How do you resist buying food at Six Flags/other parks?

[wishesuponastar]

We are thinking about buying the season passes at Six Flags for the first time. Of course we are on a budget and I am planning on packing lunches/snacks. I will tell the kids, one a teenager, that in order to get these passes they have to agree not to ask for food but they are kids. I will however, get ice cream once there and I'm sure that will be $$$.

My kids are used to me packing a lunch sometimes when we go places but not always we do eat out too and try to get dollar meals but I'm sure that's not available at Six Flags. Oh, for the record, when we go to Disney, we get the dining plan so we're not used to brown bagging it at parks.

 

[LightBurnsBlue]

Well, the six flags by me has overpriced and not very tasty food, so it's not too much of a heartache to avoid it. I travel with a cooler in the car, so when it's lunchtime we head to the parking lot and eat lunch. Like you, I do splurge for some kind of treat--ice cream, funnel cake, whatever.

 

[teacup princess]

Just take a look at the pricing for the food at six flags and you'll be detoured. Like the previous poster, the parking lot at six flags isn't that much of a walk, so just pack a cooler or drive to a local McD's at lunchtime. Much cheaper and tastier.

 

[ah1126]

How often will you go with your passes? Maybe make them a deal? Something like one trip a month you will buy lunch there, and you will take lunch the other trips.

 

[Bete]

I think the best way would be to have a hearty breakfast at home on the day of the parks.

Let the the kids spend their own money on food at the parks if it's that important to them. I think you'll find in a hurry how well they like brown bagging after all.

Make the brown bag meals more appealing. For example, get better bread and lunchmeats. Use containers to hold tomatoes, lettuce, etc. for the sandwiches. This way the sandwich is not soggy with it ahead of time.

Bring your own snacks, too. If you don't like the cooler idea then use a back pack for the park. Be careful that the backpack has food items acceptable to bring into the park. If that's not allowed then car it for meals.

 

[pospisil]

The last time we went to Six Flags, we stood in line for almost 2 hours for lunch. That's my deterrent right there.

 

[wishesuponastar]

thanks everyone....it sounds like we won't have too much trouble bringing our own lunches since the food is awful at the park. I am not going to pay $8 for a burger anyway LOL

Thanks for the tip to pack the tomatoes/lettuce separately and we'll get the good rolls

I also love the idea to tell the kids they can bring their own money to buy their food

 

[NotUrsula]

I know that the Six Flags here does not allow outside food OR beverages to be taken into the park (not even bottled water; though you can bring in an empty sports bottle if you prove to them that it is empty.)

That being the case, your only choice for brown-bagging would be returning to your vehicle. We do that, but it does disrupt the day a bit, and it's not going to help with the usual teen snack-scarfing drive.
Our park here doesn't have outside lockers, either, so brown-bagging is impossible if you don't have a vehicle parked in the lot, which makes things problematic if you're dropping off teens for the day.

They do offer food discounts for annual passholders, but as I recall, the discount is not that impressive.

 

[maggiew]

The Six flags by us (Great America) has fast food places right outside the entrance. Sometimes we go there. There is a burger king and subway very close. I think Chinese food just a little further and McDonalds down the road.

I also know that there are picnic tables nearby the entrance where you can drop people off without parking.

Maggie

 

[HunnyPots]

No problem here - food at our local SF is terrible! We usually leave the park for lunch. I also refuse to pay $5 for a scoop of ice cream. I might buy a frozen lemonade on a hot day but that's pretty much it.

 

[3mickeymom]

If you are buying a season pass, I buy a refillable drink cup at the beginning of the season. It is pricey, but then refills are free the first day and then 99cents on any additional day. Mostly, my kids get thirsty so this helps with asking for snacks. Plus, the food is bad. We always bring a cooler and make a trip to the car for a lunch break. I don't know if they are having it this year, but sign up for their emails and they send you coupons for things - like a free day of refills, bring a friend free etc. Just some money saving tips.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

We quit going to Six Flags right before we started going to Disney and that was over 6 years ago. We can go to a Disney park and eat for much less than a day at Six Flags and it is a much more pleasant experience.

I don't think I will ever step foot in a Six Flags again.

Suzanne

 

[wishesuponastar]

Oh my!! $5 for a scoop of ice cream?? We'll pass on that!
Will get the refillable soda, thanks

 

[3mickeymom]

provides my kids with some summer fun and excitement. Although we dream of trips to Disney, for some, they are not very frequent. Six Flags is a day trip that my family enjoys for a manageable price. We pack our cooler and sunscreen and have a great time. We know that it is not Disney, but we still have fun.

 

[ChrisinNJ]

We can go to a Disney park and eat for much less than a day at Six Flags and it is a much more pleasant experience.

I don't think I will ever step foot in a Six Flags again.

Suzanne

Same experience here, I hadn't been to six flags in decades. Last year my kids got free admission through their reading program. With the kids being free, we spent over $200.00 for the day. It was AWEFUL!!!

Most of the rides were either too little or too big. Some rides were removed & replaced by "pay to play" activities, like bungee jumps, and go-karts. The games used to be confined to one area of the park, and they are now everywhere, with the people running them on microphones trying to lure you in. I thought the whole point of a pay one price admission park was that you could ride anything all day long....not at SF Great Adventure!

I left there thoroughly frustrated & with a massive headache! And to get back to the OP's topic of food...We each had 1 hot dog (Nathans) & shared an order of fries for lunch, with 2 refillable sodas......$60.00 for a crappy lunch, and that was after the "Discover Card" discount.

Never again! SF may be only 30 minutes away, but I'll save my $$$$$ for Disney instead.

 

[scrapquitler]

We are thinking about buying the season passes at Six Flags for the first time. Of course we are on a budget and I am planning on packing lunches/snacks. I will tell the kids, one a teenager, that in order to get these passes they have to agree not to ask for food but they are kids. I will however, get ice cream once there and I'm sure that will be $$$.

My kids are used to me packing a lunch sometimes when we go places but not always we do eat out too and try to get dollar meals but I'm sure that's not available at Six Flags. Oh, for the record, when we go to Disney, we get the dining plan so we're not used to brown bagging it at parks.

Our Six Flags (New England) doesn't allow you to bring food in.

We always eat before we go. We usually buy a refillable mug and then share refills of drinks. If my kids are behaving, we will buy a snack, but we share. We have season passes, and rarely stay more than a couple of hours at a time.

The prices are just ridiculous. Makes Disney food look like a bargain!

 

[Gr8t Fan]

At our 6 Flags they also have a refillable popcorn bucket/cotton candy bucket that we buy at the beginning of the season and use throughout the year.

 

[cheap traveler]

The last time I went to our 6 Flags was 2 years ago, and that day I bought a family meal deal - large pizza, breadsticks, soda, and salad, with my season pass discount, was around $30. Pretty reasonable compared to everything else.

We are getting season passes again this year, and I think we will be packing the cooler for lunch. I looked at the "meal deals" they pre-sell you online, and it's like $45 for that same meal! Man, I long for the good old days before this park was bought up by 6 Flags (Great Escape in NY).

My girls are little (7&5 this summer), so it's no big deal to them where our lunch comes from. If there is something other than soda available in the refill mugs, I will buy one of those on our first trip, but we don't drink soda. Also, I will allow a one-per-trip snack/treat.

Maybe one day we will live close enough to Disney to buy their season pass instead

 

[Sagginit]

i used to get a season pass in college every summer. we would stop and get subs on the way (jersey mikes) and pack a cooler. the food there was expensive and gross as far as we were concerned. we ate nathan's once in a while but when its 95 degrees and hot you do not want a stomach full of cheese fries on a coaster. they also then built a wawa gas station and we would just leave go to wawa grab sandwhiches or salads and come back to the park. we honestly never cared about the hike thru the parking lot.

when i younger we did season passes and it was never an option for me as a kid, so i never asked to eat in the park. on occasion i got a funnel cake or cotton candy and that was i wanted. i bought the refill bottle once and it was a rip off. you couldnt take it on any ride and had to leave it behind, sometimes they had no where to put it other than on the ground. i used it once and never took with me again.

another thing we did is depending on the distance for you we would only go for 3-5 hours at a time. we would go like 6 after everyone ate dinner, drive out and stay til close. even on days we had full intentions of doing the all day thing we just couldnt deal with it knowing we could come back the next week.

 

[bigmama67]

Really great points made here - we just got season passes and we will NOT do lunch here; we'll come early and then head home, even though it's an 80 minute drive for us! The Wawa is a good option; I will probably buy ONE refillable cup and we can share it (there is fruit punch available); and yes, the lines are ridiculous and slow. Also DH is now on a low-cholesterol diet so that ain't happening there! Oh, and I won't do the popcorn because it's not fair to DD if DS can eat it and she can't.

I think I'm already starting to miss my Sesame Place passport...LOL...

OTOH, I still need to carry a diaper bag so it's usually possible to bring in some granola bars and small applesauce cups, at least. That'll have to do.