SFMM Introduces "Play Pass"

kRaKLeRidah: From the e-mail I received...

Up to 263 days of heart-pounding, adrenaline-pumping Six Flags fun.

Get your (play pass) today & enjoy unlimited heart-pounding, adrenaline-pumping Six Flags fun - all day, every scheduled operating day, now thru the 2005 season!

Not exactly 2 months...
*** Edited 11/1/2004 11:03:35 PM UTC by Soggy***

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kRaXLeRidAh said:
This is a good strategy to get in-park spending revenues to rise.

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I don't have data to back up my opinion, but I disagree. When you attract someone to your product on the cheap, they aren't going to spend money the way you'd like. Go in to any Office Max on a Sunday morning and watch the idiots show up in droves to buy all the "free" stuff in an ad (from rebates and such). They aren't buying fax machines and toner.

I still agree that it's selling the babysitting service.

Besides, the Orlando parks have been steadily increasing daily gate prices over the last three years, in what they're calling a "recovery." Based on Disney's last results, I'd say they made the right decision.

I'm pretty sure the deal is only good though through Dec 31st, just as the "Early Bird" prices for season passes at other SF parks end by or before the end of the year. While a TON of people probably get season passes every year, I'd guess most people don't buy their's until the start of the season. I know the couple times I went to SFA for Fright Fest the lady checking the passes was surprised to see my 2005 season pass so I'm guessing they didn't see too many 2005 season passes used through the end of the season.

Selling 2005 season passes now at a reduced rate not only brings in a surge of income at the end of the year, but also brings in a surge of people at the end of the year for a park like SFMM that is still open.

Jeff, but the differences are that:

1) The Orlando parks are destinations which appeal to more than just the locals.

2) The Orlando parks havent disenchanted their past guests with bad service.

The Orlando parks have no "soil" on their name so they dont need to offer an incentive other than the parks themselves. Plus when people are on a vacation like when they go down to Orlando, a couple of bucks isnt likely to be the final deciding factor. The market for those parks is hot enough to bear a price raise.

But if all the gloom and doom espoused by people on these and other boards about SFMM is true, there is little reason to expect that people will be returning to SFMM at the *same* price let alone a raised one. Or am *I* missing something?

Krax: it's a bit difficult to buy food or "overinflated" merchandise when you're stuck in a 2 hour ride queue due to low capacity & unmotivated employees so no matter what discounts are offered it doesn't really make much of a profit for SFMM.....or based on my experience at SFA in 04 any of their parks.

SFMM should really change to being seasonal rather than year round so they can be given time to fix the mess they've made out of things there what with rides not being able to operate due to lack of certification by state inspectors,if the guests have a bad day they're far less likely to return even if they were in fact offered the gate for practically nothing.

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needless quote removed -J

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The SoCal parks are not crowded from this time out all the way until May (not including the single Holiday operating days). There won't be 2 hour waits for even the single-train operation rides. And even if these guests are waiting 2 hours in a line, they are bound to have bought two soft frozen lemonades, a meal, a piece of merchandise and maybe a midway game (which they most likely will lose) before they leave the park. Multiply that by all the number of Play Pass carriers, that's a good profit for the park. *** Edited 11/3/2004 1:26:42 AM UTC by Jeff***

As Disneyland found out when you price the season passes cheaply, you can sell a lot, but many times your park becomes the babysitter. I fear that SFMM is looking nearsighted here with money first, then worry about the brats latter.

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Jeff said:
I don't have data to back up my opinion, but I disagree. When you attract someone to your product on the cheap, they aren't going to spend money the way you'd like.

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Well, let me tell you that you convinced me? You were on the debate team, huh ;) lol

The people who come more than once still spend money. I have a Six Flags season pass, and in each SF park that I hit, I spent money. It would be very hard to not spend any money... picnicing can only go so far.

is SFMM a babysitter park? i know ive heard that its pretty far outside of the greater Los Angeles area, although ive never been, so i dont know for sure. however, business wise, this new pass deal isnt the smartest move. yea, you still pay a full day's admission...but u dont pay that admission price anymore for the next 14 months. and you indeed spend more at the gate for a ticket than for whats inside the park...except for families. and my guess is the families head for the Anaheim area;)

SFMM is only 30 minutes north of downtown with no traffic, its on the outter skirts of town if thats what you want to know.

I agree...SFMM is pretty isolated from the greater Los Angeles basin so i dont know how much of a babysitter it could be like the other parks which happen to be in more urban areas.

I honesty I don't see that many people making daily or weekly visits.

I can see a family buying them and having a family outing there once a month. Sure all the local coasternuts will buy them too but how many will actually go daily or weekly. From most of the MM TR's I read it seems like they don't stay long anyway.

I'm sure even with this offer alot of people will still just buy the one day admission and skip the pass. Lets face it alot of people make one maybe two park visits a year.

Like Gonch said in the No one under 18 thread:"We're the type that still grab park food/souvenirs on the frequent flyer, season pass plan - The seaon passes alone (assuming a $59 to $69 pass based on Compounce's) would have netted more $$$ from us than those two visits did. Figure that we'd visit roughly 10 times minimum from May-Sept and I'd bet the overall cash dropped in the park would be more than it was on our two visits this year."

Maybe they are thinking the same thing Gonch stated, but at a lower price.

*** Edited 11/4/2004 11:55:24 PM UTC by coasterpunk***