Platinum Passport Question

[pixiepower1971]

We have Platinum Passports that are good for all AB parks except Aquatica. We have had them for 4 years. We use EZ pay. We were told that after our initial 2 year commitment that our prices would never increase as long as we kept these passes. Including our kids becoming adults in the eyes of AB! We can cancel whenever we want.

I just looked into adding Aquatica and I was told that I would have to cancel my contract, upgrade to new Platinum passports(which means adding the kids at higher adult prices), start my 2-year committment again, and that the new contracts included language that will allow for price increases.

First Question- has anyone been through this and is this info correct?

Second- If this info is correct, I see no benefit to adding the new park. I will just pay when we go as we will only go once or twice a year. I do not think it is worth it for us and our use of the park.

Anyone see it any differently?

TIA!

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

Well now you've got me heading back to Busch Gardens Williamsburg guest relations to ask my question again. I asked them during the passholder preview last weekend if my Platinum Pass was good at Aquatica. They said it was. They never asked me how old it was. We bought them last season, before Aquatica was opened.

 

[pixeegrl]

We are only Silver Passport Holders for Williamsburg and I know we can at least get half price-I asked em-I see no reason why they wouldn't give you Aquatica with your platinum! I say call Aquatica directly and ask them. Tell them you have Platinum passes and ask can you use them there.

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

Ok, I called and got the information straight from the horse's mouth. However, if the OP is a Florida resident, it doesn't necessarily answer his question. (Sorry, it didn't occur to me to ask for clarification until after I'd hung up.)

Here's what was quoted to me by Aquatica Customer Service: "All platinum passes purchased outside Florida qualify for entry into Aquatica."

(I'm afraid I can't tell you if the way that's worded means there's a different story for passholders who purchased at Busch Gardens Africa or Sea World Orlando.)

 

[ChrisK]

Have you tried to log in to your account on any of the park websites and go through the motions of attempting to add Aquatica to your ticket? You can also attempt to add this at the self-serve ticket machines.

I'm not sure what it will do to your easy pay contract but this as close as you can get w/o actually going through the process and seeing what you are being offered.

I just added the new park to my ticket the other day. At first I was getting mailings that it was $70 to add the new park (prior to opening). I went on the website at the end of Feb and was given a $50 option to add it, but I didn't do it at that time. While I was at Busch Gardens on Monday I went to Customer Service to add the park at the $50 upgrade fee. They were trying to pro-rate my 1 year old Platinum at $185 or so and then credit that towards a new Platinum for an additional $200 out of pocket just to add Aquatica. It would have been a new expiration date 2 year from then. I didn't want to drop $200 right then and there.

They could not figure out how to upgrade the ticket like the website would. Wound up going to the self serve machines, scanned my ticket, selected upgrade ticket to Aquatica and paid $50 + 6.5% tax.

Hope that helps a little.

This is for a Florida Platinum Pass btw.

 

[DOOM1001]

I've had my Platinum passes with EZ PAY for like 7+ years,I bought my pass originally at Sea World in Orlando,there's 3 passes in my household and the 2 year contract expired on all of them so I only pay $12 on 2 of them and like $12.90 a month on the 3rd one.From what I've heard if I want to include Aquatica on these passes it will shoot up to $16.24 a month.I'm unsure if I want to include Aquatica before visiting the park,maybe I don't like it that much and then I'll be paying the extra $4 per pass monthly.What is the discount I would get with my Platinum pass if I wanted to visit it to make sure I like it,I mean I know it's not that much more a month but if I don't love the park I would rather spend $99 per pass for the Disney waterpark annual pass that includes both Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach.

 

[StephSalyer]

We are going through the same thing you all are. We purchased passes (Gold) 6 years ago for 2 adults and 2 children (at the time) for the 3 AB parks in FL. We pay $32.00 a month for all 4 passes. Our rates are locked in as long as we do not change the initial contract. However, from what I understand adding Aquatica changes that contract and we will be brought up to current rate and my 2 children will be upgraded to the adult prices. I think it will be cheaper just to purchase the discount tickets i can get with my Gold Card whenever we want to go to Aquatica.

If anyone knows anything different, please share.

Steph

 

[4dognite]

I have a platinum passport purchased in Virginia 2 years ago. It expires the end of this month. I was told I could not use it for entry to Aquatica unless I upgraded. I bought aquatica tickets online in advance for our trip to Fla last week. Well, we went to Aquatica Thurs and I decided to try the passes just in case. We got free parking and then entry to the park, no problem, no questions asked!! We are going back to Fla in June and I will use the tickets I purchased then. Aquatica was great and we are looking forward to going back on a warmer day. I'm sure it will be crazy crowded though...it was pretty bad last week...

 

[4dognite]

Oh, BTW, I paid in full for the passes when I got them...it may be different for the monthly payment ones. IMO I would try your pass and see what happens, before upgrading...

 

[DOOM1001]

You got in using a Platinum pass not upgraded for Aquatica??Interesting,sounds like something worth a shot.I mean I always figured I had a Platinum pass,that's supposed to include all Busch parks why am I supposed to upgrade it to include a new park??

 

[dvc_john]

I'm in the same position as the OP. From what I understand, everything they said is correct.
My Platinum Pass is $11.57/month. I was told it would be about $5/month more to upgrade for Aquatica. For me, that would be about 3 visits to Aquatica every 2 years just to break even. I doubt that I would go that often.

 

[twinglesmome]

Any updates here?

We have a platinum pass that is about to expire--it was purchased before Aquatica opened and we received the upgrade email, though we never upgraded.

We are going to Discovery Cove within time limit of when the pass expires, but pass didn't really help us because we took advantage of "Book Early and Save" option which worked out to be cheaper than the $30 discount offered for platinum passholders...

Just wondering if I should bother renewing the passport or wait it out. I understand that AB was purchased by another company and am not sure how the terms/conditions may change. Any thoughts??

 

[kimmyann]

YIKES! I was planning to go to Aquatica in June and use our platinum passes that we have here in VA. We have had them for 5 years and only pay $43 a month for the five of us. We have friends that went to Aquatica last year and I think they used their passes. I will be calling Monday to find out.

 

[Janet Hill]

We have plat passes from Williamsburg and we used them to go to Aquatica last August. We do use the monthly pay so ours have never expired since we got them about 7 years ago.

 

[jpeppers]

I only have the gold pass (or had, I cancelled last week) but it got me no discount on an Aquatica ticket and I found a better discount for Discovery Cove without using the AP. I was also doing the EZ pay and found it as very convenient but of no benefit except when inside of Seaworld or Busch Tampa. I was told on the phone that I would get a discount at Aquatica witht the pass but didn't happen and any Discovery Cove discount would have only been for me. That being said, my favorite parks and my daughters favorites are Aquatica and Discovery Cove so we will still attend the parks as often as we can but since there is no discount for the AP we cancelled. I think they should work on this issue but it really doesn't matter to me too much because I will be back and part of cancelling the AP is because I live in Washington state. Love the Seaworld parks but they might want to become more uniform in there policies and state them on the web site.

 

[twinglesmome]

I only have the gold pass (or had, I cancelled last week) but it got me no discount on an Aquatica ticket and I found a better discount for Discovery Cove without using the AP. I was also doing the EZ pay and found it as very convenient but of no benefit except when inside of Seaworld or Busch Tampa. I was told on the phone that I would get a discount at Aquatica witht the pass but didn't happen and any Discovery Cove discount would have only been for me. That being said, my favorite parks and my daughters favorites are Aquatica and Discovery Cove so we will still attend the parks as often as we can but since there is no discount for the AP we cancelled. I think they should work on this issue but it really doesn't matter to me too much because I will be back and part of cancelling the AP is because I live in Washington state. Love the Seaworld parks but they might want to become more uniform in there policies and state them on the web site.

It sounds like I am in the same boat as you. If I had the pass through Williamsburg, which is actually much closer to where I live, it sounds like it would be a better deal. We purchased the platinum pass two years ago at SeaWorld thinking we would be back to Florida each year. Well, last year we didn't make it. At that time, we had a vacation package that included four and there are five in our family. So, we needed tickets for one for SeaWorld for length of the vacation. This time around, the pass will help us with discounts while visiting SeaWorld/Busch Gardens and pay for parking. I suppose I could have gotten the regular package for Discovery Cove (vs. the Ultimate Package), but then I still would have had to pay for Aquatica. Better just to pay the extra $50 and keep the family together with all of the same amenities, etc. without worrying about going to another line to get Aquatica ticket for one.

I am still up in the air over whether I will renew the Platinum Pass, as we are spending a great deal now for Discovery Cove and money doesn't grow on trees! I think the price should be more uniform for the passes purchased in Florida, Virginia, Pennsylvania (Sesame Place), etc., or at least by state where passholder resides. I can understand that pass holders who reside in Florida would visit parks more frequently than those of us out of state due to weather, operating season, travel distance, etc. The only other time I used the Platinum Pass was one trip to Sesame Place.

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

I'm not sure what the new relationship with Bevco will bring to the Busch parks, but we went ahead and got new Platinum passes at Busch Gardens Williamsburg this year. It's the park we're closest to and visit often during the summer. If the Sea World parks get split off, though, there wouldn't be much benefit to our taking it to the platinum level.

I don't think things are going to move very quickly for a sell off of the parks in this economy, so I'm not particularly concerned right now.

 

[kimmyann]

Actually, after thinking about this I don't think that I personally would not be effected. The passes here in VA do not have the options of adding parks or picking which parks you want. We have the silver(BG only), gold(BG & WC) and platinum(all busch parks EXCEPT Discovery Cove). I guess they figure since we are so far away we would not be able to use it too often

 

[geliebter2]

I've regretted breaking our old contract that locked in the old rates just to add Aquatica every time we go, and we love Aquatica.

 

[cassie714]

I am just curious why the platinum is so much more expensive per month in orlando. If you get them in san antonio it is only 8 a month with ez pay. Do you get added benefits with the orlando ones?