I took some time off yesterday to go with my wife to a Six Flags amusement park. I was able to find a coupon at Fatwallet that knocked $20 off the price of each ticket which was pretty nice and certainly made the day a little more affordable

However one of the newer policies there is that you are not allowed to bring any food or beverage into the park. Your only option is to get your hand stamped, walk 20-30 min (each way) back to your car and grab something. For lunch with a family this is almost a necessity - a slice of pizza and a soda is $9 there, nachos are $6, and a fried dough is $4. But what if its a hot day (like yesterday) and you need a drink 3-4 times over the course of your visit. Are you going to walk to your car to get a gulp of something? And of course nobody can have tap water anymore, you have to get bottled water for $3.

There is also an outdoor amphitheater here which has a lawn area you can sit on to watch the concerts. It used to be great to go hang out there, bring a cooler in and have a few beers or whatever while listening to whatever band is playing. However they recently banned coolers and now charge $7 for a domestic beer. I’m sure they will argue that the event is safer this way, but I still think its pretty much ruined the lawn experience there.

I’m sure its a huge moneymaker for these parks, and it didn’t seem to phase attendance there so its probably here to stay.