When I became a Childminder it opened my eyes to the world of the Season Ticket which I had not taken much notice of before, apart from the local farm.
Most places seem to have cottoned on to the concept now and it can be a great way of saving money if you intend to visit an attraction regularly.
Nationally, the one of the best passes you can buy is the Merlin pass which gets you into all of their 25 attractions. I was lucky enough to win one of these last year and it has been invaluable and pays for itself in just 4 visits. Keep your eye out for special deals as it has recently had 25% off and is even cheaper to renew.
Season passes make great gift ideas and many places offer gift vouchers towards them, so if you are stuck for a present why not contribute towards a season pass. We have done this with Paultons Park. Eliza and Isaac are both under 1m so are free, but we still needed to buy passes for Kian and us adults. At £92 each they are not cheap, but it is only half an hour from our front door and is a fantastic day out.
We have been four times already since they re-opened in March and have really enjoyed it. The park has been quiet with barely any queues and we have still yet to see it all and best of all we go with friends who also have season passes!
There are some really fantastic deals out there at the moment, so it is really worth looking into. If there is somewhere local to you check out their facebook page or twitter feeds, as that will be where they advertise these deals. E.g. Adventure Wonderland (Bournemouth), recently offered the deal “Buy a child season pass and get an adult free” – I saved more than half price on tickets because at 2 Eliza was even cheaper still and I still got a free adult ticket!
It is not just theme parks either – try local farm parks, Country parks, museums and The National Trust for great days out!
If you can afford the initial outlay, then the annual / season pass is definitely worth it if you are going to use the park(s) several times in that year and with holiday’s costing so much these days a staycation is on the cards for most families!
If you have any tips or spot any offers, please do share them below.
we used to get one for Monkey World and Farmer Palmers every year- it is great, means you always have somewhere to go, even if you are skint that week. We used to ask for them as Xmas gifts, but this year i just have one for our local museum, as the big two have outgrown the local parks, and Syd isnt quite old enough to care, but next summer i will be back buying one or two!
I didn’t realise Monkey world did them – we have Farmer Palmers though. They are great if you are skint too, although I struggled getting there when I didn’t have a car as the bus was extortionate!
We have had season tickets for various things and have sometimes had one for a year and then move onto something else the next. Some parks expect you to pay carparking on top of season tickets though which is a hidden cost and not on in my view.
That annoys me too – especially when there is physically nowhere else to park!!