VIP Pass pricing

[westical]

I can sorta understand that for the first ride, but multiple times there's not much anxiety or expectations left.

[Brad2912]

What is wrong with what I said? It is my opinion, and nothing more than that. The reason is that whenever you get to a ride straight away without waiting at all, you don't get that anxiety before you ride it, you don't get to talk with whoever is with you there about your expectations and whatnot, and I haven't had that experience for a while until today (not even in Orlando, where I usually go in February and lines are not bad at all).

Probably just your choice of words mate. If you'd said 'I was having such a good time I barely even noticed the 45mins it took me to get on SE' it would have gone straight thru to the keeper without anyone commenting. I do understand what u mean about the anticipation though. I'm sweet to wait that long for a first ride of the day on SE, especially when with some mates, but ask me to do it again later in the day, and I won't be bothered as I've had my SE fix fulfilled already so 45mins feels like 2 hrs.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

I went to MW and WnW yesterday. As for putting the prices up on the passes, I wouldn't complain, but I think WVTP have got their heads sorted as far as the price point goes. VIP for $100 is a bargain, but most people didn't want to shell out the extra $30 odd dollars for VIP gold. Then those who didn't complained when 4 people got into the park 30-45 minutes early, and essentially had ERT on the 'early entry' ride of the day. We both have gold passes, we only paid $80 for each pass this year, and yesterday was our first trip. Between the two parks we spent: $20 on lockers $60 on food and drink. (We bought an unlimited refill at MW, and had lunch at Rick's). So, out of ONE visit on our passes, they've just made $240. Granted, we don't always spend that much, but the in-park sales are where they're going to make their profit (as has been said already). I know that some people with VIP passes will take the cheaper option - go to McDonalds or bring their own food and drink etc - but if they don't have the money to spend in the park, then fair enough, But I don't think it's fair to say that every VIP pass holder eats outside the park. We will frequently have an 'in-park spend' whilst we're there, and at the very least - we usually need to get a locker - and an all-day locker usually works out cheaper than the $1$2 ride lockers for an hour. While i'm writing about our trip yesterday - I just want to name and shame Rachel, who was working as the grouper at the head of the SE queue yesterday. We had decided that we were only going to ride SE once, and we wanted to take on the front seat. As usual, the queueline worked so we were in the middle of the queue, and when we reached the head, we stepped to the side, and advised her that 'we'd like to wait for the front seat'. Her response? 'well are you going to ask me if you can, or are you just telling me that that's what you're doing?' To make things worse, the cycle that we'd 'passed up' ended up ejecting the front row for 'loose items' (i'm glad to see that they're actually doing this now, rather than just taking the items off them), and she immediately canvassed the queue for a 'group of 2 - it's for the front seat' while overlooking us when she knew that was what we were waiting for. The couple behind us was led forward to take that front seat. On the next cycle, when she opened the gate, she sarcastically advised us 'you can have your front seat now'. Most of you know i've worked in parks before... and to be honest - i've never experienced that kind of 'rudeness' from WVTP or Dreamworld. Hell - even Aussie world aren't that abrupt. It just irritated the hell out of me. Anyhow... I'd like to see the passes increased in price next year - not by a lot - $10 or $20 is easily justifiable - and sets the scene for another $10 or $20 the year after that... while keeping their F&B pricing the same. If they decide to keep the passes where they are, they really need to maximise their in-park offers - and while some people will eat lunch outside of the park, the unlimited refill soft drink is a good offer - so putting their focus there is probably the way to go. As I understand it from one of the staff operating one of those outlets, it's been extremely popular (albeit a little stickymessy) so here's hoping they continue along those lines as $8 for all-day drinks is a really good way to make some money - a cup of post-mix doesn't crack a dollar in costs, so theres money to be made!

[BemaniAK]

Between the two parks we spent: $20 on lockers $60 on food and drink. (We bought an unlimited refill at MW, and had lunch at Rick's). So, out of ONE visit on our passes, they've just made $240

And this is exactly why the passes are at their current price.

[kujotess]

All you guys are doing are gaining up on me by agreeing with each other to make yourselves look bigger, trying to prove me wrong, then you tell me everyone can say their own opinion.

[westical]

Your victim persecution sob story is starting to get really tiring.

[Brad2912]

All you guys are doing are gaining up on me by agreeing with each other to make yourselves look bigger, trying to prove me wrong, then you tell me everyone can say their own opinion.

jesus.... no one is 'gaining', or ganging for that matter, up on you. put forward an intelligent argument, see other peoples opinions as just that, opinions, and dont post stupid pictures telling people to "shut the F**k up" and then whinge when people come back at you for it - and then you might gain some respect.

[xRazzBerryx]

Alright, can we stop fighting and actually discuss what AlexB had to say? I think what she did was very wrong. I usually wait for the front of the ride (80% of the time) as I think it's a better experience. I usually get told, "Just stand to the side and you'll be on the front next ride." Simple as that. As for the passes, I wouldn't be fussed if the passes were increased by $10 - $20, It wouldn't really make any difference because even still with raising this price, your still going to get your moneys worth even if you just go twice.

[Gazza]

-I think prices could go up.... Id pay say $200 or so. They can have a cheaper one, but it should be blacked out in peak periods.

Edited September 9, 2012 by djrappa

[pushbutton]

I live in SA, and the only time we get to enjoy something like a theme park here is when the (admittedly excellent) Royal Show is on. Yesterday I paid $20 each for entry into the show, then it's between $8 and $20 PER RIDE. Myself and my nephew and neice went on 6 rides and spent something like $60 each. So ignoring the cost of food and souvinirs (which you'd pay for in Gold Coast theme parks too) it cost around $80 each for one single day entry. There was also plenty of fantastic live entertainment which was included in the entry cost. This really made me painfully aware that I paid the same price for ONE DAY at the Royal Show as I paid for a whole year of unlimited entry to 3 fantastic theme parks in the Gold Coast! It's crazy! As I explained in my earlier post, I am concerned about 2 things. One is I want long term profitability for the parks (so they'll still be around in many years from now for me to enjoy), and decent pay for the staff. The other is I do not want to pay extra for things once I'm in the parks (as has started to creep in in the last few years). It reminds me of when I visited the Phillipines, where a 3 course meal in a nice restaurant cost the equivelent of AU$3 each. I am normally not one to give tips as I strongly believe restaurants should pay staff sensible wages. However on that occasion the price was so ridiculous I very happily gave them an extra $7 to make it up to $10, which is still very cheap for a nice restaurant meal. One must expect to pay for what things are actually worth to some extent, or else they will not continue to be viable.

[rappa]

I've officially cancelled the pissing contest from this thread. As for the SE discussion, sounds like there is no right person to me. By your own admission Alex you sound like you did simply state you were waiting. General politeness is always to ask. And I've certainly seen staff react the same way to enthusiasts who tend to tell them how to do their jobs.

[Original]

I've been thinking about it and I'd like to see the park do something as follows: $99 VIP Pass - Block out dates during holidays and public holidays - No "buy 3, get one free" - No F&B discounts - No early entry - No free entry to WC or FN - No discounts or special promotions $150 Gold VIP Pass - Less restricted block out dates, but still some during the parks stupidly busy periods - Offer "buy 3, get the 4th half price" - Small F&B and retail discount (something like 5%) - No early entry - ONE free entry to either FN OR WC - Small access to discounts and special promotions $200 Platinum VIP Pass - No block out dates - Offer "Buy 3 get one free" - F&B and retail discount (this time 15 maybe 20%) - One hour early entry - ONE free night to both FN and WC (guests with this pass could also upgrade to passes that give you unlimited access to every night for a smaller price than everyone else) - Access to all special promotions and discounts - Priority line and the parks entrance for them - *Access to them getting a say in the parks future attractions - A proper card, rather than the print out plastic ones *Basically just a simple survey, similar to what the park already does now, they also could treat these surveys with a grain of salt and many pass holders probably wouldn't complete them. However, from marketing perspective it could make them feel "special" and "included", that they are such a valued customer the park wants to know what ride they want next. The park could price it however they want to suit their profits, but from my POV that seems to make sense, but I'm not in the theme park business. I also like it because those who can't afford Platinum, still basically the same they get now, just with block out dates, the block out dates would work wonders for the park to stop it getting overcrowded in the peak periods, with full paying customers and cheap passes, as well towards the end when the passes run out. Locals can still get the cheap on and help nicely balance the parks attendance figure out in the off-season. The park makes more money from those paying the extra money, and those paying the extra money, feel that little bit more special. Those with the more expensive pass may be more inclined to buy F&B or retail in the park because they get a discount and perceive it as good value, whereas they might not have before. Also, for those paying the full entry price, I would let them gain the extra entry as well, so they get a chance at some ERT before everyone else with a pass rushes in. This sort of model works wonders for the Disney parks, why couldn't something like this work for our 3 GC parks and maybe down the future work WnW Sydney into, to give even greater value with the VRTP pass over the ones offered by Ardent Leisure. I know people have said this before, but what are people's thoughts on this. I also have no problem with naming and shaming staff if they aren't providing good service, these people are meant to make customers day "special" and forget about the real world. If some staff don't do this then management needs to know and correct it. In Alex's situation I'm not going to comment, but yes I think it needs to be drummed into staff, these are paying customers that are here to forget the realities of the real world. Just wanted to touch on this since we're talking about perks, passes, pricing and staff. The idea of fastpass sort of thing that the park has already trialled, before they bring it in, I would rather they focused on operations and got ALL rides and attractions to operating at full capacity and getting people on and off and on their way as fast as possible before even thinking about bringing in this type of system. IMO I also don't think people should pay for it, it would give an advantage over DW's current system and if it will slow down wait times and the throughput, the amount of people getting on these rides and attraction per hour, then plain and simple, I don't want it. Just keep operations performing at its best, getting through as many people as they can in line.

[pushbutton]

Talking about service, I have had one or two experiences at Movie World and Wet n Wild where I found the staff at the entry gate to be surly and officious. Not at all the sort of attitude I would expect. Why could they not have automated entry gates (in fact they do at Wet n Wild but often don't seem to use them properly. If you have a pass it should be a very quick and simple matter of scanning it as you pass through the automatic gate. Nothing more. Have security watching in case anyone tries to abuse it by jumping over the auto gate or whatever, but for the most part it should work very well. Instead I often find that even though I have a pass, I have to queue with all the people who are paying at the gate, then be greeted by a miserable person in a box who takes several minutes to do what should surely take 2 seconds. It's not a great start to the day!

[MaxxTheMonster]

Australia Zoo does the whole black out thing with their passes. We bought a basic pass which gives acces only during the week, not weekends, school holidays or special event days. The next level gives entry to weekends as well, and the third level every day of the year. Because I work in hospitality and usually have my days off during the week and the wife is on maternity leave, the basic pass is perfect for us.

[westical]

Why could they not have automated entry gates (in fact they do at Wet n Wild but often don't seem to use them properly. If you have a pass it should be a very quick and simple matter of scanning it as you pass through the automatic gate. Nothing more. Have security watching in case anyone tries to abuse it by jumping over the auto gate or whatever, but for the most part it should work very well.

It stops/deters people from sharing passes.

[Gazza]

^Theme parks overseas combine scanning your pass with biometrics, but I don't really see the speed advantage of that really.

[Bmull19]

.

Edited September 10, 2012 by Bmull19

[Gazza]

Instead I often find that even though I have a pass, I have to queue with all the people who are paying at the gate,

No you don't, just walk around the side like everyone else.

[Richard]

I've been thinking about it and I'd like to see the park do something as follows: $99 VIP Pass ... $150 Gold VIP Pass ... $200 Platinum VIP Pass ...

Yep, that's pretty much the most logical solution. For one there's simply no way that they can just "undo" the $99 pass because they've conditioned the market to expect them now. The $99 pass deal was always fine to me -- the issue was when they removed the blackout dates. If they're going to give the gate away like that there absolutely needs to be restrictions. Maybe even going along the lines of what Wyncenuros suggested Australia Zoo do and have weekends blacked out for the cheapest. Probably not every weekend, but one weekend (or even just a day) a month where it's Gold/Platinums and day tickets only.

[liz.wis]

While I could understand why the prices could go up, I think it would stop a number of families buying the passes. When you have to get tickets for a couple of kids as well, it's not a cheap exercise. We seriously had to think about whether we could afford to renew this year (FWIW we decided to renew, with the new attractions coming, plus we'll be spending some time down the coast over the Summer). Taking young kids, we'll buy lunch down there every couple of visits (or eat sandwiches in the car the rest of the time), but we still tend to buy water, softies, ice-creams, and occasionally our older daughter sees something that takes her fancy in the gift shops. As we go fairly regularly, we tend not to take up space in shows (in the last year, we saw Stunt Driver once, and have seen Ice Age just the once), and just hang about the kids / family rides.

[Brad2912]

Understand what you are saying Liz when it comes to big families, or even small ones, it all adds up. I guess though even if it went up to $120 per ticket (+$20 on current pricing) its still crazy cheap for a year of entertainment for the family. Buy you passes, take your lunch with you and barring maybe a drink or ice-cream you have a full day out without paying a thing on the day. Considering it costs about $60-$80 for a family to go watch a movie together these days, and that's 2hrs of entertainment - the value is easy to see

[pushbutton]

I went to MW and WnW yesterday. As for putting the prices up on the passes, I wouldn't complain, but I think WVTP have got their heads sorted as far as the price point goes. VIP for $100 is a bargain, but most people didn't want to shell out the extra $30 odd dollars for VIP gold. Then those who didn't complained when 4 people got into the park 30-45 minutes early, and essentially had ERT on the 'early entry' ride of the day. We both have gold passes, we only paid $80 for each pass this year, and yesterday was our first trip. Between the two parks we spent: $20 on lockers $60 on food and drink. (We bought an unlimited refill at MW, and had lunch at Rick's). So, out of ONE visit on our passes, they've just made $240. Granted, we don't always spend that much, but the in-park sales are where they're going to make their profit (as has been said already). I know that some people with VIP passes will take the cheaper option - go to McDonalds or bring their own food and drink etc - but if they don't have the money to spend in the park, then fair enough, But I don't think it's fair to say that every VIP pass holder eats outside the park. We will frequently have an 'in-park spend' whilst we're there, and at the very least - we usually need to get a locker - and an all-day locker usually works out cheaper than the $1$2 ride lockers for an hour. While i'm writing about our trip yesterday - I just want to name and shame Rachel, who was working as the grouper at the head of the SE queue yesterday. We had decided that we were only going to ride SE once, and we wanted to take on the front seat. As usual, the queueline worked so we were in the middle of the queue, and when we reached the head, we stepped to the side, and advised her that 'we'd like to wait for the front seat'. Her response? 'well are you going to ask me if you can, or are you just telling me that that's what you're doing?' To make things worse, the cycle that we'd 'passed up' ended up ejecting the front row for 'loose items' (i'm glad to see that they're actually doing this now, rather than just taking the items off them), and she immediately canvassed the queue for a 'group of 2 - it's for the front seat' while overlooking us when she knew that was what we were waiting for. The couple behind us was led forward to take that front seat. On the next cycle, when she opened the gate, she sarcastically advised us 'you can have your front seat now'. Most of you know i've worked in parks before... and to be honest - i've never experienced that kind of 'rudeness' from WVTP or Dreamworld. Hell - even Aussie world aren't that abrupt. It just irritated the hell out of me. Anyhow... I'd like to see the passes increased in price next year - not by a lot - $10 or $20 is easily justifiable - and sets the scene for another $10 or $20 the year after that... while keeping their F&B pricing the same. If they decide to keep the passes where they are, they really need to maximise their in-park offers - and while some people will eat lunch outside of the park, the unlimited refill soft drink is a good offer - so putting their focus there is probably the way to go. As I understand it from one of the staff operating one of those outlets, it's been extremely popular (albeit a little stickymessy) so here's hoping they continue along those lines as $8 for all-day drinks is a really good way to make some money - a cup of post-mix doesn't crack a dollar in costs, so theres money to be made!

That Rachel does not sounds like she has the right attitude to be working in tourism. It could be partly managements fault for not providing good enough training for her, but mostly she just sounds like she has a bad attitude which no training could really make good. If I experienced that I would have definitely complained to management whilst there on site. It's just not on.

While I could understand why the prices could go up, I think it would stop a number of families buying the passes. When you have to get tickets for a couple of kids as well, it's not a cheap exercise. We seriously had to think about whether we could afford to renew this year (FWIW we decided to renew, with the new attractions coming, plus we'll be spending some time down the coast over the Summer). Taking young kids, we'll buy lunch down there every couple of visits (or eat sandwiches in the car the rest of the time), but we still tend to buy water, softies, ice-creams, and occasionally our older daughter sees something that takes her fancy in the gift shops. As we go fairly regularly, we tend not to take up space in shows (in the last year, we saw Stunt Driver once, and have seen Ice Age just the once), and just hang about the kids / family rides.

Consider that for the nearest thing you could get to a day at a theme park in Adelaide it would cost about $20 per person for entry, then on average $10 per person per ride. Let's say you went on 5 rides during the day that's about $70 per person for ONE DAY at ONE venue, that's only open for one week each year (I'm talking about the Royal Adelaide Show). Compare that to paying $80 for unlimited entries and unlimited rides at not one but 3 fantastic venues that are open all year long! In that context I reckon they could easily quadruple the price of an annual pass and it would still be unbelievably cheap! I still say extras that you buy once in the park should cost little or nothing though. I expect theme park entry to include everything I will need once in the park (basides REASONABLY PRICED food, and souvinirs should I choose to buy them (optional).

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

In short - I did complain to guest services on the day - immediately after the ride. TBH, I don't think (Lauren?) took the complaint very seriously. Of course - she totally agreed with what we said and assured us she would follow this up with the attraction supervisors - but didn't write a thing down whilst we were there. (*side note - i wasn't expecting any free stuff or anything - just to be reassured the matter would be dealt with properly - In my opinion, when a complaint is received, it should be accurately documented whilst the plaintiff was there, to ensure all the details were captured correctly.) Whilst I acknowledge Rappa's comment about general politeness, and yes, we probably could have communicated our intentions better than we did - the point is - we weren't being paid to be there and provide a service - when the cast member was - regardless of a guest's particular behaviour, no cast member should respond to a guest in that fashion as it can escalate very quickly into something the cast member can't control. Had I been brought up differently, I might have responded that 'i pay her wages, and i'll tell her exactly what i'm going to do, and she's going to deal with it because i'm her boss'. Given her response to a rather benign comment, I can see her response escalating to that... certain unsavoury elements that visit the park would not see anything inappropriate with escalating that situation to something physical - i've seen it happen when I worked at Wonderland - and she's out there virtually on her own - only the operator can see what happens to her, and only if they're watching. The point is, regardless of how I interacted with her, i'm not employed by the park, and I don't represent them - she does, and should have responded appropriately.

[Reanimated35]

Make your next holiday full of fun and excitement at the Gold Coast's favourite theme parks with the exclusive VIP Pass Secret Sale. For only $89.99, you can enjoy unlimited fun at Movie World, Sea World and Wet'n'Wild until 30 June 2013. Take on the brand new Constrictor at Wet'n'Wild, featuring the tightest and highest banking turns in the world! Ride into battle on the world's first Justice League 3D - The Ride at Movie World, and feed a cheeky seal at Seal Harbour, opening this summer at Sea World! This secret sale will end at midnight on Friday 30 November and is only available by clicking on the link below. So hurry to get your VIP Pass and enjoy never-ending fun on your next holiday. https://themeparks.com.au/box-office/vip-pass/vip-sale

Edited November 21, 2012 by reanimated35

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

I should point out (i received the email also) that the subject line is somewhat misleading. It claims "up to 25% off a VIP pass" and then lists the price as $89.99. This would make the pass $119.99 - however their website currently lists a VIP pass as being only $99.99. The fine print at the bottom of the email (left off by reanimated) states: "*Saving based on peak pricing increase December 2012" So in my opinion, this is somewhat deceptive and misleading advertising. By purchasing now, I will save 25% off when compared to purchasing in 2 weeks time, but in reality, the discount off the CURRENT R.R.P. is around 10%... not 25% as claimed in the email subject line. Putting all that aside, can I say i'm glad to hear after prostituting the VIP product for too long, that (based on this email) it is their intention to raise the price to $119.99 as of December.