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SeaWorld Orlando's Future Plans

Not sure how I feel about it. On the bright side, I could get four parks (rather than three) for only ~$10 more. But it also isn't 15 months. Their "introductory offer" conveniently ends Black Friday, so there's no telling if there will be a better deal offered later. And what about all the current perks for Annual pass holders? Will the Gold level still get me all the stuff I get now, like the half-price and free guest tickets, free parking, discounts on purchases, and all the other monthly perks? The site doesn't go into full detail on what each tier gets you-- just "Key" benefits. I hate when companies add new tiers to their pricing- it's usually just a clever way of getting customers to pay more for things that were previously included. And I'm always that customer who feels entitled to those little extras and begrudgingly pays more to keep them from going away, lol.
 
Not sure how I feel about it. On the bright side, I could get four parks (rather than three) for only ~$10 more. But it also isn't 15 months. Their "introductory offer" conveniently ends Black Friday, so there's no telling if there will be a better deal offered later. And what about all the current perks for Annual pass holders? Will the Gold level still get me all the stuff I get now, like the half-price and free guest tickets, free parking, discounts on purchases, and all the other monthly perks? The site doesn't go into full detail on what each tier gets you-- just "Key" benefits. I hate when companies add new tiers to their pricing- it's usually just a clever way of getting customers to pay more for things that were previously included. And I'm always that customer who feels entitled to those little extras and begrudgingly pays more to keep them from going away, lol.
I just clicked on the link on my phone and it showed all things you had questions about.
 
I just clicked on the link on my phone and it showed all things you had questions about.
Sort of but not quite.

Still left unanswered/ambiguous are questions like:
  • What about all of the monthly rewards that used to be included in the Annual Pass? Things like the $25 guest tickets, christmas ornaments, lanyards, exclusive events, quick queues, Busch Gardens Bucks (lol at the name but still free money), and additional free guest tickets? The only thing that's been definitively answered is that the birthday offers are gone at every park, and for existing passholders replaced by one free ticket that's blocked out for most of the remainder of the year.
  • For those who have an existing pass that doesn't expire for a long time, what benefits (aside from the basic admission, parking, discounts, etc) will still apply? We know about the one free "year-round" guest pass that's only good for the six least convenient months of the year, and that the existing passes won't be automatically converted to the new system before they expire. What else? Do those people (myself included) have to spend that whole time receiving neither the benefits of the old system nor the benefits of the new one?
  • If I want to 'upgrade' early to avoid paying $363.36 after November 30th for a Gold 4-park pass, would I lose the remaining benefits of my current pass, like the monthly rewards and any unpurchased half-price tickets? The likely answer to the last one is yes, but the others are less predictable.
I hate to say it, but it really feels like I'm going from paying $250 to be treated like royalty to paying $35o to be treated like a UOAP.
 
Sort of but not quite.

Still left unanswered/ambiguous are questions like:
  • What about all of the monthly rewards that used to be included in the Annual Pass? Things like the $25 guest tickets, christmas ornaments, lanyards, exclusive events, quick queues, Busch Gardens Bucks (lol at the name but still free money), and additional free guest tickets? The only thing that's been definitively answered is that the birthday offers are gone at every park, and for existing passholders replaced by one free ticket that's blocked out for most of the remainder of the year.
  • For those who have an existing pass that doesn't expire for a long time, what benefits (aside from the basic admission, parking, discounts, etc) will still apply? We know about the one free "year-round" guest pass that's only good for the six least convenient months of the year, and that the existing passes won't be automatically converted to the new system before they expire. What else? Do those people (myself included) have to spend that whole time receiving neither the benefits of the old system nor the benefits of the new one?
  • If I want to 'upgrade' early to avoid paying $363.36 after November 30th for a Gold 4-park pass, would I lose the remaining benefits of my current pass, like the monthly rewards and any unpurchased half-price tickets? The likely answer to the last one is yes, but the others are less predictable.
I hate to say it, but it really feels like I'm going from paying $250 to be treated like royalty to paying $35o to be treated like a UOAP.
The benefits and number of parks on the pass are still far and away better than universal or Disney considering access the entire year and perks like 2 guest passes free. I think they are just going to put all the best benefits into the monthly and phase out the old passes. And quite frankly if sea world parks are doing well and undervalued they need to raise prices and keep the investments going. There is a real hole in the market of consistent 25 million or less investments per year when every uni or disney ride is 100 million plus that sea world parks can dominate and keep people coming in. My six flags pass is a great value but I would much rather they charge more and invest like cedar faire does.
 
I think SW might have gotten just a little ahead of themselves in celebrating their new attendance gains. They need to keep those deals and incentives going to continue to hold on to the locals. They ironically did this at the same time Universal (obviously a more successful park) is deciding to give 6 months free with AP's. That could make it pretty tempting for a local to change things up. For me personally these don't seem to be big increases or anything the difficulty I find is having a SW & BG pass is no longer a possibility. That's what I currently have, and I really like it. I'm not interested in a 4 park pass at a much higher price. Add into that the rumor that they may be ending the preschool pass next year and those things could have me seriously reconsidering having a SW/BG pass in the future.
 
I think SW might have gotten just a little ahead of themselves in celebrating their new attendance gains. They need to keep those deals and incentives going to continue to hold on to the locals. They ironically did this at the same time Universal (obviously a more successful park) is deciding to give 6 months free with AP's. That could make it pretty tempting for a local to change things up. For me personally these don't seem to be big increases or anything the difficulty I find is having a SW & BG pass is no longer a possibility. That's what I currently have, and I really like it. I'm not interested in a 4 park pass at a much higher price. Add into that the rumor that they may be ending the preschool pass next year and those things could have me seriously reconsidering having a SW/BG pass in the future.
I did not see anything about 6 months free at universal only the 3 months. Considering if you need parking Universal may be the worst value in Florida for passes otherwise. For renewals for an out of towner not needing parking I think it is the best value. The Disney rates are insanely good with parking if you are cool with missing prime time seasons (Florida residents have way better rates). I guess at a certain point the rates for Florida parks are just going to price people out in general.
 
I did not see anything about 6 months free at universal only the 3 months. Considering if you need parking Universal may be the worst value in Florida for passes otherwise. For renewals for an out of towner not needing parking I think it is the best value. The Disney rates are insanely good with parking if you are cool with missing prime time seasons (Florida residents have way better rates). I guess at a certain point the rates for Florida parks are just going to price people out in general.
3 months free is for the two lower tier APs, 6 months is for the two higher tier APs if IIRC.
 
Sort of but not quite.
I hate to say it, but it really feels like I'm going from paying $250 to be treated like royalty to paying $35o to be treated like a UOAP.


What about all of the monthly rewards that used to be included in the Annual Pass? Things like the $25 guest tickets, christmas ornaments, lanyards, exclusive events, quick queues, Busch Gardens Bucks (lol at the name but still free money), and additional free guest tickets? The only thing that's been definitively answered is that the birthday offers are gone at every park, and for existing passholders replaced by one free ticket that's blocked out for most of the remainder of the year.

The monthly rewards will continue through the rest of this year. Those go away in 2019.
They may offer new incentives, however they have not said much about that. It does state there are exclusive events.

For those who have an existing pass that doesn't expire for a long time, what benefits (aside from the basic admission, parking, discounts, etc) will still apply? We know about the one free "year-round" guest pass that's only good for the six least convenient months of the year, and that the existing passes won't be automatically converted to the new system before they expire. What else? Do those people (myself included) have to spend that whole time receiving neither the benefits of the old system nor the benefits of the new one?

All Annual Passes that were purchased prior to Oct 4, 2018 will have the same benefits as the Silver Pass (If you have a Florida Parks Platinum Pass, you have the same benefits as the new Platinum Pass...including the new benefits). You get the same benefits you've been getting. So you still get free general parking, discount on premium parking, 10% discounts on food and merchandise as before. The main thing that changes is instead of getting 6 guest tickets @ 50% off, you only get 3 now. The other is obviously the 1 free ticket per year on a date you pick (outside of blockout dates of course).

The passes won't convert to one of the new passes and would have to either upgrade now, or when your current pass expires. You are able to switch if you like with no penalty whether on EZPay or Pay at once.
upload_2018-10-6_0-6-57.png

If you want to keep what you have and are on EZ Pay, you can and don't have to do anything else. Since you get the same benefits as Silver, I don't see a need to switch (for now).

However if you pay all at once, you will have to pick a new pass once it expires.
upload_2018-10-6_0-9-24.png


If I want to 'upgrade' early to avoid paying $363.36 after November 30th for a Gold 4-park pass, would I lose the remaining benefits of my current pass, like the monthly rewards and any unpurchased half-price tickets? The likely answer to the last one is yes, but the others are less predictable.

If you were to upgrade to any of the new passes, the time starts over on them (so a new 12-month period). You would get the benefits of the new pass selected, so with Gold you get 6 50% off guest tickets per year and 2 free tickets. Any unused ones from your current pass wouldn't exists anymore. You should still be able to get the October, November & December Monthly perks. Pass Members who paid in full for their Annual Pass can apply the balance of their remaining months to the new Annual Pass program. You would just pay the difference for the new pass. Of course you would need to call or do this in person to find out specifically what that cost would be to you.
 
I'll be curious to see if the 2020 coaster is a Mack (like Manta in San Diego) or an Intamin (like the Rescue Coaster in San Antonio). Either way we'll either have multiple Mack launchers or multiple Intamin launchers here in Central Florida which are bound to be compared.
 
Looking at the AP for SeaWorld, I have a few questions.

What is the ride again benefit? And what are the 4 Florida parks? SeaWorld, Aquatica, Busch and Adventure Island or Discovery Cove?
 
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