Eat nothing but Great Adventure food to pay off student loans

A bizarre story from Mel Magazine. There’s a guy identified only by first name Dylan who is a 33-year-old electrical engineer in California. Like many Americans in his mid-20’s he had a lot of student debt remaining.

Thanks to his job’s proximity to Six Flags Magic Mountain he figured out an ingenious way to eat for only 50 cents a meal. The money he saved in not buying groceries eventually paid off his remaining student loans.

New Jersey folks need to pay attention to this next part because our Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson has a similar deal to Six Flags Magic Mountain. Dylan noticed they had a deal where you could pay $150 and get unlimited year round access to the park. This included parking plus two meals a day.

Dylan’s job was only five minutes away from the amusement park. So every single day at lunch he would drive over there, go inside the park and get a meal. Then at the end of his workday he would go back and get dinner. The workers got to know him.

This literally worked out to fifty cents per meal and worked out to a huge savings that he put towards paying off his student loans. How long did this take?

Seven years.

Imagine eating amusement park food every lunch and dinner for seven years. The dedication that takes is astounding. All to save money with this loophole you found.

The first year was the hardest. Dylan says the only options that year were pizza and breadsticks, burger and fries or a sandwich and a refillable soda. Still, he suffered through it.

Over the years the options got better. The theme park even started offering vegan options.

Yet most of it was typical amusement park food. Did he go full Spurlock like on “Supersize Me” and turn unhealthy? He definitely had weight gain.

Here’s a hysterical read from Mel.

“It was crazy — I was saving money, paying off student loans,” he explains. “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 estimates he’s had well over 2,000 meals at Six Flags. On chicken balls alone (not one of his favorites) he thinks he’s done 750 easily.

After seven years of this madness you won’t find Dylan there every single evening now. He’s married and a homeowner. These days he goes only three or four days per week.

Again, our own Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson offers a similar deal. Would you take advantage of such a loophole and force yourself into such a strict dietary challenge? The average New Jersey student loan debt is $33,563. It might just be worth it.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski. Any opinions expressed are Jeff Deminski's own.