http://www.smartmoney.com/Spending/Rip-off...-Wont-Tell-You/

WOW what a scourge, one thing the title won't tell you is; you'll swear not to go to a Theme Park again after reading the article (if we did not know better).

First couple was good advice then it gets misleading and as they state do some homework before hand they could solve the third issue better than than their misleading apples to oranges scenario. The rest just comes across as a disgruntled writer.

And this is part of a series...some of what is said I do not agree with at all. For instance, the writer recommends NOT staying on property. As has been stated here again and again, there are many reasons why staying on property may make both convenience sense AND economic sense, especially at Disney and Universal...

Are they trying to scare me? Of course they are, it's the media.

A lot of the data shown is extremely misleading, or the fact that it's not the park's fault. It's written probably by someone who loathes amusement parks, and it shows.

So true, they state that you can save $20.00 a night staying off site but leave out the fact that you will pay for a rental car and then pay to park. Which means they may pay more staying off site.

...and avoid spending half the day in lines (due to on property privileges many parks offer...like Cedar Point's early opening for passholders and those who stay on property, or at Disney), like the writer claims is likely elsewhere in the article.

When I read something like this, it makes me question the credibility of the other articles in the publication. It bothers me when I read something that is supposedly well researched that I know to be wildly inaccurate due to my personal knowledge and experience in the subject area. If this one is so wrong, what else in that publication is also that wrong in an area I may not know as much about?

Also, I agree that teens can be about rough when unsuprivised, and I even admit that some of my friends are, but when they are, I always remind them that we are in a family park. I kind of take offense to that. It's just one of those stereotypes that everyone believes.

This all reminds me of watching a story about airplane crashes on the news, and them saying "Airplanes are becoming unsafe. There were _____(Some rather large number) of plane crashes in the US Last Year" without saying how many were safe, making it seem as though plane travel was hazardous even though it is much safer then riding in a car.

And I agree with Terpy, this posts a very disturbing question of the credibility of the media. I thought the point of the news (whether it is on TV, in the Paper or Online) was to present non-biased information on events to the public. I guess that, no matter what field you are in, including the media, the objective is still to get people to buy or to watch, and they will do so in anyway, including showing shocking yet misleading data to the public.

I love how they say ride operators aren't old enough to drive in some states. In Ohio you do have to be 16, and they are pushing for 18. There also has to be an 18 year old driver (controls) at the ride at all times. Not to mention that most of the people that are trained to drive are the upper 30% of the crew typically as well. Dumb article.

crazy article:

I disagreed with many things in this article. Weekends are often the least crowded???? I think that's when the locals are most likely to be there, never mind tourists. I always prefer mid-week.

The crowds can get kind of wild sometimes, though. One year at Fear Fest, two teenage boys were trying to knock each other down, and tripped ME instead. I fell face down, hard, onto concrete. My knees hurt for a month.

So who do I blame for me wasting my time reading this article...Smart Money or The Interpreter?!

So who do I blame for me wasting my time reading this article...Smart Money or The Interpreter?!

Yes.

Terpy...in your heart you knew he would...

I love #7. One thing SmartMoney doesn't tell you is that many of the states they list (I know South Dakota for sure) don't HAVE any amusement parks. Oops!

thats it , memmo to self

1. hit lottery

2. open park in sd

The only thing we had in Rapid City was the Central States Fair every summer. There were some gokart and mini-golf places, but not much else.

Yes.

I this case I blame myself...I am ashamed that I let you get me with one of your patented answers...I should know better.

Yes.

I this case I blame myself...I am ashamed that I let you get me with one of your patented answers...I should know better.

Yes.

Oops, I did it again...

Terpy, no Britney

Jeez. It seems like who ever wrote that article is not to happy with amusement parks...

Before you know it, they'll be saying that "Someone even died on a roller coaster in Kings Dominion!" Conviently leaving out the fact that the kid tried to get out, and suceeded.

You can never prevent stupidity. Jackson, who's lost his hat on Ninja, and is going to go get it back.......

"Hey, I know how I'll get some pageviews! People like to go to amusement parks this time of year, right? I'll put up a article bashing them, with lots of flaws in logic and reason! Kind of like those "FACEBOOK/MYSPACE/TWITTER WILL KILL YER KIDZ!" articles on Fox News!"

I do have a major bone to pick. Stated within the article, it states that maintenance crews are not trained properly. Lets see: When I went through as a tech at KI, I was monitored all throughout the opening months of maintenance (for seasonals, its starts as early as Jan 30th,) as well as every shift I had for the preseason was with a full time employee who oversaw ALL of my maintenance whenever a call went out. So this article is complete rubbish.

He also tries to discredit the fact that theme parks have THE BEST SAFETY RECORD out there. This lawyer (most likely an ambulance chaser after reading this article) tries to tell you that the safety record is a sham, that the parks report the incidents. Ok, thats like saying that motorists report every ding on their vehicle, or when a radio goes out on a plane its reported. Thats not the case. EVERY maintenance job I did at KI was signed off on as complete, and that the ride can open to the public BEFORE I LEFT THE RIDE, and those are documents that are held onto for 7 years. So yes, every incident, no matter the severity, is recorded and is thus reported to the park.

this must be one of the most misleading articles i have ever read, expecially reason number 8, pretty much saying all water slides are dangerous because a guy refused to follow safety measures and got really hurt

And I purposely posted this without comment at first for several reasons:

* It's important we see the stuff the public reads and, largely, believes.

* Your opinions are important, and I find them interesting to interpret.

* The industry needs our support when stuff like this happens. I've written a letter to the editor and sent it. You might want to think of doing the same. I am quite sure David Mandt at IAAPA, along with many others, will also be responding.

In reality, a park is only as safe as the people who go there.

This could actually be the only close to correct sentence in the article.

I read a statistic somewhere (and the source escapes me right now sorry) but the incident rate is actually higher that what it should be listed at. 98% of all injuries occurred at theme parks are "rider error," and 1% ea. is either maintenance malfunction or operator error. Think about those stats for a second...

At least some should be because of other factors, like weather...

Yea, very confusing article. It seems to me that they were trying to say that people get hurt at amusement parks all the time. In reality if you just follow the rules, you'll be fine.

Yea, very confusing article. It seems to me that they were trying to say that people get hurt at amusement parks all the time. In reality if you just follow the rules, you'll be fine.

brings to mind the lawsuit of lady vs. fast food , over spilling hot coffee in lap.

rotag, who believes she still would have suid, providing coffee was cold instead of hot, where is common sense coming in?

Please don't get me started...there is far, far more about that McDonald's hot coffee suit than most know. It was, as most are, eventually settled out of court. McDonald's would not have settled were it not in their best economic interest to do so. And, remember, claims made in a lawsuit tell only one side of a story...and that is true whether the side is the plaintiffs' or the defendants'.