Major Chain Considering Free Parking and/or Free Drinks?

I guess I'm in that same boat as Raven-Phile anymore. Sure, my wife and I went to 5 parks a few weeks ago. And the main reason for the trip was the new Intimidator coasters. We'd been to Dorney, KD, and BGW before, while Knoebels and Carowinds were new to us.

We didn't power ride though at any park though. There were certain coasters we had to ride, but others that we had ridden years ago on another visit, we didn't find as important to, or we got the credit but were beat to hell getting it. I like to take in the entire park now. Walk around, take pictures/video, see shows. I take a good two-three hours out of the day and do non-coaster related activities. I think going to Disney/Universal a few years ago for the first time really opened our eyes to doing more than coasters.

But facts back up my statement that the General (thats the key term here, General, as in generally) Public go to parks, ride a few rides, see a few shows, eat, hang out, and aren't disappointed. Otherwise theme parks would fail.

Exactly. Just watch what people *actually do*. This is it exactly, and they leave with smiles on their (sunburned and dehydrated) faces.

And to go along with that, Lots of GPers don't get there at opening, and I've rarely been to a park outside of a Disney or Universal Park (or Cedar Point) where the crowds weren't thinned out at about 6PM. If people generally wanted to go and ride as much as they could, they'd stay after 6 (which is when I like to go to a park) and stay for 4 hours and power ride.

In 2007, AVMatt, Myself, and Gator all went to SFA at opening and were there for a couple hours. We'd been to the park before and weren't rushing in to get the park done. In fact, it was really just an 'on the way' stop. We rode every coaster but the Kiddy and the SLC at least once, and took our time around the park. We were out by 2PM.

Then we drove down to KD after a change in plans and got there around 6PM, welcomed by no crowds and short lines. We stayed till 10, had a very leisurly evening, got quite a few rides in, and left.

We didn't go see any shows because this particular visit was about riding a few coasters and getting some credits, but the point is, we wouldn't have been able to ride what we did if it weren't for the fact that the rest of the families either slept late or left early, and we had little in the way of lines to deal with. Wonder why...

I'm a Lord Gonchar enthusiast.

He's not charming enough for me. Now if he would plant a few trees...

Or at least trim...wait, nevermind.

Raven-Phile said:
I'm a Lord Gonchar enthusiast.

All of the cool kids are.

You know, hearing live music at a park almost make it worth the price of admission alone. I've really gained an appreciation for Main Street over the past few years because of it. Also, I used to love to watch the clown marching band at Great America. Do the old Paramount parks still feature that act?

Not that I'm aware of (clown marching band). In fact, I've only ever seen that at Kennywood.

One thing I liked about Freestyle Music Park was the free live music (that was appaently also free to the park since they never paid the bands...) and I really thought that park could have had a shot being more of a leisure resort with shopping, entertainment, and rides, than as a theme park.

Speaking of Freestyle, you could marathon ride there all day, and we see how well that worked out ;).

Raven-Phile said:
I'm a Lord Gonchar enthusiast.

Maybe it's just me, but I don't even spend that much time reading Gonch's posts. I mean sure they're part of my visit, but I'm not a power-reader; sometimes I like to take a break and soak in the atmosphere of Jeff too. Your typical family isn't going to say the whole day was a waste just because they didn't get Moosh'd.

;)

Personally, I like to pay for the VIP behind-the-scenes tour with Dave. ;)

Wait a minute -- did that sound gay? It wasn't supposed to be. ;)

Maybe it's just me, but I don't even spend that much time reading Gonch's posts. I mean sure they're part of my visit, but I'm not a power-reader; sometimes I like to take a break and soak in the atmosphere of Jeff too. Your typical family isn't going to say the whole day was a waste just because they didn't get Moosh'd.

Hereby nominated for Post Of The Week.

Ensign Smith said:
Wait a minute -- did that sound gay? It wasn't supposed to be. ;)

Oh, are we back to the Magic Mountain thread? In that case, "If Mike also lie with Dave, as he lieth with Gonch, all of them have committed an abomination." --Levitibuzz 20:13

Get in line, boys (and Carrie). If anyone is gonna lieth (layeth?) with Gonch its gonna be me first! :)

Egads! I've infected the Free Parking/Free Drink thread! ;)

Brian Noble said:
Hereby nominated for Post Of The Week.

Seconded.

I'm all about downplaying my enthusiasm while secretly seeking out ERT.

As am I : )

But ERT is a social event! Especially when you're playing pass the cheetos on Ghostrider!

Lord Gonchar said:

Brian Noble said:
Hereby nominated for Post Of The Week.

Seconded.

Woohoo, I win the internet!