So Cal Parks Annual Pass 2021 Update
The COVID-19 pandemic forced parks around the country to examine and alter their annual and season pass programs for the bulk of 2020. Some parks were able to open in early- to mid-summer while others were only able to open for Holiday special events; all with capacity restrictions and CDC recommendations in place. A small number of parks were not allowed by their local or state governments to open at all; most notably those in California.
Now that we’ve turned the calendar to 2021 with most of California on extreme lockdown, some parks have released their plans regarding Annual Passes. Let’s look at what we know about each of the parks located in Southern California, the original Theme Park capital of America.
Disneyland Resort
Disney made a monumental announcement on January 14, 2021, stating they were “sunsetting” their Annual Pass program for the time being due to “the uncertainty of the pandemic and the limitations around the reopening” of their Disneyland and Disney California Adventure theme parks. Guest who had an active Annual Pass on March 14th, 2020, will receive a refund based on how much time guests had left on their pass(es). Not all news was grim, though; it was announced a re-imagined membership program will be introduced in the future. If I’m a betting man, I’d say we will see something more akin to the Six Flags monthly membership program with different tiers of access coming with more benefits and higher costs.
Universal Studios Hollywood
When the COVID-19 pandemic forced parks to shut down until is was safe to gather again, Universal Studios Hollywood did what most parks and chains did at the time. USH basically put a “pause” on the time left on each guest’s Annual Pass; i.e. if I had 2 months left until renewal, I would have 2 months left on my pass whenever the park reopened. Universal has not wavered from this stance, implementing it in their Orlando resort which has already reopened. A conveniently timed tweet was sent the day after Disneyland made their announcement, though.
Knott’s Berry Farm
Cedar Fair’s only year-round park, Knott’s Berry Farm, was the first in the chain to announce their 2020 Season Passes would be extended through the 2021 Season. Knott’s traditionally has passes good for a specific year/season, following the traditional regional park model. All Cedar Fair parks followed suit soon after; a questionable business move for the company but a much appreciated perk for Passholders (myself included). That same perk will not be in place moving forward, but will be replaced with a “Day-for-Day Extension”; for every day Knott’s is closed in 2021, passes will be extended that number of days in 2022. It will be interesting to see if other Cedar Fair parks follow suit.
Six Flags Magic Mountain
Six Flag Magic Mountain, along with the rest of the Six Flags chain, took yet another approach to their Pass pause. The park announced early into the closure passes would be paused and payments would not be taken for the month; a significant number of Six Flags passes are set up on a recurring monthly payment system (think Netflix). As Six Flags parks around the country began opening up, the company provided their guests two different options. Those who wanted to pause or cancel their pass could do so whenever they chose with no penalty and payments would resume when their specific park reopened (or another Six Flags park was visited). Guests could also choose to continue their payments and provide the park with some much needed cash flow. If guests chose this option, they would be upgraded to the next tier (with more and better perks like free premium parking and a one-time flash pass each visit) through the end of the 2021 (extended to 2022 recently) season, making this an extremely lucrative option to those who could still afford the (comparatively) low monthly payments.
So Cal theme parks have taken vastly different approaches to their most loyal fans during this uncertain time of pandemics and lockdowns. Unfortunately, it looks like our friends in the Los Angeles area will not be visiting their favorite parks anytime soon; at least there are plenty of park overview videos and POV’s over on YouTube to hold us all over.
