Busch Gardens Williamsburg Membership Program

Register or Login to Hide This Ad for Free!
So I currently have the Platinum passes with EZPay and my parents chose not to change to the new system until they expire. With the Platinum pass will the blackout dates from the Basic Membership apply? Or can you go whenever?
 
  • Like
Reactions: jornor
No. As you can see in the spreadsheet we created, the blockout dates only apply to the new Basic Membership.

Platinum Pass holders will still receive their official benefits, but not get the Member-exclusive perks, like the Sneak Peak Days (except in March, when they are invited one last time). That means they still get admission on all days that the park is open to the public through the end of HOS.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jornor, Zimmy and lightninlady
To Nicole & Zachary, I guess I'm one of those people that has what is referred to as a ridiculously low cost for my yearly pass. To go with the same level pass I currently have which includes free parking the new membership will cost me well over $100 more a year, each! You call that fair? I don't!
And, for what it is worth....I don't go to shows (too loud) or ride the rides (too old) at BG. I go to enjoy the park and the surroundings.
I'm in a bit of a quandary because I have already promised some friends we will be there this year. Since my yearly payment is due next month...I guess I'm not going to be able to renew my pass from what you are telling me.
I find it a cheap shot that I had to renew my Brauhaus membership this past fall and now I either lose that money or pay through the nose to use it. As you can guess....I'm not happy! This whole realignment is meant to punish people like us who have been loyal customers to BG for 30 years. I used to come for the day, buy my food and drink and leave. You can rest assured there will be no food and drink beyond what I have already paid for this year. I am seriously considering buying a reduced rate single day ticket, picking up my stein and leaving BG for good. I guess that is what they want!
 
  • Like
Reactions: BGW Family
Rothbury said:
To Nicole & Zachary, I guess I'm one of those people that has what is referred to as a ridiculously low cost for my yearly pass.  To go with the same level pass I currently have which includes free parking the new membership will cost me well over $100 more a year, each!  You call that fair?  I don't!
And, for what it is worth....I don't go to shows (too loud) or ride the rides (too old) at BG.  I go to enjoy the park and the surroundings.
I'm in a bit of a quandary because I have already promised some friends we will be there this year.  Since my yearly payment is due next month...I guess I'm not going to be able to renew my pass from what you are telling me.
I find it a cheap shot that I had to renew my Brauhaus membership this past fall and now I either lose that money or pay through the nose to use it.  As you can guess....I'm not happy!  This whole realignment is meant to punish people like us who have been loyal customers to BG for 30 years.  I used to come for the day, buy my food and drink and leave.  You can rest assured there will be no food and drink beyond what I have already paid for this year.  I am seriously considering buying a reduced rate single day ticket, picking up my stein and leaving BG for good.  I guess that is what they want!
Click to expand...

Are you saying that the park was allowing you to renew your paid-in-full annual pass at the first rate at which you purchased? It was my understanding that price lock-ins only ever existed on monthly EZpay passes?

If that was the case, frankly, the park was being incredibly generous to you and that offer is no longer an option.



Because a lot of people seem to be having a difficult time swallowing the prices of the new Membership plans, I put this together:

UPDATE! My numbers were wrong. New chart here. It's even better than I expected.​

The chart above factors the price of last year's Christmas Town Pass ($30) into the total yearly price of each legacy annual pass. As you can see, especially with the introductory prices, most people are saving money.

As far as I can tell, the only people who are really, substantively, financially impacted, are those who have been unintentionally taking advantage of a broken system for years.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BBW, Merboy, jornor and 8 others
Just out of curiosity:
I get where you feel it's not fair to you that the prices changed. I understand that.

But on the flip side, the continued sub market pricing someone who renews under a contract could be considered "not fair" by people who haven't been in the area as long and we have to pay more.

:shrug: Kinda just saying that it might not seem fair to you that your price is going up, but to those of us that have been paying more it feels a little justified. There's always two sides to this kind of stuff.
 
  • Like
Reactions: CastleOSullivan, jornor, BBW and 5 others
Question out of curiosity. Was it mentioned as to whether they are going to keep on charging the $5 service fee for memberships purchased online? I know it's not much but that's just a tad more that it will cost for a membership above the price increase.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jornor, DJTLG and Zachary
Looks like they are still charging an Online Service fee, which doesn't make sense to me since there isn't a human employee that you are talking to at a window that needs to be paid...

I never understood why online ticket sales at any parks had service fees.

attachment.php
 

Attachments

  • servicefee.png
    servicefee.png
    57.1 KB · Views: 352
  • Like
Reactions: jornor, Eric, Alf33 and 1 other person
Shane said:
Looks like they are still charging an Online Service fee, which doesn't make sense to me since there isn't a human employee that you are talking to at a window that needs to be paid...

I never understood why online ticket sales at any parks had service fees.
Click to expand...

I might be able to enlighten on that seeing I worked at a place that did stuff like that:

Generally (won’t speak for BGW specifically) online sales are a 3rd party transaction. Especially payment plans like that. In those cases it’s typically a 3rd party that “pays” the entire fee up front. The extra transaction charge is what the 3rd party is charging.

The other most common issue comes down to payroll. The park is budgeting to have that person at the CS booth outside the park anyways. In an online transaction (and trust me I know this is silly) someone still has to go through and process it in the system. So that’s the way for corporate to make the money for the main office labor fees. So where I work our first service is $125. Buy it with use and $125 counts towards our monthly income and commission. Buy it online or pay through corporate, we only see $105 of it in our monthly income.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jornor, Alf33, Nicole and 1 other person
You know I equate this to city/ state/ national services. I went to prep school so my parents did not benefit directly from the public schools. I never go to Blacksburg or for that matter VA Tech so I don't benifit from thoes roads or that school. I never go to Alaska so I never benifit from the federal tax dollars that go to maintain the roads up in the norther part of the state. Still I pay those taxes because (well I have too) but by paying for the whole it ultimately benifits me as well. VA Tech Graduates Engineers and Vets to build roads and take care of my pets. The roads in Roanoke deliver bored teens from VA beach to College getting them out of here. The roads in Alaska bring oil. and so forth. If the extra bread BGW is getting means fewer rides shut down and better conditions for the few animals we still have than bring it. Consider how the gestalt benefits rather than how this is just hurting you. If you hate it, then don't renew.
 
Someone on Twitter pointed out that the $30 2017 Christmas Town Pass price I was using in my previous chart is actually wrong. Last year the CMT Pass was $39. Needless to say, this tips the scales in favor of the Membership program even more severely.

[tweet=https://twitter.com/BGWFans/status/962099654929371136]

Effectively, for anyone who signs up before the promotional period is over, it is impossible to pay more for your year-long Williamsburg park admission than you would have assuming last year's CMT Pass prices.

Plus, Memberships get more Sneak Peek days than we've ever seen the park offer before. Oh, and you get WCUSA too regardless of pass tier.

In other words, compared to the old One Park AP + CMT Pass combo, you pay less, get better benefits, and get Water Country USA included. That is, honestly, a crazy good deal.

EDIT: Updated chart to v3.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jornor, Celticdog, Alf33 and 2 others
That's a perfectly blunt response. I love the brutal honesty- it's great to see the park defending itself.

At the rate I pay, it's still more feasible for me to stay with my Legacy pass. But it would be ungrateful and unrealistic for me to expect the park to so generously allow me to stick with my current plan. The park easily could have said "tough luck" and forced me to pay a higher rate out of the blue but they didn't, and I salute them for it. People seem to take an arrogant sense of self-entitlement when it comes to stuff like this.

So hey, BGW, thanks for your kindness in giving your loyal fans a choice. Many businesses would not have been so courteous.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BBW, netdvn, MAZ and 12 others
I wonder if it would make sense for some people to keep their current passes and also get a Basic Membership. That would give them admission to the park through the end HOS without blackouts and feee parking, while still giving them some free CT days and access to the Member exclusives, like the Sneak Peeks.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jornor
Does anyone have a list of all the Member sneak peak days? I didn't see it anywhere in the thread here or on BGW's website. Thanks
 
  • Like
Reactions: jornor
The Sneak Peek dates are listed on the Blockout Calendar: March 17, September 14, and November 16. Additionally, BGW Marketing told us tonight that there will probably be additional Member-only days throughout the year.

Speaking of which, we just updated and restructured our article on the Membership program. It now includes everything we have learned, since our initial interview with Dan. The charts and spreadsheet have been updated, as well.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MAZ, jornor and warfelg
Can somebody explain 'blockout dates' for me? I only 'think' I know what it means. I'd like to understand more thoroughly what happens on these dates.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jornor
You must log in or register to reply here.
Consider Donating to Hide This Ad