Buying the Premier 2 year pass in Virginia as opposed to Florida

[Mom21]

We are Florida residents. However dd and I are going to Virginia in June for Nationals in Trampoline and Tumbling. I thought about buying our passes there. It is $299.95/person for 2 years verses $429.95 in Orlando. We won't be going to Orlando before we go to Virginia. Is there a problem with not having a VA ID?

 

[RabFlmom]

We are Florida residents. However dd and I are going to Virginia in June for Nationals in Trampoline and Tumbling. I thought about buying our passes there. It is $299.95/person for 2 years verses $429.95 in Orlando. We won't be going to Orlando before we go to Virginia. Is there a problem with not having a VA ID?

Looking at buying the Platinum pass which gets you unlimited admission to all 9 parks, I see there is a big difference for what you get for the money. My first thought was why would anybody buy their 2 year annual PLATINUM pass in Florida parks because it costs so much more. Buying the Va one you get admission to all the parks and most of the benefits, but it does not give you front of the line or reserved seats at the Florida parks. If you are from Florida it kind of defeats the reason for getting the Platinum pass if you buy the Platinum in Va. Basically you will just be getting the benefits of the 2 year Gold pass for the Florida parks which is much cheaper than a platinum in fForida.
Looking at the Benefits page on the Williamsburg site it does not give Front of the line there either. It does not mention front of the line on their page like it does on the Tampa Platinum pass benefits page. Anyway I did not see it listed anywhere. Am I missing it?

 

[ahoyle]

I have a platinum pass from VA and live in NC. If you are at the park in VA there would be no trouble at all, IMO.

As for the benefits, last year at Sea World I got reserved seating at every show, the preferred parking, etc. I've never heard of the front of the line mentioned, so I cant comment on that. My pass does include ride again priviliges. I dont feel like I missed out on any Platinum benefits while at Sea World or Aquatica.

 

[SandrA9810]

Most platinum passholders have not had any issues getting the same benefits in Orlando as they would their "home" park.

The extras, like reserved seating or preferred parking is based on availability. So going during spring break or Christmas week, you might have to park in regular parking because of the amount of paying customers willing to pay for preferred.
The one thing that does make a difference, is the special coupons that they send out for your "home" park. Last summer, my friend, who's a platinum member, got a coupon card in the mail with lots of cool stuff on it. If it was only for san antonio or some other random park, that he never goes to, then it'd be kinda pointless.
And I don't think any pass has ever given front of the line, just reride priveledges. Some times you can stay in your seat without getting up. Other times, you have to get on the following train. I noticed some of the coasters at Busch Garden follow the second rule.

As for you, who will not be traveling to fl all the time, then save yourself the money and go with the cheaper pass in VA. And you don't need a VA ID, you just have to enter the park once prior to visiting FL to validate your ticket.

 

[RabFlmom]

I have a platinum pass from VA and live in NC. If you are at the park in VA there would be no trouble at all, IMO.

As for the benefits, last year at Sea World I got reserved seating at every show, the preferred parking, etc. I've never heard of the front of the line mentioned, so I cant comment on that. My pass does include ride again priviliges. I dont feel like I missed out on any Platinum benefits while at Sea World or Aquatica.

OOps I always get ride again option confused with front of the line. It seems to be the only difference in the benefits. Guess the price is higher in florida for that reason+ the facts that there are more parks and they stay open all year instead of seasonal.

 

[floridaminnie]

So let me get this right. As long as I use it the first time in VA and don't care about anything other than getting into the parks and not paying for parking it's cheaper to buy it from Williamsburg than Tampa. $130 cheaper a person.

 

[SandrA9810]

yep.

 

[inkkognito]

Our home park is SeaWorld but we use the premium parking and ride again all the time at Busch Gardens with no issue. I sure wish they included FOTL as one of the benefits but alas there is no such beast (well, unless you buy Quick Queue, which we get a discount on with our Platinums).

 

[DOOM1001]

I've been paying the platinum pass for almost 10 years now,I got the pass at Sea World Orlando and I'm still paying $12 a month which is the rate from almost 10 years ago with EZ PAY, the rate now is like $18 something,that sounds great as they don't raise my rates ever as long as I'm paying it and I'm not under a contract since it expired after 2 years.The problem is that once they opened Aquatica I needed to upgrade my pass to include it,meaning a $6 a month increase in what I pay just to include Aquatica.If I lived closer to Orlando I would probably upgrade it to include Aquatica but a 1/3 jump in what I pay to just include Aquatica I chose to just keep paying it without Aquatica.The question I have is if I decided to cancel my current pass and buy a new Platinum pass through the Williamsburg website do they send you the passes to a Florida address or would I have to visit the Williamsburg park to do this.Getting the Platinum through the VA park would still keep my EZ PAY payment around $12-$13.If they don't send the passes to a Fl address I'd be willing to go up there as the VA park is one of my favorites and I haven't been there in several years,I haven't ridden Griffon or Curse of Darkcastle yet.

 

[fac]

The question I have is if I decided to cancel my current pass and buy a new Platinum pass through the Williamsburg website do they send you the passes to a Florida address or would I have to visit the Williamsburg park to do this.Getting the Platinum through the VA park would still keep my EZ PAY payment around $12-$13.If they don't send the passes to a Fl address I'd be willing to go up there as the VA park is one of my favorites and I haven't been there in several years,I haven't ridden Griffon or Curse of Darkcastle yet.

I was in Orlando last year for DD attending the Seaworld camp, one of the camper's mom told me that she called Williamsburg park and they sent her the tickets in the mail. She live in Maryland though.

For me, I took a mini-vacation to VA to get the tickets. However, before I was able to go to VA, I was able to use the computer printout to use the Park in FL, but it was a pain as we had to first go to the guest service to get the tickets.

 

[Mom21]

Thanks everyone. Looks like I will be buying the tickets in VA. At a savings of $260 for 2 then I can pay for parking if I have to. We'll likely never go to the VA parks again, but Florida will be a few times before our passes run out. I'd so Seaworld at least 2 times and Aquatica 2 or 3. Busch gardens Tampa 1 or 2. So we'll come out ok in the long run I believe. I really don't care about ride again, and I'll keep that perk from dd.....

 

[ahoyle]

I can confirm that they will mail you the pass to activate it at Seaworld. However, I live in NC, so that may be why they did it for me. I kinda doubt they would do that to a florida address.

 

[seven dwarfs]

You may want to call and check first to be sure this is possible. We just ordered the same pass from Williamsburg Bush Gardens and they have the computers set up by zip code and address. The lady that helped us said that's how they keep people from buying that pass that live in Florida. (we were using ours in Florida first but live in Md so called to see if we were in the right zip code to buy them cheaper)