Are enthusiasts cheap?

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Ajrides said:
I wasn't just talking about a weeks vacation once a year. I meant taking the family to alot of parks throughout the summer.

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And I maintain what I said. If it adds to the experience, I'll spend the money. I go to movies all of the time, and I still buy the rip off popcorn and soda. It's part of the experience.

^Same here. ;) You have live a little. Out of ALL the microwave popcorn that is out there, I haven't experienced ONE that comes close to the real "movie theatre" popcorn. ;)

I do what I can to save money just like everyone else, but I don't worry about it too much. When I find it to be a hassle I just say "F*** it."

Last Sunday at Carowinds I found myself bitching about paying $13 for a cheeseburger, fries, and soda. Then again I realized I could be DEAD tomorrow.

It's an insane way of thinking, but it works. ;)

-Tina

^My philosophy as well. And there is nothing wrong with bitching and being a hypocrite ;).

^LOL!

It happens. ;)

-Tina

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I do what I can to save money just like everyone else, but I don't worry about it too much. When I find it to be a hassle I just say "F*** it."

Last Sunday at Carowinds I found myself...paying $13 for a cheeseburger, fries, and soda. Then again I realized I could be DEAD tomorrow.

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Exactly! :)

I'll spend differantly in differant parks.
At Dollywood, I'd spend money on food like there's no tommorow because the park is new to me. When we go back there, I'll eat like an ACER after massive two-day fast.

At Gl, I won't spend a dime on food because i've been there/done that a hundred times. Whether it was 6flags or CF's, GL's food is the same, and it isn't very good.

At CLP, I'll eat the fries (my opinion, but they're the best i've ever had.)

Why is most parks don't have Footlong ChiliDogs anymore? Back when GL was GL, they had the best footlong chilidogs. I miss those.

I can vouch for having talked to Lord Gonchar (at the Dorney event and at BeastBuzz after introducing myself). He was a nice guy.

Anyway, I'm very sensitive to other people's financial needs. At some point you're going to have to pay for that trip, and I know that others don't make as much money as I do (not that I'm raking in the dough). But I don't think it's too much to ask to have a bedspread and sheets without hair on them and without holes.

There also seems to be a lot of inconsistency with motel/hotel pricing and star-ratings. The first place we stayed at last summer near SFGAM was only rated at one-star, but had key-cards--including one for the side-entrance, nice beds/bathroom. The only problem we had was one burnt-out lightbulb and we had to call for a plunger (I didn't do it:) ) Some of the other places deserved a 1/2-star at best.

I inspected the room we signed off-on for BeastBuzz before we crashed there for the night, and I told him if we were happy in the morning, we'd take it for the second night. It was owned by a family and they did all the cleaning and maintenance themselves, and that sold it for me. The only negative was not having a card-key, but the room more than made up for that little bit.

What we were trying to avoid was what happened on our 2002-midwest trip where we stayed at the brand-new hotel at the interchange near Holiday World (it has a gas-station in front of it). We said "We'll just stay here because we're tired and it looks nice." We wound up paying over $90, and we could hear little kids running around all night long (I'm guessing either the floors or the walls were pretty thin). The continental breakfast consisted of cereal and make-your-own-waffles.

As far as food, if it's a park I've never been to before, or one I rarely visit, your darn right that I'm not leaving the park to save $5. Time is precious, especially if you're only staying for one day. If it's Six Flags America (my homepark) on the other hand and you've got 7-11, Jerry's, McDonalds, Safeway, Popeyes Chicken etc., and they're only two-minutes away, then we'll go and get food and save money.

So the hotel was responsible for little kids running around? I've stayed there twice, no problems. Enormous rooms for a place like that.

An important factor involving park food is price and quality. Parks like Dollywood have decent food and that makes a difference. Its also part of the overall park experience to enjoy the food at parks that have good food.

At KW there are places to eat within easy distance from the park gate and outside food can be brought into the park but I enjoy the park food, especially the Potato Patch fries, and the park food is reasonably priced. If and when I get to Knoebels or DelGrossos, I would plan on eating within the park rather than filling up beforehand for the same reasons.

I'm rollin' in dough, so I spend, spend, spend.

:)

HA!

Wait a minute, did I blame the hotel for the kids running around? No, I'm just saying that the construction must have been fairly shoddy if I'm hearing kids running around all night overtop of us or in the room to the left of us. Was it bad luck? It could've been.

I also think they could've done a lot better for the breakfast. It was entirely too crowded in the little room, and the make-your-own waffle thing was obviously time-consuming. You had to wait in one line to get a cup, then it was another two-minutes or more to make the waffle.

I paid approximately the same price for a two-bedroom room in Connecticut at the Baymont Inn near the airport (not the cheapest of areas), and we had a continental breakfast spread fit for a king and a great room. *** Edited 4/1/2007 1:55:24 AM UTC by Intamin Fan***

Always the same routine. breakfast sandwiches at any reputeable gas/conveniece store. Lunch/dinner at

park. Vice snack before leaving (funnel cakes!)and pickup a keychain fob or mug for souvenier. Drive thru on the way home.

Every time every park.

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jive2 said:
My wife doesn't usually allow for cheapness. She digs going to the parks but digs traveling and exploring even more. Our trips include a couple of days of park time and then a couple of days of local crap.

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I laughed my a** off at that. I don't believe I ever heard our family vacations summed up so accurately and succintly. (And not that I would dare phrase it that way to my wife!) But every time we go on our trip, I calculate how many days I have to trade off going to 19th century mansions and outlet malls in order to go to my sweet parks. It works out fairly well, however: I tap my feet impatiently through every tour guided by some shaky old lady, and she sits at a picnic table and reads a book all afternoon long at the parks.

Who says marriage has to be dysfunctional? ;)

I don't think we are cheap. Most of the time enthusiasts want to vsit a lot of parks in one season, which isn't very long really. Most families when they go on vacation might go to one amusement park while thye are on vacation unless they go to Florida in which case they might go to more because it is Disney, and Busch Territory. So because they are only going to one park they are more likely to spend more at the park for food and items like t-shrts and things because it is a family experience that they won't get at that park again. Coaster people basically only go to the parks to ride on the roller coasters and don't usually want to mess with anything else unless they have already been to that park.

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matt. said:

Are enthusiasts cheap? The majority might be, BUTT

If there are enthusiasts out there who stay in the most lavish hotels, and eat at the most expensive places, and spend the money on the nicest souvenirs, and generally blow their wad every time they take their kids to the park, do they -

a.) post on Coasterbuzz?
b.) go to enthusiast events?
and
c.) hang out with or generally make themselves known to other enthusiasts?

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Let's see, I've stayed in four star hotels and five star resorts. I've dined @ Victoria's and Alberts and places that sell Kobe (Waygu) beef. And I bought wonderful piece of propaganda (Pal Mickey...I love that dang thing) even though I *dont* have kids (yet).

I also:
a) post on Coasterbuzz (obviously)
b) have been to CoasterMania, SRM, CoasterMadness, and CoasterCelebration among other events and
c) have gone as far as taking a week long "Coaster Tour" with an enthusiast group.

So I would definitely say "yes" such people exist.

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Gonch said
And we're not even close to making 'Jeremy' money.

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Well only %20 of American householde are! ;)
(though it really doesnt go as far as you'd think living in the NE corridor)
lata, jeremy
--who has met more than a few 'buzzers IRL

I use to go to parks as inexpensively as possible.

The sad truth was that if I wanted to go to more parks during the year I would have to budget myself.

I know what I can spend, I know how much I'll need if I want to continue to pay my bills. Is that cheap or responsible? Yes blowing all my money at the park would add to the experience at the park but wouldn't really help my experience with keeping my electricity turned on. I've been called cheap a few times. I was called cheap by a woman who owes more on her house than what it is worth by refinancing and who is buried in credit card debt. I'm cheap and she's an idiot.

The good news is I have had a little more money during the last few years and it is no suprise that my spending during vacation has increased also.
*** Edited 4/2/2007 3:25:41 AM UTC by Wabash Cannonball***

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2Hostyl said:
(though it really doesnt go as far as you'd think living in the NE corridor)

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I can imagine...and it's scary. I'll stay out here in the middle of the cheap-ass midwest for now, thank you. :)

Me too. I love the low costs of living in St. Louis. Add to that my family making (possibly) more than Jeremy and life is good. :)

So why do I complain about high prices and such in the SF pricing threads. If they had good customer service and ran anywhere near capacity I'd have NO problems with ANY of the things they have implemented in the recent years. Things being what they are, I've decided to spend my money at baseball games, more movies and various other entertainment venues in the summer months. Lot's of competition and I choose to spend time with all of them.

Anybody whose met me can verify that I'd rather go to a concert than an amusement park any day of the week. Although I've done both in one day several times and it was great.

I've eaten at many fine restaurants, some of them 5 stars. I know the executive chef at Tavern on Rush in downtown Chicago. Now that's swanky.

Nice hotels. I have a timeshare with Sheraton and that get's me into Westins and W hotels. Does that count?

Haven't bought any park souvenirs in quite a while. Just doesn't speak to me as you'll never find me wearing a coaster shirt. The only park I've ever really gotten souvenirs from is the Disney parks, and I don't see that stopping.

So maybe I count too as I've been to a couple of events and more than one member here can find me in a crowd.

The only thing I can't say I've done is spend a bunch of money for my kids. Considering I only have one and he's currently 2 months old, I'll get back to you on that one. But I can't wait to take him to some of the parks and water parks that I don't get to visit too often and if he wants it, at the end of the day I'm sure he'll get it (if he's been good). ;)

The midwest is a fantastic place to live, its cheap, halfway to anywhere in the US, people are nice and for coaster enthusiasts includes more then its fair share of parks. The only bad thing is the weather.

I'm extremely cheap. If I can get someone to cover my shift, I'm planning to leave the house at 5AM to get into SFOG for free on Thursday. I never buy food, I get free ice water cups at Carowinds and, erm, fill them with Coke. In general I'd rather spend the money elsewhere and all the prices are bloated. I also sneak sodas into movies for the same reason.

I do occasionally buy teeshirts and trinkets, if a ride/park particularly strikes me.