I recently blogged about the Halloween festivities planned at various theme parks across the country. At Six Flags Great America—the entire park will be haunted just in time for Halloween. If you are a thrill seeker you won’t want to miss their Halloween-themed Fright Fest. And, if you are a real thrill seeker you may want to take the thrills (and chills) to new heights by taking the amusement park’s Halloween challenge.
Six Flags Great America is daring visitors to eat a live Madagascar hissing cockroach in exchange for unlimited line-jumping privileges. Hey, why wait in long lines when you can just munch on a cockroach? The park’s official offer is this: “Visitors who eat an entire 2- to 3-inch horned cockroach get a pass for four people to cut to the front of ride lines through October 29th.” Hmmm… waiting in line…crunching on a live cockroach? Decisions, decisions.
The reason this “Fear Factor”-type stunt is making news is because it is drawing frowns from local health department officials. Lake County Health Department officials say the promotion, which begins Ocotober 7th, “is not a good idea” and are cautioning participants. According to health department directors: “Consuming live roaches might increase risks of gastrointestinal illness and allergies.”
Meanwhile, Six Flags’ officials insist it’s safe to eat the crunchy critters. And lest you think jeopardizing your health will get you free admission to the park, think again. According to park staff, cockroach eaters will have to sign waivers and still pay admission fees.
If you are not up for the challenge you can still take part in other bug related festivities. For example, if you are more of a spectator than a participant you may consider attending the cooked roach eating contest on Octber 13th — Friday, October 13th. Even though you may never consider downing a live roach yourself it may be fun watching someone else who would not only gobble one up, but would do so with a smile.
Would you eat a roach to avoid standing in line?
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