Theme parks are expensive. Children over 12 have to pay full price to get in,
the best rides cost extra and you could feed a family of four for a week for
the price of buying a few plates of unappetising chips there. It’s hardly
staggering news. Am I the only mother whose first thought when she read the
Which? report went something like “don’t teach your grandmother how to suck
eggs”?
Somebody should tell the people at Which? that parents already know that
anything that is commercial and “fun” will cost an arm and a leg. We know
we will pay inflated prices to go away during the school holidays, even
though we are not able to travel at any other time.
And that on certain airlines we will have to pay extra just to guarantee we
can sit together as a family. As if anybody – even hard bitten airline
executives - really wants distressed two-year-olds getting in the way of the
drinks' trolley as they try to find mummy. Or that same mummy getting in the
way of everyone else as she hovers in the aisle because she doesn't feel she
can leave a small child unattended.
So it comes as no surprise to “learn” that admission to a theme park for a
family of two adults and two children can cost in the region of £100. If it
were any less we would probably think there was something wrong. Because,
quite simply, when it comes to leisure and travel, families have got used to
being fleeced.
And it's no good offering money-saving advice such as take your own picnic. I
don't believe there's a child in the land who would choose sandwiches and
fruit over the usual theme park fare of burgers and fizzy drinks. And are
there really any parents out there mean enough to deny them sweets and ice
creams on their special outing? After all, it's all part of the great day
out.
Overexcited children cramming themselves with junk food and vomiting on the
rides, or on the way home. I don’t think we’ve ever been on a day out that
hasn’t involved an extremely dangerous “sick” stop on the hard shoulder of
the M25.
Inevitably, the theme parks say they provide value for money. And, just as
inevitably, parents beg to differ.
But, for all that, just as I wouldn't stop taking a summer break because I
think it is unfair that families pay more during the school holidays, I
wouldn't write off theme parks altogether just because I don't like paying
over the odds for what is, essentially, a manufactured experience.
And though we’ve yet to try Legoland, which friends tell me is fantastic, I
have very good memories of taking my then three-year-old daughter to Dizzily
Land (Disneyland Resort Paris). And yes, I have to confess that we were
totally sucked in. That seeing her face light up when Mickey Mouse gave her
a hug really did bring a tear to my eye. That we enjoyed Dumbo the Flying
Elephant and It’s a Small World and that we bought giant lollipops and a
Mickey Mouse mug in the shop.
But I wouldn’t go every day. Or even once a year. Theme parks are strictly for
special occasions. Maybe a birthday treat, or day out during the school
holidays. The rest of the time – at the risk of sounding holier than thou –
we are content with making our own “fun” for very little money at all.
My children love getting together with a gang of friends in our local park.
The cost? Eighty pence each for a Mr Whippy. They claim to hate, but
actually love, rambling around the English countryside with us. Cost?
Nominal amount for petrol, plus 80p each for a Mr Whippy on the way home.
They also know that when the weather is rubbish or we are busy or broke or
all three, we will have to stay home and watch The Sound of Music.
Parents know that, whatever story the theme parks spin about value for money,
we are being ripped off. And that we could probably amuse ourselves at home
for far less. But every once in a while, most of us are prepared to go down
that road. Not because we are stupid or too weak to resist pester power but
because visiting a theme park, a bit like going on holiday, provides us with
a chance to escape the ordinary, forget our usual preoccupations, and spend
some time together. Sometimes, just, very, very occasionally, we are
prepared to pay through the nose for that.
I agree with the article - one-off visits are viciously expensive, BUT, if you are fortunate enough, as I was, to live within reasonable distance of a theme park, I strongly advocate buying season tickets. Don't buy one for dad (he'll be grateful!), just mum and kids (better still, another mum and her kids as well, for joint outings!).
Despite the upfront outlay, they were incredible bargains for us -it meant we could go to Legoland any time we wanted, sometimes just for a couple of hours, and because it wasn't a one off, we didn't have to fork out on the in-park food etc (OK, maybe an icecream for kids and a SMALL bag of donuts for me...!). Compared, say, with the local fairs (every ride at least a pound, if not two), which are messy, tacky and, sadly, sometimes unsafe on the rides, Legoland is clean and 'nice' (not chavvy!), and is beautifully landscaped. As for Thorpe Park (OK, somewhat chavvier!) you can buy 'bounce-back' tickets to come again, for £12 a head. Jane
Jane, London, UK