Ludicrous park food prices

[GigaG]

What is the worst food price you've seen in a park?

 

For me, it is the pizza at Six Flags over Georgia. $7.41 for a slice (including tax, the original is either $6.99 or $7.00 or somewhere there), which equates the whole pizza costing $59.28 (assuming 8 slices.) I imagine they are making quite the profit...

[YoshiFan]

$4.00 for a 20 oz soda at Dorney.

[The49er]

Over $10 for a YOLOcoaster hot dog at SFMM.

[JonnyRCT3]

Two medium (I's say 12 oz or so) sodas for $9 at Cedar Point in 2012.

A 6-inch sub cost my friend roughly $8 at the subway next to Soak City.

 

[Nrthwnd]

All theme park food usually sucks, when it comes to prices.

You can't get away from it. But sometimes there are shortcuts and ways...

 

[JonnyRCT3]

At least Kennywood has reasonable prices. And their food is quite good.

[aCoasterStory]

$17.28 for Subway at Cedar Point last summer. I got a 6" sub, chips, and a drink. And I paid it because my stomach wasn't doing so hot and I didn't think I could stomach any of the standard heavy theme park food that was nearby.

[Nrthwnd]

Rule of (my) thumb: If there's a BUFFET offered somewhere in the park, go for it!

The amount of food you eat, will certainly outweigh the cost you pay for it.

[WFChris]

SFMM:

YOLO boneless wings, 7 1" diameter circles for $11

Garlic Fries and a souvenir bottle cost me $25 after tax...$25 for fries and soda hahaha

[VF15]

SFGAm: $8 for a small basket of fries that taste like garbage.

[gerstlaueringvar]

I think all Dippin' Dots get ridiculously expensive. $7.49 for a large cup?

[Taylor Finn]

At least Kennywood has reasonable prices. And their food is quite good.

 

Yeah, I mean it is still certainly cheaper than a lot of other places, but the food prices have been increasing steadily every year. I remember 5 or 6 years ago, a dip cone was like $2.75 and it is up to $4.25 or something and potato patch bacon cheese fries are almost $6 now. So I dunno, for me it is getting up there. The quality is certainly superior, though.

[TheDarkMaxim]

$4.00 for a bottle of water, at every park it seems like.

[ajfelice]

As crazy as some park food prices seem to be, it begins to make sense when you see that profits of these parks aren't very ridiculously high in proportion to their sales. What happens is that parks are masking the "true cost of admission" in things such as food, games, and merchandise. No park could survive on the price of admission and parking alone, they use high-margin revenue generators to actually be profitable. Also, until people start back-lashing and not choosing to buy things, the prices are here to stay. We keep thinking a "ceiling" is near with prices, but they continue to rise steadily as people still pay them despite the complaining. Until I see a park chain that appears to be sitting on excess cash and living the life of greed and corruption, I'm not going to complain too much.

 

Sporting events, movie theaters, ski resorts, golf courses, etc. all pull the same stunts.

[coasterbill]

Over $10 for a YOLOcoaster hot dog at SFMM.

 

I always thought hot dogs were the biggest rip offs in parks. They're not filling at all... most people can eat them in 30 seconds and they cost as much as $10.

[Diamondbacker27]

$14, $14 foot long! Any any any!

Only at CF Subways from what I know.

[jetsplumber]

I dodnt know how anyone eats that slop at theme parks. SFgadv has the worst pizza or hamburgers I have ever eaten in my life. I wouldn't feed that crap to my dog. to top it all off, the food is a ripoff

[SharkTums]

I think I remember the worst ever at Knott's. I was buying a drink and happened to look at the 'Value Meal' Pricing. It was over $15 for a burger and fries and didn't even include the drink! Working it out to over $20 for the 'Value Meal'.

 

I don't mind paying higher prices at parks, I get that, but the food quality better be good (like Disney, Knoebels, most Busch parks, etc.) Six Flags and Cedar Fair still have a ways to go.

[PKI Jizzman]

Ludacris in the good way is at the Beir Garten by slingshot at Kings Island they have boneless wings for like, 6.99 (8) and 8.99 (12) and they're actually really good. Usually when I'm at a theme park I go into survival mode and drink water, and snack lightly. I might splurge on a couple drinks though.

[cfc]

I remember two slices of mediocre pizza and a Bud Light costing over 16 bucks at Kings Dominion a few years back (which I guess is a comparative bargain next to Knott's charging $20 for a burger-and-fries "value meal" plus a drink).

[rcdude]

Knott's is the worst I've seen. If I remember correctly, you could get a burger for $10 and upgrade to a combo (fries and a drink) for another $8. To add insult to injury, Knott's food is pretty terrible. This is why I often eat at Pink's outside the park...a hot dog, fries, and a drink there is about $10 and its better than anything inside.

 

Cedar Fair and Six Flags as a whole are fairly ludicrous in their prices, and like I've said several times in the Six Flags surveys, "Paying $16 for a lower quality meal than the local McDonald's is far too much." I generally apply the Disney rule when it comes to theme park prices...if it's more expensive than Disneyland (for food, that's typically $10-12 for an entrée, side, and drink), it better be superior.

[liftsifter]

Or how about $110 for a Six Flags Season Dining Pass? With the average meal being $10, and receiving two meals a day, it'll take 5.5 visits to the park to make that pay off. Let's say you only got one meal on one day, it just makes it an even worse deal. Unless you're visiting the park on full-day visits. I know that employees buy it since it comes out cheaper over the season than the employee discount.

[jetsplumber]

Or how about $110 for a Six Flags Season Dining Pass? With the average meal being $10, and receiving two meals a day, it'll take 5.5 visits to the park to make that pay off. Let's say you only got one meal on one day, it just makes it an even worse deal. Unless you're visiting the park on full-day visits. I know that employees buy it since it comes out cheaper over the season than the employee discount.

 

the SF dining plan would be a good deal it the food was edible and good. the problem is, the food is terrible. how the hell do you screw up hamburgers and pizza.

[simon8899]

At most German parks prices are quite reasonable - specially the independent parks like Hansa, Europa and Phantasia which also offer good quality. Mainly I think because here you are allowed to bring food and drink and if they would be too expensive costumers will not buy it and bring along their own stuff.

 

Many parks even offer complete BBQ areas you can use if your bring your own coal and meat.

[gisco]

I get it that the prices are out of site on things. I don't mind paying if they quality is there. To bad some parks don't put the effort into there food.