SeaWorld unveils a $100 annual pass, hoping to attract Southern Californians
SeaWorld San Diego, which has been struggling to reverse its slumping attendance, announced Wednesday that it would introduce a new $99.99 annual pass designed to tempt Southern Californians to visit more.
The theme park will also offer an $89.99 pass — called the Fun Card, it will be valid through the end of 2018 — but that one has some blackout days and does not include parking.
SeaWorld decided to focus on making visits more affordable for regular visitors from Southern California rather than deeply discounting single-day tickets, park President Marilyn Hannes said.
The new $99.99 offering, which represents a $60 discount off the previous year-round pass and includes in-park discounts, will go into effect Thursday.
“In our research, affordability is consistently a top barrier,” Hannes said. “Theme parks are an expensive day for families…. So this is really about being loyal to San Diego and allowing families to come back over and over again by making the pass so appealing.”
Buyers of the $99.99 annual pass will be able to make payments of less than $9 a month, and an initial down payment will no longer be required, she said.
Compared with other Southern California theme parks’ offerings, the pass is cheap, although SeaWorld does not have the breadth of attractions that Disneyland and Universal Studios offer. The lowest-priced annual pass at Disneyland, which also includes admission to California Adventure but does not include parking, costs $339.
The SeaWorld pass also appears to be a clear response to the most recent earnings report by parent company SeaWorld Entertainment Inc., which showed that in San Diego, attendance from Southern California visitors declined during the second quarter.
Last month the company singled out the San Diego park, pointing to the reemergence of “public perception issues” after a cutback on reputation-bolstering marketing efforts. Chief Executive Joel Manby also said he was disappointed by the lower-than-expected attendance gains from the park’s new Ocean Explorer attraction, which includes a mini-submarine ride geared to younger children.
Next year the park will launch its fastest and tallest roller coaster, Electric Eel, hoping to attract an older demographic.
Orlando, Fla.-based SeaWorld Entertainment has been working to overcome criticism surrounding the captivity of its orcas since the 2013 release of the documentary “Blackfish,” which sought to expose how SeaWorld treats its killer whales.
SeaWorld has since ended the breeding of its orcas and in San Diego replaced its theatrical Shamu shows with an educational presentation that syncs natural behaviors of its orcas with National Geographic-style video on a huge screen.
In addition to its Wednesday announcement about the new passes, SeaWorld also unveiled its lineup of new attractions and seasonal offerings throughout the rest of the year and next.
New to the park will be a January-only “meet the animals” experience that will offer visitors behind-the-scenes visits with dolphins, sea turtles and otters, plus free tours of the park’s health and rescue center.
Also new is a Sesame Street parade on weekends in May and June 2018.
lori.weisberg@sduniontribune.com
UPDATES:
2:35 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details about the SeaWorld passes and information about annual passes at other theme parks.
This article was originally published at 1:25 p.m.
