Great America (on a budget)

Taking a trip to Six Flags can really eat at your bank account.  Every year Quinn's school does a reading incentive program - read for six hours and earn a free ticket to Great America.  With regular ticket prices costing $62, parking $20, and kid prices at $42 - the cost to take your student to use his free ticket can really add up.
Luckily, being a teacher, I also usually earn a free ticket (for entering in the data required for my students to earn a ticket).  But still, to go I'd have to pay for parking and a ticket for Liam.  Also, this year, since I'm pregnant I knew I wouldn't be able to go on many of the rides with the boys - so we waited for a time when Mike could come with.

It could have cost us $124 just to get into the park! 

I searched online for "discount great america tickets" and found a promo code that allowed me to pay only $30 each for Liam and Mike - so it only cost us $80 to get into the park.

That's still a lot of money, but much better than over a hundred.

Anyone who has ever been to Six Flags knows that the most costly portion of the trip might not necessarily be getting into the park.  Once you're in you are bombarded with food, treats, souvenirs, drinks, games, and rides/attractions that cost extra.

The most important thing to remember when going to Great America is this - decide ahead of time that you will not be purchasing any of these items in the park.  Pack a lunch to leave in the car, snacks for a backpack, and water bottles.  This plan will only work if you explain ahead of time to the children (and the husband) that you will  not be purchasing any of the extra items in the park.

We took the boys this past Sunday and enjoyed beautiful weather.  The park got very crowded as the day went on, but we were able to hit some of our favorite rides in the first two hours with little waits.  I did break my "not buying anything" by surprising the boys with cotton candy (a very rare treat for my kids) and only because cotton candy from the zoo was promised to Liam after his angiogram, but every kiosk in the zoo was closed by the time we got there!

Liam's favorite ride was the "Scenic train" around the park and Quinn absolutely loved the Whizzer!  Both boys enjoyed the two water rides...

after Logger's run