I survived Six Flags Why
Posted by: Liz | From: October 27, 2003
I survived Six FlagsWhy have I never gone to an amusement park in the autumn? I now have to add autumn to my growing standards for ever going to an amusement park again (which include free entry, cheap transportation, and being there when the doors open). Nice cool whether, reduced lines—what more could you ask for? The last time I went to a Six Flags, it was still Elitches and it cost $20 to get in (which was still a rip off if you considered Lake Side, which I didn’t). We got in for free, but people were paying $50 per ticket! Plus $10 parking! Plus $2.89 for a small bottle of water, which was more expensive than the $2.79 small soda, one of which you would have to buy if you purchased a $2.89 slice of pizza for lunch. So: $$$$$$$$. But, did I mention we got in for free? Yeah! Hot stuff.
So we decided to hit the Superman rollercoaster right off the bat. The line wasn’t so bad, which fate soon fixed by immediately breaking the ride. As we watched a train full of people hanging horizontally from the ride (it was right before they got off, so they weren’t 100 ft. off the ground or anything), the guy announced they were having minor technical difficulties and we were welcome to leave the line. This dislodged a very satisfying amount of people and we—not to be disheartened on our first ride—promptly moved up in line a big chunk. It seemed obvious to us that this problem would be resolved fairly quickly (the people were freed and they were running empty trains over the tracks), but every time the guy announced they were still having difficulties, hoards of people left their place in line. They were weak, impatient people. We moved up. Here’s the sad part: there were two 17-year old boys in front of us who, it was clear, wanted nothing more than to go on this ride. However, they were with their dad (uncle?) who was the grouchiest Crabby McAppleton (as I believe Tom called him) I’ve ever seen. He kept saying things like, “This is the biggest waste of time! This ride isn’t even fun! We could have been on 3 other rides in the time we’ve been here in this stupid line. Let’s go! We’ve been in line for 20 minutes already!” It was awful. It was killing me that a) he couldn’t see that we had been making progress by moving forward in the line, and that by the time the ride started working, there was no way we’d be worse off than when we started and b) he couldn’t tell how much this meant to the kids, who kept quiet, but kept longingly staring at the ride throughout the dad’s tirades. At one point they were going to part ways and meet up at the car at 12:30, but the dad won out and the kids were forced from the line. The ride started up shortly after and we were off it by 12:15. So sad! But Superman? Fuckin’ awesome! Seriously. Really really fun. Sorry your dad/uncle sucks, kid.
We stayed mostly on rollercoasters all day, finishing the day of with a rickety old wooden one that gave us all whiplash.
Another atrocity: these quick passes that everyone had. You pay an extra $20 and you get a device that holds your place in line and allows you to roam around doing other things until it tells you to go back, where you cut in line all the way to the front. The only satisfying thing associated with these passes was walking past the kiosk where you purchase them. You guessed it: longest line in town! Soak in the bitter irony you richy line cutters. I told my brother this and he said, “Next they’ll have a pass to bypass that line.” “Yeah,” I said, “For $20.” He countered, “And the line’s over there.” Being 21 sure has made my bro a clever little baby.
The rest of the weekend was full of goodness: those McSweeney’s kids know how to party. I got one Sat night and another one Sunday night. The one last night was centered around pumpkin carving—very fun. Also yesterday J and I scored a load of solid wood furniture for $300. Woo hoo! This is a hopeful beginning to making our apt welcoming to guests.
Ak. Too much writing. I’m out.
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