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Will gas prices affect your park trips?

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Postby [jonrev] on May 26th, 2008, 2:06 pm
Anyone else having second thoughts about long-distance park trips with the ridiculous rise of gas prices? I was planning to drive down to Holiday World this summer but have had to cancel it due to gas prices. :(
Last edited by [jonrev] on May 26th, 2008, 2:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby bigb7965 on May 26th, 2008, 2:08 pm
yeah we were thinking about taking a taxi to the park but here to the park and back would be $240 ($120 one way) so i think we'll just drive ourselves
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Postby Jackluver18 on May 26th, 2008, 3:06 pm
^ i'd take the pace bus from Schaumburg which runs friday saturday sunday for 3 bucks
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Postby CoasterDude12-2 on May 26th, 2008, 5:33 pm
Absolutely. I'm only going to about 1/4 of the parks I usually go to.


Kinda on topic: I drove on I-355 today at 47 m.p.h to conserve gas, and I wasn't passed once. Why? There were about 15 cars on all 20 miles of the road, inbound and outbound. Today is Memorial Day nonetheless. And to think, Blagojevich is adding a 4th lane! People are finally starting to wake up from getting raped by the gas prices.
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Postby tp41190 on May 26th, 2008, 9:32 pm
^ You are at your most efficient MPG when you get between 55-65 MPH.

The gas really doesn't effect me. I drive a GEO Prizm and I can get 35mpg+ on the freeway going 65-70 MPH. It takes me about 2.75 gallons there, and 2.75 gallons back (3.5 down and back if I stay at a friends in Arlington Heights). So I can fill up my car for about $42, go to the park, and still use the gas for school/work for 2-3 days.

I mean, yes $42 is a lot but now I just spend less on food and other random stuff like drinks, ect for the drive.
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Postby CoasterDude12-2 on May 26th, 2008, 10:10 pm
^Trust me, you can't get 35 mpg in a Prizm. I used to drive one, and the older they get, the less fuel efficient they are.
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Postby rct2wizard360 on May 26th, 2008, 10:19 pm
I drive a Honda Fit so I AVERAGE 35mpg on the highway. It's usually closer to 38 suprisingly.
I can get to six flags on a quarter tank. It's not really a big deal to me. If I was driving a normal car a few years ago, I'd be paying around the same as I am now so it's not taking a huge toll.
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Postby tp41190 on May 26th, 2008, 10:38 pm
CoasterDude12-2 wrote:^Trust me, you can't get 35 mpg in a Prizm. I used to drive one, and the older they get, the less fuel efficient they are.


I put on a new air intake, new air filter, rotated and changed air pressure. I drove to the park going about 65-70 and I was able to put on 350 miles on that tank of gas. And its a 10 gallon tank, at least to the empty line.

BTW, how is/was yours. And I had to had replace the transmission twice.
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Postby Bob O on May 27th, 2008, 2:09 pm
While I dont like the prices of gas, It wont affect my plans this year. We dont have any long driving plans this year, but we are going to FLA this Dec. And while gas going up will affect my airline tickets, it wont stop my visit, or the drive down to The Busch park in Tampa FLA.
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Postby cowboy1192 on May 27th, 2008, 2:55 pm
The gas prices are insane, but they will definetly not affect my families park trips... My dads getting a 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI (Diesel) for my first car, and they will get like 50-60 mpg!

But yea, Im going to

SFGAM- 163 miles away
Cedar Point - 216 miles away
Indiana Beach - 82 miles away

(thank you google maps!)

So I can get to these parks on a full tank of gas...
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Postby Chitown on May 28th, 2008, 5:34 am
O.K. You get 50-60 mpg on your new diesel vehicle, but you do realize that diesel fuel is right around 5 bucks a gallon?
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Postby superflybri on May 28th, 2008, 10:38 am
^ well as you are right Chitown. I think you also have to look at the bigger picture. If someone wanted to buy a diesel car but keep it for short term, it would not be worth it. But if they were to keep it *for this example we'll say 10 years* I think it would be worth it because you would have more millage while cars that are still using gasoline would have to fill up more since they are unable to travel those extra distances. So in reality, you can save money, BUT it's going to take a while.
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Postby w00dland on May 28th, 2008, 2:59 pm
This will definitely be effecting my trips to parks this year.

I'm living in Eau Claire WI...aka about an hour and a half east of the twin cities. It takes that long to make it to Valleyfair, and since I've got my Dad's Jeep up at school right now it would cost me atleast 50 bucks just to drive to the park and back. I was planning on a season pass there, but I'm not positive anymore...I guess we'll see.

Now that I'm living on my own this summer (no parents for food, random money, etc.) I'm having a hard time saving money for next semester's tuition, and driving wastes lots of money. I'm riding my bike around Eau Claire this summer.

I'll probably head to SFGAm once or twice this summer, and if you add both Valleyfair and SFGAm trips together they won't equal half of what they have been the past 4 years. I averaged 20 trips per year to SFGAm...this year I'll maybe have 4 or 5 trips in all.
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Postby LAFFfan4lyfe on May 28th, 2008, 3:51 pm
it actually might this year. I just started a new job, plus with a car payment, I might not have a lot of money this summer. I just filled up the other day and paid 40 bucks for it. That really sucked. I'm thinking that I either need to carpool and switch off with driving with people, or not go as much.
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Postby FParker185 on May 28th, 2008, 9:54 pm
Sure diesel is $5 a gallon, so that $5 gets you 50-60 miles
regular gas is $4 a gallon and you get around 30mpg would be a good average, so it would take $8 to go the same distance.
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Postby cowboy1192 on May 30th, 2008, 2:41 pm
Chitown wrote:O.K. You get 50-60 mpg on your new diesel vehicle, but you do realize that diesel fuel is right around 5 bucks a gallon?



If you have a medium sized car that holds 15 gallons and gets 25 mpg and is getting gasoline for 4 bucks, you would have to pay 60 bucks for a fillup, but you can only go 375 miles. (estimated)

If you have a medium sized diesel car that holds 15 gallons and get 50 mpg and your paying 5 bucks a gallon, you would be paying 75 bucks for fillup but would be going 750 miles in between fillups!!!

So think about it, is it worth it to pay 15 bucks extra to get 375 miles extra in between fillups?

YES!!! And the distance between my house and my school is only like 1 1/2 miles...
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Postby w00dland on May 30th, 2008, 3:47 pm
^You're a lucky kid, thank your parents for that car.

I have a feeling that gas prices being what they are tourist spots could get hit hard this year for money. Places where driving is a factor like camping and theme parks. Its probably one of the biggest reasons Shapiro decreased ticket prices for most of the Six Flags Parks, even if prices for everything else increased. Six Flags is still getting the money, just in different ways.
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Postby FRD714 on May 30th, 2008, 4:18 pm
No, in fact I'm buying a vehicle that has even worse gas mileage than the one I have now.
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Postby cowboy1192 on May 30th, 2008, 10:51 pm
^^ It really depends on where you live... If you live in a small town where you drive just a couple miles a day, gas mileage isnt as big of a factor. If you are commuting like 20+ miles to work everyday, or even school for that matter, it should be a huge factor in what car you own. Civics, Prius, Jetta TDI, any hybrid pretty much, and small toyotas are great choices for gas mileage. What Im puzzled about is GM is doing terrible economically, yet they are shelling out millions to make pointless cars like Chevy Colorados, HHRs, Hummers and other ridiculous cars that hardly anyone buys, when other Japanese and European companies are doing great making less models with better gas mileage.

GM makes so many vehicles that 80% of our population will not buy because of the price, or gas mileage...

Someone needs to make a diesel hybrid... (if they dont already have one). That would get like 80 mpg...
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Postby Chitown on May 31st, 2008, 12:29 am
cowboy1192 wrote:
Chitown wrote:O.K. You get 50-60 mpg on your new diesel vehicle, but you do realize that diesel fuel is right around 5 bucks a gallon?



If you have a medium sized car that holds 15 gallons and gets 25 mpg and is getting gasoline for 4 bucks, you would have to pay 60 bucks for a fillup, but you can only go 375 miles. (estimated)

If you have a medium sized diesel car that holds 15 gallons and get 50 mpg and your paying 5 bucks a gallon, you would be paying 75 bucks for fillup but would be going 750 miles in between fillups!!!

So think about it, is it worth it to pay 15 bucks extra to get 375 miles extra in between fillups?

YES!!! And the distance between my house and my school is only like 1 1/2 miles...


Can you link me somewhere that shows proof that these Volkswagon diesel vehicles can go 750 miles on one tank of gas? If that is the case, I take back what I said.
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Postby Chitown on May 31st, 2008, 12:37 am
Bob O wrote:While I dont like the prices of gas, It wont affect my plans this year. We dont have any long driving plans this year, but we are going to FLA this Dec. And while gas going up will affect my airline tickets, it wont stop my visit, or the drive down to The Busch park in Tampa FLA.


Bob. If you plan on visiting Orlando and then driving to Tampa for BGA, I strongly recommend hitting Cypress Gardens. It's about the halfway point between Orlando and Tampa off of I-4.

Of course if you have been there, disregard this post. :lol:
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Postby Trailblazer Tony on May 31st, 2008, 8:48 pm
It surprisingly hasn't taken a toll on me this summer. With me taking Metra downtown for work now, I definitely only have to pay gas for theme park trips, so I'm not changing any plans. My usual multiple trips to SFGAm and my annual trip to Indiana Beach (both two hours from my house) are still in tact, however, when I head down to SFSt.L, i'll be taking Amtrak now. It's much cheaper than gas.
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Postby cycamps on May 31st, 2008, 11:44 pm
It looks like it affected me. I was going to make a second Cedar Point trip this year, but now it doesn't look like I'm going to.
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Postby rct2wizard360 on June 1st, 2008, 12:04 am
Just keep in mind.

Diesel engines work better when they are pulling their intended big diesel load.

Just sayin...
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Postby DejaVuGurl1203 on June 3rd, 2008, 6:14 pm
Most likely not. Definitely not affecting my trips to SFGAm.

I wanna try going to Indiana Beach, Deep River, Cedar Point and MAYBE Kings Island this year. I don't think I'll let gas prices affect those trips, that's just not the way I roll. As for going to CP and KI, its my PARENTS that are going to give me a hard time about. They won't let me stay in a hotel with my boyfriend. I'm 18 for gosh sakes, give me some freedom.

I also wanna try Key Lime Cove, but IDK if that will happen.
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