COVID-19’s Impacts on BGW
- Thread starter WDWRLD
- Start date
I honestly dont care what happens at Hershey. I cant worry abiut every park in the country, but BGW taking payments out non stop is bullshit with no explanation on how they will provide a comperable service for those payments. I guarentt if it was the other way around they would drop your pass in a heartbeat if you had money problems.
At this point, it's clear that the industry is committed to attempting to establish a "new normal" of operations during the pandemics, rather than staying shuttered—Disney reopening this weekend is a clear example of that position. The viability of this (especially on a regional level), however, remains to be seen, and BGW is currently in a tough position as a regional park in a state that is not providing specific guidance for theme parks (with California the other state taking a stand for public health reasons). And the current trend for cases is unlikely to make that situation more viable for the park to work out a deal with the state to open anytime in July, meaning that Water Country's season is definitely shot, and the park then enters into a decision of whether to try to open and gear up for Howl-o-Scream, or basically sit on their hands for a few months and gauge whether opening exclusively for Christmas Town is viable given the state of the virus at that time.
As for the question of payments, it's really a failure of communication. I think the park's position is not necessarily unreasonable, but after the initial offer to defer payments or keep paying for added benefits that will now need to be pushed into the 2021 season, they've said very little, and the furloughs/outsourcing mean the state of their customer service is a significant struggle.
As for the question of payments, it's really a failure of communication. I think the park's position is not necessarily unreasonable, but after the initial offer to defer payments or keep paying for added benefits that will now need to be pushed into the 2021 season, they've said very little, and the furloughs/outsourcing mean the state of their customer service is a significant struggle.
Considering most parks have continued to do the same thing I find the vilifying of SEAS for this rather annoying to paint it like SEAS is the only park parent company “screwing” people, which btw was allowing customers to pause payments.
But if you paused payments excluded you from getting the membership level upgrades....so they punished you for that. Its been 4 months and I have no idea how BGW plans to do their passes and dining plans. They said they will add it on to the end but what does that mean? End of what? Im on ezpay so there is no end. Ive heard there was a meeting about the future of 2020 and it wasnt bright.
Me continuing to pay so upper management can still get their massive salaries does not sit well with me.
Just to set the record straight, as of very recently, BGW still intends to open in 2020.
I’m sure things are changing every minute/hour/day at this point, but if you’re able to share any info, do you know what the latest status is on attempting to hold Howl-O-Scream or ChristmasTown in 2020?
I ask because we’re about to reach the two month mark until the planned opening night of HOS and I would hope that they’ve begun to prepare. I would also think that these events could help bring in lost revenue as they’re popular!
Hershey has been really good about processing refunds for pass holders who don't want to come this year. Yes there are a few cases falling through the cracks, but overall they've done a good job squaring things up with customers. Compare that to SEAS who is using their customer base and vendors as an unwitting financing mechanism and it's not even close in terms of business practices.
Personally I have no problems with what BGW did. There's a way out of it if you can't afford to keep making payments. They extended the end date and won't pull payments when you hit 12 months of payments. The counter arguments are (to me) people not wanting to understand what's presented in front of them because they aren't getting what they want.
I can understand the frustration at the same time, but I agree a lot of it comes from misunderstanding and perceived entitlement. I'm glad that I prepaid for my membership, although a little miffed that my Platinum membership seems less exclusive/rewarding at this point.
At the end of the day however, there are far worse things that could be happening, I'm still upright and above ground. I will get to see the park through a new lens when I get to go again, that's for sure.
At the end of the day however, there are far worse things that could be happening, I'm still upright and above ground. I will get to see the park through a new lens when I get to go again, that's for sure.
So that's what's bothering me the most. I paid a premium for these benefits, and now grandfathered in passes that got an upgrade and now got a bigger upgrade are getting the same thing despite paying less than half of me. Yet they complain about still paying.
So they say....but I will believe it when I see it. I dont have great confidence in how BGW does things based on past experiences. I can just see a senerio where when my 12 months ends next march I will get a few months not taken out of my account. Then in June or July I go to enter the park and be told my pass is not working and I need to go to guest relations. There they will make me set up my payment all over again and hopfully not telling me that since I wasnt continiously up to date on my payments I need to upgrade to a current plan.
So, you are aggrieved about a hypothetical scenario that you have created out of whole cloth, based on your demonstrated anti-BGW bias?
I'd second this, and we know (by simply looking back in this thread) that some people on here got grandfathered passes that got upgrades for no reason that got bonus upgrades from COVIDized memberships. I feel like some of those are the same ones making comments about having still been paying.
No...im just going on how they have done things in the past. Ill happily eat my words if they work this out with no flaws but I highly doubt that. How quickly yall forget they stabbed yall in the back by telling you how the memberships would be the only option then opened the velvet rope for those legacy passholders to waltz into the park......Yall keep drinking the cool aid.......
edited to add....I am on a grandfathered membership plan, I switched over when they were first anounced....and so far those covid upgrades havent done me any good with a closed park.
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I haven’t forgotten anything, and we have never been patsies for the park.
Holding BGW accountable for what they have done is completely different than assuming that they will do something terrible to you in the future. We are in completely uncharted territory and every theme park is struggling to find ways to navigate them.
BGW certainly has not done the best job of addressing the medical and economic crisis, and there are plenty of reasons to be unhappy about their handling of memberships and passes. I can see no reason, however, to expand our complaints to crimes that have not been committed and may never come about.
Holding BGW accountable for what they have done is completely different than assuming that they will do something terrible to you in the future. We are in completely uncharted territory and every theme park is struggling to find ways to navigate them.
BGW certainly has not done the best job of addressing the medical and economic crisis, and there are plenty of reasons to be unhappy about their handling of memberships and passes. I can see no reason, however, to expand our complaints to crimes that have not been committed and may never come about.
I wanted to pick this part out to take a moment to reflect on what I point out what is happening with other parks -
Yes some parks have handled everything better than BGW....conversely there are parks that have handled it worse. The continual shaming of BGW/SEAS has gotten really old when there's few parks that haven't had any complaints at all on how they handled things. I've mentioned it before, but when views are taken in by "this is only what I see" we loose sight of where it stands in the grander scale of things. BGW has communicated when they intend on doing. There's things I read from other parks of still charging, not extending passes, not adding benefits, randomly changing due dates of payments, shortening payment terms. Meanwhile we got BGW still closed by, what clearly at this point, something that is not their choice.
I know my comment on what happened with Disney got eye-rolls, but I was being very tongue in cheek about the fact that there was very little negative commentary. Yes it might not be the most enjoyable thing to see at times, but I'm tired of some parks getting passes for "mistakes" that would be very much a point used to trash another park. And don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to be a patsy for the park either or excuse everything, but when parks are given different levels of "what's acceptable" it becomes very annoying fast.
Do I love the way BGW has handled all of this? No. Not at all. Am I thinking they are actively trying to screw me? Absolutely not. But it seems that it's got to be one way or the other for some people, which sadly is again just a mirror held up to everything that this nation is right now.
Ok, your right I can agree with that. I just hope they eventually tell us something.
I've not heard, but it's my impression that the park isn't thinking about those events at all right now to be honest. Frankly, I don't think the people who would be needed to make those events happen this year have been on the payroll in months. Might something last minute be thrown together (park decorations and the like) with the Howl-O-Scream or Christmas Town branding? Sure. Do I believe there's any possibility at this point that either would look anything like previous years? No, not really. Even if the virus just magically vanished right now, too much planning time has already been lost by my assessment—not to mention the fact that their budgets have likely been gutted.