A hundred-year-old family amusement park in the Pennsylvania hills that still lets you walk in for free just dethroned Disney and Universal as America's favorite — and if you want to know why, look at the polls showing most Americans think this country has lost its way from the principles that built it.
Knoebels Amusement Resort in Elysburg, Pennsylvania, claimed the No. 1 spot in Tripadvisor's 2026 Travelers' Choice Awards, beating out the corporate theme park giants that charge a family of four hundreds just to walk through the gate. The rankings are based on traveler reviews submitted between February 2025 and January 2026. Knoebels has been admission-free since it opened on July 4, 1926 — exactly a century of paying only for the rides you want, bringing your own food, and letting your kids run without a wristband.
Dollywood, the Tennessee park co-owned by Dolly Parton, took No. 2. Disney's Magic Kingdom limped in at No. 3, followed by Hollywood Studios at No. 4.
Eric Bowman, editor-in-chief of TravelPulse, told Fox News Digital that cost drove the results.
