Now, I haven’t been to a theme park in many years, but I remember the last time I went to Six Flags, it cost about $16 dollars per person, and that was with the discount for bringing a Coca-Cola can with me. Recently, my boss took his family to Sea World and told us that, for him, his wife, and I believe two kids, it cost over $100 just to get in. It seems they’re getting more and more expensive every year, and frankly, I don’t see any huge improvements in them. My family and I went to Disney World lat year, and honestly, it hadn’t changed all THAT much from when I went nearly ten years ago. Yet the prices have sky rocketed. Personally, I don’t think they’re worth it. Anyone out there find them worth the price, and if so, which ones so I can try something new and exciting.
They can be fun, depending on the park and what you get out of it. I don’t like Six Flags because I don’t care for roller coasters. But if that’s the ride for you, it’d be well worth a visit or two.
I agree, it is quite expensive. But then again, if I’m on a rollercoaster 100 feet in the air, I really don’t want them scrimping on maintenance.
I went to Disney World with my kid because she had a free ticket. It cost me around $50 to get in. As I paid, I wondered about how families manage it - especially when you consider what it costs to eat in the park, and the outrageous prices for souvenirs. Plus we spent a LOT of time waiting for our turn to ride some rides. I think I averaged $5/ride - pretty pricey for less than 2 minutes of entertainment.
No, not worth it for me, but then I’m an old grouch.
I like to go to such places, but they are way to expensive. I went to three parks last year, but I always get disconut tickets or I refuse to go. Even with 1/2 price tickets it cost 40 bucks for two people to get in.
This year I bought a season pass for 50, I figure now I’ll go at least 3-4 times and if I don’t stay the whole day who cares? Plus it’s not that far from work so maybe I’ll come in early and go after work for a couple of hours.
I don’t go to theme parks. I love roller coasters, but I really can’t justify the cost – if I want to stand in line all day, I can do that for free!
I haven’t been to a theme park in years. A couple summers, I bought a season pass to Astroworld, in Houston, and each time barely went often enough to justify the expense. I liked the rides and I love carnival games, but I dislike long lines and blistering sun. Except for FrightFest, it’s always the same. Same rides, same food, same souvenirs, same people lip-syncing with the same air guitar to the same songs at the ooh-make-your-own-video! place
Yeah, they’re expensive, but the big reason to go is for the shared experience you get with your friends and/or family. If you’re going only for the rides and attractions, there’s something wrong.
(The theme park people know this, of course, which is how they gouge us…)
[hijack]
I understand that the Romanian government is trying to build a get this
Dracula Theme Park.
I shudder to think what some of the rides will be…
Honey, get the Kids and wait in line for the Impaler
[homer]
mmmmmm, disconuts
[/homer]
I would go to a Dracula theme park just for the sheer novelty. Heh.
I’m not a huge fan of theme parks. I can go occasionally to some and enjoy myself, but after just a few hours I’m burnt out and just want to go home. The crowds and the lines are just too much. I hate that. For the few hours I’m actually enjoying myself, the ticket prices really aren’t worth it. Now, water parks? Those are cool, but not typical theme parks.
jessica
I find them worth the price, but you have to understand, we’re a family of coaster nuts. Every year on vacation we go to theme parks (not the Disney sort, the Six Flags sort.) They’re usually not terribly expensive if you get a multi-day ticket, and since we travel pretty far ( from NYC to Ohio or Virginia.), that’s what we get.Besides the vacation, we have season passes to Six Flags that cost aroung $160/year for all four of us.That’s less than the cost of 4 one day tickets at the nearest Six Flags, and it also allows us to go for two or three hours without feeling that we’re wasting money.When I think about it, the theme parks are probably less expensive for my family than the sort of amusement parks where you pay-per-ride.
Which parks are the best? That’s hard to say. Cedar Point had the best coasters, but it also had the longest lines (and the parking lot seemed to be a mile square)and the fewest non-coaster rides.Busch Gardens in Williamsburg is nice, and there’s a water park right next to it
Your wish for a Dracula Theme Park will be reality soon.
It’s definatly worth it if you go on a wednesday morning in the middle of september. If I have to wait in line for more then an hour for every flippin’ rollercoaster, and only get like 6 rides in in a day, then it’s not worth it. I remember that I went on Father’s Day once when it was foggy, and didn’t have to wait for any rides. Not even one. It was sooooo much fun, and soooo worth it.
The last time I went to a theme park by myself, I went to Astroworld in Houston. I’d been there a lot as a kid, so I had fond memories.
I figured that it would be really crowded, so I went on a Thursday. I thought I’d be able to avoid all the kids that way. Boy, was I wrong…
Turns out it was Catholic Day. Tell 'em you’re Catholic at the gate, get in for half price. It seemed every Catholic school in Houston was there. (I, of course, didn’t find this out 'til I was already in- otherwise I would’ve been Catholic for a day).
Anyway, I spent six hours there. I rode three rides. sigh
Nowadays the only theme park I go to is the Schlitterbahn, a water park in New Braunsfel, TX. It’s fed by the local river, so there’s very little chlorinated water to be found. (This isn’t true for the newer parts of the park, though.)
I still try to avoid all the kids. Does this make me a curmudgeon?
Okay, I live in ThemePark Central, Florida.
Yeah, it’s expensive to get in, unless you catch the discounts: I just picked up a Universal two-park pass through AAA for the price of two days admission. Disney rarely runs specials, but we managed to get the ‘extra 100 days free’ in last years promotion. (Used to work at SeaWorld, still have friends with tickets there).
I think what a few folk forget in the debate between amusement pars and theme parks are that the theme parks are just that: themed. These parks spent a little more money to make the ride experience more than just “stand in line, zing 'em around then watch 'em puke”.
I walk through Islands of Adventure and turn left into the Marvel Comics section: the architecture of the buildings looks almost straight out of a comic book - sharp vertical lines, shops named “Store” and “Diner” (ever notice that in a comic book?) with very muted colors.
If I turn to the right, Seussland is very, very different - bright pastels and odd shapes to the buildings. Even the trees are bent in impossible Seussian angles (actually, Unversal bought a load of trees that were twisted and damaged by Hurricane Andrew). Very much like walking into a Dr. Seuss book.
Jurassic Park - very leafy, very shaded and overgrown as I would expect the ‘real’ Jurassic Park to be. And check the walkways for tiny compasaurus tracks through the concrete. Yes, the river ride is pretty much a standard splash-down ride
Once you are in a particular section, you are pretty much within that section. Rarely will you see a uniformed/costumed employee/cast member from MK’s Fantasyland walking through Frontierland - kind messes up the ambiance if they do.
Theme parks for the most part tend to be isolated from the outside world: little of the outside world infringes on you - you cannot see the parking lots or the roadways from within the park (with the exception of a couple of walkways at Tampa Bay Busch Gardens). Maybe on the top of the highest roller coasters can you see I-4 or Busch Boulevard, but by then you are pretty much screaming in joy or fright.
So there’s more to the theme parks than just the rides. Yeah, Ohio is the Mecca of rollercoastermaniacs, but I prefer having more to look at than identical buildings and lots of hot concrete with no shade Compare Wet-n-Wild water park (also Orlando) versus Typhoon Lagoon - far more trees and shade in TL vs WnW. Admission and food prices are comparable and the ride lines are just as long at each park, but there is much more in the way of atmosphere at TL.
So for the most part, you are paying for an experience. Might be the same roller coaster design, but nuances including design changes, sounds and lighting, and so much more have been factored in to make the experience a little more soothing or intense, depending on the ride. Is it worth it? Depends when you go (high season vs low season; early morning vs. middle of the day), and how (whole family with screaming kids and snarling parents vs a few friends vs whatever combination of folks). Coupons do help.
(BTW, did I mention I used to be a carny? Yup, I put up and tore down a lot of traveling carnival rides. Wouldn’t wanna mess with any of the stationary amusement or theme park rides - too many computers and the tubs (ride cars) are much heavier to move.)
[To continue this sentence…]
But muted lighting (hell, no lighting in the building), high ceilings that echo every noise, and large anamatronic figures leaping at you certainly adds to the expreience. Hell, at the Spidey Dopefest, I sat back to watch everyone else in the car get scared. Damned near crawled out halfway through myself - forgot how intense that ride was inside the building.
And next week on The Simpsons, Homer and Disco Stu discover their hidden unrequited passion for each other!
Yeah, it’s a lot of money, but they’re making huge investments every year to keep the locals coming back, there is no direct competition, demand is huge, it’s a short season (in Northern Illinois, anyway) and almost everyone can qualify for some discount or other.
Demand is so great, I think someone could put up a competitive park up across the street from Six Flags Great America and there still would be long lines.
Best days to really get your money’s worth are major holidays, especially Labor Day. It’s a ghost town. Typically we arrive at 10 a.m. and have lapped the park trying every single ride we want by 1 p.m. No waiting. Time for shows, all those minor rides you’ve never tried and multiple rides on the good stuff.
Yeah, 'cause everyone is down here at the theme parks during major holidays!!
(4.5 hour wait for TestTrack at Epcot during Easter Week, and forget going between Christmas and New Years Day.)
“Ghost town” time down here is pretty much September and mid-January (not between but each month).
BTW, rumor in the past few years is that Six Flags was considering building an amusement park somewhere in northeast Florida - Daytona or Jacksonville.