General Question And Thoughts About Season Passes - Value Vs. Routine

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eightdotthree said:

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RatherGoodBear said:
^ Looks like your wish is coming true.

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Do you know something I don't?

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Rumors point to season passes for Kennywood next season.

They are working for Sandcastle, no reason why they won't work at Kennywood. Keeping my fingers crossed.

I thought it was a little more solid than 'rumor' at this point?

Thank you all (As always) for your thoughtful contributions.

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eightdotthree said:

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RatherGoodBear said:
^ Looks like your wish is coming true.

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Do you know something I don't?

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I've seen it posted on other sites. No link to speak of, and I guess no official announcement yet. It was included in correspondence sent out by ACE Western PA (copied and pasted into forum posts). Cost of the pass is said to be $89.95.

I guess my pass purchases are opposite of the initial question... I don't feel the need to utilize my pass for maximum value (beyond making sure I've paid for it,) rather, I consider it a 'privilege' to be able to visit a given park as often as I like. Instead of stressing about needing to go mostly there, I have the mindset of being able to head over whenever I'd like.

For the record, I live near Columbus, and this year I have both a CF Platinum Pass and a pass to our local waterpark, Zoombezi Bay.

It's really nice to be able to zip up to CP or down to KI -- both are about two hours from me -- and not feel pressured to 'do it all' because I only have that one day. Additionally, I don't feel like I have to stay all day. My roommate's parents live about 40 minutes from KI, and often I'll tag along when she goes to visit them... a lot of times we'll go just for a morning or an evening to the park, in between other activities.

I don't particularly care about visiting just those parks as much as possible, provided it hasn't been a money waste. Example: aforementioned roommate got a ZB pass, and used it exactly three times, for only a couple of hours a time. Waste of money. I did visit ZB more than I would have liked, because I asked the parents of my daycare kids to get passes, and I wanted to make sure they got their money's worth. But that was a bit of a different situation.

Having the pass hasn't stopped me from going to other parks... some friends and I did a weeklong road trip this summer (IN-OH-PA) and although we did hit my home parks (wanted to take an out of town friend,) the other seven or so were all non-CF. On the flip side, if I'm going on vaca somewhere, I'll look to see if there's a CF park in the area to stop in. Last year, roomie and I took a road trip from Ohio to CT, and needed to make a several-hour pitstop... we routed through Allentown to hang out at Dorney for a few hours. Perfect solution, only having to pay for parking.

I guess, though, it ends up being a personal decision... it seems to me that you can either use the pass as a restricting device (I should go to A instead of B because A's free,) or an enabling device (I'm bored; let's go to A.) It probably depends on a lot of psych regarding the value of money, eh? LOL.

Oh, and by the by... yay for Kennywood season pass. Now, if only I could figure out how to cut that commute in half... ;)

I buy season passes to SFMM and Knotts every year. I have used my Knotts pass 7 times and my SFMM pass 9 times this year, so they have paid for themselves many times over. Parking is included on both of them. Knotts is not as much fun to me but it is much closer. I go there when I want to go to a park but not neccesarily make a 10-12 hour day out of it. I go to SFMM when I want to go on the better rides, spend all day there, from opening to closing and am willing to make the drive. I cannot afford to travel so I never buy the CF Platinum pass and have never used my SFMM pass at any other park.

I generally don't visit a park as much compared to if I had a season pass for that particular park. With a season pass, there it is in my wallet, always screaming at me to waste a day at the park on a frequent basis. Kind of the reason why I no longer own a Knott's pass. I had an annual pass and I went so much that I've pretty much have got my fill of that park for the next 10 years, despite new ride additions (I haven't even been on that new Pony Express yet and I live half an hour away from Knott's.)

With Magic Mountain however, I literally rape that park when it comes to getting a value out of the pass. I remember the year Tatsu came out, I had an "Xtreme Play Pass" (only issued at Magic Mountain but can be used at other Six Flags parks).

The Xtreme Play Pass...for $125, I got unlimited visits (no blackout dates), FREE parking every visit ($15 value per visit), FREE Flashpass every visit ($15 value per visit) --- which by the way I did take advantage of EVERYtime I went, AND 20% off all food and merchandise inside the park.

So I counted up all the parking ticket stubs from that year that collected in my glove compartment to see how many times I went...I visited Magic Mountain a little over 25 times in 2006 (not that bad, averages around 2-3 visits a month). So let's see how much I "saved" in one season with one park.

PARKING: 25 visits X $15 = $375
ADMISSION: 25 visits X $29.99 (online discount ticket price) = $749.75
FLASH PASS: 25 visits X $15 = $375

TOTAL VALUE USED UP = $1,499.75 (not including discounted food)

For all of that, I paid up front $125 for a little plastic card with a barcode and my picture on it. Oh Six Flags. :)

I am kind of burned out on Knotts too, but I will probably still go 4-6 times next year since it is 10 mins away. I usually only stay about 4 hours when I go there because I go on weekdays mostly and you can walk onto everyride. At SFMM I always stay opening to closing because the rides are better and I want to maximize my time. And don't worry about missing the Pony Express. It is the most disappointing roller coaster I have ever rode.

If Canobie offered a season pass, I might go ride the Cannonball more often.

I had heard of the KW pass rumor, and thought it was a strong rumor. Then I started hearing whispers that they were thinking about postponing the decision for next season. I live way too far away to benefit - can't help but be concerned that the SFA-type babysitting problem would come to Pittsburgh. KW is too good to suffer that fate.

I think the CF Maxpass is a HUGE value for me, since I usually use it 5-7 times a year, usually at CP and KI. Dorney and Carowinds are easy "if I am in the area and driving by" parks that makes the CF pass even MORE worth it. Heck, the free parking is worth it alone!

As far as a SF pass I usually get them because they are cheap, but only if I plan on visiting at least 2 or 3 of them. Last year was the first year I didn't get a SF pass, only because I didn't have them in my plans.

Every now and then I will get a Dollywood pass. If I lived near Hersheypark I would definitely get one for those!

-Tina

A Cedar Point pass is a no-brainer for me, as I'll go about 8 times a year (excepting 2007 when I went to Geauga Lake a few times instead, on account of their having a free water park attached; the Maxx pass didn't include CP's Soak City).

If I really wanted to, I could probably be satisfied with just the CP pass. But having the multiparkability has expanded my coaster count considerably. A year ago I went to Vegas, so we made a jaunt over to Anaheim to catch Knott's as well. Drove to New York this summer and stopped at Dorney (twice). I went to Kings Island for the first time last year.

So, there's no question I get my money's worth. On the other hand, prior to getting a season pass, I'd go to Cedar Point maybe once every few years, so I suppose you could look at the extra cost of gas I've incurred since buying season passes. :) But then, look what you're getting out of it. I wouldn't trade that for anything. I'm too into it now.

I used to own season passes for Disneyland, Knotts, and Six Flags but dropped them all over time and haven't had any passes in about 5 years.

I dropped the Disney pass because it had too many blackout days and I wasn't vitising enough to make the more expensive passes (with fewer blackout days) worth the cost.

I dropped the Knotts pass because I was neither visiting Knotts nor traveling to other parks in the chain to justify the expense.

I dropped the Six Flags pass when I became so disgusted with the entire chain (not just my local park, SFMM) that I decided I wouldn't give the company any more of my money. And I have not visited any park in the chain since 2005.

I remember years ago I would get a pass because it seemed cool and was nice to have the option to go whenever I wanted and if lines were long I didnt feel regret in leaving..

Now I factor purely economics into the equation.. If I don't see myself making the cost break I would drop that pass. Which for most parks is 2-3 visits. But I live in travel friendly radius which includes several different parks so that adds up to a lot of passes for me.

• Six Flags (SFA, and SFGA - 3.5 and 4.5 hours away)
• Cedar Fair Platinum (KD is 1h away and Coaster Mania draws me back to CP and KI)
• Disney Premium (DVC member so lots of trips to Disney and Vacation Club knocks some $$s off the cost - 12 days is cost break vs Magic Your Way w/ hopper and no expiration)
• Busch Gardens Platinum (in my back yard - but I dont pay for that so its a cost break in itself.. I just have to stay married.)

But the thing that amazes me is looking at the cost breaks (how many days of normal visits equal the pass cost) Its amazing that Disney sells the passes they do as the break seems so high relative to the other parks.. Yet people pay it..

As much as I enjoy Disney, I never agreed with their stay for 4 or more days and then we start the price break.. Great model for them and it seems to work well, assuming a good economy, but sometimes when I renew I have to say, "REALLY?"

But the thing that amazes me is looking at the cost breaks (how many days of normal visits equal the pass cost) Its amazing that Disney sells the passes they do as the break seems so high relative to the other parks.. Yet people pay it..

Have you ever encountered one of the Disneyana while visiting a Disney park? They're easy to spot...they have metal pins stuck all over their shirts. They're so fanatical it puts us coaster geeks to shame, lol :)

^ OMG yes.. and I resolve myself to not becoming any likeness of that group, and forbid you quote something wrong about the parks.

wait...

..are they really different from us? :)

Pin wearing Disney freakshows are common compared to jean jacket patch wearing ACErs. Thank God.

It seems like at most parks, if you use a season pass 2-3 times it pays for itself. If you have a pass which includes parking you end up getting a whole day of entertainment for just the price of food. How many places can you do that? You could easily spend just as much money to see a movie and only get 1 1/2 hours out of it.

Going to parks is one of the best ways I know to relax. Getting a pass actually helps that process since (unless I have someone with me) I dont have to do everything every time. Right now living in Ohio and being a student still (one more year) I only have one pass, the CF Platinum. Its a huge deal for me, $150 for parking, ERT/Gold Pass Perks, waterpark and admission, its a no brainer. I go to CP and KI at least 10 times a summer total.