Total revenue and EBITDA down in first quarter for United Parks

When you have some of the worst ride operations in the industry it’s not surprising. Busch Gardens Tampa could, and should, be the “Cedar Point of the South” from November through April with top-notch ride operations yet I regularly here “never again.”How do you F something up that is so stupid simple?!

While Six Flags/Cedar Fair has undersold their product and not only given away the gate plus food & drink, this company is at the opposite end of the spectrum. They have gouged to the point the people are not coming back anymore. It's only going to get worse with the price of fuel and everything else rising.

Hyper gouging food pricing and the sleazy 5% surcharge might have been great for the financials in the short run, but in the long run it is causing attendance to lower.

Somewhere there is a happy medium between giving away the gate and gouging........

I stopped reading your post when I saw you referecing price gouging.

The problem is also the food has declined considerably since it has left Busch ownership. Add on top operations being terrible and up time being absolutely the worst. Then the ridiculous rates for parking.

I’ll say it again, United to me has far more pressing issues then SF… The new additions are great, but fix what is broken first.

I so wish Herschunds could have bought this chain instead of Palace, yes it would have meant the end of Howl-O-Scream but otherwise they are just a perfect fit to fix what ails these parks. That board is just the worst. Sadly I don’t think there is any company who is able and willing to buy them at this point.

that the hill you're going to die on? Yes it's not gouging in the old man traditional definition, but the word has adopted a newer meaning in recent years. Fight it all you want, but you look silly doing it.

You know darn well what he meant, (Looking at you mandatory $4 locker at Iron Gwazi).

Face it, if this group of educated consumers says that the operations are crap, and the experience isn't worth the premium price they charge, eventually the general public will figure that out as well. It looks like that's happening, Quarter after Quarter.

I just sub 'overcharging' for gouging anytime I see that word in these threads, that's basically what it is. And yes, the reports have effectively blocked any BGT Florida trips for us, at least til we're ready to try Epic along with it.

5% surcharge on anything purchased in the park. This was just downright sleazy and insults the customers intelligence.

$5 for one ride on a standard in park transportation or observation ride after paying a high ticket price to get in.

I’m not aware of any other chain that surcharges like this.

The parking and food prices are beyond the higher prices that one would expect. $11 for a pretzel at BGW….

There is always a tipping point and I think they have reached that. Short term profits will end up with long-term attendance decline.

I have to admit that I was prepared for the worst during my December trip to BGT, but was pleasantly surprised. We caught the right mix of preparations for the upcoming Xmas week crowds, but were lucky with semi reasonable crowds the weekend before that. Food quality has decreased, the staff are the absolute worst. That might just be Tampa, and not BGT, but they are just the worst. If that's what works at a theme park, I shudder to think what the local Walmart must be like.

super7*:

$5 for one ride on a standard in park transportation or observation ride after paying a high ticket price to get in.

Dude, they have charged for Skytowers and the skyride at San Diego since day one.

The recent charge for the skyride in Tampa is unfathomable.

For me it comes down to the fact that a ticket to BGT is virtually the same price point as a Disney or Universal 1-day. And with that ticket you get:

• Major coasters on single train operations
• Major rides on extended downtimes with no communication or refurb schedules
• Large plots of land where additional park attractions once stood
• An oversized park with very little to do
• An overall experience that's actually worse than Legacy Six Flags at its lowest points
• A comparison to an era when BGT and BGW were considered industry leaders in terms of the provided guest experience

but in the long run it is causing attendance to lower.

Bingo.

I have a trip report here of our most recent and certainly last visit to SWO from November 2024. The TLDR Version is everything opened late, several rides breaking down (some didn't open at all), awful operations, poor food, apathetic employees, and when I saw that 5% surcharge I was stunned. We left the park around 6:00 and took our money back to City Walk for dinner.

I have considered visiting BGT. Make it a 4 day trip and see some other things around Tampa. But if this is how these parks operate, hard pass.

I mean we plan on returning to Universal in the next year or two. On paper, I would once again carve out a day to visit Sea World. But after our last experience? Not happening.

Theme parks are a luxury and nickel and diming visitors at a theme park and calling it "gouging" is a disingenous, hyperbolic argument (and the poster doing it frequently uses that style to grind his axe). If visitors don't like it, the market will work it out. Price gouging is charging $50 for a case of bottled water after a disaster. The market is not going to work that out. Someone is going to pay that amount to save their own life.

Well, I'll defend him here, in that BGT's $4 mandatory locker charge for Iron Gwazi, with NO free locker option (like most other parks with mandatory no loose items policies) is gouging. You have someone over a barrel with no other choice if they wish to ride.

No, go yell at some kid to stay off your lawn.

Well, you have the option of not going to the park at all. Hence, the market taking care of it. I guess you could say they also have you over a barrel with their mandatory entrance fee. And it sounds like you have the lawn yelling sufficiently covered.

"Gouging refers to the act of charging unfairly high prices for essential goods or services, typically during emergencies, shortages, or times of high demand." That's doubling the price of gas before a hurricane, not overcharging for a crappy theme park experience.

I would argue that food and beverage are essential goods, especially when they already have you on their property. Sure, you can take an hour or two leave the park to find cheaper eating options, but that's time wasted. And sure, you should expect to pay more for everything at a theme park. But there is a tipping point.

I went to BGW two years ago. The park experience was not great. I guess it was okay. I'll spare the details, because everyone has already said it, but for the money, I was not impressed at all. Two years later, and I am not excited to do that again. Parks are expensive, but when they give you a mediocre experience, they are being cocky. "People got to eat."

They don't have you on their property. You have entered their property on your free will for a leisure activity.

You have entered their property expecting to pay the admission cost. Then they surprise you with an exorbitant fee to park, $4 locker fee required to ride the best ride, $5 upcharge for the SkyRide, 5% surcharge on food, etc. While I personally wouldn't call in gouging, it does come across as a bit of a bait-and-switch. A lot of these fees are either not mentioned at all on the website, or are buried really far down in FAQ sections.