Another new to SF parks?

I remember when we talked about the dining pass when they tried it. Some people liked it. Others thought it wasn't worth it. Now I see (at least on SFGAm website), that if you buy the green sports bottle for 19.99, you get all refills for free. Scroll down a little for the offer.

https://www.sixflags.com/greatamerica/store/online-meal-deals

Most SF parks have been doing some variation of "buy the bottle upfront and get free (or super cheap) drinks all day" for a while now - I think the first time we saw it was 2008 at SFA.

Mostly, it's been "buy the bottle and get free drinks TODAY, with cheap drinks all season."

I think that (old) plan was infinitely better for the parks. "Free-free" (for Gonch) is different than cheap-cheap because it does encourage wastefulness, and to a large degree, messiness. Going to be harder to keep the parks clean. Free drinks can work in Southern Indiana, but I'm not hopeful how that might play out in say, SFA. Cleanliness is a habit, and so is filth. This decision to me might bend the line towards dirtier parks. SF doesn't have Mrs. Koch on staff....

Kennywood this season introduced a second souvenir drink option. They sell the regular one that gives you 99 cent refills all year, or you can buy the "fanatic" mug for $20 and the refills are free all year.

The idea of having to lug something around all day holds no charm for me.

I agree, slithernoggin. I've been to GrAdv four times this season, and haven't bought a cup, green or otherwise, for the reason you mention. I have enough trouble dragging my ailing 50 y.o. body around the park without worrying about the damn cup, too.

I just wouldn't want to drink so many sodas to make up for the price.

I am aware they have been doing the 99 cent refills, but this one has it you don't pay anything for the whole season. If they include the Freestyle machines, I would be all over it since they have a nice selection of diet options.

Like I said above, I haven't gotten one, but I believe the Freestyle is included at GrAdv.

This is the first year SFoT has 'em and we haven't had any trouble with cleanliness or waste afaict. I mean, how much waste is there if you pour out a couple sodas? 5 cents maybe? The real difference is in line length at the food stands. I never really paid attention before because I had no reason to wait in line but it seems like every other person in line at a food stand is waiting for a refill. Occasionally they'll open a refill only window, and I don't know how much the refillers actually impact the line length, but when the line at the funnel cake stand is 15 people deep, it sure looks long.

We just bought one of the infinite refill bottles and bring a whole bunch of empty containers to transfer so everyone can have their own favorite flavor. I think we've already filled the thing north of 30 times for the original $20 investment.

I have never bought a souvenir bottle. Water is my drink of choice, especially on a hot day. I'll buy a bottle of water, and when it is empty, I'll crush it and put it in my pocket. When I walk by a water fountain, I fill is up and drink it. That's my souvenir bottle. lol Most of the time, anyways.

If they made souvenir bottles that crushed up into your pocket, I might reconsider. I like a pop a few times a day, but not all day, every drink.

We were just at SFNE and bought the unlimited refill bottle. This is the first six flags we've been to in 2 or 3 seasons. I think its a great value because it's good at all their parks. The other thing I noticed is they have a no loose article policy, but they let you take the souvenir cup in line with you and every station had a cup holder.

On an off topic note finally got to ride an RMC creation, and we both loved it. They were filming an episode of Trip Flip while we were there and got to ride on Wicked Cyclone with Burt. Looking forward to see if we make the final cut for the show.

I was reading on a GrAdv Facebook page, that there's a lot of those green unlimited-free-drinks-all season cups being stolen...way more so than in the past with the (still available) dollar refill cups.

Well at Cedar Fair parks now you have to buy them pesky lockers just to store your cup.

Coasterfantom2 said:

...they have a no loose article policy, but they let you take the souvenir cup in line with you and every station had a cup holder.

That's a great customer service feature. I would never buy a souvenir mug if I had to keep renting lockers for it all day.

And I would never buy a souvenir cup to leave in a rack where two other train loads of people might paw over it (or take it) before I got back.

I just buy a souvenir cup and go with the flow.

Yeah, but you've got a collection to upkeep.

I got the red souvenir cup this year since it was included with the season dining pass. I used it the first day that it had free refills and haven't brought it back since then. I don't feel like carrying it all day and at some rides like The Dark Knight you have to leave it in the cup holders at the ride entrance so you are leaving it for 15+ minutes even with a short wait compared to a couple of minutes in a coaster station.

I'd love to know what percentage of the guests who buy the cups end up not using them because they find them, like YoshiFan, inconvenient or because they forget they have them.