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Honestly, right now, I’d probably trade having more kids in the park for having less alcohol. I know the financial arguments against this, but I’m getting really tired of the seas of unmaked guests strolling around the park fending off the virus with the beer in their hand. In my observations, the beer-carrying young couples or groups of young adults without children have been the worst offenders in this regard.
 
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Zachary said:
Honestly, right now, I’d probably trade having more kids in the park for having less alcohol. I know the financial arguments against this, but I’m getting really tired of the seas of unmaked guests strolling around the park fending off the virus with a beer in their hand. In my observations, the beer-carrying young couples or groups of young adults without children have been the worst offenders in this regard.
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This is just my opinion of it:

The seeming lack of a middle ground to make it happen is what's disturbing. I really like the road that Disney went with seats everywhere and it could be down while sitting and eating/drinking. The could have rented tables and chairs and put them along some path areas and require people to it.
 
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Zachary said:
Honestly, right now, I’d probably trade having more kids in the park for having less alcohol. I know the financial arguments against this, but I’m getting really tired of the seas of unmaked guests strolling around the park fending off the virus with the beer in their hand. In my observations, the beer-carrying young couples or groups of young adults without children have been the worst offenders in this regard.
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I say this admittedly as someone who doesn't mind the climb, but the best news about them opening Germany for the next event is that it likely opens the Rhine River Bridge and creates a pathway to move between areas of the park that doesn't involve dealing with the beer-in-handers.

But yes, they're focused on alcohol because it makes them money. But if that's the plan, I'd argue that they really needed to have installed a security guard at the entrance of the Wild Reserve yesterday, and I'm hoping they might clue into this need for the next event.
 
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I'm really hoping it is. I think it would fix a lot of the gripes I've had with Coasters & Craft Brews. Including food with the ticket price is a fantastic solution—it justifies the price and forces in-park spending via proxy.
 
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Zachary said:
I'm really hoping it is. I think it would fix a lot of the gripes I've had with Coasters & Craft Brews. Including food with the ticket price is a fantastic solution—it justifies the price and forces in-park spending via proxy.
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It also pretty much takes small kids off the table entirely, given they’re unlikely to use the food portion of things enough to get one’s money’s worth.

I’m ambivalent toward this: it definitely works a bit better in terms of forcing park spending and thus ensuring a degree of profit margins, but as someone who isn’t interested in the food per se I don’t know if the value is there to encourage repeat visits, although obviously someone who IS more interested in the food might visit twice to try “everything.” And I’m curious how they price it out when they will likely still only be four-hour blocks.
 
I64 Trekker said:
Curious to see if the next special event after Coasters and Craft Brews at BGW is ticketed, even for passmembers...

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Zachary said:
I'm really hoping it is. I think it would fix a lot of the gripes I've had with Coasters & Craft Brews. Including food with the ticket price is a fantastic solution—it justifies the price and forces in-park spending via proxy.
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I don't think we would see it happen here. The largest reason is that BGW has the highest proportion of members/passholders to paid tickets of all the SEAS parks. As much as they will want to make money I don't think it's likely that they would want upset members/passholders to that degree. A park like SWSD where the pass rate is significantly lower it's more feasible. I also haven't looked into too much but it's possible that this is part of the state requirement for them to be able reopen.
 
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I will say that if it proves a successful model for SWSD then it's definitely possible we could see it come to BGW
 
I64 Trekker said:
Curious to see if the next special event after Coasters and Craft Brews at BGW is ticketed, even for passmembers...
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I really hope its not. As a passmember, I won't be going if I have to pay, say $45, to enter and then possibly $10-$25 for parking for such a limited offering. That doesn't even include food. On my last trip I spent $40 on food and then another $75 on merchandise. A paid ticket event would eliminate all that spending from me.
 
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Celticdog said:
I really hope its not. As a passmember, I won't be going if I have to pay, say $45, to enter and then possibly $10-$25 for parking for such a limited offering. That doesn't even include food. On my last trip I spent $40 on food and then another $75 on merchandise. A paid ticket event would eliminate all that spending from me.
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At the San Diego event, it DOES include food, though, as you’re getting a lanyard that gives you 6 food items. Basically, it’s just giving the park guaranteed revenue instead of hoping that everyone spends at the level you’re spending at.

Now, it’s controlling how you spend that money that won’t work for someone who isn’t interested in the specific food options that are part of the festival (this is my position honestly, even without knowing the specifics) but we’ll see how they choose to cross that bridge if they go with this plan.
 
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Celticdog said:
I really hope its not. As a passmember, I won't be going if I have to pay, say $45, to enter and then possibly $10-$25 for parking for such a limited offering. That doesn't even include food. On my last trip I spent $40 on food and then another $75 on merchandise. A paid ticket event would eliminate all that spending from me.
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Plus your 3-4 hour one-way drive and hotel, unless you day-tripped it.
 
tursiops said:
I get how the SWSD event makes sense and is more fair to the park, but it would cause the members here to go ballistic and would really hurt the park's image, especially with an already established event idea in people's heads.
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I mean, ultimately the park hasn’t made any promises that every event will be the same, and while I agree that the messaging situation will be messy I don’t think it’s impossible to thread the needle on “We’re giving members a heavily discounted, value-laden deal to enjoy our latest event.”

That said, though, I do think that the different membership profiles between the parks does mean that there is a much larger cadre of people who expect their membership to get them access to the park at their leisure, something that the reservation system is already restricting. The question is whether they can create an event where members have access to discounted tickets (let’s say $20 for the sake of argument) that give them a certain number of food/wine items and all their other perks (parking, merch/food discounts) that makes it feel like the value proposition is still there. Definitely would still create headaches (less economical to bring kids at a time when hiring a sitter is far more challenging/risky, not everyone would be interested in the food/wine options, etc.), but they’re trying to maximize profit within limited capacity and experimentation is to be expected.
 
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I've been thinking about this and I believe the biggest issue that they would run into they charged everyone for the event is the way in which BGW marketed the memberships, when they first rolled out. Unlike the passes, which did not include (in the case of Williamsburg) Christmas Town, the memberships were supposed to give holders access year-round to all BGW activities. Dan described it as buying in to a club that gave you exclusive access. That is why you pay every month: you are a member, not a pass holder.

While I think the SWSD event is a great model in theory, I believe it would violate the spirit of the Williamsburg membership program. Who knows if the current team at BGW understands the concept behind the switch from passes to memberships; perhaps they mistakenly view it as simple re-branding. Either way, I think replicating it at BGW would probably further frustrate members and violate the principles behind the program, itself.
 
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Nicole said:
I've been thinking about this and I believe the biggest issue that they would run into they charged everyone for the event is the way in which BGW marketed the memberships, when they first rolled out. Unlike the passes, which did not include (in the case of Williamsburg) Christmas Town, the memberships were supposed to give holders access year-round to all BGW activities. Dan described it as buying in to a club that gave you exclusive access. That is why you pay every month: you are a member, not a pass holder.

While I think the SWSD event is a great model in theory, I believe it would violate the spirit of the Williamsburg membership program. Who knows if the current team at BGW understands the concept behind the switch from passes to memberships; perhaps they mistakenly view it as simple re-branding. Either way, I think replicating it at BGW would probably further frustrate members and violate the principles behind the program, itself.
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This is why I think it would be a great time to set the standard between the two for this event.
Membership holders get full free access due to their membership

legacy pass holders can upgrade their pass to include memebership access to all events.

Win-win here : justify the memberships and gets passes to transition
 
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Facebook groups suggesting that Wirbelwind and the Carousel are both on tap for the new event as additional Germany attractions beyond Verbolten, which definitely boosts appeal for families.
 
I would not trust the Facebook groups. They also are saying that the park is going to open stuff in Italy which I'm told is not currently planned.
 
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I'm not sure what break existing members are getting due to the virus, but I just became a member and, as far as I know, am paying full price of a normal season, so that wouldn't be right to charge extra. I would understand a nominal fee regarding the reservation if it meant availability. Also I'm going to ride not eat or drink, that's incidental.
 
So in San Diego they are charging members $30 and regular guests $75. So basically what they are saying is that the lanyard is worth $30. If you take away the lanyard and other perks then the pricing is similar to BGW.

Honestly the more I look at it I think that this could be a good idea if handled correctly. It would serve as a disincentive to book a reservation and not show up.
 
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