In 2004, Morgan Spurlock captured the world’s attention by releasing a documentary about his quest to eat nothing but McDonald’s for a month. A decade later, another man would discover the agonies and ecstasies of an exclusively junk food-filled diet, but he would embark on his course for far longer, for different reasons, and by visiting a much worse venue. He discovered the savings benefits of eating at a Six Flags theme park.
Mel Magazine spoke to a 33-year-old named Dylan, who works as an electrical engineer in Santa Clarita, California and has spent the last seven years eating most of his meals at Six Flags. The article explains that Dylan decided upon this perilous course in 2014 when he realized that a $150 unlimited annual pass to the Six Flags a five minute drive from his office provided not just access to rides and free parking, but also to two meals every day.
“It was crazy—I was saving money, paying off student loans,” he says, explaining that he “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.” Though he says the first year of his Six Flags culinary adventure consisted entirely of shitty, unhealthy food, Dylan, a real theme park gourmet at this point, believes “they’ve got decent options now” mixed in with the junk.
He particularly enjoyed a limited time “Thanksgiving Dog” (basically a Thanksgiving dinner centered around a turkey dog), which he ate regularly until the idea of it made him feel sick. Otherwise, there’s “stuff like tri-tip sandwiches and vegan options like black bean burgers and meatless meatball subs” that “aren’t terrible.”
Over the years, Dylan’s settled on “three or four lunches a week” at Six Flags, reclaimed from the brink by his wife moving in with him, which led him to skip his usual theme park dinner. He’s also figured out how to “stick to healthier options” when going to his sprawling restaurant of choice and has managed to save up enough money from his venture that he’s bought a house.
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We imagine it’s only a matter of time until we get a similar story about someone who’s managed to improve their finances by both living inside an Ikea and eating nothing but its meatballs.
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