Six Flags Great America Chicago

Back to "Gonch spends crazy money"....he must be RICH!

We all (mostly all) have expenditures others find wasteful or silly. We all find "value" in different things. Some members of my family think I'm crazy for travelling so much....I used to do WAY more coaster trips than I have in the last few years. I'm by no means rich, I have a State job...but it was important to me to travel, so I made it happen.

Think of FastPass, FastLane, QBot the same as some of you do concert tickets...if you feel something is important, and worth your time and money, you'll do it. Others will likely say "oh, look at him, front row tickets to Celine Dion - he must be rich!" Not necessarily, but s/he felt it was WORTH it to spend the extra money for the better tickets...

Short version: Everyone's expenditures are individualized, and what you spend on reflects your *values*....other may not find *value* in those same expenditures....doesn't make anyone "rich" or "poor", just means they have different preferences. /end lecture.....

Good points.

Couple that with what I said earlier about the idea that saying, "Parks are underpriced." or "Get over the costs." or anything like that doesn't mean someone thinks that way because they have the money to say that...and suddenly you realize how there's no way to judge accurately.

Based on these forum posts, I travel to a lot of parks and think the idea of higher prices in the industry make sense. That's true. But my last park visit cost $24 per person per day.

And even the fact that we spent that little still tells you nothing about the state of my mad duckets. ;)

But yeah, Gator is dead on. The most we can assume is that those of us that spend a lot of time and money traveling to all of these places are amusement park rich. For all anyone knows, I could live in a shack (house destitute) and eat ramen noodles 24/7 (food poor) so that I can travel the country riding coasters (amusement park rich).

^^ This times a thousand. When I used to travel on coaster trips, many a coworker would say how they wished they had the money to go on vacation and ride like I do. I eventually learned to point out to them that they do, in fact, have the money, but they choose to spend it on different things. I drive a used Prius and live in a 600 sq ft. condo, they drive new Escalades and have 3000 sq ft houses with half acre yards.

I am the original poster of this thread. To answer a few questions asked of me. We paid $140 extra for the "GOLD" Flash Pass for 2 people. The Platinum would have been $205.00 for 2 people. The Gold advertises up to 50% less wait time compared to the Platinum which advertises up to 90% less wait time. We were talking to two young pretty ladies while sitting and having a water. I had a 55 minute wait on my Q-Bot with the Gold. The girls had the Platinum Q-Bot and only had a 8 minute wait to the same Superman ride. They scheduled Superman about 10 minutes before we did. The bottom line is as always....It is all about money. If you can afford the extra dollars and do not mind. It is all about convenience, wait times and money for the park. We had a good time with the Gold Flash Pass. The original wait times are very accurate in my original first post. The park was very busy as this visit was on the 5th of July.

I have a 3000 sq ft house (incl basement), and half acre yard ... but I live in "flyover country" Ohio, where you can get this on a rather modest salary :) Also helps having no kids, but instead roommates/SO who contribute, rather than detract from the bottom line.

At this point, any park I visit that's not local will probably get a 'bot purchase of some type. The effort and expenditure to get to that park far outweighs the cost of a FOL rental, and like Gonch, I hate lines. For me, it's a no-brainer, but I can see where the addition of a family would put 'bots out of the reach of many people. For them, I guess the best bet is off-peak visits, or trying to find a great deal on the gate and buying 'bots with the savings. We got gold bots when we went to SFGA a couple years ago and they made the day very enjoyable. Lines weren't too bad for the proles, but that also made the bot waits 5 min or less, so most rides were close to walkon unless you wanted front (or wanted Superman, which was being quite temperamental that day).

Lord Gonchar said:

Depends on which level you buy.

I believe it goes:

Regular: Holds place in line ($55)

Gold: 75% reduction in wait ($80)

Platinum: 75%-90% reduction in wait and double rides. ($115)

Really? My god, what will they think of next. Maybe for men, pay ($200.00) ride all the rides you want any time with no wait, and when you have to use the restroom, pick any employee you want, and they'll hold it for you. And, give you a nice cleanse when your done. ($300) and we'll get you a park hooker. And, a dude for your wife.

Umm, those things can be bought with the right amount of money anyways, Timber-Rider. I know I have purchased at least a few of the services that you have mentioned. lol

Timber-Rider said:

Maybe for men, pay ($200.00) ride all the rides you want any time with no wait, and when you have to use the restroom, pick any employee you want, and they'll hold it for you. And, give you a nice cleanse when your done. ($300) and we'll get you a park hooker. And, a dude for your wife.

Pictures from Futurama, Venture Brothers, or Boondocks automatically get a +1. Them's the rules...

I do not accept the notion, however, that we should ever refer to our national currency as "Tricky Dick Fun Bucks."

rollergator said:

I do not accept the notion, however, that we should ever refer to our national currency as "Tricky Dick Fun Bucks."

No, but it'd be the perfect name for currency used within T-R's hypothetical park.

I would visit that park.

I bet it would have some pretty darn good Mexican food.

But stay away from the brownies.

I hadn't considered this, but you know how a lot of parks signify the sections of their parking lots with characters or themes like "Journey" at Epcot or Bugs Bunny at a Six Flags park? I can't wait to get my picture taken under the "Mid-Timbers" sign.

All this time, and I didn't know that there is a sign. lol