Six Flags ~ Not as expensive as you might think.

We love Six Flags. If you read this blog for any amount of time you will probably be able to figure that out. But we are definitely  not made out of money so how do we keep the costs down and the fun up.

The prices listed in this blog are current as of 12/03/15.

Our first year at Six Flags we had memberships. For about $87.70 a month for the 5 of us we could go to either Texas Six Flags and it included the dining pass which gave us lunch and dinner at Six Flags Fiesta Texas, but not anywhere else. It also included standard parking free. If you go enough to make it worth your while it was a good deal. Average cost was about $1052 a year.

Memberships have gotten better though. Now with the combo gold membership you can go to any regular Six Flags park (although most of the dedicated water parks are still not included, only the closest one to your home park is part of the deal) and you can now eat at any park by upgrading to the combo gold dinning pass. You also still get free parking with either gold memberships or gold passes. A little more expensive but probably still worth it (when I priced it out it would have come to about $100 a month for the five of us. So about $1200 a year.)

It is a good deal of you can't come up with the money for passes but plan to make a lot of trips to Six Flags (like we do). If you go the membership route you do have to stay a member for a year. You can quit any time after that with a months notice (if you give notice in June you will have to pay for July, but then you would be done.)

If you can afford to pay it all at once however passes are definitely the best deal. 5 combo gold passes with 5 combo gold season dining passes came to $867.48. That comes out to $173.50 per person. If we go 10 times that would be Six Flags with lunch, dinner and a snack for $17.30 a visit.

A ticket bought online is $49.99 

Average for cost for a meal at the park is $11 

Average cost of a snack is $5

So a ticket, two meals and a snack would be $77

Oops, almost forgot, this year's combo gold dining passes and memberships come with an all you can drink beverage cup for free. That's going to be worth at least another $15 bucks a visit.

That's $92 a day. If you go twice that's $184 bucks. You just can't do it all in one day anyway. I tried, it doesn't work.

The Six Flags website says the dining pass pays for itself after four visits, but if you consider that sports bottle it makes that money back even quicker. 

2016 season passes are good now and last till the end of next year. So basically we are already saving money every visit.

Go on weekdays when Hotels are less expensive and the lines are not as long. We usually find a great Hotel with two queen beds and a sofa and with a full complimentary breakfast for about $60 a night in Dallas or San Antonio. We usually start two nights.

Don't Miss Out! See Today's Top Hotel Deals at TripAdvisor

Gas is cheap right now. Less then $50 each way and we are 5 hours a way. Our average trip is less then $300 bucks.

Heck if I lived in Dallas or San Antonio it would be an even better deal. We'd go to Six Flags just to eat.

Welcome to our blog!

Welcome to our family travel blog. I know, family travel blog right? Don’t worry, it’s not going to be one of those “look at cute pictures of my kids on vacation” type of travel blogs. I’m not going to tell you what cute thing my little girl did petting a stingray at t he Dallas Children’s Aquarium. It will be more like, how can you and your family get the best deal at the Dallas Aquariums, which Dallas Aquarium is best for kids and should you eat the food at the Rain Forest Cafe inside the Dallas World Aquarium.

From Hotel deals to amusement park secrets to how to get along on long car trips this blog is for people who travel with their families.

All that being said, here is a cute picture of my kids.

Ethan Crystal and Carol at Fright Fest ~ Six Flags Fiesta Texas 2014

Our fun family has been traveling Texas and a few other states for years. We have found great deals, great fun, and a few things to stay away from. From amusement parks, to zoo’s, museums, theaters and fairs and just about anything else we can do as a family. We have learned a lot and we want to share that knowledge with you.

Some of the topics will include:

Are Season Passes at amusement parks worth the money? What about Dining passes? What about flash passes?

What museums are cool in Texas? Best Free museums?

Getting a good hotel for a good price.

How to make sure your toddler gets to have as much fun as you do. How young is too young to take kids to a concert?

And there might be a cute story or anecdote along the way, but hopefully they wont get in the way. I’d love to hear comments too, whether you agree with a post, want to recommend some family fun, or want to tell us just how wrong we are. I hope you enjoy our blog.