ENOUGH IS ENOUGH?

[Travisma 1,317]

I already know the answer to this question (if people shell out the $$ theparks will take it), but I thought I'd throw it out there for other opinions.

 

Do you think that amusment parks have finally gone overboard with annual passes, especially Busch Gardens/Seaworld with their buy a day get a year fun pass?

 

The parks are just getting so overcrowded all the time now.

 

At least with Disney there are 4 parks to divide the crowds up, but you go to the competitors and you have 1 park or go home.

 

We are going to bite the bullet and purchase FL Resident Seasonal passes.  We aren't crazy enough to want to go to the parks during the black out dates anyway, but a lot of the posts here and on those other sites make it seem like the parks are always crowded.

 

We went to Busch for one of their ChristmasTown Nights, and it was wall to wall people.  They included it in with the normal admission, and cut out the snow play area. I'd say everone in a 5 county area was there that night.

 

We walked, got to see one show, then took the sky ride back to the front and left.

 

Crowds are one thing, mob scenes are something else.

 

 

[Cyclonic 55]

What you have to understand is that in the industry many parks don't really make money on the gate, so they basically give it away.  They would rather get as many people in the doors as they can so as to sell them food or merchandise in the park, where they really make their money.

 

A prime example is Six Flags.  My 2015 Six Flags pass cost me $55.  That pass gets me into every six flags park and gets me parking.  They are hoping that while there I will get a meal or too, maybe buy a t-shirt, maybe pay for an up-charge attraction.  Not likely, but I am not the average park goer (the average park goer hasn't ridden over 350 roller coasters).

 

Same with Busch (really, it is SeaWorld Entertainment, which is really owned by Blackstone, a European amusement park operator) to an extent.  They actually lean less toward giving away the gate than Six Flags.  My platinum Busch Gardens Williamsburg pass gets me in both the Busch Parks, the three SeaWorlds, their water parks and Sesame Place (a really cool little park, BTW) at about $200, and that doesn't include ChristmasTown at Williamsburg, which is still an up-charge, unlike in Tampa.  Still cheap though, compared to Disney.

 

Disney, on the other hand, prices about 80% of the American population out of going to Disney but once in every great while.  It makes sense for them, they still get plenty of patronage, but at the same time can concentrate on a better experience, and you pay for that better experience.

 

Really, though, the park that has it down is Knoebels, no gate charge, pay as you go, bring in your own food, never a line longer then 10 minutes, free shows, and still offers a great experience.  It all depends on what you like.

[fladogfan aka Gretchen 259]

I was in Sea World New Years Eve and tho the parking lot was full it didn't seem so crowded in the park.  I was surprised about that.  I mainly walked around to see the decorations and did not stay for fireworks.  Too achy these days   Probably at midnight it was crowded in the viewing areas.

 

One nice thing about the parking, an employee was directing cars down lanes that had slots available, that was helpful.

[southernview -- Ray 25]

A few years ago we made the mistake of going to Universal for one of their Halloween parties.  I think they had six different "haunted houses" set up and you were supposed to be able to go through all of them with the opening from 6:00 PM until midnight.  When we got through the gate is when I thought we had made a mistake by being there and by the time we got in the first house it was already nearly 9:00 PM.  I have never witnessed such a crowd before or since then--it was unbelievable, one could barely take normal steps, it was worse than awful.  We left for the gate after going through the one house and finally made it out of there at nearly 11:00 PM. 

 

That was one of the biggest ripoffs that I have ever been a victim of and it left such a bad taste in my mouth that I have never been back to Universal since then.  When we were at Dollywood this past December, we were only going to go to the park two times and when we arrived to buy our tickets, we found that we could buy an annual pass for less money than two days would have cost and we did so because we planned on going back in the spring.    I guess Cyclonic is right, maybe they plan on making their money on other things.

[Cyclonic 55]

We have done that at Dollywood too, usually we plan several trips in that year.  Also a great park, one of my favorites.

[Travisma 1,317]

I agree that by making it affordable for "everyone" to come back, they are counting on people spending $$.  The Busch/Seaworld Fun Passes don't include parking, so there's a quick $20 everytime a car load comes back.  But, at some point it gets too darn crowded for anyone to enjoy their visit, especially a vacationer with a limited amount of time.

 

We bought our Seaworld Platinum pass in San Antonio when we went to our granddaughters birthday in Houston.  We got a 2 year pass for about $200.  That was less than a one year pass for the Tampa/Orlando parks.  We got it on the EZ Pay sysyem, so it's been renewed at the same price we originally paid for it.  We have more than gotten our $$ worth out of it, so it's no big deal to just go and catch a show or 2 then call it a day.  But I do miss the good old days at Busch when you got the 3 free beer samples every visit!

 

I wish Disney would either go back to the gate admission then ride tickets or offer that sort of program as an option.  We don't go on a lot of rides so just paying to get in at a lower cost and be able to wander around would be good enough for us.