Season Pass Deals

Just got the refund on my Gold Pass for Six Flags Great America and upgraded to the Diamond Elite membership.
While each park might offer special perks, the ones listed are good at all 6 Flags parks, including the mega-special parking.

Sesame Place just confirmed that their pass is good for parking at all SeaWorld/Busch parks plus includes 15% discount on food and merchandise at their other parks. All for $165. The barcode they email you when you purchase the pass IS your season pass. You can go to any park you choose for your first visit.

The plot thicken with the SeaWorld Annual Pass. If you go to the SeaWorld San Antonio site there is a 30% off sale going on. The base price of the Platinum Pass is shown being $189.89 and is marked out to show $132.92. The major details of the pass are the same so it allows access to all 11 parks in the chain. Combing through the details I did see a new catch...

It appears that you need to go to SeaWorld San Antonio for the first use of this pass. The details carry this fact..

"Platinum Pass Passport eVoucher must be redeemed at SeaWorld San Antonio for first use."

This seems to be a different system than we have seen the other Sea World parks use where upon purchase you are sent the Platinum Pass bar code that can immediately be used at any park. So if you happen to be close to San Antonio you can pick up a Platinum Pass for $220 less than the same thing would cost you through the other park sites.

At Sesame Place, You don't even get a card unless you ask for or pay for one...I definitely had to pay the $5 so I can get one with Oscar the Grouch on it which I will pick up outside of the park at one of the self serve kiosks since they will be closed but I will be passing by on my way from Great Adventure to Hersheypark.

The Sesame Place platinum pass is $240 now...not as good a deal as I got, but still $120 less than getting it in Florida. The benefit to getting it in Florida is the free perks that the home parks offer. I get great perks at Sesame Place, like free tickets, preferred parking, special seating for shows and getting to stay on rides for 2 rides, but at any of the other parks, you get general parking, admission and discounts on food and merchandise.

Six Flags season pass options seem too confusing to me. They need to simplify things a bit.

^Here's the comparison chart for the memberships..While it say Six Flags over Texas, it applies to all Six Flags.

https://static.sixflags.com/website/membership/comparison-guides/Si...-02-26.pdf

With the regular season passes, you will get admission to all amusement parks, but, whether you get free parking at all parks depends on when you process the pass by. Also, the season pass only gets you admission to your home waterpark while any membership gets you access to all Six Flags waterparks. The benefits of all memberships work at all parks. For example, Diamond Elite gets the Priority preferred parking every visit at every park. They also get 2 ride line skips at every park, every visit. If it says "one time" it means once per year. Which park you decide to use that benefit at is up to you. Another huge benefit of all memberships is being able to avoid the regular security line.

This is exactly what I mean. It really needs to be simplified.

zoug explains it all for you.

Want more....pay more...pretty simple. Cedar Fair is just as confusing if you look at all of the different passes they offer at each of their parks. The regular season pass gets you some things but not all things and the ERTs and discounts. Some parks have their own Gold passes which give similar perks as the Platinum Passes...Kings Island is a prime example.

And I just added the Kennywood Premium pass to the collection for $125. Includes all kinds of discounts, but the most important perks are the 2 free tickets good any day plus 5 parking passes for the paid lots.

So, for my 2019, 18 day amusement park tour which begins on July 3rd, at least 16 parks are already paid for or will be paid for by then. That will make things much less stressful when the trip happens.

Six Flags has recently updated their site for their "Thanksgiving" sale. A brief review of the pricing for Magic Mountain shows prices all over the map compared to the Labor Day Flash Sale and the October Fright Sale.

A website Single Day ticket (no coke can discount, etc) is the same price as a basic season pass (no surprise). Obviously there are better options for single day ticket, (pick your day dynamic pricing, coke can, brochure, AAA discounts etc) but use that for reference.

To summarize briefly:

the Diamond Elite Memberships are $1/month ($12 total) more than the "cheapest price of the year" Labor Day Sale. These can be bought individually. For any of the Memberships, the add on for Flash Pass (FOTL) and Dining Plans are the SAME as the "cheapest of the year" Labor Day sale. So, memberships are about the same price and if prior years are a guide, unlikely to get any cheaper than this as we move into the holiday selling season.

Best values for Season Passes (with immediate free upgrades to Gold Level, blah blah) are still only for 4+ purchases (not individual). The pricing for 1-3 passes is roughly double the price of the 4+ purchase requirement. At that point, they really are making it stupid to buy a pass instead of a Membership, given the discounting on Memberships. (yes Memberships have their downside, but that's not for this discussion). Pricing for the Gold Membership (base level) is roughly $17 more than the Basic season pass, and the Membership includes SFMM and Hurricane Harbor and Free Parking. Again, single person purchase of Season Pass at $89.99 which only includes SFMM and not Hurricane Harbor is just not an option to be recommended given the pricing and value of the Memberships

As we've stated before, you need an Excel Spreadsheet to figure which pass/Membership level is best for your expected usage. That is still true but at least at this sale pricing, certain options drop off the list of considerations.

Good luck wading through it.

Just buy the membership you want...there's no confusion. It's the same at all parks. When it comes to the season passes, they offer you admission to all of their parks but with certain bonuses at your home park or certain restrictions at the other parks. They are no worse than buying season passes other than the platinum passes at Cedar Fair parks...some regular season passes cover parking while others don't.

If you REALLY want a season pass vs a membership, wait until Cyber Monday. That's when I've usually gotten my 1 regular season pass for $70 which would be converted to a Gold pass including parking at all parks as long as I cashed it in at Great America which is the park I bought it from. I just had to do so by Memorial Day.

Just added Holiday World's $156 platinum pass ($200 after November 15th) to the collection along with my $35 season passholder's ticket to HoliWood nights. This ticket is $85 without a season pass. 2 nights of ERT on their coasters should be awesome. Can't believe it will be my first time going to this event. I PROBABLY would have been fine with just getting tickets as I go since they don't usually cost more than $45, including parking and drinks, but I know of at least 3 days I will be there, so, at least I should break even. They aren't the worst park I could give a little extra cash to if I don't make it a 3rd day, but, I'm sure I'll be able to squeeze an extra day in.

When are Dollywood passes likely to be at their lowest?

^Now. If you’re a new pass holder you get Christmas 2017 for free, renewing gets a bring a friend coupon.

Christmas 2017 was crappy weather. They can keep it.

If I get a Dollywood pass, you guys are in big trouble.

Does anyone know the possible restrictions on the 3 free admissions for 2019? Gold Pass? Blackout dates?

UPDATE: Bring a friend tix are for this Christmas season, Nov 10th - Jan 5th.

Next spring March 25 - April 28.

And next fall, August 28 - Sept 25th.

I'll be passing on this season pass especially since I will only go there if Lightning Rod is running and we know how reliable that one is.

The Platinum pass for Sesame Place is on sale until Nov 26th for $180 or $15/month for 12 months. Is good at all SeaWorld and Busch Gardens parks for parking and admission until Jan 1st, 2020. This is not a membership. It does not need to be processed at Sesame Place.

I just bought a Season Pass to the Fun Spot America parks. Valid for all 3 parks, (Orlando, Kissimmee, Atlanta) on sale now through Sunday the 25th for only $75.

Fun Spot passes... What a deal! You'll get your moneys worth after you ride three rides! :p