Opinion: Upcharge perks at theme parks just a matter of supply and demand

Wait, so this guy is claiming that pay-to-cut is not pure evil?

Rubbish!

Gonch's real name is Joe Kennedy, apparently.

Does anyone actually know how popular the VIP tours are outside of Disney or Universal? I'm aware parks post that there's limited availability each day, but are they actually giving the maximum amount of tours each day?

At $250 - $325 each, I can't imagine they'd be all that popular. The line jumper / fast pass / quick queue make a lot more sense for the price.

I was at SFoT today and wondering how long it will before there's an upcharge fee for front row or back row rides.

The "fee" on front/back rides is the extra time spent in line...for now.

Yeah. That's what people said about Saturdays before FastPass.

Back row seats don't usually have a longer wait than the rest of the train.

While I don't condone this 'leagalized' line jumping tactic, at least fast pass at Disney World is free - at least for now.

There is a reason I am starting to only go to the family owned smaller parks. I don't get rapped and pillaged. When I have to pay upwards of $75 + dollars to just get INTO a major theme park, add in an average of $15 to park, and now they tell me, to not wait in line, I have to pay another $50+?

What if everyone at the front of the park pays the $50 to jump the line, and no one waits in 'stand by', guess what - there is going to be - you guessed it - A LINE!

Call me old fashion, but, what happened to the day when you 'waited your turn' to get on your favorite ride? Are we this spoiled today with this "I'm first all the time" attitude?

There is a reason I now mostly only visit the Knoebels, Kennywoods, the Holiday World's, the Camden Parks, and the Fun Spots of the nation. They CARE about the guest, and it is just not about the all mighty Dollar Sign!

coastrnut, while I appreciate your opinion, you are about a decade late for this conversation. Your exact points have been made a million times and replied to a million times and I suspect everyone who at one point cared, doesn't feel the need to beat that dead horse any more.

coastrnut - you might as well cross Kennywood off your list too. They also offer VIP Tours.

coastrnut said:

There is a reason I am starting to only go to the family owned smaller parks. I don't get rapped and pillaged.

I hate getting rapped also. Unless I'm listening to it while I'm cruising through the fast lane.

Oh, by the way. coastrnut meet Krause. Krause meet coastrnut. Newest BFFs.

Now that I am used to it, and regrettably feel forced to use it sometimes, I don't care anymore. I hate it when anyone cuts in front of me whatever the reason, even if they paid the park to be allowed to do it. I hate hate hate that it exists, because it lowers the value of my precious park experience, but over the years, I have learned to stay away from the parks when lines are long enough to make this a problem.

When it was announced on their Facebook page that Kings Island was offering a way for people to cut in front of everyone else, people went ballistic. People were angry that they got sold out. This was a great example of how a lot of people (non-coaster enthusiast types) don't like the idea. If they want to ride roller coasters, they will deal with it the best way they can.

I hate it less when it is limited. Busch Gardens offers one cut per ride. Kennywood offers the same, and better controls the times people can cut. when parks do this, it shows that they care about the experience that people who do not buy it get. There are less people clogging up the lines so that regular customers can better enjoy the rides.

Now that water parks are starting to get in on this, it burns me up a little. Water slides are very low capacity already. I just don't see how it could work well.

And that's all the pay-to-cut rant you'll get out of me this time.

F2006 asked:

Does anyone actually know how popular the VIP tours are outside of Disney or Universal? I'm aware parks post that there's limited availability each day, but are they actually giving the maximum amount of tours each day?

I won a VIP for Kings Island a few years ago. It was a very busy day, and from what I gathered, we were the only VIP group that day. I asked my guide what the normal group per day was, and he said only a few, if that even.

That's not saying that they aren't more popular at other parks, or that they aren't more popular now. That's the best answer I have.

We were at CP not too long ago and heard people compaining about waiting 60 min with a fast pass for Maverick. The regular wait line was 60 min. :-) Serioiusly there is a point where you need to jack the price more so that you make as much money but less get it. Otherwise situations like this will possibly cause many to not do it at all and just save the money.

Ever since they've gotten it I've thought it should be more expensive because there'd still be people who'd buy it if the price is under 200 dollars.

I am more than willing to shell out the extra bucks on extras if I believe they're worth it at the time. I took some of my family down to SFDK using the flash pass on a day when it wasn't necessary, no wait on V2. However a ride that the kids enjoyed was White Water Rapids, with over an hour wait, which we were able to get on without any waiting in line. Between me and my brother we spent over $800 dollars on the trip, I am a part time employee at a grocery store and I don't make a whole lot of money, but the joy and memories that the kids got was worth far more than the pain to my wallet.

Tyler Boes said:

Ever since they've gotten it I've thought it should be more expensive because there'd still be people who'd buy it if the price is under 200 dollars.

Much higher than that and your at the VIP experience they offer.

Which, to me , would be a sign that the VIP Experience is either undervalued or undermarketed.

rdngmikey said:

Between me and my brother we spent over $800 dollars on the trip, I am a part time employee at a grocery store and I don't make a whole lot of money, but the joy and memories that the kids got was worth far more than the pain to my wallet.

I would say that this here probably describes the majority of people who use the upcharge perks. Going on a vacation/staycation that you're willing to drop the extra money on the situation because it's not like you visit everyday and you want to get the most out of whatever it is your partaking in.