I was in my first trimester of pregnancy last summer, which meant that most days, I was too ill to want get out of bed. I was miserable thinking about my favorite season slipping away, and all the wonderful amusement park days that were being wasted. Now, after delivering a healthy baby girl this past January, I know those days were worth it--but the amusement park aficionado inside me is MORE than raring to go!
I have started to plan my summer amusement park schedule--trips to Camelbeach and Knoebels Amusement Resort are definitely on deck for later in the year, Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom is always on the horizon, but over the next two months, I am planning on going to Hersheypark several times. Why Hershey? Well, tomorrow I embark as a chaperon on my 12 year-old sister's school field trip to Hersheypark. This will be a first for me, and I am VERY excited. (Expect to see a post on that soon!) Me and my sister will also be jaunting back to Hershey on Memorial Day (weather permitting) to try out their new coaster Skyrush (which won't be open yet tomorrow). Finally, at the end of June, my husband and I plan on taking our then-5 month old daughter to Hershey for a couple days to introduce her to the park that I have been going to since I was four years old.
With all these trips to Hersheypark on the horizon, I started to think about cost. The field trip is already paid for with a group rate, so I didn't need to worry about admission for that. But the Memorial Day and June trips will be three park days for me overall. That adds up to:
Three days of admission: Now, I could buy my admission tickets the amateur way, with a single-day ticket for Memorial Day (current cost--$56.95, minus $14 from a coupon you can get at Dunkin Donuts and probably other fast food restaurants), and a two-day ticket for June ($75, no discount available). That adds up to $131.95 - $14 = $117.95. Ouch! A smarter thing for me to do is to buy one three-day ticket at $105. But still...ouch.
Three days of parking: $12 a day, even on consecutive days. That's $36...ouch.
Three days of food. For Hersheypark, you should really budget about $10 per meal, per person. You can save money by eating a meal (like dinner) outside the park. But say you eat at least lunch and dinner at Hershey for three days? That's around $60...for one person. This could be more if you count in extras like ice cream. Ouch.
Three days of merchandise: Okay, so obviously I won't be buying oodles of merchandise every time I go to Hersheypark. But let's be honest...I know I'm going to need a Skyrush t-shirt in its inaugural year. (More on Skyrush in a future post.) If my husband decides to ride Skyrush or one of the other coasters he's been thinking about trying (like Storm Runner or Great Bear), he will probably want a shirt to commemorate the event. And you think I'm not going to buy that new baby some Hershey souvenirs? Realistically, let's budget $60 for merchandise. Ouch.
With the three-day ticket option, that comes out to $261. And that's not counting admission and food for my sister and husband (my daughter gets in free until she is 3). That's also not counting gas or hotel (for the June trip). In the grand scheme of vacations, no, it's not the most expensive trip imaginable. But for an amusement-obsessed new mom and her family, it doesn't come cheap.
I started thinking of ways to cut costs. Eating dinner outside the park is a great one, and of course, merchandise is always negotiable. But then, a great possibility came over me...could I save money with a season pass for myself? Let's crunch the numbers if I (and only I) have a season pass for all these trips.
Three days of admission: Your basic season pass for Hershey is $145. Ouch. But you pay it once, and then you feel like you're walking into Hersheypark for free (every day of the season if you want). This also covers admission for Hersheypark in the Dark (their Halloween event), Christmas Candylane and Springtime in the Park. I usually go to at least one of these events every year, so that $145 could actually end up being much cheaper than paying admission each time in the long run.
Three days of parking: With the season pass? $0. Parking is FREE. That's a big band-aid on the season pass initial cost!
Three days of food and merchandise: Season pass holders get a 15% discount off food and merchandise (not counting free-standing vendors, but the bulk of Hershey's food and souvenirs are in buildings). If I budget $60 for my own food and $60 for souvenirs, the total cost ($120) comes down to $102. That's $18, folks, which is nothing to sneeze at. And even though the season pass is only mine, I can still use it to get discounts for my husband and sister's food and merchandise.
So, even with the initial more-expensive purchase of the season pass, the total comes to $247. Is it a vastly less-expensive amount? No, of course not. But is IS cheaper, and may prove to show it's worth even more as the summer goes on. I know with a season pass, you also receive a booklet of coupons and discounts. The last time I got a season pass (in 2004), less-than half-price admission ticket coupons were included in that booklet, which could prove beneficial for my sister and husband. And the real kicker? FREE PARKING. I can't say this enough. FREE PARKING. (Let's face it...$12 to park my car? Ridiculous.)
So, while the initial cost of the season pass may turn some people off, in the long run, it can actually save you money I am pretty sure this is the route I am going to take when it comes to my own admission for these Hershey trips. Will it prove to be worth the risk, or will I regret my decision? We'll see at the end of the summer!
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