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A day at SeaWorld costs more

The Fun Card and other ticket deals aim to ease the dent on visitors' wallets.

By TOM ZUCCO
Published December 14, 2005

It will get a little more expensive to go to Busch Gardens and SeaWorld beginning Jan. 2, but the theme parks have announced ticket deals that could take some of the sting out of the increase.

The parks will renew their Fun Card promotion, which allows Florida residents who buy a single-day admission to return as many times as they want throughout the year at no additional cost.

To attract Central Florida vacationers, the parks also have unveiled its Anytime program which allows those who purchase a single-day ticket to return as often as they want within a week at no additional cost.

Tickets bought at one park do not apply to the other, and taxes are not included in the price.

For most of the past seven years, attendance at Busch Gardens has been flat, largely due to the opening of Disney's Animal Kingdom in Orlando. The Tampa theme park tried to counter with new shows and attractions of its own, including the opening in May of SheiKra, the first so-called dive coaster in North America.

It worked, said Busch Gardens officials, without being specific on 2005 attendance figures.

Admission to Busch Gardens will increase $2 to $57.95 for adults and $47.95 for children.

Single-day admission prices to SeaWorld will increase by $2.20, from $59.75 to $61.95. Tickets for children ages 3 to 9 will increase $1.95, from $48 to $49.95.

The increase makes SeaWorld more expensive, for now, than even rival Walt Disney World. And it's the first to crack the $60 barrier.

A spokesman for Walt Disney World said no determination had been made on 2006 ticket prices. Disney charges $59.75 for adults and $48 for children, not including taxes.

[Last modified December 14, 2005, 18:34:02]