I went to the Outer Banks for a family reunion over the weekend, and I decided to take the family to Cedar Fair's
My concerns were unfounded. Between an overcast sky and the fact that the park's most popular coaster -- the erupting Volcano -- was closed, we were able to walk onto every coaster. Really. If we wanted to sit in the front, our wait might be extended to a whole three minutes. It was a good thing, too, since we were done with everything we wanted to do by the time a hellacious thunderstorm moved in three hours later.
"There is no way that this park is turning a profit today," my son said, as we had an entire coaster train on the stand-up Shockwave coaster to ourselves. Unless the park was brimming with summer camp groups earlier in the day, he was probably right.
Coupled with the ample elbow room I found at a few amusement parks in Southern California two weeks ago, I'm starting to doubt my theory that regional amusement parks will come out as big winners from the economic stimulus checks that began going out in May.
That's bad news for my portfolio, as someone invested in both Cedar Fair and the financially wobbly Six Flags
They're obviously not being cashed by budding entrepreneurs. This week's glum forecast from Office Depot
Can it be? Are we actually doing the sensible thing and using those rebate checks to pay down debt or launch investing strategies? Probably not.
If you want to know where the money is going, follow the comps. This morning found BJ's Wholesale Club
Most of the specialty retailers and conventional department store chains aren't even coming close. Hip retailer Aeropostale
Spending less on stuff we may actually need? Maybe we're doing the sensible thing after all.
What did you do with your stimulus check, if you got one? Let us know by using the comment box below.
Further Foolishness with no minimum height requirement:
