I Bought Season Passes to an Amusement Park I Only Planned to Visit Twice. Here’s Why

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Often, buying season passes can actually be a better deal than buying two-day tickets. Here’s what you need to keep in mind. 

Recently, I visited an amusement park out of town. We planned to go for two days in a row. Although we only intended to visit twice (since we live several hours from the amusement park), I ended up paying for season passes.

Here’s why this decision made good financial sense.

Season passes can be a great bargain

There was a very simple reason why I decided to break out my credit card and purchase season passes for an amusement park I did not plan to visit all season long. It was actually a better deal to do that than it would have been to pay the day price for tickets for two days.

See, the season passes cost $66 per person, and that included access to the water park as well as to the main theme park. By contrast, a daily ticket was $37 per person and no water park access was included. Since we were planning to visit the park for a total of two days, buying daily tickets would have cost us $74 — $66 for a season pass was the better deal. Plus, we would not have been able to visit the water park without ponying up extra cash out of our bank account.

This may seem odd, but the reality is that many theme parks want you to buy season tickets because they benefit when you come back often. Most people who visit a theme park end up spending even more money while they are there, so the park makes more if they can convince you to buy a pass for the entire season and visit multiple times to eat food, get drinks, and play games.

Other ways to save on theme park tickets

Buying a season pass is just one way you could reduce the cost of theme park tickets. There are other options to lower the price of a magical experience, including:

Look for offers from local businesses. Sometimes, grocery stores or other local stores will provide exclusive deals on tickets to parks. For example, a local market near the park I went to provides a $29.99 evening pass available only at that supermarket that gives you access to the park after 5 p.m. all summer long.Join a warehouse club. Costco has limited-time deals on vacation packages that often include discounted theme park tickets. If you’re traveling to a park and you’re a Costco member, check out what the club has to offer. Visit for multiple days. Most park tickets get cheaper the more days you visit, since the parks want to encourage you to come back. Qualify for resident discounts. If you are a resident of the state where the theme park is located, you may be able to get a specially priced package exclusively available to locals.

Theme parks are undoubtedly expensive, but you can also make great memories there. By searching for ways to save on entry, you can have a fun outing with your loved ones without busting your budget.

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The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.Christy Bieber has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Costco Wholesale. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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