Do you bother with the game stalls at parks?

[Ian]

You know the sort of things - throwing a hoop over a prize, climbing a wobbly ladder to the top, chucking a ball at a stack of tin cans or betting on a mechanical horse race.

Do you actually bother with them?

Often at Thorpe Park, I see chavvy blokes trying to win their euqually pikey girlfriends a stuffed Garfield, or a group of black teenagers wandering around with stuffed Simpson characters.

Perhaps I'm stereotyping that it's black teenagers and chavs that play these things but I wondering how many enthusiasts, the regular visitors (who obviously could be black teenagers or chavs), bother with them.

 

[Ollie]

I don't bother with them. It's usually hard to win something decent.
I think I had a go at that loony ladder once. Didn't get very far up it which justifys why I don't waste money on them.
Plus they're so bloody expensive as well.

It's amusing watching people get frustrated and spend loads on them though.

 

[nadroJ]

I think they're crap, not fun, crap prizes and overpriced.

However, if I go with mates and they want to play I won't stop them, and if it results in me being won a prize then bonus points for me =]

 

[Anonymous]

For myself I only play on the "Hus och Hem" wheel at Liseberg.
If I have my nephew with me then it's a whole other matter...

Still haven't won that power washer yet

 

[marc]

No I would rather put £25 into a grab machine to try and get a Zippy as many people will remember from Alton the other year

 

[Nemesis Inferno]

Used to do them excessively regularly when the grabbers weren't actually money-grabbers... I have a rather vast collection of cuddly toys at home...

Moved onto them win-every-time ones since, but occasionally do the racers and recently got back into grabbers (And won something, mainly as I wouldn't leave till I had won)...

 

[jayjay]

Nah. Several reasons.

The prizes are usually toys, which are naff.
The top prizes hinder your ability to walk round the park because they're huge.
The games are usually expensive and constructed so that your chance of winning is tiny.

 

[Gavin]

Never.

I neither find them any fun whatsoever or want/need the crappy, barely-comes-up-to-safety-standards, probably-a-fire-hazard, for-God's-sake-don't-let-the-kids-put-it-in-their-mouth "prize".

 

[DjTommyB]

Never for me. They look impossible. :lol:

Oh and I wouldn't wanna carry a giant stuffed toy around with me all day either. x)

 

[Brookes]

Never, they're really expensive, really hard to win and why would I want to carry round a 3 foot long stuffed whale all day. The only time anyone I've gone to a theme park with has played is one of my mates at the end of the day when he wanted the certain prize, but didn't win. I know some of my mates have played them and won stuff before (not regular theme park visitors), but for me no.

 

[Snoo]

Never.

I neither find them any fun whatsoever or want/need the crappy, barely-comes-up-to-safety-standards, probably-a-fire-hazard, for-God's-sake-don't-let-the-kids-put-it-in-their-mouth "prize".

This.. plus they are incredibly overpriced.

 

[ECG]

Gavin took the words right out of my mouth, only his word are much better.

 

[Ben]

No, I'd rather be getting my creds <3

 

[Hixee]

Never have... never will.

Snoo's post added the finishing touch to Gavin's comment. They're pointless, uninteresting, expensive and crap.

 

[Pokemaniac]

At TusenFryd, the games cost £2 for one try (NOK 20). The items you can win, at most cost NOK 100 (£10) in a store. The smaller prizes are probably a tenth of that.

So in short, no. Though, we tried the chocolate wheels at Liseberg once.

 

[LiveForTheLaunch]

No haha, the only time I will ever play the games is if I am with my sister at the local carnivals. The ones in the parks are overpriced, not to mention I can never win.

Now I'm getting horrible flashbacks of my crying times on the loony laddar.. </3

 

[CreditCrazy]

Nope, cause then you have to buy a locker for every ride to put the toy in...

Have a Six Flags day.

 

[Ingested Banjo]

At theme parks, no.

At fun fairs, hook the duck especially the ones where you get a little foam plane as your prize.

I guess if my friends wanted to play one of the games, I'd give it a go. Those loony ladder things look pretty good for a laugh with friends, but no one's ever suggested it and if anything the stall owners put me off a bit with their shouting 'HEY YOU! WANNA GO ON THIS STALL'

One thing that REALLY depresses me at theme parks is the arcades. I guess it's all part of the experience at a park like blackpool, but I once had to wait about 20 mins whilst my friend lost about 5 quid on a machine he could've played at any stupid arcade. I'm not really a fan of fruit machines anyway, but when you have roller coasters, why the **** would you want to play in the arcade??

 

[Inverse]

Win a massive inconvenience for the rest of the day!

No, never.

 

[furie]

Rarely, but I have kids

We played one in Cred street last year to win a ruck of Mario stuffed toys for the minor_furies. It was a quid a go, and you'd get one with two quid's worth of goes. So over the season we collected about four or five. Saved my £7 a pop each time I went into Game and Maxi-Minor_Furie wanted a Mario stuffed toy from there instead.

Generally though, no. Never "for myself" (to prove I can do it, or to try and get shag).