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Old 08-04-2009, 10:18 PM
 
Location: Virginia
1,938 posts, read 7,125,173 times
Reputation: 879

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I have read that several of you buy seasonal passes. I was looking at this tonight and noticed for my family of 5 that it 750.00! Are you serious?! I can't imagine spending that much money for such a thing. Am I missing something?! Please tell me of a cheaper route. How often do pass holders actually go?
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Old 08-04-2009, 10:58 PM
 
Location: Virginia Beach/Norfolk.
1,565 posts, read 4,342,830 times
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If you live in the state of virginia you buy a season pass for the price of one ticket which is like 50 bucks. 50 times 5 is 250 dollars. Much better than 750
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Old 08-05-2009, 04:01 AM
 
Location: Williamsburg
1,194 posts, read 3,977,520 times
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If you buy a 2 year pass to WC and BG it would be $549.88 a year if you buy the two year pass or 45.80 monthly for two years for a family of five. I know it seems like a lot but we have always gotten our moneys worth. The fun pass is $59 a year. It is only good thru Sept 7 . You also have to pay to park with a fun pass. With an annual pass parking is free. With a fun pass parking is $12. An annual pass give you a 10% discount on food as well. I know some families that will buy one Annual pass and Fun Passes for the rest of the family. When you buy them at the beginning of the season that works out. You still wouldnt t be able to go to Howl O Scream with a Fun Pass though. Last year we went to water country once or twice a week, BG not as much. We did go almost every weekend evening for the concerts. The annual passes are now good for 12 months from purchase. Our kids love Howl-o- Scream when they decorate the park for Halloween. It is definitely the best Halloween event we have ever been to. We ususally go 4-5 times as early as September. The closer to Halloween the more crowded it get's . It's a bit scary for younger kids. Ours are 9 and 11 so they LOVE it. Most of the families we know will buy annual passes each year for a while and then take a break or just buy one park passes. Since you are now local you can go when crowds are thinner. We go mid- day or later in the afternoon. If we get there and the parking lots are over flowing we turn around and leave. It's much more fun with short lines.
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Old 08-05-2009, 07:23 AM
 
Location: GA/AL state line
254 posts, read 1,207,654 times
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I usually get myself the annual pass for the free parking and food discounts and then I get my son the $59 fun pass. I heard several families doing the same thing with one adult getting the full annual pass and the kids only using the fun pass. This is only for BG though - I haven't been to Water Country at all this year since my son is happy with the two pools in our community.
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Old 08-05-2009, 07:52 AM
 
Location: Land of Thought and Flow
8,323 posts, read 15,168,876 times
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We've got the two-year two-park passes. My only vent is that a season pass for a three-year old is just as expensive as a season pass for me. We also got our passes on a special deal, which made it a little nicer on the wallet. Now, it's kinda August already, and you just now looked at season passes. Are you actually going to use a season pass often enough to make it worth the cost?

If you're just looking to go once or maybe even twice, I would look online for coupon codes to get % off single-day admission tickets online. If you're a Virginia resident, you can later upgrade your pass to a Fun Card if you think you'll be back. I did that many years ago when I won free tickets. The only downside is that you won't get free parking or discounts on food.

Personally, I'm getting my monies worth. My family plays around at Busch Gardens and/or Water Country at least once a week. We live close enough that on a weekend we can be like, "Hey, I'm bored.. let's go to Water Country and get some fresh air" and we go. Or we go to Busch Gardens for a few hours here and there. At least three times a month we go to Water Country in the morning and stay until 5 or 6pm... then finish off the day at Busch Gardens. And because we're close enough to home, unless we do an all-day trip, we don't even eat inside the parks... just cups of ice water for everyone to stay hydrated.
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Old 08-05-2009, 08:49 AM
 
Location: Virginia
1,938 posts, read 7,125,173 times
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Rita, I was actually looking for next summer. We are moving from CO this coming Saturday to Williamsburg.
Thanks for the input!
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Old 08-05-2009, 09:06 AM
 
Location: Land of Thought and Flow
8,323 posts, read 15,168,876 times
Reputation: 4957
Quote:
Originally Posted by froggin4colorado View Post
Rita, I was actually looking for next summer. We are moving from CO this coming Saturday to Williamsburg.
Thanks for the input!
Ahh. That explains why'd you be looking so late. If you wait until Howl-O-Scream starts, you can purchase season passes for next year that can be used at this year's Howl-O-Scream. AND they're at a reduced rate from the normal price.
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Old 08-05-2009, 12:51 PM
 
Location: Where ever you're at, that's where you are!
371 posts, read 1,191,120 times
Reputation: 224
You can also get discounted season passes at the base ticketing office.

We do the Platinum pass which covers all of the Anheuser Busch parks (I think there are 7 or 8 now that are included), parking, food discounts, etc. We pay for our our tickets using the automatic monthly rate which splits the cost of the tickets between the two years the pass is good for. We automatically renew it every two years and the rate does not go up even when the season passes have a rate hike.
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Old 08-05-2010, 08:18 AM
 
Location: No. Virginia, USA
327 posts, read 568,961 times
Reputation: 318
I visited Water Country USA yesterday. I thought charging $13 to park, on top of the extremely high entrance fee, is just gouging the customer. And then there are at least 4 or 5 overpriced eateries/souvenier shops for every ride, and to get to the various rides you have to walk past these concession stands - it's deliberately set up that way. Gouge, gouge gouge. I will never go back.
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Old 08-05-2010, 08:41 AM
 
6,292 posts, read 10,598,476 times
Reputation: 7505
For those who don't know children ages 3 - 9 can get in free with an adult. You must be a VA resident, and buy the tickets online, but it saves you 50$. Actually all the tickets are less if you buy online in advance. The offer is good through 9/21.

Link to VA Resident ticket sales
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