Busch Gardens has revamped their membership plans and not everyone is happy about it.
SeaWorld Parks announced last Monday in a news release it is restructuring its membership system, adding a new tier of benefits and providing park fans more options.
The change comes after the park unveiled three tiers of membership in February. Frequent park guests could choose between one of three plans — Basic, Unlimited and Premier.
After last week’s announcement, the three plans will remain in place with altered benefits. A fourth plan, Platinum, was also introduced last week and includes the most benefits, including ride-again privileges for select rides and access to other SeaWorld Parks.
Current park members will have to change to an updated membership plan once their current plans expire 12 months after they were purchased. Park officials said they have no plans to raise rates on existing members.
The changes initially sparked some confusion among members, and many voiced their concerns on the Parkfans.net online forum.
“We were surprised it happened so soon after the initial roll-out,” said Nicole Pelletti, administrator on the ParksFan.net forum and Premier plan member. “We thought we’d get at least a year before they changed it.”
Premier plan members will no longer receive a popular perk once their plans expire.
Before the introduction of Platinum plan, Premier was the highest available plan and offered unlimited trips to 11 SeaWorld Parks, but that’s not included under the newly-released Premier plan. Platinum members will receive unlimited visits to the 11 other SeaWorld parks.
Access to other parks will continue for members who purchased their Premier plan before Oct. 1, until their plan expires.
“It’s kind of sad because the old Premier was for all the parks excluding Discovery Cove, and that’s why we picked it,” Pelletti said. “We picked Premier specifically to have access to all the other (SeaWorld) parks. Now that Premier has lost that, when those 12 months are up do we lose that access?”
Platinum plans cost $28.99 per month. Pelletti said she wasn’t sure if she and other Premier members will decide to upgrade to Platinum in order to retain the benefits they’ve enjoyed.
Pelletti also said an unofficial perk of the Premier plan had been the use of the employee gate to skip long lines at the park’s main gate. She said she was not sure if the perk would continue.
| 2- Park Membership Plans | Previous Plan Pricing | New Plan Pricing (Oct. 1, 2018) |
| Basic | $12.00 per month | $11.99 per month |
| Unlimited | $17.00 per month | $16.99 per month |
| Premier | $22.00 per month | $22.99 per month |
Members can also remove access to Water Country USA from their plans and subtract about $2 from their rate, and Pelletti said she was happy to see that change.
Busch Gardens said the change was made to give customers the options to suit their needs.
“Our consumers wanted more value and simpler choices prompting us to introduce the Membership Program in February,” said Kevin Lembke, park president for Busch Gardens and Water Country USA. “Our guests quickly saw the value in membership, but also wanted more flexibility. We listened to that feedback and now we’ll offer a wide range of Membership Plans that best suits their needs.”
When the park announced the new membership system in February, a $12/month Basic membership provided park admission to both Busch Gardens and Water Country through certain dates, half-price parking and in-park discounts.
The Unlimited membership plan cost $17 per month and came with unlimited park access, free parking and two free guest passes annually.
The premier plan, at $22 per month, gave access to both Busch Gardens and Water Country USA, a 10 percent discount on in-park purchases, free parking for both parks and three free guests passes.
