3 Pros and Cons to Buying an Annual Theme Park Pass

If you have kids, or if you're someone who enjoys rides and attractions, then you may be tempted to buy an annual pass to a theme park in your area. Doing so could end up being a good idea, but it might backfire on you. Here are a few pros and cons to buying an annual theme park pass.

Pro No. 1: After a few visits, your pass might pay for itself

A few years ago, my kids were invited to join their friends for a day at Six Flags Great Adventure, a theme park that's about 40 minutes away from my home in New Jersey. When I looked at the cost of a daily ticket, I balked. But then I realized that if we were to buy annual passes, they would pay for themselves in a few visits.

Right now, a daily ticket to Great Adventure costs $40, and you have to pay for parking on top of that. An annual pass, meanwhile, is $90, and it includes free parking whenever you visit. So by your third visit, your annual pass has paid for itself.

Meanwhile, I believe my family visited Great Adventure eight times last year. That means we paid roughly $11 per person for each individual visit, which really isn't bad.

Pro No. 2: You might snag a discount on parking and food

Although this won't always be the case, sometimes, an annual pass to a theme park will give you discounts on parking and food. Now I make a point not to buy my kids food when we're at Great Adventure -- namely because it's expensive, and also, because cheese fries and roller coasters don't tend to mix well. But I definitely enjoy not having to pay for parking every time I visit.

Pro No. 3: You can go without the pressure of having to stay all day

Because our Great Adventure passes are paid for, and the park is only about a 40-minute drive away, we'll sometimes go there for half a day or even just a couple of hours to get some fun rides in when we can. And we don't feel bad about not spending the entire day at the park because we're not shelling out $200 a day for the five of us to visit, which would be the case if we were to buy individual daily tickets.

Con No. 1: You have to shell out the money upfront

As a family of five, it costs $450 to buy our annual passes to Great Adventure. That's a pretty hefty credit card charge to rack up at once.

Thankfully, we have extra money in our savings account so if we needed to, we could dip in to pay for those passes as a one-time expense. But before you buy season passes for your family, make sure you can afford to pay for them. You don't want to rack up debt in the course of buying them.

Con No. 2: You may not get your money's worth

While my family and I made it over to Great Adventure a number of times in 2022, I don't know how many times we'll manage to visit in 2023. So far, we've only visited once -- though to be fair, the park doesn't open until April, and its hours are pretty limited until June.

You might think you'll visit your local theme park dozens of times during the year, thereby getting your money's worth out of a season pass. But remember, if your kids go to summer camp during the week while you work, and you tend to be busy with weekend activities during the school year, then you may not get there as often as expected.

Con No. 3: You might feel pressured to go when it's not convenient

We've never gone out of our way to visit Great Adventure just to get our money's worth. But I know a few people who, over the summer, had to practically force their kids to visit once a week so they felt justified in buying their passes. Meanwhile, their kids didn't particularly want to go once a week when the weather was hot and they'd been there so recently.

If you buy an annual theme park pass, you, too, might feel pressured to get your money's worth. That could make it so you end up turning what should be a fun experience into a less pleasant one.

All told, buying an annual theme park pass could work out well. But think carefully before making that financial commitment. And also, you may want to stick to a theme park that's a reasonable distance away. If you buy annual passes to a theme park that's 30 minutes away, you're more likely to get good use out of them than with a park that's a solid 90-minute drive in each direction.