Question re. VIP passes

[Theme Park Girl]

Hey guys, Just wondering if anyone has heard or been told anything official regarding the current $69.99 QLD VIP passes for Warner Village Parks being continued into the next financial year (2011-2012)? My family and I are coming down to the Gold Coast in August this year, and hoping that these passes will be ongoing so we can benefit from them during our visit - a LOT cheaper than buying separate tickets for each park!! Thanks in advance

Edited May 30, 2011 by OceanGirl

[Flea]

I think it'd be safe to say that the VIP passes will continue for at least a couple more years. It'd be suicide for VRTP to revert back to individual park pricing.

[Theme Park Girl]

Flea, I hope that's the case! I know they have had them running for a few years now (can't remember when they started, but it seems like it was ages ago) but you just never know.... seems like too good a deal to go on forever Certainly beats the $100 'deal' ($50 park entry + $50 pass) I got for my Movieworld exclusive year pass sometime back in the 90's

[Flea]

That's the issue though. Locals have gotten too used to being able to purchase a ridiculously cheap annual pass to all 3 parks that reverting back to individual park pricing would mean drastically lower attendance. Unless VRTP can give locals a reason to pay $70ish a park per visit (such as regularly building solid attractions, not every few years as they are doing now) then there's no turning back.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

I cannot recall who, but a member of the Sea World marine staff (animal handlers) indicated to me that the passes would indeed continue in 2011-2012.

[MaxxTheMonster]

I have always thought that they shot themselves in the foot with the VIP pass. As a one year thing it would have been a great idea, however continuing it now means people expect it to continue. As a quick revenue raiser it is good. But it has meant a decline in quality with a lot of things within the park. They lose money from ticket sales due to this and the sheer number of people attending does put some pass holders off wanting to go back as the wait times are quite ridiculous these days. Wonder if they realised they were losing profits because of these and that is why the whole "no external food into the park" ruling came in. They don't make the money from tickets so they force people to buy food instead. They also add in all these extra upcharges to make more. Becoming more like the Ekka or Easter Show each year.

[Original]

There is already a discussion on this... but I think I saw last night on The Outsiders page saying that the new VIP Pass will go on sale July 1st. They didn't say pricing, now I'm all for the VIP Pass returning, however I think the price of it should at least raise (then again is it worth with so many closed attractions atm or up charge attractions ) but anyhow I would like to see the price raised and then offer deals in terms of people's birthdays, and discounts on F&B and merch!! Because pass holders just don't spend the money in the parks and as I've pointed out before all the people I know leave the park to eat and then come back! Then you've got all these people in the park but the same amount of operators or one train operation, when it desperately needs 2 and as a consequence people soon become annoyed and angry with the park and word of mouth spreads. The GP don't understand because the pass is so cheap quality can't be sustained they think because they paid they should receive the best experience. Anyway what I'm saying if it does return I'd like the price increased so we maintain the quality within the parks and keep up a good word of mouth... and discount F&B, merch and other things the park offers to keep guests spending, and to help this introduce new and different things to interesting for the guests not to buy or try like they've done with Ben & Jerry's and new and interesting merch as was discussed in the other thread!

[Flea]

(then again is it worth with so many closed attractions atm or up charge attractions )

Even if the pass was $200+ it'd still be good value IMO. Where else can you get unlimited entry to 3 parks for the cost of a day's admission? In saying that though, unless the parks introduce something incredible, the public just won't accept a price raise. The pass is a great idea and certainly got them out of the GFC, but if they wanted some flexibility with increasing prices later on, it should've been priced a little higher than it is now.

[joz]

I think a tiered system would be the way to go. I can picture it now: VIP Pass: No block out dates and 10% discount on f&b and retail, plus one free entry to Halloween and Christmas (pre booking essential) IP Pass: Blocked out over expected busy periods, 10% discount on F&B and retail P Pass: More block out dates than the IP pass, no discounts on in park spending. $99 If they did that I think they'd end up making some money! As for the original question, I think the pass will be back next year, but the $70 version comes out later in the year closer to the expiry date, and I'd expect it to be at least $99 in August. Still, even if it was $150 it'd be an absolute bargain.

[Original]

I think a tiered system would be the way to go. I can picture it now: VIP Pass: No block out dates and 10% discount on f&b and retail, plus one free entry to Halloween and Christmas (pre booking essential) IP Pass: Blocked out over expected busy periods, 10% discount on F&B and retail P Pass: More block out dates than the IP pass, no discounts on in park spending. $99 If they did that I think they'd end up making some money! As for the original question, I think the pass will be back next year, but the $70 version comes out later in the year closer to the expiry date, and I'd expect it to be at least $99 in August. Still, even if it was $150 it'd be an absolute bargain.

^ Yes, that's exactly something I was getting at! Plus to keep people spending I would love to see offerings that are very rare to get somewhere else that people just have to buy, like Ben & Jerry's and funnel cakes, something like Bugs ears and if we are getting a coaster at MW this year why not put cameras on them to record people, not just photo's, like in skydiving and other coasters so the GP "Wow, that's unique, we really have to have to show everyone at home!" And please if you are going to have up charge offering's please at least theme them to area so they don't clearly stand out or like people just went to Bunning's one day, threw it all together in one night and then painted it some bright colour! Edited May 30, 2011 by Original

[ray]

I remember reading somewhere that guests at dreamworld spend on average $60 per person on food and merchandise. Im guessing it would be about the same for the other parks. If its still at that level they would be doing pretty well.

[rappa]

Both companies usually seem to drop their price in the first 1/4 of the calendar year with their passes. I'd say if they passes continue next fiscal year (which I can't see why not) they would likely go back to the full price of around 100 bucks for the first 6 months or so. All this is just speculation on my part however.

[MaxxTheMonster]

I personally say scrap the VIP idea all together and go back to the Annual Pass only... I was more than happy to pay in excess of $140 each year over the last 10 years or so before the VIP passes came out and the reason was that the quality was there. I kept buying the Annual Pass even when the VIP passes came out for the same reason and the fact I'm really not interested in WnW and Seaworld. But then as everyone swapped to the cheaper ticketing that kept being released the quality of the overall park experience fell. General atmosphere, ride and shop limited times of operation, outsourcing of stores (Ice Cream, Dominos, Frozen Coke, Willy Wonka has no Wonka products.) and fall of the quality of shows, street entertainment (random scooby chase, bonnie and clyde gone, random characters all throughout the day, looney tunes show now in main street, western "ghost" town) and actual feel of being in a movie based park as opposed to another Dreamworld with the theming spilling out all over itself and other areas. I bought a VIP pass at the start of this financial year and am sad to say that with the current way the parks are going I think it may indeed be the last year I purchase any pass to these parks. With the GP so set into the routine of these being released every year, it will be almost impossible to scrap them as no one will pay almost the same for a single day entry to one park when they are so used to getting unlimited entry for a year to not one, not two, but three parks. I work in Sales and Marketing, Finance and Auditing within the hospitality industry and you don't look at what will get you out of the immediate rut. You don't JUST look at what will get you out, but what things will continue to provide a steady income over the years to keep the company afloat without compromising the service and quality of product you are selling to your target consumer audience. Let us say your current consumer base figure is 1000. Approximately 10% (100) of these will not be pleased regardless of the service. This leaves 900 satisfied consumers that will go away and tell between 1 and 5 friends about the product (Avg of 3 people told per consumer). This gives 2700 possible future consumers. Of the original 1000 consumers, 50% are most likely to return (500). This means from one good day you could have a consumer base percentage increase of 270% We also look after a hotel where we constantly give out complimentary upgrades, free wine, free meals, etc. These things cost us less than $100 if we do all these for a single consumer based on the nightly rate of approx $300. However a loss of $100 means the consumer is 50% likely to return next time they are in town. If apply the same figures as above, but we did this for 100 consumers, we would raise $3000 in revenue, lose $1000 in complimentary items ($2000 up), and 90 of them went away and told the avg 3 people, we would have 320 (270+50) consumers return and with accomodation alone would raise a revenue of $96,000. Isn't that worth the original loss of $1000?? Before anyone replies about the figures I have used, this is all based on actual research the company I work for has been conducting for the last 4 years. I cannot reveal the company, our research methods or clientel base so please do not ask.

[Gazza]

Frozen Coke

Since when is Frozen Coke outsourced? The parks have always sold it, they just went for a dedicated outlet in addition to it being on offer at other places.

Willy Wonka has no Wonka products.

How recent is this. I always thought they carried the Nestle wonka range, some of it imported. Following on from what Joz said, there needs to be some VVIP pass that is a decent amount extra, but it might include a 'merchandise pack' or similar. The only people who'll buy it will be the diehard fans of the parks (Which I think could be a few these days, not necessarily traditional enthusiasts) When you get AFL club memberships they often offer some sort of additional package like this. Back when I lived in Vic and was a Geelong member you could pay $50 or something ridiculous extra for a 'Captains Club' membership and you'd get: -A pen. -Birthday card on your birthday. -Access to grand final tickets, should Geelong compete. The first couple of extras were window dressing, but it was clever of them to get people to pay that much extra for something they might not even get to use. I'd be interested in the economics of offering something like ERT on certain days to premium pass holders too. Dreamworld does it, the Merlin parks in the UK offer it for pass holders...could be done here. Edited May 30, 2011 by Gazza

[MaxxTheMonster]

Perhaps frozen coke was a poor example granted. But as far as the Wonka query, this was less than 2 weeks ago.

[joz]

Yeah, frozen coke was not so spot on, but I agree the broader point remains...

[bern1992]

I was on the MyFun website, and found this... http://seaworldresort.myfun.com.au/Specials/VIP-Theme-Park-Package.aspx TL;DR...

Stay at Sea World Resort for a 2 nights including unlimited* entry to Warner Bros. Movie World, Wet’n’Wild Water World and Sea World Stay before 30 June 2011 and get unlimited theme park entry until 30 June 2011. Stay between 1 July 2011 and 31 October 2011 and get unlimited theme park entry until 30 June 2012...

So they've confirmed it on the MyFun website in at least one way...

[www worker]

Just checked movie worlds Facebook page they seem to have a monster truck show for June/July holidays...

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Confirmed: http://www.facebook.com/myfunaustralia VIP passes coming soon. In my opinion, they'd be better off selling them ahead of time - theres nothing like that first month of queuelines to get your pass. If they sold ahead of time, existing passholders could enter on their current pass, and renew for next year. Would certainly inject some cash into the park just prior to the end of the financial year.

Edited June 2, 2011 by AlexB

[westical]

Would certainly inject some cash into the park just prior to the end of the financial year.

Unless it's been a bad year they probably wouldn't want to.

[Original]

I'm liking that it says BIG 3

[Richard]

In my opinion, they'd be better off selling them ahead of time - theres nothing like that first month of queuelines to get your pass. If they sold ahead of time, existing passholders could enter on their current pass, and renew for next year.

Definitely... though I'd go one step further and allow people to reuse their existing photo and simply mail out the passes. The cost savings in labour alone should make this a no-brainer... with say a modest 50,000 renewals at 3-5 minutes processing time of each, imagine the costs in labour.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

didn't they resort at some stage to printing the pass onto a "punch out" card from a letter? I realise for numerous purposes, they need to get your signature onto paper - but for those who have already filled in the form (ie: existing passholders) surely there is some way to streamline that process.

[Gazza]

https://myfun.com.au/big3/VIP-pass/Select-your-pass.aspx Yes! They've got the passes the way need to be. -$109 for a new pass -$139 for a Gold Pass, which gets you into Fright Nights & White Christmas. -$10 saving to renew.

[aussienetman]

That's good news. I'm liking the new price structure. Dreamworld have followed suit ?