Rant: Six Flags - another Corporation I Love to Hate
Remember once upon a time when theme parks and amusement parks were built for the enjoyment of families of all types and incomes? Remember when there was lot's more to do than stand in massive lines for a 90 second roller coaster line, without going broke?
Here's what Six Flags here in Chicago is giving us this year:
Adult Admission: ~ $60
Average Line for 3 newest coasters ~ 90 minutes
Cost for Carnival games ~ $3 for one toss / shot / whatever (not 3 for $1, 1 for $3)
Cost of a burger fries and coke ~ $10
Cost of any sort of candy / sweets ~ $2 - $5
...all under the guise of "oh we have to pay for our new mega-coaster". How about "oh we have to get filthy fukin rich with our new mega-coaster"? More accurate I'd say. WHAT A FUKING SCAM!
It was really hard for me to stomach all this LAST year when I went ONCE with the more "reasonable" ~ $40 admission. What they are doing now as a franchise (one can only assume similar prices are found in Atlanta, Texas, California and at the other parks) is downright shameless. I am living in a home with two people earning middle income and we can't afford it. How in the hell are all the blue collar types going to afford it?
[Edit in: Six Flags has turned their theme parks into a playground for the wealthy, and somehow, they don't see the ethical implications of that given both the history of themeparks in America and what they stand for, and just in general social terms.]
Pro sports is bad enough, but when this kind of crap happens at amusement parks it's really quite pathetic. They will never get another penny from me...the peckerheads.
Here's what Six Flags here in Chicago is giving us this year:
Adult Admission: ~ $60
Average Line for 3 newest coasters ~ 90 minutes
Cost for Carnival games ~ $3 for one toss / shot / whatever (not 3 for $1, 1 for $3)
Cost of a burger fries and coke ~ $10
Cost of any sort of candy / sweets ~ $2 - $5
...all under the guise of "oh we have to pay for our new mega-coaster". How about "oh we have to get filthy fukin rich with our new mega-coaster"? More accurate I'd say. WHAT A FUKING SCAM!
It was really hard for me to stomach all this LAST year when I went ONCE with the more "reasonable" ~ $40 admission. What they are doing now as a franchise (one can only assume similar prices are found in Atlanta, Texas, California and at the other parks) is downright shameless. I am living in a home with two people earning middle income and we can't afford it. How in the hell are all the blue collar types going to afford it?
[Edit in: Six Flags has turned their theme parks into a playground for the wealthy, and somehow, they don't see the ethical implications of that given both the history of themeparks in America and what they stand for, and just in general social terms.]
Pro sports is bad enough, but when this kind of crap happens at amusement parks it's really quite pathetic. They will never get another penny from me...the peckerheads.
Comments
i'm confused why you think a corporation will have the inclanation or responsibility to do anything more than make a profit w/o breaking laws.
anything beyond that is up to the business owner, and is a preference, not a requirement.
aren't there any other amusement parks where you live? not necessarily huge ones, but smaller, independent ones? i'm in the same boat, i can't afford to go more than once a year (at most). the way i see it though, they're the ones losing moeny. if i only go once every 3 years or so, they're getting less of my money than when we used to go 2-3 times per year. eventually if they keep being stupid, they'll go broke, and the problem is solved.
Originally posted by alcimedes
so either get coupons and go, or don't go at all. if enough people stop going, they're figure out a different business model.
Oh aboslutely I agree here. I'm not suggesting anything other than people withholding their hard-earned money until something changes. The best way to protest any sort of outrageous fee is not to buy. Apple has learned some lessons on this in the last year, albeit they were so far behind the curve they had little choice.
i'm confused why you think a corporation will have the inclanation or responsibility to do anything more than make a profit w/o breaking laws.
I don't feel that way at all. Corporations are in business to make money. Understood. However, there has to be some accountability to the public there. They're not breaking any laws, but ethically it just seems completely perverse to me that an amusement park - a place that is supposed to be for the enjoyment of all (again not mandated, just sort of "understood" in my book) - can charge parents $60 to get in, and then rake them over the coals all day long again every time they want to let their kids have some fun playing pop-a-shot or getting some cotton candy.
The point is, that $60 should go a long ways towards making sure there are other affordable things to do besides stand in line. For my $60 I should be able to know that if I want to buy lunch and some sweets for two people, it's not going to cost 1/3 again what the ticket was. And there's no alternative: you cannot, under any circumstance, bring food or beverages into the park, so that's out... if that were an option I wouldn't be quite so indignant to be honest.
What you do and pay for between rides is a big part of the experience because frankly, you're not going to have enough time to ride more than 4 or 5 coasters during the entire day.
anything beyond that is up to the business owner, and is a preference, not a requirement.
Of course it is (and should be). And my assessment of their decision is that they're a bunch of greedy a-holes who are really not concerned at all with the quality of their product beyond how cool the coasters are. Nor are they concerned with value provided to the average family of four who visits. The facilities are run down, the people who work there get paid squat, and it's crowded as hell because instead of expanding the size of the park with the population, they just tear down and build newer coasters every year.
aren't there any other amusement parks where you live? not necessarily huge ones, but smaller, independent ones?
I truly wish there were. I'd give them my patronage instead. There's Sandusky Park in Ohio, but I wouldn't call that "close"
i'm in the same boat, i can't afford to go more than once a year (at most). the way i see it though, they're the ones losing moeny. if i only go once every 3 years or so, they're getting less of my money than when we used to go 2-3 times per year. eventually if they keep being stupid, they'll go broke, and the problem is solved.
One can only hope. I just wonder where the sense of responsibility to the customer / community has gone with these parks. They've completely lost site of why they were there to begin with, aside from making money.
It's just perverse IMO. Really, really sad.
I wonder if Jobs consults for 6-flags, ahahaha
Originally posted by Moogs
Cost of a burger fries and coke ~ $10
Cost of any sort of candy / sweets ~ $2 - $5
If they allowed people to bring their own food into the park, you would see this change instantly!
First of all don't go during the summer or on a weekend. Go in the early spring or middle fall and pick a day where it has overcast that burns off or cloudy. Then also try to go on a Tuesday or Wednesday.
When we do this at Disneyland, Knott's or Six Flags, we literally WALK onto most rides. The last time I did it at Six Flags, I got to literally ride Freefall repeatedly until I almost tossed. The guy didn't even make us get off because there was no one waiting to get on. We went like 8 times in a row. Insane!
The last time we did this with Disneyland, we went the last week of April, on an overcast Tuesday. We were on every ride within 15 minutes. (Even the coasters(
Nick
Seriously, I was thinking about going to Six Flags this year...it's been a long time since I've been to ours and I was kind of itching to do some coaster riding...but if our prices are like the ones at your park then I'll find something else to do (or I'll find a coupon). That's a WHACK of money!
Times are tough all over and it sounds like folks who set prices are trying to squeeze money out of a smaller audience. But let the market speak for itself. I wonder how much more a season pass costs over a one-day pass?
What are prices like at Disney World now? Anybody know?
That leaves fall, and they pretty much close shop around Halloween. So really, the off-peak times are about 1-2 weeks in May and maybe 3 weeks in October. Of course though, October is when they book all their "corporate days" where individual companies rent out the entire park for a day, so even that number is trimmed.
Not saying it's impossible to find less busy days, but for most people - particularly everyone up to the middle income brackets - the weekend is the only viable choice because they can't get off work. Especially in such a lousy economy when everyone feels like their job status isn't as safe as they'd like it to be.
Just an all-round bad situation at this point.
So all in all I can't say I hate them, and the new rides they built recently are very cool. Let's just hope they keep up the good work even after the contract with the city is over.
Go to eBay or someplace online and buy a cheap ankle boot brace, or a post-op knee brace that has the settings on it to have it stop at a certain angle. Find some crutches from a friend (come on, EVERYBODY knows someone with crutches) and take them with you to the park. At the front gate, rent a wheelchair for the $10 and $20 deposit (or whatever it is) and ride around in that most of the day. If you don't feel like that, you can still mostly walk with a cast boot or knee brace on. Just move your crutches around a bit like you're using them and people will be convinced.
The reason: Most amusement parks have disabled access to their rides. Those who are unable to wait in a long line can go through this access and get on the ride within, oh 15 minutes. The kicker is that you can usually also take up to 3 people with you for a maximum of 4. Instead of waiting 1 1/2 hours, you wait up to several minutes.
Amusement parks won't ask for a doctor's note or proof that you're disabled. They're just concerned that you fulfill the ride requirements of needing a certain number of *functioning* arms, hands, legs, or feet. Almost every ride out there allows someone with a leg cast or knee brace without any danger of safety being compromised.
I worked at an amusement park for 4 years. Trust me on this. If you have the guts and a little bit of up-front cash (for the brace and wheelchair), your whole day will be much more pleasant.
Originally posted by bunge
I like CosmoNut.
I'll wheel you around Disneyland bunge, but I get to break your leg first, or at least jump up and down on it for a while.
Don't worry, you can just pretend I am the police arresting you.
Nick
Thanks for lightening up this thread Cosmonut. I was having a hard time figuring out how to do that. Mostly I just get more and more pissed when I think about it, but your idea / offer was pretty dern funny.
Originally posted by trumptman
Don't worry, you can just pretend I am the police arresting you.
Does that mean I can bruise your knuckles with my face?
Originally posted by bunge
Does that mean I can bruise your knuckles with my face?
Silly man, you know I would be using a club/stick.
Kids these days...
Nick