Wild Card deal

A friend of mine that had the Wild Card for May-June sent me an email he got saying he could update it to a Platinum pass for the rest of the season for $99. Good total price for a season long Platinum pass.

What does all that discounting tell you, they are hurting.

Crappy weather for the waterpark, no new ride for 2019 equals lower attendance so the discounting is here for 2019 to try to push the numbers up!

Or it's a strategy to convert people who don't already have one to a season pass.

Consider, you're a person who maybe visits every other year or so for a day, but the gate price has crept up to the point that you're wary. Along comes the Wild Card deal that is an incredible value, so you pounce on it. You end up visiting a few times and realize how nice it is to be able to visit when you want.

Then, after your Wild Card window closes, they offer you another sweet deal for the rest of the season. By the end of the year you've been converted to the coveted season pass holder from a once or twice a year visitor.

I know anecdotal evidence is sketchy at best, but it was noticeably busier during our visit this year compared to previous years.

Just Coasting said:
What does all that discounting tell you, they are hurting.

Crappy weather for the waterpark, no new ride for 2019 equals lower attendance so the discounting is here for 2019 to try to push the numbers up!

They just purchased 2 Schlitterbahn parks with a 3rd a possibility and also purchased the Sawmill Creek resort. They aren't hurting. It's all a strategy like DJ pointed out.

Just Coasting said:

What does all that discounting tell you, they are hurting.

They came up with a way to get people to upgrade. Pretty confident this was the plan going in. This is a fairly common strategy is a lot of businesses.

Just Coasting said:

Crappy weather for the waterpark, no new ride for 2019 equals lower attendance....

Crappy weather happens every year. And I can only guess you haven't checked out Forbidden Frontier? That was one hell of an addition. And it sure got our kids excited. In fact, it's a part of the reason we are booking another overnight trip for late July, which is unheard of for us (we always stay in June, and then make day-trips throughout the year).

Yes, it's all anecdotal, but my "evidence" lines up with Brandon's. Even in our early-season trips it felt busier all-around than what we would have expected.

I've gone every year in June after father's day for the last six years. This year was easily the busiest from my perspective. Hardly scientific, but I'd say they are just fine with attendance numbers if I had to guess.

I've had 8ish visits this year, and most of them have seemed busier than last year. I'll just 3rd/4th Brandon here on it being a planned strategy. They just sent out the e-mail this weekend, but the ability to upgrade was already there.

To go along with the nephew getting the Pre-K pass, I got my wife the Wild Card this spring. It was the first time she's had a pass in over a decade. 3 visits later for her and the 3-year-old, and I convinced her that the upgrade would make sense if affordable.

I did this bat**** crazy thing and contacted guest services about upgrade options since there is that billboard by Magnum for upgrading a single day ticket to a pass. Amazingly enough, I got a timely response from them that I could go to season pass processing or guest services and upgrade the Wild Card to a regular pass for $49.99 or platinum for the $99 price.

So, the 3-year-old is having an awesome summer, my wife is enjoying going this year as well, and I've willingly dropped more coin in the park on food, drinks, and souvenirs than I have in many years. Cleary desperation and not some maniacal plan via free Pre-K and discounted Wild Card deals to generate revenue /s

I was literally just about to call guest services and inquire about this. But, hey I got my answers and I like them a lot . I got my girlfriend the wild card and we have ended up being able to go a lot more throughout the summer than originally anticipated, so this will work out great.