Some MGA promotions

dth1971 · Post by **dth1971** » Tue Aug 23, 2005 12:38 pm

Do you remember these Marriott's Great America promotions:

* For Coca-Cola in 1981: Bring in 3 bottle caps from 2 liter bottles of Coca-Cola and get a free ticket when you buy 3 MGA front gate admission tickets.

* In 1983, McDonald's gave away MGA Fun Bucks with food purchases (what were MGA Fun Bucks like and used for?)

Post by **steven** » Fri Aug 26, 2005 11:57 pm

There was a 7-Up promotion about catching "Roller Coaster Fever" at Marriott's GREAT AMERICA. I have a shirt with that on it.

There was also some kind of "double dare the DEMON" promotion from 7-Eleven. I don't know exactly how it worked, but apparently from 7-Eleven you could get tokens that allowed you to ride the DEMON twice in a row.

In the first year, Jewel-Osco offered a fun kit with the purchase of Marriott's GREAT AMERICA tickets at their stores. It included a map/brochure, helpful tips for enjoying your visit, a unique MGA frisbee, and maybe another item or two.

Steven

SFGAmLover · Post by **SFGAmLover** » Sat Aug 27, 2005 2:33 am

Could these Demon tokens perhaps be the same as the one Tanya showed us in this post? http://www.greatamericaparks.com/forums ... .php?t=170

BrianPlencner · Post by **BrianPlencner** » Sat Aug 27, 2005 6:35 am

That is probably where my parents got the MGA frisbee that I have pictured in this post

http://www.greatamericaparks.com/forums ... light=#484

Tanya · Post by **Tanya** » Sat Aug 27, 2005 8:55 am

Andy, I think that coin came out of a machine. I honestly don't know when or how I got that.

Post by **steven** » Sat Aug 27, 2005 2:13 pm

The token that Tanya posted is a souvenir item. I believe that the 7-Eleven tokens were made of cardboard or thick paper.

Steven

Post by **steven** » Sat Aug 27, 2005 2:54 pm

Brian,

Yes, that's the frisbee from the Jewel Fun Kit. It also came in blue. Here's a photo of the Fun Kit bag, along with other MGA items (that were not part of the kit's contents):

Steven

dth1971 · Post by **dth1971** » Sun Aug 28, 2005 1:59 pm

In the late 1970's Jewel-Osco stores have also given away with discount ticket purchases for MGA "Ride and Ride Again" buttons and MGA roller coaster posters.

JW65 · Post by **JW65** » Fri Sep 09, 2005 10:55 am

Does anyone recall if MGA had an in-park promotion similar to SFGAm's TWICKET ? If so, I'd be interested in knowing how it worked and what it was called.

For those of you who don't know, if you bought a TWICKET, you were allowed to come back to the park the next day for $1 extra. (I think).

redfishpaw · Post by **redfishpaw** » Fri Sep 09, 2005 2:11 pm

Funny thing, I just noticed the ''Turn Style'' logo in Stevens photo above. I bet hardly anybody remembers ''Turn Style''. In the 70's there was one in Racine where Shopko now stands. ''Turn Style'' was similar to ''Shopko'' except that ''Turn Style'' also carried Groceries. Also, there use to be a drive in theater behind ''Turn Style''.

Regarding TWICKETS. I think that they were initually free. Then SFGA started charging a dollar just as a processing fee. Apparently many people would get their TWICKET and not use them. Charging a buck reduced this dramatically. I'm not sure if Marriotts even ran anything like the TWICKET program. I assume that they did not.

Post by **steven** » Fri Sep 09, 2005 3:03 pm

Turn Style was something like Jewel's version of a Target store or K-Mart. Eventually, Jewel gave up on the idea and most Turn Style stores were converted to Venture Stores. Now, Venture Stores have been disappearing in a big way.

Also on the Fun Kit is the logo for the Jewel Grand Bazaar. That was Jewel's big supercenter food store. I never saw one. I don't know what eventually became of them. Perhaps some of our Chicagoland friends on here may recall something about the Jewel Grand Bazaars.

Steven

dth1971 · Post by **dth1971** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 10:59 am

TWICKETS at GA let you come back for free the next day, not for $1 fee the next day.

JW65 · Post by **JW65** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 7:52 am

Hi Steven,

Venture stores are completely gone now. I recall the Turn Style stores, but vaguely.

dth1971,

I do recall a $1 processing fee that had to be paid in order to receive a TWICKET that would allow you to return the next day.

Jeff

redfishpaw · Post by **redfishpaw** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 8:05 am

Correct, Initually they were free, but then everybody would just take then whether they were going to use them or not. The processing fee corrected this problem.