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Chicagoist hasn't been to Six Flags Great America for years, but we used to love to go and remember the last time we went (1999?) we thought it was really expensive. Great America opened for the season on Saturday, and we were shocked to read that the price for a single adult admission (anyone over 54 inches) is now $54.99. For one day! Holy shit! And that doesn't include the cost of gas to get up there or soda or anything to eat or a wacky souvenir Bugs Bunny tshirt. Not to mention that the price of parking also went up this season. It's now $15 to park for the day.
For kids (under 54") the price is less, but still: $34.99? For a family of two adults and two kids it's gonna cost you like a few hundred bucks just for one day of fun. The admission price does include Hurricane Harbor, which will open for its second season on Memorial Day weekend, but still, what a rip-off!
Theme park officials there said that the new rates are comparable to the cost of going to a Major League Baseball game in Chicago or Milwaukee, and they pointed out that going to a theme park is an all-day thing, not just a few hours of fun.
At Six Flags Over Texas it costs an adult $45 to get in, and at Six Flags Over Georgia it costs $49.99. At each of these parks the admission does not include admission to the nearby water park. So maybe $54.99 is a good deal because it does include admission to Hurricane Harbor. Still, Six Flags St. Louis is only $44.99, and it includes admission to the water park. Ten bucks less.
What do you think? Is it worth the money to get on the roller coasters? Is it even viable for most families with kids? Call us old and stingy, but we don't even want to pony up the $50 for ourselves, let alone if we had a few rugrats running around who wanted to go.
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This weekend (May 6) is Coasters for a Cause weekend... nonprofits around the city are selling tickets to Six Flags for a flat $25, and the nonprofit gets $8 of it. Check with your favorite local charity to see if they're participating. My favorite charity, Deborah's Place (see the url), absolutely is. A warning, though: most of them won't mail you your tickets... they're nonprofits, you'd have to go pick them up.
They're really pushing their season passes. A Single adult season pass costs $95 from their site. The price drops to $85 if you buy 4 of em.
And the best part of the season pass (especially if you're a coaster fan) is that it works at all Six Flags parks.
But the real bargain would have to be buying a 3-pack of season passes for Six Flags St. Louis at $65 each. These won't get you into the Hurricane Harbor in Chicago, however.
Wow. Or you could buy an individual season pass from Six Flags Louisville for $60. Again, no entrance to the Chicago water park.
There does seem to be a requirement to have the passes "processed" at the location you buy them for, though... so maybe it's best to just stick with the Chicago ones :-/
Fuck Great America...
I'm sure the St. Louis package is a better deal, if you walk there instead of driving.
Since my high school days it seems Great America has gotten scuzzier and scuzzier and the lines longer and longer. I just don't think that spending $55 and then another $15 for parking to stand in line most of the day, in the heat is fun anymore. Then I also noticed my midsection has gotten bigger and better every year as well, which means I can't fit my fat self into several of the newer roller coasters... it just isn't worth it anymore.
I think the price is only comparable to an MLB game in Chicago or Milwaukee if you have to rent both a car and a child for the day.
Theme parks, such as GA, so heavily provide discounts and promotions -- show up with a Pepsi can, and you might get $5-10 off, for example -- that the 'list price' isn't anything near what they get. Other promotions would include 'group rates' -- I imagine that GA could easily be persuaded to provide a group discount to writers for any '-ist.'
those citing texas, st. louis, and louisville as cheaper prices fail to mention the obvious fact: you have to be in those dreadful places to take advantage of the discount!
Shoot, you can ride around on the CTA all day for $2 and if you drink enough Wild Turkey you might even think you're on a coaster.
It's only worth it, and even then barely, if you go on a weekday and actually get to ride all those coasters more than once. On a sat. or sun. you can forget about it unless you pay out an extra $10 or $15 for that speed pass or whatever it's called.
I don't know, I spend 50-100 on a Friday night out drinking easily. Sporting events and concerts are also 1-day events that cost easily that much. It's really supply and demand. People are still going to show up and pay that much, so why not charge that much? It doesn't seem that expensive to me, but that could just be me.
Shoot, you can ride around on the CTA all day for $2 and if you drink enough Wild Turkey you might even think you're on a coaster.
It's only worth it, and even then barely, if you go on a weekday and actually get to ride all those coasters more than once. On a sat. or sun. you can forget about it unless you pay out an extra $10 or $15 for that speed pass or whatever it's called.
Shoot, you can ride around on the CTA all day for $2 and if you drink enough Wild Turkey you might even think you're on a coaster.
It's only worth it, and even then barely, if you go on a weekday and actually get to ride all those coasters more than once. On a sat. or sun. you can forget about it unless you pay out an extra $10 or $15 for that speed pass or whatever it's called.
Besides, Great America hasn't been all that great anyway since all the Chads and Trixies started overrunning the joint...
That's an awful lot of money to pay to wait in line for 2 hours per ride. Too many gangbangers there these days too.
I'll never go there again.
Is that Rachelle in the picture?
nope.. it kind of looks like me though, huh? i didnt realize til after i posted it. i just pulled it from the great america website.
Another excellent reason not to go.
check out CraigsList for tix. I know I just put up a pair for about $60 total - does not include parking, but at least it's a two for one.
As one commenter said, there are more and more people waiting in longer and longer lines.
This is Demand! This is an economic phenomenon to Success! Doors open on all sides at Demand!
As demand rises, so does the price. Why? Because they can charge more for one, and two, to keep people away so the people who do pay the 1 arm + 1 leg can have a better experience, buy more shit, and possibly the season pass as well.
I just paid over $75 to sit in the United Center's 300 level and see a Bulls game. That includes parking...and that event was only 2 hours long.
Compare that with Great America where you have 10 hours of rides, waterpark, shows and entertainment. And it's a hell of a deal. The reason the places like Great America is more expensive then parks like St. Louis and Over Texas is because Great America is a much larger park.
Compare these prices with Disney, Universal, Seaworld, Busch Gardens and you will find that $50-$60 is not just Great America, it's the industry standard.
For years Great America has been undercharging for the price of admission, which has resulted in closed rides and the company nearly going bankrupt. Now they are raising prices to provide higher quality entertainment, better operations and less waits.
Great America is probably one of the best deals in the chicagoland area still, especially if you buy a season pass.
I was almost as suprised but I think the park is right. I spend $12-15 per movie ticket for my wife and two kids, and I'm only entertained for a couple of hours. I guess this is Six Flag's way to "talk" you into spending a longer time there. In year's past, tickets were so cheap, I didn't mind leaving after a couple of hours once I rode what coaster I wanted to.
I was almost as suprised but I think the park is right. I spend $12-15 per movie ticket for my wife and two kids, and I'm only entertained for a couple of hours. I guess this is Six Flag's way to "talk" you into spending a longer time there. In year's past, tickets were so cheap, I didn't mind leaving after a couple of hours once I rode what coaster I wanted to.
Every time I've been there I've had free tickets, but it does conjure up my need to fall in love with a mullet-haired skinny dirtbag just so I could hang on him all day long while waiting in line for the roller coaster - and that's really just priceless - so it all works out in the end.
I read this in the Daily Herald over the weekend, and all it does is make me glad that my company provides $25 tickets for two weekends in July. Hooray for benefits.
Yeah, that's right the "gangbangers" are really making Great America hell.
Why there's shootings and carjackings every week. My grandmother was kidnapped waiting in line for the bumper cars by some GDs! The lemonade stand by the whitewater rapids was robbed at gunpoint 9 times last summer alone!
And the next fairytale I have for you is "Snow White and the Seven Basketball Players"...
Why don't you just come out and admit that you don't like to be around Black folks and spare us the unsubtle codewords...
This week's (May 01-05) Business Week has a an article on Great America's downward spiral and how "The Batman and Robin of Six Flags" are coming to the rescue.
Higher prices get rid of these "gangbangers" you speak of.
Higher prices make sure all the rides are running to full capacity, and help add additions to the park in the future. Which in turn leads to shorter lines.
If you have been to Great America since they put in the waterpark, you will know the ride's lines are nowhere near as long as they were in years past because of the increased capacity the waterpark provides.
Admission is 42.99 when you buy it online, not a terrible deal, especialy with the new attitude the park is going for
I practically grew up in Great America (I lived in Lake County), and it was always fun to buy the season pass and go in the early evenings for just a few hours. The lines were usually much shorter, and the sun was down, so heat was never an issue. If you live in the area, I'd recommend doing that. Also, the 4th of July fireworks were always wonderful.
But, I'd probably pay the full admission price if I had to... I think it's worth it!
I practically grew up in Great America (I lived in Lake County), and it was always fun to buy the season pass and go in the early evenings for just a few hours. The lines were usually much shorter, and the sun was down, so heat was never an issue. If you live in the area, I'd recommend doing that. Also, the 4th of July fireworks were always wonderful.
But, I'd probably pay the full admission price if I had to... I think it's worth it!
disney charges about 25 to 50% more than six flags parks, yet people still flock to disney.
Six flags can charge that much and have people visit.
just my 2 cents, but i'm a little tired of everybody defending their price hikes with "keeping them in line with market averages." that's what SBC told me when they suddenly doubled my long distance rates. if GA was such a better value than stick-and-ball games, why jack up the price so much and dilute their competitive advantage?
If you knew the state of the company Six Flags Great America is operated by. You would realize they need to raise the prices. They are 2 billion in debt, and rarely report profits...and this all comes from being the discount kings of the amusement industry.
It's basically they raise prices or they risk having to sell off all the parks in the Six Flags chain.
I personally think that 54.99 is kinda steap for some Six Flags Tickets, but you also have to think about going to local stores, banks,etc. that sell tickets for approx. 34.99, or get a can of Coke w/a $15 dollar savings on it and that drops the price too, but your best bet would be to just buy season passes and go when ever you want to w/only having to drop $15 for parking.
I personally think that 54.99 is kinda steap for some Six Flags Tickets, but you also have to think about going to local stores, banks,etc. that sell tickets for approx. 34.99, or get a can of Coke w/a $15 dollar savings on it and that drops the price too, but your best bet would be to just buy season passes and go when ever you want to w/only having to drop $15 for parking.