In 2020, Palace Entertainment announced a brand new Season Pass type: The Platinum Pass. Before that, you could buy a few types of multi-park season passes, such as the PA Pass and the Ride and Slide Pass, but now, they are selling passes to get you into all of their parks. Today, I wanted to see if this new pass is worth buying. Now, I am only going to look at the PA Water parks for the water parks so that this doesn't take a week to make.
Part 1: The Parks
There are many different parks that are on the pass. This includes Dry Parks, Water Parks, and Zoos. Here are all the parks and their locations:
-Kennywood (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
-Sandcastle (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
-Dutch Wonderland (Lancaster, Pennsylvania)
-Lake Compounce (Bristol, Connecticut)
-Storyland (Glen, New Hampshire)
-Living Shores Aquarium (Glen, New Hampshire)
-Noah's Ark Water Park (Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin)
-Splish Splash Water Park (Long Island, New York)
-Wet n' Wild Emerald Pointe (Greensboro, North Carolina)
-Water Country (Portsmouth, New Hampshire)
-Miami Seaquarium (Miami, Florida)
-Castle Park (Riverside, California)
-Raging Waters Parks (Sacramento, San Jose, and San Dimas, California)
-Sea Life Park Hawaii (Oahu, Hawaii)
-Idlewild (Ligonier, Pennsylvania)
These parks are all of the parks owned by Palace Entertainment. These parks include the oldest amusement park in America, the world's largest water park, and some of the highest ranked kid friendly parks.
Part 2: Benefits
All of the parks have benefits. Each park has a lot of benefits, so I would like to go over each park's benefits and about how much each is worth.
Kennywood:
-2 Free Bring-A-Friend Tickets (Worth $120)
-Bring a Friend Admission Discounts (Not Clear What Value Is)
-Souvenir Cup (Worth $12)
-Free Refills (Worth $1 for every refill)
-20% off Food and Retail Items (Value Depends on Purchase Cost)
-3 Free Kennywood Holiday Tickets (Works on Happy Hauntings, Phantom Fright Nights, and Holiday Lights. Worth about $75)
-Free Parking (Worth around $5-$15 Per Visit, Depending on the day)
-50% off one Skycoaster flight (Worth around $10)
Sandcastle:
-Bring a Friend Admission Discounts (Not Clear what Value Is)
-2 Free Bring a Friend Tickets (Worth $86)
-Souvenir Cup (Worth $12)
-Free Refills with Souvenir Cup (Worth $1 for every refill)
-20% off Food and Retail Purchases (Value Depends on Purchase Costs)
-Locker Discounts (Worth $2)
-Free Parking (Worth around $5 per visit)
Dutch Wonderland:
-Unlimited Admission to Dutch Wonderland Seasonal Events (Worth around $25 per Visit)
-20% Discount on Bring a Friend Tickets (Worth $10 Per Main Season Ticket)
-2 Free Bring a Friend Tickets (Worth $100)
-20% off Food and Retail Purchases (Value Depends on Purchase Costs)
-Game Voucher Book (Value Unclear)
-5 Free Locker Rentals (Value Unclear)
-Free General Parking (I don't know value for this)
Idlewild:
-2 Free Bring a Buddy Tickets (Worth about $50)
-Free Souvenir Cup (Worth $12)
-Free Refills (Worth $1 per refill)
-20% off Idlewild Owned Food and Retail (Value Depends on Purchase Costs)
-30% off Buddy Tickets (Worth around $15 Each Ticket)
-3 Free Fall Event Tickets (Worth around $75)
-Locker Discounts (Value Unclear)
-Free Parking (I Don't Know he Value)
Lake Compounce:
-Free Parking (I Don't Know the Value)
-Free Soda (Worth $1 per Drink)
-Free Souvenir Cup (Worth $12)
-2 Free Bring a Friend Ticket (Worth $108)
-$15 off Tickets (Worth $15)
Story Land:
-Bring a Friend Free Ticket (Worth $40)
-$10 off a Ticket (Worth $10)
-20% off Food and Beverage (Value Depends on Purchase Price)
-Free Souvenir Cup (Worth $12)
-Free Drinks (Worth $1 per Refill)
Castle Park:
-Unlimited Parking (I Don't Know the Value)
-Free Souvenir Cup (Worth $12)
-20% off Food and Retail Purchases (Value Depends on Purchase Price)
-Unlimited Castle Dark and Dia De Los Muertos (I don't know value)
If you combine the value that I know of, even using the lowest estimates, the value turns out to be around $804, and that isn't even looking at all of the parks. The value is likely to be much higher.
Part 3: The Price
The price for the Palace Entertainment Platinum Pass is a very good price, all things considered. The base pass, not including any sales, is $160. The All Season Dining plan costs $120 without any sales. This means that the total price, not including sales, would be $280 to have all benefits.
To show you how good of a deal this is, let's show you the prices for Cedar Fair Platinum Passes.
For Cedar Fair, the base Platinum pass costs $207. The All Season Dining plan costs $119. The All Season Drink Plan costs $33. If you combine them all, it costs $359 for the same benefits. This is $79 more than the Palace Entertainment pass. The Cedar Fair Dining Plan, though, doesn't include a snack.
Part 4: Other Options
Each park has other options. Different parks have different alternative passes. Kennywood has the Basic, Standard, Premium, and Platinum. The Basic has admission subject to blockout dates. The Standard has unlimited admission plus discounts. Premium has more benefits. Platinum has all the benefits and admission to all the parks. Honestly, the Platinum is a great deal.
Part 5: Why I Think It's Worth It
Now, I wanted to talk about why it is worth it for me. I go to Kennywood weekly, pretty much. I get at least 1 meal. Sometimes, I also will get Dinner there. In 2019, I also went to Sandcastle a few times. I could also take a quick day trip up to Idlewild if I want. Let's say that for all of July and August, I go to Idlewild Bi-Weekly and Sandcastle Weekly. I'll also say I go to Kennywood twice a week in July and August and weekly in September. This means that I will go to Kennywood 22 times, Sandcastle 7 times, and Idlewild 5 times.
To find the regular cost would be, I will estimate that each meal costs $15 and each snack will cost $5. I will say that I'd get 5 drink refills.
At Kennywood, a 2021 Ticket costs $60. If there are 22 visits in the season, that adds to $1320. There is also $40 in food/drinks per visit, which adds to $880. This means that, at Kennywood, I would be getting $2200 in benefits. This doesn't include the cost of the Souvenir Cup or the extra holiday tickets.
At Sandcastle, there would be 7 visits. A ticket costs $40. There would also be $40 for food/drinks per visit. This adds to $80 per visit. 7 Visits adds to $560.
Idlewild tickets are likely around $30. For 5 Visits, there would be $30 for tickets and $40 for Food and Beverages. This is $70 per visit and $350 total.
The monetary value for me would be $3110. You can see how much this pass would be worth it for someone like me.
Now, I don't know if it would be worth it for everyone, of course. If you live in Southern California or Western Pennsylvania, it will be worth it, though. It may also be worth it for New England Coaster Enthusiasts as they can visit Storyland and Lake Compounce.
In general, this pass could be worth a lot. I'd recommend that you look into it, especially if you plan on visiting multiple of their parks. Someone in Wester Pennsylvania, New England, or Southern California could benefit from this pass, especially.
Comments