Busch Gardens Williamsburg Membership Program

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Well I'm going in on the premier. Mostly I'm planning a trip to Orlando this year to visit family. Don't feel like paying for Disney/Universal, so spending the extra $2 a month to make 2/3 park trips while I'm in the Tampa/Orlando area is 100% worth it to me. Also have family that comes often so having the extra tickets to give out to them is really cool for me.

Plus....premier parking is just fun. Feel special.
 
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Last year, I had the Fun Card, and only went on Saturdays due to how far I live (as in, "driving past KD to go to BGW"). I see they still have the Fun Card, which would be a better deal for me than the Basic Pass membership what with the blackout pricing. Between that and still paying for parking, I would be paying more with the basic than the unlimited. It only makes sense for families going on fewer than three blackout days or locals going on only one or no blackout days.

Not sure I'm getting the Fun Card again on an off year like this. My travels this year will be taking me to Ohio and hopefully Canada. 2019 will be Florida, and I'll be getting a premier that year because of that. I might have to downgrade to a Kings Dominion only pass that year if I want to do Disney/Universal while I'm there.
 
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I wish there was more info on Christmas Town and the ticket costs as well as what some of the other vague perks were. I currently have a platinum pass but Im locked into a crazy low rate. I don't make a lot of money and it's my one splurge that allows me to escape the world of money stress and bills. I want to do my part for the park and wouldn't mind paying more but I kinda feel like I've been asked to make a partially blind decision.
 
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From BGW's Facebook I saw that the old passes will get you into Passmember preview day for this year, but other "sneak days" will not be available for the old passes.
 
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Just read 4 pages of this thread. I'm not sure if I became smarter by doing so. Either way, I think I'll skip BGW this year. Or not. Who knows. The situation seems ridiculously overthought to me.

My point.....just have a couple pass choices. Make your money. Keep it simple.
 
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BGW's pitch is that they are attempting to do just that with the Membership program.

For new members the Membership lineup seems pretty straightforward to me. Fun Cards still muddy the waters some for sure, but for many people HOS/CMT are important enough to justify ignoring the existence of the Fun Card all together.

Things get really complicated when you throw people with existing passes into the mix. That seems like sort of an unavoidable evil though. :-/
 
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I for one like this new system. More simple than the old passes. I do think they should’ve addressed transitioning much earlier on though. If current passmembers had an idea of what will happen, than the transition would be much smoother. I’ve seen countless old passmembers get “confused”, or just straight up frustrated.
 
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Point of discussion: is the $204 cost of the "Unlimited Membership" justifiable when the price of Kings Dominion's comparable pass is roughly half that amount?
 
I don’t think the two parks offer equal experiences.

WCUSA is a larger, and honestly much nicer, park than Soak City. The food is still better and cheaper at BGW. The discounts and member extras, like pass member days, are better at BGW.

I’m not saying I necessarily believe BGW is twice as good as KD, but I don’t think they are equal either.
 
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I think that is a fair assessment (although I do have a soft spot for Soak City).

At the same time, I wonder if the difference in quality is worth the $336 difference for a family of 4. I suppose it depends on the family.
 
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Joe said:
Point of discussion: is the $204 cost of the "Unlimited Membership" justifiable when the price of Kings Dominion's comparable pass is roughly half that amount?
Click to expand...

I mean payments of 18 a month for unlimited visits to both parks, cheaper meals and merch, free parking, bring a friend tickets is a pretty good value imo. I have to drive 3 hours to get to Busch and I completely think it’s worth it. Speaking that the one day tickets are now 90 dollars, the pass will pay easily for 2 days at the park alone. Would you rather spend close to 160 for one day, or 206 for unlimited days. I would rather pay the 206
 
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I am so confused by Nicole's "article" that I just don't get it. You state, as well as the BG email that I got, that if you have a current pass you can keep it. We have been passholders since the park opening. But I pay for my pass as a single payment. Which, by the way, has been adjusted numerous times for price. Bullet #2 of your article states if you have a paid in full pass you HAVE to transition to the new pass. So, which is it? Keep your pass or transition? It can't be both ways.
The second point I'd like to point out is not all of us are young and physically capable of using the WCUSA portion of a new pass. Why should I be forced to pay for something that we will never use?! Let alone the fact that I live off of retirement and SS now. I guess I'll walk the streets of my neighborhood instead of BG!
As we discussed last night....if we are going to be forced into a new pass structure we will stop our pass membership. I guess maybe that is what BG wants, is to exclude the senior citizens. Some who have supported the park since it's opening. I have to say I am disappointed that BG has taken this action.
 
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If you have a paid-in-full Pass, you can continue to use it for the full year. You do not have to switch to a Membership immediately; the legacy passes will not become immediately invalid, as people had feared. You will also continue to get all of your official benefits. You will not be able to renew it, however. At that point, you will have to switch.

If you were using EZPay, you would be able to keep your current pass, until the park decides to discontinue them. No date is set for when they will become invalid.

We asked BGW about the elimination of a single park option. Their perspective is that everyone visits the park for different reasons. They view WCUSA as one of many entertainment options available to their guests. So, they decided to give their “Members” access to everything, and allow them to pick and choose what they want to do.

From my personal perspective, I can see their point. I don’t ever go to any shows or concerts at BGW, yet I have always had to pay for access to them. Adding the water park for people who don’t go there is a lot like including categories of attractions for people who don’t like them.
 
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If they are going to force (might be too strong of a word) people to get passes to both parks, they should offer free transportation between both parks. Just my opinion.
 
Rothbury, I sympathize with your position, but honestly, anyone who paid their passes in full previously can slide over to the new structure pretty painlessly... And when you compare the prices, it's really not bad...

The One Park Pass was $12 per month. During this initial promo period, you could either opt to pay a little less in 2018 and take the 50% off parking and blackout dates ($10 per month Basic Membership), or you can opt to spend a little more in 2018 and upgrade to the $15 per month Unlimited Membership and not have to deal with those restrictions.

And I get it. If you move to Unlimited, it costs a total of $36 per year, per pass more. BUT, here's the thing—ALL of these memberships include Christmas Town now. If we subtract last year's Christmas Town Pass price from the price difference, the new Unlimited Membership is a miniscule 50¢ more per month.

Especially given the promise of more membership-exclusives (events, promos, etc) I honestly think that is a pretty fair deal.
 
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Comparing it a bit to Hersheypark, because I see similarity between the two parks as highly themed regional parks with water parks and zoology departments.

HP 1 pass option = BGW 3 pass options
HP free parking = BGW ranges from no parking included to premiere parking
HP pass holder event = BGW pass holder event
HP includes year round visits = BGW now includes year round
HP 15% discount in park = BGW 10% discount (PA tax is higher and BGW prices are lower)
HP water park in the main park = BGW includes WCUSA potentially
HP includes extra ticket discounts = BGW includes from discounts to 3 free passes
HP no other park visits = BGW has a pass with 9 other parks included
HP $170 = BGW $120 - $240

Sometimes we have to keep perspective from what other similar parks charge. To me, BGWs $240 is comparable to HPs $170 and you get a few extra benefits. The middle passes are $170 compared to $180. And extra park, some free passes, all other stuff about the same. So $10 more over a similar park with a similar pass. That’s not all that bad IMO. Personally I prefer my BGW pass over my HP pass. Mostly it comes to the water park side. WCUSA blows boardwalk out of the water (pun intended). At Boardwalk you literally need to get in the park and sprint to the back of the park to not just get seats, but to also have a chance to rent a cabana for a few hours that day. At WCUSA that issue doesn’t exist. I’ve never had an issue getting a chair or cabana.
 
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