I think the idea that you're going to condition people to pay $300 for a pass is a bridge to far. If that was brought back out of the blue even with blockbuster attractions at each park they'd struggle to sell them. Realistically to get people to pay more you need to appeal to however much people are willing to pay. Some people will only be prepared to pay $70, some people (particularly tourists) will be prepared to pay more, so how do you get the most out of what people are willing to pay? Teired tickets with blackout dates, 12month passes instead of 'this financial year' passes, and f&b discounts for higher passes all seem like great places to start. I think also prepared to take a hit the year you bring it out, because I think after all these cheap tickets for so long a lot of people would be 'worn out' with theme parks.

Though giving people the option of buying a pass like a gym membership where you pay a fortnightly fee of $5 per pass ($130 a year) as long as you want and your pass never expires until you cancel it may negate that worn out thing.

So previously, you've budgeted by choosing one park franchise or the other, rather than holding passes to both franchises simultaneously...

Not exactly. We only moved back to the Gold Coast late last year. Wasn't worthwhile buying passes to all parks whilst we lived 4+ hours drive out of town, as we would be lucky to find the time to use the ones we had.

Now that we are local, parks are only down the road and it makes sense to have access to all of them

I actually wonder if that is part of the rationale behind the ticketing.

I'm assuming the majority of punters at the parks aren't locals here which may not be correct.

Most people who visit are perhaps there for a week or two on holidays. If the cost of a multiple ticket is cheaper then they are more likely to go multiple days and spend more in the parks each time, and them even schedule another trip while the passes are still valid. I know that is how it has worked for us.

That's definitely a thing. Ever since the 3 park super pass this has been a thing. I think not having a multi day ticket for tourists would be insane. BUT the theme parks are the biggest attraction on the Gold Coast. People if they're coming to the Gold Coast are most likely going to the parks, particularly in peak times. I know I'm beating a drum here, but if you blocked out holidays on the cheapest pass tourists WOULD buy the next one up. That is the biggest place money is being left on the table IMHO.

I apologise if this is old news, just remembered you guys discussing the future of Gold passes (ie. special event entry) earlier in this thread and got this email late this arvo... the second paragraph officially addresses this future pass upgrade option:

It says: all new VIP pass holders. If you downgrade from Gold when renewing, are you "new"?

Basically they are going out of their way to make it as vague as possible. I assume by 'new' passholders they mean passholders who renew and as such have a new pass for 2015/16, who aren't really new passholders by any reasonable definition.

The plan I expect will be to offer an event pass addon for ~$50, and they have some clever strategy that involves withholding this fact to drive sales at the $75 renewal price and only mention the event tickets closer to Halloween. Because consumers love to be withheld information and charged more later...

^you gotta hook 'em first Richard!

See I personally don't think there is much long term vision or strategic planning going on. Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe the introduction of the super cheap passes was a knee jerk to the GFC.

The plan I expect will be to offer an event pass addon for ~$50, and they have some clever strategy that involves withholding this fact to drive sales at the $75 renewal price and only mention the event tickets closer to Halloween. Because consumers love to be withheld information and charged more later...

Lol... I think Richard may have just corrected you, Flea... they are definitely using their brains somewhere behind the scenes in Village Roadshow management land lol. Even if its not immediately clear what their motives are

Edited May 14, 201511 yr by OceanGirl

I think the sarcasm in Richard's post may have been missed.

Nah, got it the first time Joz The fact still remains that he is probably right with his prediction lol.

I've just renewed my VIP pass using the $75 offer.

I held off till now because I wasn't sure whether I would be able to upgrade it to include the night events. However the email I received today specifically said that in July all VIP pass holders will be given the opportunity to upgrade to include all 3 night events. No mention of how much this will cost, but I'm hoping it will be no more than what a Discovery Passport would have cost me, as that was what I was thinking of getting.

As I always say, I'd be more than happy if they charged quite a lot more for the annual passes, but at the same time if there are cheaper prices available I'm not going to be the fool who pays more unnecessarily (if that makes any sense)!

GREAT. Now I find that for an extra $5 I could have got Paradise Country included too (through Groupon)!

Oh well. Too late for me. But if anyone else hasn't renewed yet and would like to have unlimited access to Paradise Country as well as SW, MW, and W&W, check here.

http://www.groupon.com.au/coupons/tickets/parks

Ooh, looks like someone has spun the wheel in marketing!

I wonder how Paradise Country passes will differ from regular VIP Magic Passes... and whether both will be eligible for gold styled upgrades....

Just went with the $75 renewal, not entirely sure how the pay later thing will work...

Pretty sure the official renewal deal for VIP Magic passes finished today anyway, so that option above may be the only way now to renew? At least until it expires as well.

Eta: Oh wait. The email says it's the last day to get the renewal deal at the "best price", along with the free bring a friend thing. So I guess renewals are still available after today, just at a higher price.

Edited May 16, 201511 yr by OceanGirl

I did post back at the start about the Groupon deal.

I didn't bother with it, just did the vip renewal today

I didn't have the option of renewing, as we swap between these and Dreamworld every 18 months, but we went with the Buy 3 get 1 free deal, so I'm more than happy to pay $300 for the family for the year.

I didn't have the option of renewing, as we swap between these and Dreamworld every 18 months

You do know that Village Roadshow backdate passes of up to 3 years old for renewals... right?

I just renewed my entire family's passes which expired in June 2013 for the same price, plus got 4x "bring a friend for free" entry tickets. You unfortunately also missed out on the exclusive upgrade to gold deal coming up for in the next couple of months which is apparently only for those who recently renewed for $79 each.

This would have been the better deal for your family! Just remember in future, you don't have to be current ones in order to be renewed, so long as they are recent

Edited May 19, 201511 yr by OceanGirl

OG - I don't think the 'exclusive upgrade to gold' was only meant for those who renewed before the cutoff - i think you'll find the phrasing in the original post was something along the lines of 'something is coming, but you should renew before X date to get the best price'

My interpretation of what they've said is that the upgrade offer will be available to anyone holding a current pass, but that the renewal offer was clearly a better price than what would later be offered, so people who didn't take advantage of the renewal offer would end up paying more...

Ah sorry Alex, I obviously worded my post poorly lol. I meant the "exclusive gold deal" to be a deal (ie. cheaper/cheapest price) exclusive to those who did the $79 renewal thing, not that the upgrade would be for renewal deals only.

Sorry if that's how it read. I agree it would be silly if VRTP did that, as they would severely limit their potential customers and profit for gold upgrades ???

The last communication on the $79 renewal offer said people who take up the deal will be the first to be offered the upgrade.

Now whether being first means cheaper or not, or whether there is only a limited number of these upgrades, we don't know.

Limited number? hahahahaha come on - this is VRTP!

I didn't realise that! Oh well, I'll know for next time. The kids have been a bit young to take to the night time events, probably still not keen on it for another year.