Dylan took advantage of Six Flags’ $150 yearly meal plan to pay off debt

Where others saw glorified carnival food, Dylan saw the world’s thriftiest food court at Six Flags

Saving so much by just spending $150 a year on food

Dylan, a 33-year-old electrical engineer in Santa Clarita, California, is the one who figured it out. “You can pay around $150 for unlimited, year-round access to Six Flags, which includes parking and two meals a day,” he said. “If you time it right, you could eat both lunch and dinner there every day.”

He was allegedly able to pay off his student debt, buy a new house, and get married.

It all started on the first day of his internship in 2014, when Dylan noticed the rollicking coasters of Six Flags Magic Mountain from the windows of his new office. Fresh out of college and something of a coaster-fanatic already, Dylan was perusing the options for Six Flags’ annual pass when he stumbled upon what might be the deal of his lifetime — for a one-time fee of $150, he could eat two meals a day, every day at the park for an entire year. Since his office was just a five-minute drive away, it was a no-brainer.

The theme park offers guests a “premium season dining pass” which allows visitors to enjoy lunch and dinner items, as well as a snack and unlimited drinks during every visit on any regular operating day, per Six Flags Magic Mountain’s website. The deal, which doesn’t include alcoholic beverages, is listed on the site at $109.99 plus tax.

“If you time it right, you could eat both lunch and dinner there every day.” In fact, Dylan did this for over seven years and he was able to save so much money. “That entire first year, I don’t think I ever went to the grocery store,” he revealed.

“I timed it so I was able to go there during my lunch break, go back to work, then stop back for dinner on my way home. “It was crazy — I was saving money, paying off student loans,” he explained. “One of my coworkers said she spent $1,500 a month on eating out, I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m not going down that road!’”

He explained that his newfound diet was tough in the beginning.

“The first year, the menu was kind of lame — all you could get was a burger and fries, or a pizza and breadsticks, or this pathetic sandwich and a refillable soda cup,” Dylan said.

“It wasn’t healthy at all, which was rough.”

The premium dining pass also includes typical funfair snack treats like ice cream, funnel cakes and cookies.

“That’s where it got dangerous,” Dylan admitted. “Separate from the meal, you could get Dippin’ Dots, sundaes, churros, pretzels — all that type of stuff. That’s when I started adding weight.”

But, much to Dylan’s digestive delight, Six Flags began introducing healthier delicacies to its menu.

“They’ve got decent options now,” the cheap-eating enthusiast explained. “Still a lot of bad food, I mean it’s theme park food so you can’t expect too much from them. But you find the options that aren’t terrible — stuff like tri-tip sandwiches and vegan options like black bean burgers and meatless meatball subs.”

And in effort to eat lighter and burn calories, he’ll often have a long walk from the Six Flags parking lot to its Hurricane Harbor water park division in order to grab a carne Asada or chipotle chicken salad.

The only problem is, the chipotle chicken salad is on the opposite side of the park, which means it doesn’t always fit into his Six Flags daily meal calculus. “From where I park my car, to the places at the back of the park, to then back to my car, it’s usually about 5,000 steps — and I’m hustlin’,” he explains. “I could go to Hurricane Harbor [the waterpark area], but it seems weird being the only guy dressed business casual while everyone else is walking around in swim trunks and bikinis.”

During the rollercoaster meal adventure, he also chowed down the play park’s seasonal entrees like the “Thanksgiving Dog,” which he says is a “turkey dog topped with cranberry sauce, stuffing and a slathering of mayonnaise, which I know sounds awful, but it was so good” — regrettably has to settle for the entertainment venue’s deep fried, bacon and nacho cheese-smothered chicken balls on busy days.

As the years passed, he shifted his diet to include only three or four lunches a week at the park. “My wife moved in, and I stopped doing dinners — and weekends, too, since she’s not as big into roller coasters as I am,” he said.

They’ve got decent options now,” Dylan said.

Dylan revealed he has no plans to stop going to Six Flags for his meals as he has been able to buy a house with all the money he’s saved so far. “We just bought a house here, so I’m not really going anywhere,” he says. “As long as they keep changing the menu, I’m happy.”

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