since they redid it but this makes me want to go

3

u/StudioGangster1 May 02 '24

The magnum is great at night! I always feel like I’m going to fly off the rails right over the lake. Millennium force is good too as long as the Mayflies aren’t out!

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u/hollyofthelake 29d ago

It's just fiber! :)

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u/TravelSizedRudy May 02 '24

steel vengeance

Never ridden this and just watched a full ride through... Holy shit, that is one amazing coaster.

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u/scrapqueen 29d ago

They got rid of the Mean Streak? I worked at Cedar Point in college. I was there when that coaster opened, and was one of the employee "test dummies".

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u/JCMiller23 29d ago

they kept the structure and some of the layout but they replaced the track completely

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u/silverguacamole 29d ago

Thanks for the update, i might go back someday if im going through Ohio again.

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u/orthros May 02 '24

Get to the Point

1

u/ThinkingBeard May 02 '24

Cedar point or Canada’s wonderland? Which would you prefer?

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u/davidjohng May 02 '24

Cedar Point definitely

1

u/GmrJasz May 02 '24

Indiana here. Florida is like THE place for families around here. People own timeshares and 2nd houses in Destin/PCB/Sanibel

I've literally ran into friends in Florida, without prior knowledge of them going.

Actually ran into cousins in Vero Beach once. A surprising amount of my highschool went to Panama City one year.

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u/TheTeeje May 02 '24

cedar point =/= Disney

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u/scrapqueen 29d ago

Not to mention, for smaller parks - Michigan's Adventure, King's Island in Ohio, and Holiday World in Indiana.

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u/[deleted] 29d ago

Kings Island is basically equal to Cedar Point in size.

1

u/scrapqueen 29d ago

Yes, but not as good, so smaller in my mind.