VRTP Renewals

[themagician]

I got the Discovery Pass back in March purely because I wanted the pass for a year from purchase date and access to Fright Night and White Christmas. It was $140 and gives me most of the discounts that the Unlimited Membership gives. I do like the idea of the Unlimited Membership and hopefully with the increase of pricing we may begin to see some more attractions come into place. It does say $10 upgrade for a limited time, so it may increase to say $30 for example.

Edited July 2, 2015 by themagician

[Theme Park Girl]

Locked in for one year, cancel anytime afterwards

Technically it's not "anytime"... you have to give them 30 days' notice.

[pushbutton]

Yes they do seem to be throwing away opportunities to make a lot more money. 

As I said on the other thread though, this new payment model gives them scope to incrementally raise prices by just a small amount per month without scaring too many customers off. It also gives them other benefits including a potentially huge monthly revenue stream and the interest benefits of that).

In future years they could say the unlimited membership no longer includes the night events, but members can buy tickets for say $25 per event, as each one approaches.

Still very cheap, but could result in a lot more money for the parks. 

 

[westical]

Welp, no email here.

[Brad2912]

Wouldn't be much of an 'unlimited' pass if it was limited to only daytime visits. 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

this new payment model gives them scope to incrementally raise prices by just a small amount per month without scaring too many customers off.

Well not really - if people are 'locked in' for 12 months - so is the park. They can't increase the price when they already have a contractual agreement with the customer for them to pay 'x'... once the contract is out, they could increase the price, but this would start getting messy - over time you'll end up with a whole bunch of people on a whole bunch of different pay scales for the same product... it's achievable, but i think they'd want to keep it as simple as possible. Every 30 June they'll have a price increase, and that'll be it.

Wouldn't be much of an 'unlimited' pass if it was limited to only daytime visits. 

Why not? Disney Annual Pass holders generally don't get access to special events outside of normal operating hours... why should it be any different here?

[Richard]

Certainly not an issue in terms of the product offering and pricing, but perhaps naming the memberships 'Unlimited' when there are in fact limits on the different levels is a bit of a questionable marketing choice. Then there's the fact that the premier membership is below elite despite premier literally meaning top-tier/highest. 

Interesting too is the inclusion of Village Theme Parks and their logo in the branding. To date they've never really used this umbrella to interact with the public. With the transition from Myfun to themeparks.com.au they lost their encompassing brand name -- themeparks.com.au is a great category killer name, but it's not a brand.

(Interestingly, we did the opposite here when Roller-Coaster.com.au became Parkz for this exact reason.)

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

the premier membership is below elite despite premier literally meaning top-tier/highest.

Despite the definition - a state premier is the highest in the state - but not the country... so there's that going for them...

"Would you like to upgrade to our Campbell Newman pass? Or Would you prefer Tony Abbott?"

"Neither, Thanks."

"Good thing - looks like Campbell Newman and Tony Abbott have sold out..."

"I'm totally not surprised"

(Side note: they decided against renaming the pass "Palaszczuk" because too many people had no idea how to pronounce it, and the PR & Media team couldn't spell it to update the website.)

[Brad2912]

 

Why not? Disney Annual Pass holders generally don't get access to special events outside of normal operating hours... why should it be any different here?

was referring to the use of the word 'unlimited'.

and in any case, just because 'disney does it' does not mean it will necessarily work here. 

Unlimited has many conotations, but generally isn't associated with having to pay more at a later time. 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Disney World annual passholders include "Unlimited admission for one year to all 4 Walt Disney World theme parks" - still doesn't include special events.

[pushbutton]

DONE. Easiest decision I've made all day!

[Theme Park Girl]

I was under the impression of "unlimited" in this case meaning that, unlike the previous magic passes, these new memberships don't run out and continue indefinitely on a month to month basis... not so much anything to do with access to the park. 

[westical]

They have an unlimited number of memberships to sell.

[pushbutton]

The additional revenue they are going to earn with the memberships mean there's an unlimited number of fun new attractions they can create in the future!

[iwerks]

Unlimited credit card transactions. 

[Theme Park Girl]

Grrr... went to Movieworld today for the sole purpose of picking up our new/upgraded membership passes, went to the Membership Center (the Bank at MW, for those who are wondering) only to be told that they weren't making passes today and to come back another day! Somewhat of a waste of time, given that it was fairly busy and little chance of getting on the rides 

Apparently the dude who runs the Theme Park Social Network FB page had no idea either, as he was advertising it as being open all day for pass upgrades :/

[pushbutton]

I'm glad I didn't go today now, for those exact reasons!

I'm not in a hurry though. I'll get my new card next weekend. 

Hopefully it will be a plastic card. That would make it a lot more durable, and water resistant. It will potentially be another significant cost reduction for the business too if they spend less time and money making and issuing cards. 

[Ranger Dude]

I'm happy to agree to disagree - i think it's a wrong move for them....

But i'll bet you - despite your calculations - that we don't get anywhere near $17m.... my bet is it doesn't go much beyond $10m...

I agree. The economics for anything over $10m doesn't make any sense.

Remember the operating costs in Australia are at least double that of the USA and more than double that of Asia.

Throw in the significantly lower population and you have a very difficult environment for a theme park to be successful.

Also remember we have a situation where they are effectively selling $33 season passes per park, with no sign of increasing the prices. (This is one thing they do have control over, and they're currently blowing it for short term gain). All of this doesn't bode well for big capital investments.

Expect a "cheap and cheerful", and then you may be pleasantly surprised. Otherwise I think you're in for a disappointment.

[pushbutton]

I agree. The economics for anything over $10m doesn't make any sense.

Remember the operating costs in Australia are at least double that of the USA and more than double that of Asia.

Throw in the significantly lower population and you have a very difficult environment for a theme park to be successful.

Also remember we have a situation where they are effectively selling $33 season passes per park, with no sign of increasing the prices. (This is one thing they do have control over, and they're currently blowing it for short term gain). All of this doesn't bode well for big capital investments.

Expect a "cheap and cheerful", and then you may be pleasantly surprised. Otherwise I think you're in for a disappointment.

Not at all really.

We already know that Village is increasing their prices to $144 per year from 2016.

Ardent is almost sure to follow, and both companies will then have scope to raise their prices a little each year, which will gradually bring them up to more sensible levels.

I believe this is an incredibly well thought through approach which will enable them to overcome the price perception barrier that has existed, without losing too many customers.

[Ranger Dude]

I'll believe it when I see it!

[pushbutton]

Just buy a membership and you will see it in the terms and conditions. 

[Reanimated35]

Just buy a membership and you will see it in the terms and conditions. 

Why would you buy something and THEN check the terms and conditions?

[pushbutton]

I just picked up my new membership card, and can confirm that it is as I hoped a plastic card. 

Much better!

[Zanstabar]

I just picked up my new membership card, and can confirm that it is as I hoped a plastic card. 

Much better!

Is it possible that you could post some pics? With all the personal information covered of course

[pushbutton]

Is it possible that you could post some pics? With all the personal information covered of course

Here you go!

All that's blanked out is a barcode at the bottom, and my name and member number.

Oh, and my face lol!

The back of the card is just completely blank and white.

I also got a free lanyard which I suppose some people might attach their card to.

Edited July 5, 2015 by pushbutton