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© St. Petersburg Times, published September 26, 2001
TAMPA -- To perk up slumping attendance at its Florida theme parks, Busch Entertainment Corp. is allowing customers to buy annual passes on the installment plan.
With the interest-free "EZ Pay" plan, Busch will advertise that passes for Sea World Orlando, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay and its Adventure Island water park in Tampa can be had for the price of a pizza each month.
Prices range from $6.25 a month for a child's one-year pass to Busch Gardens to $8.96 a month for a two-year adult pass good for all three parks.
Busch's attempt to take the sticker shock out of annual passes comes at a critical time.
Theme park attendance has fallen off in Central Florida since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks severely reduced airline service and made some out-of-state vacationers hesitant to take to the skies. That means the state's theme parks have a new sense of urgency in prodding Florida residents to drop by more often.
Busch has been working on this new promotion for months. "We just thought it was a matter of common sense and investing in the technology to do it," said Vic Abbey, chairman of St. Louis-based Busch Entertainment. "This makes our passes very affordable, especially for someone with a family of four."
A family of four would pay $35.84 a month for a two-year pass good for all three parks.
All of the big theme parks are readying seasonal promotions in the hope of getting attendance back on track.
Universal Orlando has extended its themed Halloween Horror Nights this year to 19 days beginning Oct. 5. Walt Disney World extended its Not-So-Scary Halloween celebration from three to five nights and on Oct. 1 begins promoting new parades and live shows for its yearlong celebration of what would have been the late Walt Disney's 100th birthday. "We're currently exploring several types of discounts for the fall," said Rene Callahan, a spokeswoman for Disney World.
Busch Gardens is gearing up for a gorier-than-ever series of 14 Halloween nights beginning Friday.
Busch officials spent months planning how to turn up the fright factor at its Howl-O-Scream Nights. This came after focus groups composed mostly of teens and 20-somethings said they "truly wanted to be scared" at the collection of haunted houses. After hiring 600 extra workers to keep the park open as late as 2 a.m. and doubling the number of actors dressed up like ghouls and chain saw-wielding fiends, officials were confronted by a nation in mourning.
"We had extended discussions about toning our event down, but we decided to stick with what our customers had told us they wanted," park spokesman Gerard Hoeppner said. "This will not even resemble what we did before. Personally, I wouldn't bring a 10-year-old."
All the park rides will be open for the Howl-O-Scream nights, which require a separate admission. Kid-friendly attractions, such as the Pumpkin Patch from Busch's previous Halloween events, have disappeared this year. The park added five new haunted attractions, purchased 3-D illusions and hired 100 actors to dress up like ghouls and inmates of a vintage 1960s asylum.
While attendance at most big Orlando theme parks has dropped sharply in the past two weeks, Busch Gardens is down only slightly. That's largely because it relies more on Florida residents who don't need the airlines to get there.
The annual pass installment plan is being tested only in Busch Entertainment's Florida parks. It may be extended to five other Busch parks in Texas, Virginia, Pennsylvania and California.
Here's how the deal works. Present a credit card when buying the pass. Busch will bill the credit card account monthly at the installment payment rate. In making the purchase, however, a customer agrees to pay off the full amount, so the passes cannot be turned in for early refunds.
The deal is not good for single-day admissions at Busch parks, which easily can top $200 a day for a family of four, nor can they be used at Busch's $180-per-person Discovery Cove in Orlando. The installment plan is available only on Busch's Silver and Gold annual passes, not the Bronze level passes such as the Florida Fun Pass that are sold only at certain times.
- Mark Albright can be reached at albright@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8252.