Are enthusiasts cheap?

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nasai said:
I'm rollin' in dough, so I spend, spend, spend.

HA!

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Word! :)

-Tambo

I only own 2 coaster shirts. A Six Flags St. Louis shirt that has Mr. Six on it because that was my first visit to a Six Flags. The other my family went to SDC last summer without me and they baught me a Powder Keg shirt. I haven't even ridden that ride yet HaHa. I usually collect Keychains from anywhere new I go. However buying Tshirts when going places has been big in my family no matter where we go weather it's a baseball game, National Parks, Museums, Zoos, Aquariums, or Theme Parks. So I am just a Tshirt nerd I guess. HaHa.

I have quite a collection of tee-shirts, golf shirts, sweaters, etc., from parks. I preferentially use my souvenir money at small or independently owned parks like Lakemont or Conneaut Lake. (The exception would be my home park of Cedar Point, from which I probably have four or five shirts). I also buy every postcard I can get my hands on, and also flat souvenirs that are easily stored, such as magnets, decals, bumper stickers, pennants, and so forth. Maps especially, I seek out.

1. Cheap is not the same as frugal.

2. Cheap has nothing to do with income level. In fact, I know/have seen a number of people with lots of bucks who will begrudge themselves something (not to mention anyone else) because they're afraid of parting with the money. I know other people who don't make a lot of money who spend it faster than they make it.

There's an excellent article that appears on msn from time to time, by Liz Weston I believe. It deals with the difference between being frugal and stingy.

3. Spending money is pretty much a matter of priorities. I see nothing wrong with cutting back on food or not buying souvenirs so you can pay for gas, or maybe a ticket to another park later in the year. If you won't step off your front porch all summer long because you don't want to spend the money, then I'd call you cheap.

4. I didn't meet Gonch personally, probably since I wasn't in the mood to genuflect that day at Dorney. But his wife is pretty nice.

Smith, you and me both have quite few shirts. I get them here and there as feebies, but when I go somwhere I've become fond of, like say, the Corvette Meuseam, i'll buy one. Besides, t-shirts are something you can use and wear, unlike trinkets such as shot glasses.

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Arthur Bahl said:
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.

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I like to go outside the park and eat at places like Lone Star Steakhouse, Olive Garden, Mcdonald's, Burger King, Pizza Hut, and so on. I like the feeling of getting out of the park, and than coming back after so long. It might be 40 minutes, or it could be a hour and 15.

For the most part, I rather eat only once during the entire day to save my time that way. You have to eat. Maybe, some people eat twice a day (lunch and supper). I only eat once a day, but I eat a lot so I don't have to keep on eating food to waste my time.

When I went to Magic Kingdom, I eat Taco Bell before hand. It wasn't alot. I was actually expecting to eat at the Magic Kingdom. Time just went bye so fast that I didn't care about food for supper. After I left the park, than I ate.

I guess my problem is the $14 split pizza at SFMM that barely fills you up at all. It was split between 3 people, but yet for a family of 4, you can spend around $30 at a great pizza place, and have left overs. It's $60 versus $30. Which one tastes better, and is less expensive?

I'm not going to take stuff from home though.

I tried a beef sandwich at a Six Flags park, and it was really dry. I didn't care for it. It's nothing like a famous beef place around my area.

Don't know about your roast beef place, but there's one here in NH, that's been voted "Best Roast Beef sandwich in NH" three years running.

Yeah, that's the nice thing about tees, but it's also problematic. I love the shirts so much, I almost hate to put them on, because I know that sooner or later they'll end up with grass stains or grease, and that's the end of the souvenir. If I were truly rich, I'd buy two of every tee shirt: one to wear, one for archival purposes. But of course, then when the 'wear' version went bad, I'd probably put on the 'archival' version.

Park shirts are the only corporate 'brand' shirts I'll ever put on, the only companies I would ever feel like helping advertise.

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nasai said:
I'm rollin' in dough, so I spend, spend, spend.

:)

HA!

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Oh pashaw!! lol...

btw, how is that A6 doing?

Rock band shirts for me Ensign...and Spiderman, and park shirts, and well never mind.

Hey, parks are expensive, and they try to part you from every dime you have. Being a coaster enthusiast is an expensive hobbie. I can only afford a park a month in season if I limit spending. I could just take 1 or 2 larger trips and spend, spend, spend, but that would mean less coasters and less fun.

When I worked at Universal in Orlando 6 years ago, I got into BGT and SW free, so it was like having a season pass. I still couldn't afford to go but maybe once a month. Gas, parking, and food for the day are all expenses to consider.

I'm moving back to Orlando soon and I am planning on buying a Season Passes to a few parks. It'll be the first time I ever had a SP. With my hectic school schedule I still wont be able to get to a park but once a month.

My problem has been when I had time, I didn't have the money. Now that I have the money, I don't have the time.

IN 2004 I got to visit Sea World for :) Free :). In 2006 I Got to visit both Disney's Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom for :) Free! :)

In both cases someone was shooting a Commercial for the Parks and they needed "Extras" to ride the Roller Coaster while they filmed them. (Kraken in the fprmer, Expedition Everest in the latter.) In both instances we had to show up at the park at 5:00 in the Morning. They fed us a Continental Breakfast, then gave us instructions on what we were going to do (Ride the Coaster for 2 Hours while they filmed us). After they were done shooting us we were allowed to enjoy the rest of the day at the Park on our own. (Disney gave us an additional 1 day "Park Hopper" Pass to use as we please. ) ;)

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