What did it cost you?

[TheVBs]

With all the recent debate about the cost vs. value of a WDW vacation, I thought this might be an interesting topic. We went to the zoo yesterday - cost approx. $100!

Admission for 4 - almost $50
Lunch - over $20
Train ride - $8
Ice cream - $13
Feed the giraffes - $6
Carousel ride - $4

Ouch. :(

[Altair]

Went to the St. Louis Zoo yesterday:

Admission Free
Parking (on street) Free
1 pressed penny .51

Total $0.51

The week before I went to the Missouri Botanical Garden:

Admission $4.00
Parking Free
Total $4.00
:thumbsup:

[mgmnut]

1 Day @ Six Flags New England

Admission for 4 = $148.00 (special offer normally $188.00)

Lunch x 4= $60.00

Games, extra drinks = $44.00

total = $252.00

add Gold Flash Pass for 4 = $160.00

Grand Total = $412.00 OUCH!!!!!

[Dulcee]

Oh I like this...

Carowinds (Six flags type park in NC)

Gas: (1 1/2 hour ride each way) $30

Parking : $12

2 adult after 4pm tickets: $50

Water: (No outside food or drink allowed) $10

Dinner: (:sick: chicken & fries that wouldn't pass McDonald standards) $48

Grand total for a 6 hour trip: $150

It wasn't worth it....suffice it to say we won't be going back to this park.

[Ian]

We went to Hershey Park last week ... Cost:

Admission: $160 (with coupon)
Parking: $12
Gas: $25
Tolls: $14
Lunch: $37 (food was bad)
Souvenirs: $55 (but hey ... a lot of it was chocolate!)
Add-Ons: $75 (this was for extra stuff not included in admission ... 3D movie that was pathetically bad and make your own chocolate bar that took too long but was fun)

Rough total was like $380.

[TheVBs]

Didn't think to add in the cost of gas! The zoo was 1 hour each way. Not sure how much that cost us.

We did have an inexpensive day at the beach last week.

Gas 1 hour round trip - ?
Day pass to Metropark - $5
Packed our own lunch - Free
Spray Zone water play area - Free

So, $5 + whatever I used in gas. Cheapest day we've had in a long time!

[tinksmom02]

We went to the Adventure Aquarium (Camden, NJ) yesterday. 2 adults, 2 kids. Not factoring gas, although it takes well over an hour to get there...

Admission (purchased online): $99
Lunch: $50 (and it was wretched)
Souvenirs: $60
Parking fee: $10

Total: $219 for the day, about four hours of which was actually spent in the aquarium.

[disneymom15]

Six flags, Gurnee Il. Took 2 nieces & 1 nephew plus our daughter & husband & myself.
$10 ea bus ride
$36 ea admission (reg price $60)
$80 for dinner at counter service & I didn't order anything. Just Ate off of kids leftovers.
$40 for lunch
$21 for hair wrap that fell out before the day was over.

By the way, $3.69 for a bottle of water.

Rough estimate $400

[dnickels]

To be fair, if we're comparing single day trips don't we also have to do that with a single day visit to Disney?

- 4 tix (we'll say 2 adults, 2 kids under 10) = $349.43
- parking = $15
- lunch + snack = $60
Total = $425 not including any gas/tolls/souvenirs/extras.

[princessgirls]

Went to Six Flags on August 12th:

Here is the HONEST lowdown for my family of four!

Admission: $60 for my husband and myself with my corporate discount. Girls got "Free" tickets through school reading program.

Flash Pass option to get on rides quicker. We did the 4 person "Gold option" $53 bucks a kid. This cost $106. Our friends kids also used that's why we got the 4 person flash pass.

Parking: Prepaid was $14
Dinner: $52 AWFUL food!!! I split the difference and packed a lunch that was good and we ate in the parking lot. Cheap yes, but I was still thinking, hey kids, I got you the flash pass!

Drinks/Snacks: $40. Bought the refillable mug. Got 2 for $20. Free refills all day. Italian Ices were $10 for 2, and we got something else along the way.

Gas: $40

So...with "Free" passes for the kids it was STILL a $300 day!!!!!
Yes, I did choose to get the "Flashpass" as an extra, but that was a time is money issue. We had a fun day and the kids actually got to ride on everything 4+ times each!

I'm to the point, where walking out the door is about $100.
We had a fabulous 9 days in Disney at the end of August, and you know what...for all we got...it was fairly inexpensive for us!!
Julie:mickey:

[TheVBs]

To be fair, if we're comparing single day trips don't we also have to do that with a single day visit to Disney?

- 4 tix (we'll say 2 adults, 2 kids under 10) = $349.43
- parking = $15
- lunch + snack = $60
Total = $425 not including any gas/tolls/souvenirs/extras.

Good point! Thanks! :mickey:

[BrowncatP]

Hey Ian, I think the 3D movie and making the chocolate bar was in Chocolate World. It is located next to Hershey Park.

[Ian]

Hey Ian, I think the 3D movie and making the chocolate bar was in Chocolate World. It is located next to Hershey Park.Yep ... didn't see the need to split that particular hair for the purpose of this topic, but thanks for pointing it out. :mickey:

[Melanie]

Dinner: (:sick: chicken & fries that wouldn't pass McDonald standards) $48

What the heck? Chicken, fries and I assume a drink, were $24/person? Wow.

Haven't been to Carowinds in years. It was 'my' amusement park as a kid. Used to be awesome.

Back to original topic, I definitely do think for argument sake, one day Disney ticket prices should be used. Regardless, interesting comparisons.

[SteveL]

Hershey Park has to have the absolute worst food of any amusement park.
The grandchildren love Candy Cane Lane at Christmas but the food is horrible!
Who would think that hot chocolate would be rank at Hershey PArk???

[Ian]

Hershey Park has to have the absolute worst food of any amusement park.
The grandchildren love Candy Cane Lane at Christmas but the food is horrible!
Who would think that hot chocolate would be rank at Hershey PArk???It was pretty amazingly bad. I had chicken fingers that could have been used as a deadly weapon and the fries were ... well ... not fries. I don't really know what they were! :confused:

The condiments were tasty?

[DisneyDog]

My dad buys me a family pass for the Philadelphia Zoo each year. I take my son and maybe a friend about 3-4 times each year. The pass probably costs my dad about $150. I always try to estimate how much it would cost if I had to pay each time I went. I usually figure it would be about $200 each time (we do the hot air balloon, which is included in the pass, at $15/pp, the pony rides at $15/pp...parking is included at $12.) And I always pack a lunch because the food is horrible...but I always buy the kids ice cream as a special treat.

Honestly, if my dad didn't buy that pass for us, I would probably never go to the zoo. I just couldn't afford it.

[TheVBs]

Who would think that hot chocolate would be rank at Hershey PArk???

Because Hershey chocolate is rank? :D

[TheVBs]

My dad buys me a family pass for the Philadelphia Zoo each year. I take my son and maybe a friend about 3-4 times each year. The pass probably costs my dad about $150. I always try to estimate how much it would cost if I had to pay each time I went. I usually figure it would be about $200 each time (we do the hot air balloon, which is included in the pass, at $15/pp, the pony rides at $15/pp...parking is included at $12.) And I always pack a lunch because the food is horrible...but I always buy the kids ice cream as a special treat.

Honestly, if my dad didn't buy that pass for us, I would probably never go to the zoo. I just couldn't afford it.

Wow! Pony rides $15? That's steep!

[kakn7294]

Kennywood Park in Pittsburgh on Aug 19 for 5 people - 2 adults, 3 kids (this was a marching band event):

Gas - $40 - paid my sister to drive my kid and her friend while DH, oldest daughter and I rode the school bus

Parking - free

Admission - free for those on the bus - $35 for the 2 girls who rode with my sister

Food - Somewhere around $60 for marginal food

Games - $10

Hair wrap - $25 but thankfully they were able to accommodate our special request so it was well worth it!

Dinner after we got home - $60 because it started raining heavily at 4pm. They closed the park at 5:30pm but none of us were able to get anything to eat in the meantime.

Total - $230 for a "free" trip.

[buzznwoodysmom]

Treating kids to a night at the movies and dinner at McDonald's can cost a good bit considering its just a movie and McDonald's. This is for a family of 4.

Tickets: $30 (at least-can be more depending on theater)
Snacks: $30
Dinner: $20

So $80 for a family of 4, and this is only a couple of hours of entertainment/eating.

[buzznwoodysmom]

Here is another one. Sea World San Antonio with FREE military tickets. We learned quickly that this day was anything but free. Still we appreciate the free tickets Sea World provides for the military!:thumbsup:

Parking: $20
Lunch-just burgers, fries and drinks and I think a dessert or two(with military discount): almost $50
Locker rental (again military discount): around $10 for the day
Snacks at water park: $20
Souvenirs: $30 (with a military discount)
Drinks and caramel popcorn on the way out: almost $20.

Around $150 for the day, and the park tickets were FREE!!!!!!!!

[darthmacho]

My wife got 4 tickets to a Red Sox game last spring and we had great seats way up in right field with a table, a waitress, and a food credit. I made the mistake of asking how much she spent on the tickets, and she said the total came to almost $500. I said," We could have stayed 5 nights at ASMu for that!" I left the house that day with an additional $200 in my pocket, and before long, I had $4 in my pocket. The first pitch hadn't been thrown yet.

Meanwhile, when the game finally started, we could barely see the field, the kids whined that it was too cold up there (it was) until we gave them our sweaters, the standing room only people were getting drunk directly behind us and were cursing or discussing lacrosse, and John Lackey got shelled, and they were down 6-0 after one inning, and the Sox never put up a fight.

Yeah, I'll take WDW anyday.

[PopPhan]

We went to Hershey Park last week ... Cost:

Admission: $160 (with coupon)
Parking: $12
Gas: $25
Tolls: $14
Lunch: $37 (food was bad)
Souvenirs: $55 (but hey ... a lot of it was chocolate!)
Add-Ons: $75 (this was for extra stuff not included in admission ... 3D movie that was pathetically bad and make your own chocolate bar that took too long but was fun)

Rough total was like $380.

What is it with Hershey and parking???? I went to the Cirque du Soleil show - Quidam - at the Giant Center (next door to HersheyPark) and it cost me $12! For a 2 1/2 hour show!!! (BTW - It WAS a great show!!)

[DVC2004]

Well we just came back from a "weekend trip" to Mackinac Island 3 nights including travel to and from our home (we drove):

$728 for hotel (3 nights total)
$90 gas roundtrip
$38 for the ferry
$28 on fudge
$96 on tours/sighseeing and admission fees
$240 on meals

trip total: $ 1220
Sadly not as much fun as a trip to WDW, but I guess it was nice to see a place we have never visited.

[TheVBs]

My wife got 4 tickets to a Red Sox game last spring and we had great seats way up in right field with a table, a waitress, and a food credit. I made the mistake of asking how much she spent on the tickets, and she said the total came to almost $500. I said," We could have stayed 5 nights at ASMu for that!" I left the house that day with an additional $200 in my pocket, and before long, I had $4 in my pocket. The first pitch hadn't been thrown yet.

Meanwhile, when the game finally started, we could barely see the field, the kids whined that it was too cold up there (it was) until we gave them our sweaters, the standing room only people were getting drunk directly behind us and were cursing or discussing lacrosse, and John Lackey got shelled, and they were down 6-0 after one inning, and the Sox never put up a fight.

Yeah, I'll take WDW anyday.

Oh man! I think you hold the OUCH! award so far. :(