Six Flags: Discovery Kingdom
Well all of these events like Torchwood and Mario Marathon have provided a nice diversion but I thought I’d make some more progress on vacation planning today; specifically I bought our tickets to Six Flags.
Here’s how it broke down (all prices USD):
2 tickets at $29.99 = $59.98
City Fee = $1.50
Shipping = $5.00
Total: $66.48
At no point did it appear to add any tax so I’m more than willing to pay the City Fee, particularly since Vallejo the city and California the state are both bankrupt. I’m just doing my part.
The shipping fee is a little outrageous given that nothing is being shipped, they e-mail me the tickets, I print them, and bring them to the gate. I could understand some sort of processing or ticketing fee – the website that holds the tickets for printing needs to be paid for as do their support people, I get that. But $5 seems far too much, $1 would be much more reasonable especially when you consider how much Six Flags saves by people buying online instead of at the gate (fewer ticket sellers to pay, fewer tickets to print) and the rule of thumb that says 10% of all tickets purchased online are never used and are therefore that 10% is nearly 100% profit. Plus I’m paying for tickets today that I won’t be using until September so they can use those funds as they see fit when in theory I could have earned some interest on that money in the interim – not much interest but still.
But I’m not upset.
Had I bought the tickets at the gate it would have broken down thusly:
2 tickets at $44.99 = $89.98
City Fee = $1.50
Total: $91.48
So I saved $25 versus buying at the gate.
But that’s not all, let’s compare to what I paid in 2002:
2 tickets at $43.99 = $87.98
Parking = $10
Total: $97.98
Now let’s not forget inflation. $97.98 in 2002 dollars is $112.72 in 2009 dollars. So I saved $46.24 versus what I paid in 2002.
Am I good at this game or what?
But that’s not all. I’ve already built the file on Six Flags identifying the 9 rides I want to do while we’re there – possibly multiple times. In no particular order: Boomerang Coast To Coaster, Hammerhead Shark, Kong, Medusa, Roar, Tony Hawk’s Big Spin, V2: Vertical Velocity, Monsoon Falls, and White Water Safari. And let me tell you once you ride Medusa you’re never quite the same. When I think of big-ass rollercoasters, it’s always the Medusa I think of – it’s the tallest, fastest, and longest rollercoaster in northern California.
And I’m now one step closer.
