Just received an email and VTP has added some "perks" for Premium Annual Passholders. Those being:

• 20% off dining

• 20% off merch

• Priority line entry at front gates

• Priority line entry to Spy Chase and One Dolphin performances

• 20% off fast passes for Wet n Wild

These are available until the end of January

Credit to VTP, they do cop a lot of heat with the way things are being run currently (including from me - don't get me started on them closing 80% of the park at 5pm on their "extended operating times" at WnW), but this is a good addition.

I'd like to see some of it retained ongoing - such as priority entry to the park and shows (lets be honest, annual passholders are unlikely to watch the shows on every visit, so they are not big part of your audience) and an ongoing F&B discount like that offered at Dreamworld would be welcomed.

Definitely appreciated and I may actually grab some things I otherwise wouldn’t have.

I do feel it’s only because numbers are down both for the pass itself and general numbers this holiday period.

Hopefully they look at making the f/b and merch discount a general one even if they put it down to 10%.

For comparison the majority of staff only get 20% off merch at VRTP

We went Wednesday and yesterday with the family, Premium pass holders que to the left near the exit at the gates and are let in 5-10mins earlier. A few other groups and us said this is the first time it’s ever happened, now we know why.

21 hours ago, Ash said:

A few other groups and us said this is the first time it’s ever happened, now we know why.

Early entry used to be a perk for VIP Gold passes, so not the first time it's ever happened.

Absolute garbage offer to start spruiking one week into the month. "Buy an annual pass and we'll give you perks for the next 3 weeks during our busiest time of the year!"
Nah. Up the road offers year long discounts on food and merch and they charge less. It's a step in the right direction, but 3 weeks of 'extra perks' isn't enough.

It's an indication that things aren't perfect over there though.... they'd have been better off pushing out a better black friday sale if they wanted to bump the numbers.

1 hour ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

It's a step in the right direction, but 3 weeks of 'extra perks' isn't enough.

I feel that this is them testing the waters to see if it’s worthwhile for them to offer it all the time. Of course from a customer perspective it is, but maybe they’re wanting to trial it from a business perspective. I know there were a few changes in upper management last year and this may be the start of more changes to come.

I don't think it's a great plan to allow for stuff like early entry for pass holders. There's nothing worse than spending top dollar on a trip to a park somewhere in the world and knowing you're stuck waiting in line behind pass holders who could go any day. You want to find ways to encourage your pass holders to see value in attending on days where your attendance is soft, rather than providing them with enticements to visit when you're already struggling with throughput and capacity.

5 hours ago, themagician said:

I feel that this is them testing the waters to see if it’s worthwhile for them to offer it all the time

I’d imagine the annual pass holder to single day/multi day pass holder ratio is probably lower at this time of the year than at any other time, so it’s probably not a great time to run a test of annual pass holder buying tendencies.

The issue is that you're only capturing those who are due for renewal, or those who don't already have a pass. Increasing the number of passholders when you're already suffering a capacity crisis is a shortsighted move.

A long term plan would see whatever perks you want to offer given to all passholders current and future, on an ongoing basis - and then assess the success of the additional perks based on your retention \ renewal rates.

This just screams short term cash grab - probably because holiday numbers aren't as high as they forecast and they're trying to bump them up by enticing people to visit before the end of the month.

ExperienceOz ran a sponsored piece on News.com.au today where the headline was that prices were SLASHED on theme park passes.

Clicking through the link showed village passes offered at a 'discounted rate'

...which is great if you're looking for a bargain... except

It's absolutely nothing special, and the prices are identical to the usual 'buy online to save $10' standard pricing.

Not exactly what i'd call 'slashed' that's for sure.

For balance, ExperienceOz also has an offer for Dreamworld, marketed as "Family passes into Dreamworld have also been given the chop with entry down to $74.25 (was $99) per person when you buy four tickets." which is another way of saying 'buy 3 get one free'. They also mark this in their header banner as 'last chance' despite the offer page reading "limited time offer valid until October 12!"

Village have extended this offer until June 30 and they’ve added access to an exclusive Sea World Resort stay offer, with rooms available from $249 per night, including buffet breakfast for up to two people.

Hopefully they've seen benefits in extending the offer and will make it part of their regular pass offering into the future. When the mob down the road is offering passholder discounts at $99 ($89), surely they can afford to offer their loyal passholders something.