We did explain the process in our February article on the new Membership Program.
Busch Gardens Williamsburg Membership Program
- Thread starter Nicole
- Start date
Im saying for the majority of park pass holders or "members" that dont read this forum that BGW should explain this better in an official format. I know when we upgraded someone was asking at another window how they worked and the team member was unable to give them any info and did not explain the dates associated. I also think the way they divide the tickets included in your membership is dumb, I know thats how its always been.Nicole said:
This is the current verbiage on the Membership page:
From the outset they implied that the tickets would be available throughout the year; they did not indicate that it would be a packet of two/three tickets that you would get on 24 Mar or something like that. While this forum does get a bit of an inside scoop directly from park management a lot of times, there is plenty of info available for folks, most without much digging.
For many of us, our wants sometimes cloud our sight and we read what we hope, not what is intended. I'vebecome jaded learned to read at face value items like this, as I sometimes get to interact with guests that read what they expect vs. what is on the paper/screen.
From the outset they implied that the tickets would be available throughout the year; they did not indicate that it would be a packet of two/three tickets that you would get on 24 Mar or something like that. While this forum does get a bit of an inside scoop directly from park management a lot of times, there is plenty of info available for folks, most without much digging.
For many of us, our wants sometimes cloud our sight and we read what we hope, not what is intended. I've
It is that way on the website now, but there were many posts on FB that asked about the free tickets and the BGW reply was that info on the tickets would be provided at a later date. Again those of us familiar with BGW and how free tickets worked in the past understood but someone new to BGW probably wouldnt realize that a included item they were paying for would be rationed out over the entire season. As someone who didnt realize this was how it worked explained to me, when I buy a fountain drink at a Disney Resort it comes with 3 refills. I never would expect those refills only be good for one between 10am-2pm, one between 2pm and 6pm and another between 8pm and 11pm.
whanna said:
The company I work for does the same thing. They call it splash advertising.
So we offer what we call a 3-10 (I'm a golf instructor). 3 months of practice and 10 lessons with 1 fitting. Well what isn't on there is the fact that you have only those 3 months to use everything and we could convert the 1 fitting into 2 lessons. But that's not on the main page. That's buried in the fine print.
I see BGW doing the exact same thing here. 3 free tickets is their 'splash' to entice the consumer to the bigger deal, and the small print is telling you how you get to use it. There's nothing wrong with that at all. Every company does some form of this. In all likelyhood the inability to find this early because the Membership is new and BGW only and there was some miscommunication. We're seeing mistakes all over the place over the change in the Pass to Membership. Si it wouldn't be shocking at all if the online language, ticket booth employee, and phone line employee all said something different.
Ok, currently, and this isn't exclusive to BGW in the theme park industry, but thier prices make no sense. I could type it out, but here is a list that should provide roughly the same idea:
2 single day 14 day advance tix=$180+parking
1 unlimited passes, with 2 b.a.f. tix(one at a time)=$180
2 same day tix= $200+parking
In the current system, there's no reason to buy a single day ticket unless you are going to the park by yourself. This is rediculous. The reson I thought of this was cause I was thinking of the ramifications of allowing all baf tix to be used at once. That would lead to 4 admissions for $240, or 3 for $180. Both of these are essentially the same rate, but far below the ticket prices.
I think there's a lot of discussion that could go along with this, so I'll leave it at that. Thoughts?
2 single day 14 day advance tix=$180+parking
1 unlimited passes, with 2 b.a.f. tix(one at a time)=$180
2 same day tix= $200+parking
In the current system, there's no reason to buy a single day ticket unless you are going to the park by yourself. This is rediculous. The reson I thought of this was cause I was thinking of the ramifications of allowing all baf tix to be used at once. That would lead to 4 admissions for $240, or 3 for $180. Both of these are essentially the same rate, but far below the ticket prices.
I think there's a lot of discussion that could go along with this, so I'll leave it at that. Thoughts?
sunchild said:
I wonder how many people really pay full price. By the time you factor in coupons distributed at Wendy's, discounted military tickets, Groupon deals, etc, it may be closer to 3 single day tickets add up to $180.
sunchild said:
On a counter side, let's say that there's a 50% profit margin on sales (just a round number to make this easy).
So 2 day of tickets is a PM of $100.
Lets think of something else. Those discount tickets. Let's say they are $70 each. A family of 5 now go because tickets are cheaper. If the PM of a $100 ticket is $50, the PM of the $70 ticket is $20. 5 tickets, $100. On the surface it looks like a loss.
But not really.
That 2 some coming in would spend maybe $45 each on food, $60 each on merch, $5 on a locker, $40 on pictures. That's a total of $150 per person. $300 total. Let's say a smaller 33% profit margin. $100 total made on them in the park. With the ticket sales PM the all day was $200 on that couple.
Ok that family of 5. Some kids so let's say an average of $30 for food. But $75 on merch, $10 on lockers, $50 on pictures. $165 per person. $825 total once in the park. A profit margin of 33% gives them $272 in profit. Plus the $100 at the gate, and the park makes $2372 on that family. So even at the discounted ticket price the park makes almost double.
That's how the park can sit and sell tickets at discounts and be ok with it. The sale of early tickets and discounts tend to mean larger groups, more money spent in the park, and they make up for it on that end.
My apologies now if someone has already mentioned this, but I was reading the pass details and it doesn't specifically say that I am entitled to enter the other SEAS parks like the last pass. I do have the premier pass, and was wondering if other people have noticed this?? Again, sorry if this was already discussed.
whanna said:
I'm confident in the information on the website. I just thought it was interesting they didn't specifically put it in the verbiage on the pass. I have had to reprint my old Platinum pass 20 or so times over the last 5 years (until I got the hard card) and it has always been specifically mentioned. Just interesting the left it out on this pass.
whanna said:
No worries!! I think I'm over thinking it because I'm just used to it saying that the pass is "Admission only benefits to any SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment park..." We generally travel to Florida once a year, and have had our share of "Your pass doesn't work here" spiels so having that verbiage made entry a lot easier. Thanks to the new hand held scanner system, we haven't had that issue as of recently. We started with two park passes (before Florida became a pilgrimage yearly), and me being me, I noticed the subtle legal verbiage changes.
sunchild said:
they want you to buy the membership or pass over the single day ticket, hoping youll come back again and spend more money
Under the Basic and Unlimited pass option has anyone seen if we still will get a discount for preferred parking? They only state general parking. We love parking in preferred and the discount we got to park there. We aren't interested in the Premier pass at this time. Thanks in advance y'all.
The sign at the parking gate says you can upgrade to preferred for $5 with the unlimited membership and $15 with basic. Someone posted a pic on the last page of the thread with the sign.
http://parkfans.net/thread-5051-post-164350.html#pid164350
http://parkfans.net/thread-5051-post-164350.html#pid164350
So got there late yesterday, and thought I would take a shot at the employee entrance. They were really nice telling my the lot was full, that they shouldn't do this but they let me through anyways and send me over to England parking.
So I just called to upgrade my passes (and take advantage of the $2 off deal). My EZPay date is the 18th so they just billed me 8 days ago. I was informed that they would cancel my current passes and I had to pay for the new ones today. How are we saving money if we are getting double billed in the same month? Anyone else had this experience?