The return of the cheap Play Pass for 2007 at Magic Mountain

No one ever pays the standard admission price at BGE anyways, for one they offer (and heavliy advertise) their 3 day packages (for the price of $110 also gets you admission into WCUSA, later in the season they add an extra day as a bonus too) then their is the pass fka the Revolutionary Fun Pass which covers the Busch parks and Colonial Williamsburg, and their SPs really arent a bad deal.

Finally, people are willing to pay more for a Busch park because frankly those parks are amazing. After many visits I have yet to meet someone having "a bad time" in the park. Its really about Quality, and Busch is right up there with Universal and Disney in that category.

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people are willing to pay more for a Busch park because frankly those parks are amazing

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That's the truth. I plunked down $45 at SWSA (AAA discount), expecting to pop in and out after whoring the credits, and hustle on back to SFFT. I was at SWSA the whole day, and had a great time.

And, I'd go back to BGE anytime, despite what the single-day gate is.

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Touchdown said:
No one ever pays the standard admission price at BGE anyways.

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We travelled down from Ocean City, MD back in 1999 not realizing just how LONG of a trip that was going to be, and I did pay full price to get in, I wasn't really aware of the discounts they had back then. I know now to check ahead for discounts, even AAA or soda cans if I can find them!

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Touchdown said:
After many visits I have yet to meet someone having "a bad time" in the park.

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Overall we had a great day, it was the two hours or so spent horizontal on park benches outside of Pompeii that put a little damper on it. Only time I have ever been sick at a park.

Tom

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coasterguts said:
To me, SFA isn't giving the gate away.

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Not when you compare it to another park that seemingly "gives away the gate." :)

I think Gonch is confused about how *proximate* Orlando and Tampa really are...but he's still cute... ;)

Around an hour from BGA to Disney, IIRC. Much closer than the BGE/SFA comparison. :)

And maybe Busch themselves forgot as well. They seem to push those two-park dealy-o's that get you into SW and BGA...and then there's the flex pass that includes BGA with the Universal parks...

*** Edited 11/2/2006 8:33:21 PM UTC by Lord Gonchar***

Distance-wise, along Satan's Parkway (aka I-4), the drive isn't all that bad. Time varies, WIDELY...

Demographics-wise, however, it's like another world.
Q: Where'd all the Brits and Brazilians go? A: They stayed in Orlando, maybe for USF/IoA, maybe Wet-N-Wild, I dunno....but the Tampa park, seems amazingly "local" in terms of its market. BGE (W), that really IS a touristy market, and if it were *me*, I'd charge the daylights out of people to go there...BGA, on the other hand, depends FAR more heavily on the local peeps...just my casual observations, no real *facts* here...(as per my custom)... ;)

How's this relate to SFMM? Check the nearby competition for BGA and SFMM... :)

*** Edited 11/2/2006 8:41:26 PM UTC by rollergator***

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How's this relate to SFMM? Check the nearby competition for BGA and SFMM...

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Well done. :)

And a good point.

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Lord Gonchar said:

...Sesame Place expects you to pay to play - and the kiddies want to play.

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Gonch, I paid $41.95 for a one-day admission to Sesame Place in October, and then upgraded the pass to include all of next year for $25. That's not including parking, food, etc...seeing as how the clientele is mostly young kids, Sesame charges a bundle for food, so of course they're going to want to/have to eat lunch while there...sit and eat popcorn during the parade...get Elmo and Sesame Street merchandise from the many stores around the park...

Parents will want to appease their kids, so they'll buy them almost anything. It's not like a Six Flags park, where more adults go and don't need all sorts of souvenirs...these are mostly kids between the ages of 3 and 12, who want want want and need need need. That's how Sesame Place makes all sorts of crazy money.

Another way to look at giving away the season pass.. It makes it a stupid decision to say No to the season pass. Then later on down the line, you can go into any six flags park. So, if you're visiting from out-of-town, You can go to your local park (which you might not necessarily otherwise go) and pay parking, not to mention other stuffs in the park. But at bare minimum you're paying parking.

Also, let's not underestimate the amount of money that can be had from selling marketing lists (or even direct marketing to the lists). I live in eastern PA, and yet I have a SFMM season pass that I picked up while I was at Solace last year. Since then I've gone to:

SFKK (I would have skipped if I had to pay for admission since we only were able to spend 2 hours in the park).

SFGAdv twice (Given proximity, I would have only gone once if I had to pay to get in)

SFNE (I wouldn't have been able to afford the trip at all if I had to pay to get in)

SFA (My decision for this trip was also influenced by the fact that I had the too-good-to-pass-up deal in my wallet)

So thats $60 in parking. And with the exception of SFKK, I had at least one meal in each of the other parks. Also, I have a friend who collects shot glasses, so that's another $30 in shot glasses that would not have been purchased if I didn't have the season pass. Figure in a conservative estimate of $40 in food (if not more) that's $130 extra that they would not have had out of my wallet if the season pass was not the same price.

Just food for thought.

EDIT: Something that just occurred to me -- how many people get discounted one-day tickets? Full price is $59.99.. if they can get discounted tickets for $39.99, then they're in essence paying an extra $20 for the play pass. I don't think six flags is going to honor the single-ticket discounts towards the play pass. *** Edited 11/6/2006 3:29:35 AM UTC by dannerman***