The web has been awash lately with stories of thrifty theme park fans who eat every meal at Magic Mountain for less than a $1 a day, but Six Flags accountants have done the math and know that a few outliers won’t make the all-season dining plans any less profitable.

Two guys who eat daily at Six Flags Magic Mountain on the pennies-per-meal all-season dining plan have become viral sensations after explaining how they save money on groceries and dining out by living on a theme park diet of cheeseburgers, pizza, fried chicken, french fries and soft drinks.

How do they do it? Why does it cost so little? And how does Six Flags possibly make any money?

The Six Flags dining plan can be added to a Magic Mountain season pass. Competitors like Knott’s Berry Farm and SeaWorld San Diego offer similar all-season dining passes.

The dining annual passes make financial sense to the theme park chains for a number of reasons. For starters, the low-priced dining annual passes create the perception of value and savings in a theme park industry that is increasingly viewed as expensive. They drive annual pass sales to the park. Those annual passes increase return visits which in turn increase per-capita spending by visitors. Annual passholders are loyal customers who attend seasonal festivals and purchase exclusive offers — like all-season dining passes. It’s a virtuous cycle for the parks.

What theme parks know is that a season-long dining pass is like a gym membership or extended warranty. They make sense when you break down the overall cost. But there are plenty of visitors who will never extract the full value out of the plan. Which makes it both affordable for those who use the dining plans to the ultimate maximum and also wildly profitable for the theme parks.

2,000 Meals and Counting

Dylan, a 33-year-old electrical engineer working in a Santa Clarita office with a view of Magic Mountain’s coaster skyline, told Mel Magazine he’s been eating daily at the Six Flags amusement park since 2014.

Dylan pays $150 annually for unlimited, year-round access to Six Flags Magic Mountain that includes two meals and a snack per day along with free parking.

“If you time it right, you could eat both lunch and dinner there every day,” said Dylan, who declined to use his last name during an interview with the men’s culture and lifestyle online magazine.

Dylan saved enough money on his grocery and dining bills by eating at Six Flags Magic Mountain on a daily basis for seven years to pay down his student loans and buy a house.

“That entire first year, I don’t think I ever went to the grocery store,” Dylan told Mel Magazine. “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.”

The Six Flags menu was “kind of lame” when Dylan first started his Magic Mountain diet in 2014.

“It wasn’t healthy at all,” Dylan told Mel Magazine. “All you could get was a burger and fries, or a pizza and breadsticks, or this pathetic sandwich and a refillable soda cup.”

During the seven-year run, Dylan trimmed his twice-a-day, seven-days-a-week Magic Mountain habit to weekday lunches only — cutting out dinners and weekend meals. The prime reason: He got married and his wife didn’t share his coaster fanaticism or dining hack-tivism.

Magic Mountain’s menu — which started out with “a lot of bad food” — has improved through the years, according to Dylan.

“It’s theme park food, so you can’t expect too much,” Dylan told Mel Magazine. “But you find the options that aren’t terrible.”

His favorite meal: The seasonal Thanksgiving Turkey Dog topped with cranberry sauce and stuffing.

“I know it sounds awful, but it was so good,” Dylan told Mel Magazine. “I ended up eating way too many of them and now I can’t even smell turkey dogs without gagging.”

Dylan’s most dreaded Magic Mountain meal: The Chicken Balls smothered in nacho cheese, sour cream and hot sauce. Dylan estimates he’s eaten 750 Chicken Balls in his seven-year run.

“I got so sick of those Chicken Balls,” Dyland told Mel Magazine. “I don’t know that I could ever eat them again.”

The Six Flags dining pass became dangerous to Dylan’s waistline when the daily food feast expanded to include a snack in addition to the two meals. The lineup of calorie-intense snacks included Dippin’ Dots, Cold Stone ice cream sundaes, churros and pretzels.

“That’s when I started adding weight,” Dylan told Mel Magazine. “I stay away from the snacks and stick to healthier options.”

His go-to menu options now: Tri-tip Sandwich, Carne Asada Salad and Chipotle Chicken Salad along with vegetarian options like the Blackbean Burger and Meatless Meatball Sub.

Dylan and the coworkers he recruited to his Magic Mountain money-saving hack rank the Six Flags food options by taste, calorie count, prep time and distance from the parking lot.

The Chipotle Chicken Salad includes a cardio workout during Dylan’s limited lunchtime breaks.

“I’m hustling,” Dylan told Mel Magazine. “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.”

During the offseason when crowds are light, Dylan can occasionally squeeze in a coaster ride with lunch before heading back to the office.

Dylan estimates he has eaten more than 2,000 meals at Magic Mountain since 2014 — at an average cost of 50 cents per meal. He’s got no plan of ending his Six Flags diet anytime soon.

“As long as they keep changing the menu, I’m happy,” Dylan said.

Daily Dining Routine

Another Six Flags dining plan hacker told The Takeout food and pop culture website that he has been eating daily at Magic Mountain on the dining plan while living in his van near the Valencia amusement park.

YouTuber Manchild vs. Life has been combining the Magic Mountain meal plan with a full-time van dwelling lifestyle since August to cut costs and save money.

The vanlife vlogger breaks down how the $18 per month Six Flags dining plan works on his Manchild vs. Life YouTube channel.

“Oh, this is the life,” according to the Manchild vs. Life YouTube channel. “It’s nice having Six Flags as your backyard.”

His daily routine includes spending the afternoon at Magic Mountain riding roller coasters and eating on the dining plan. He guzzles unlimited Diet Coke during every visit using the refillable drink cup he received with his Six Flags Platinum season pass.

Among Manchild’s favorite foods at Magic Mountain: Johnny Rockets Western Cheeseburgers, boneless wings, chicken and waffle sandwiches and Kansas City BBQ dogs.

Why It Works

How can Six Flags and other theme parks make money from a dining annual pass that costs visitors less than $1 a day?

Believe it or not, dining season passes are incredibly profitable for theme parks. Six Flags, Cedar Fair and SeaWorld executives regularly boast during quarterly reports about the ever-increasing revenue generated from season dining plans.

Six Flags members and season passholders are among the company’s most loyal customers — generating more annual revenue than single-day visitors, according to a July 2019 investor presentation. Six Flags members help drive higher in-park spending and memberships make it easier to purchase all-season dining and line-cutting add-ons, according to the presentation.

If dining passholders feel like they are eating for free, then they will be more likely to opt for a side item not on the menu or spring for a full-priced beer or wine with their meal.

Six Flags Magic Mountain declined to comment for this story.