I think they learned from that and did things that way later in the night
Busch Gardens Christmas Celebration 2020
- Thread starter netdvn
- Start date
I never saw a schedule - they were playing at 4:50 or so before they let people past the castle last night, and then I walked by a couple of times when they were playing.
Curious to hear more from everyone about how they respond to the value proposition of the event: the lack of a discount for advance ticket sales has definitely create some sticker shock, and I don’t think it‘s unreasonable for someone to balk at paying normal prices for what is by nature a limited experience.
That said, the sponsored Facebook posts are drawing both reasonable and, uh, less reasonable takes.
That said, the sponsored Facebook posts are drawing both reasonable and, uh, less reasonable takes.
Supply and demand. Supply is limited, and the park is still selling out, so why shouldn't the prices be high?
Also: lol at the guy who said it should be free "during these rough times"!
Also: lol at the guy who said it should be free "during these rough times"!
They’re eight weeks from Pantheon being close to opening, don’t hold onto that expectation.
Honestly I was a bit let down by the event. I shocked to be saying this but I honestly felt that this was the weakest event that they have had. I don't know if I just had my hopes to high but I just found it rather disappointing. I thought given how nice England looked that tge park could have been better decorated and I think that not going the route event food stations and tasting cards like all the other was a mistake. And tge train is just not working well. The staff that takes up could have been so much better utilized elsewhere.
Just because they can charge a lot doesn't mean it's necessarily a good business strategy for their brand. The event is a scaled back version of Christmas Town yet half day tickets are going for more than a fun card typically does on a lot of days - e.g. some days are at $74.99. If they are going to charge $20-30 more than a typical year, there needs to be additional value in the purchase, not significantly less. That kind of pricing that may bring in a little extra money in the short term, but is really off-putting to a lot of customers who may not check back in future years.
Counter to this is look at cost all over the place. I treated myself to 5 guys last week and was rather surprised by how much the cost of my burger, fries, and drink had gone up since the last time which admittedly was probably 6 or more months ago. It's important to keep that perspective that Busch isn't the only place we are seeing prices go up. Also as I pointed out the Christmas dinner is only 13.99 this year which I believe is cheaper then previous years while food cist in general are rising so it possible that Busch is using a higher upfront cost to keep the in park cost down.
The event is still cheaper than single day tickets were last year for Christmas Town. The difference this year is that BGW isn't running any promotions where your can get tickets at a reduced price.
I'm not sure what fun card process you are referring to but those are almost always at least $100 per fun card.
I paid $51.99 for Xmas fun cards last year. Half day tickets are higher than that on a lot of days this year.
I think there's two things to factor in here.
The first is that BGW's primary goal with this pricing is to drive membership—the highest the cost of single-day tickets, the more people will realize they can save money on parking, and potentially return next year. Christmas Town is already a huge function of this since there isn't the cheaper option of full-season Fun Cards (or, typically, preschool passes), and I think on a corporate level one of the main benefits of being open right now is trying to drive revenue for 2021 as much as making money in the short term.
The second is that I think even with the expanded capacity, the park feels confident there are 4000 people who are either already members, willing to become members, or willing to pay prices comparable to the day-of sales from past Christmas Town events. Now, as to whether that's actually a good value proposition, I would argue it's not, but I think people's perception of value is shifting in the context of our current situation. If this is one of the one forms of holiday entertainment that's available, whether as a slice of normalcy or as a family ritual that can be safely executed, I think they're counting on people being willing to pay for that in ways they might not have under normal circumstances.
Now, these two factors absolutely mean that there will be people who are priced out of Christmas Town. And if sales seem to be slow in a couple of weeks, I think you might see them do a Black Friday deal on tickets more similar to the advance tickets deals from past years (which are of course designed to lock in people who might otherwise choose not to visit the park due to inclement weather). But I think the market is there for what they're offering, even I agree that customer satisfaction is going to be a bit of a question mark (especially since I'm seeing reports of 45 minute waits tonight and they're selling Quick Queues now apparently).
The first is that BGW's primary goal with this pricing is to drive membership—the highest the cost of single-day tickets, the more people will realize they can save money on parking, and potentially return next year. Christmas Town is already a huge function of this since there isn't the cheaper option of full-season Fun Cards (or, typically, preschool passes), and I think on a corporate level one of the main benefits of being open right now is trying to drive revenue for 2021 as much as making money in the short term.
The second is that I think even with the expanded capacity, the park feels confident there are 4000 people who are either already members, willing to become members, or willing to pay prices comparable to the day-of sales from past Christmas Town events. Now, as to whether that's actually a good value proposition, I would argue it's not, but I think people's perception of value is shifting in the context of our current situation. If this is one of the one forms of holiday entertainment that's available, whether as a slice of normalcy or as a family ritual that can be safely executed, I think they're counting on people being willing to pay for that in ways they might not have under normal circumstances.
Now, these two factors absolutely mean that there will be people who are priced out of Christmas Town. And if sales seem to be slow in a couple of weeks, I think you might see them do a Black Friday deal on tickets more similar to the advance tickets deals from past years (which are of course designed to lock in people who might otherwise choose not to visit the park due to inclement weather). But I think the market is there for what they're offering, even I agree that customer satisfaction is going to be a bit of a question mark (especially since I'm seeing reports of 45 minute waits tonight and they're selling Quick Queues now apparently).
They aren't selling Christmas Town Fun cards this year. The fact still remains that single day tickets are still cheaper this year than they were last year.
I mean, I just wrote a big reply basically defending this pricing, but there's no question that a LOT of people buy their tickets early to pay closer to $25-$35 to visit Christmas Town, and thus are not irrational to feel like this is a more expensive event.
Right now the early pricing starts at $39.99, so this is a pretty healthy jump for a more limited experience and visit time. The guests that make a once a year visit out of Christmas Town are the ones who will be the most off put by the price and offering.
I agree that they do. But like you said they have limited capacity. That's exactly why they haven't had any promotions.
I do think that is possible based on ticket sales that they could have some sales where single day tickets are cheaper for certain days. But that would depend on them having sessions where the attendance looks to be drastically less than desired.
And basically the park's argument would be that there will be more than enough of your wealthy one-time visitors/members who will fill the slots without those people, and if the price pushes more of those people to graduate from "once a year at Christmas" to "maybe we can go next summer too" members, that's a win for the park. With limited capacity, a lost customer doesn't really have the impact it would otherwise.
I got pics of the Killarney village band on Friday night
Is the one on the left the same person who plays that instrament in Celtic Fyre?