Paramount Parks admits hurricane evacuees free

Very noble.

Very noble indeed, but my first thought was simply that I don't think that the first thing on the minds of these unfortunate people is going to an amusement park. I think they have much bigger issues to deal with right now besides getting to a park on a weekend. Perhaps Paramount would extend this gracious offer to next June or something similar.

My first thought was "What Paramount park is REMOTELY near the areas affected by katrina"? Nice gesture to be sure, but even Charlotte, the closest park, is a HIKE from the Gulf Coast...

Yeah, I agree with Volleyguy...

It's a nice gesture, but the cynic in me says this is more of a press release opportunity than it is a way to actually help the victims.

However, Viacom has certainly delivered with a $1,000,000 cash donation to the Red Cross. So the company as a whole should definitely be commended.

in response to a few, i sort of agree, but still - if anyone has family nearby just by chance and they just need a day to getaway to just have fun, this is a good of a time as any.

Remember, many of those evacuated are currently in states like Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky, California and many other places across the nation. Those areas are a lot closer to the parks then other the affected areas.

Unfortunately one must wonder if residents of those areas lost their driver's license.

I knew it, I knew it, I knew it that some park or company was going to let people in for free. However I was wrong in thinking that it was going to be six flags. Actually I thought it could be six flags Astroland. If only I could prove to you all that I had a feeling that this was going to happen.

Anyways yea paramount parks are a long hike. But don't forget that the paramount parks are going to get years of praise for this. Watch them get an overall attendance boom b/c of this. Way To Go!

Actually I thought it could be six flags Astroland.

No to sound picky but its AstroWORLD. AstroLAND in at Coney Island in NYC. And I thought Astroworld was allowing evacuees in for free?

moosh, I'm pretty sure SFAW recinded that offer right after the decision was made to use the Astrodome as shelter. That would have just been too many bodies.

Moosh: Re: 2Hos, SFAW did stop that offer since they were moved to the Astrodome as a measure of crowd control.

Gator, you'd be suprised at where a lot of the evacuees ended up. We have about 10,000 that were brouht to WV, though not all of them have stayed this long, about 5000 have, and some are calling this their new home.

So I'm sure that Va., NC, NorCal, and OH will see evacuees. Last I heard, over 17 states were accepting people.

I've heard of a couple evacuee families that lost everything spending a day at Cedar Point to get away from it all and have a good time.

Yeah, Ohio is starting to get evacuees. We've been getting reports of 200 here and there being moved to Columbus and here in Cincy.

Sure it may seem a little bit like a publicity stunt, but they've done this before with military families, so this isn't unexpected. And I'm sure that families displaced could use all the money they can muster. A day of free entertainment and escapism, especially for the kids, I'm sure would be welcome.

We have Katrina evacuees here in Bel Air, MD. Remember that many are winding up where they have relatives and friends. That can be almost anywhere in the country. Having evacuated myself once or twice, I can understand that a day at a park can be a nice stress reducer. Heck, even if you don't go, it's nice knowing that someone at Paramount cares.

How much is left of the season? Don't get me wrong, its an important offer. It would be truely generous if it is offered for next season. Those effected by Katrina will probably have very little free time to take advantage of this offer given their attempts to put their lives in some sort of order. The financial crunch will occur next year, that is when they may need such generosity.*** This post was edited by rc-madness 9/19/2005 11:34:19 AM ***

Heck, we've even got some evacuees up here in Washington State... Ft. Lewis down south of Seattle was going to host up to 1000 folks, but they were told that it wouldn't be needed after all. Even so, there are several families that have opened their homes in our area. If my wife and I had a bigger place, we'd probably do it.

Course, we don't really have a decent park near us... but whatchagonnado?