| Legoland Offers Discounted Annual Passes to Seniors by Greg | 2011-08-04 14:03:23 |
Greg
Winter Haven, Florida
Master Builder
1451 Posts | Legoland Offers Discounted Annual Passes to Seniors
Quote:Legoland announced Thursday the Senior Garden Pass, which offers weekday admission to those 60 and older for $60 plus tax — less than the cost of a single-day ticket. The pass includes parking, which normally carries a $12 fee.
The pass yields admission to the entire park, not just the botanical gardens.
The pass is for weekdays only. Legoland Florida, scheduled to open Oct. 15, will be closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays during November and December, with exceptions around the holidays. The park has not yet released its 2012 operating schedule, but Legoland executives have said the attraction will be open seven days a week during spring break and summer. |
Excellent! I knew Legoland would do right by the Seniors wanting to see the Botanical!  | | |
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https://www.youtube.com/adventuresbygeorge |
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| re: Legoland Offers Discounted Annual Passes to Seniors by Sean | 2011-08-04 19:05:04 |
Sean
--Guest-- | I've been advocating that Legoland offer a special incentive to get seniors into the park for awhile now. I'm happy to see Legoland is moving in that direction.
I think LL should offer special gardening events from Feburary thru April to attract as much of the huge senior market that winters in Florida as they can. Perhaps they could also put on special concerts during that period that would appeal to seniors.
I hope Legoland Florida thinks outside the box and doesn't strictly view itself as only a kid's park when it can make tremendous attendance gains during the slower season by marketing to an older demographic. |
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| re: Legoland Offers Discounted Annual Passes to Seniors by Ed | 2011-08-15 12:51:11 |
Ed
Merritt Island
Lego Star V
956 Posts | Legoland is a children's park and that is how they will market it and that is what all the attractions and special events will be about - children. In order to get the location they had to take the old gardens but that will be it as to "senior" attractions or any special concerts or events that would appeal to seniors. Cypress Gardens as a theme park is gone - it is now Legoland and it is for children. Legoland's success depends solely on attracting children and their parents - that is where 100% of their effort will be. It makes absolutely no marketing sense to ever add or advertise senior events in a children's park. Enjoy the gardens and expect nothing else "special" for seniors. |
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| re: Legoland Offers Discounted Annual Passes to Seniors by Scott | 2011-08-15 13:19:34 |
Scott
--Guest-- | ^Wow, everytime you post, it's always negative. |
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| re: Legoland Offers Discounted Annual Passes to Seniors by Coasterjunkie | 2011-08-15 13:19:34 |
Coasterjunkie
Orlando, FL
Brickster
243 Posts | I hate to admit it, but Ed is right. The days of people going to a park are long gone. Just look at the list of gardens parks that are now gone, barely hanging on, or drastically cut back the gardens to add new rides. Marineland Florida had to shedd it's botanical gardens and is now just an aquarium. I believe there was a Sunken Gardens here in Central Florida which is long gone. Alton Towers in England wouldn't be around without the addition of all the themed attractions. Cedar Point once had a large garden which it got rid of in favor of new attractions. San Antonio also had something like Cypress Gardens but on a larger scale and that's almost completely gone with the exception of the glass bottom boat tours. It takes much more than just a beautiful botanical garden to keep a park profitable these days. | | |
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Life's a roller coaster, so enjoy it while you can with your hands high in the air. |
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| re: Legoland Offers Discounted Annual Passes to Seniors by Sean | 2011-08-15 18:39:28 |
Sean
--Guest-- | Sunken Gardens is located in St. Petersburg and is still open. You are probably thinking of Masterpiece Gardens which closed back in 1981.
A big problem for Legoland is that it's attendance goes way down during the slow season when the kid's are back in school. Spending 100% of your energies marketing to kids isn't going to substantially increase attendance levels during the weekdays when the kids are required to be in school. Legoland's answer to this problem is to close for a couple of days during the week. I think they can do better.
The botanical gardens have proven to be a big draw for seniors in the past. Many seniors will gladly come to the park on the weekdays from January thru March to see the gardens and the lego sculptures if they are provided and incentive to do so.
The alternative is to ignore the seniors and keep the marketing status quo...a mostly empty park during the weekdays that has to close a couple of days due to lack of attendance. |
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| re: Legoland Offers Discounted Annual Passes to Seniors by Greg | 2011-08-15 21:14:00 |
Greg
Winter Haven, Florida
Master Builder
1451 Posts | So you're Legoland and you've got this great asset (love it or not) in the Botanical Gardens. Do you: A.) Ignore the primary market for this asset and lose any potential profit you can gain from it. Or B.) Try to bring in the people who enjoy visiting the Gardens.
I think the choice is pretty clear. | | |
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Visit my YouTube channel for Legoland Adventures!
https://www.youtube.com/adventuresbygeorge |
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| re: Legoland Offers Discounted Annual Passes to Seniors by Ed | 2011-08-19 15:58:22 |
Ed
Merritt Island
Lego Star V
956 Posts | There are no longer on-site green houses - so for any flower or plant festival everything must be purchased outside. This makes it very expensive. Concerts are also expensive with all the associated costs. The expenses for these senior "incentives" will be much more than the added seniors would cover - especially with the discounted admission needed to attract them. This was proved by the old CG closing three times already. Most of the seniors that supported the old CG and gardens are long gone and there just are not enough left to justify the cost. Seniors need to enjoy what is left and expect nothing more.
Yes on week days during slow seasons Legoland will not be crowded but they handle this by closing on some of the week days. That may or may not be a bad idea for Florida, but that is what they do. All parks are seasonal to some extent and the money they make during peak times carries them over the non-peak times. Legoland will make it's money during the summer, spring break, Christmas, and weekends. If they can't draw 2 million a year during those busy times it is all over anyway.
CG is gone and Legoland is going to do what makes business sense to make a profit - not what CG use to do. If there was any way for the old gardens to make a profit they would have made them a seperate admission park just like they plan to do with the water park. Since they didn't - don't expect anything more to attract seniors. Legoland knows they can't make money on the old garden or special senior events and in the business world if you can't make money on it you don't do it. The object is for the park to be a success - not repeat past mistakes.
Not being negative - just facing reality. Kent was the best and only hope to keep what was the old CG alive. When Kent failed, it was the end of what CG was. Times change and there is no stopping it. It is far better that Legoland is a success than trying to be what use to be CG for seniors. |
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| re: Legoland Offers Discounted Annual Passes to Seniors by Sean | 2011-08-19 20:42:57 |
Sean
--Guest-- | In order to maximize snowbird turnout, you have to market something special to attract them. Simply offering a senior discount pass isn’t going to excite seniors for the long haul unless you offer some seasonal events that will repeatedly draw them to the park.
Unlike the old Cypress Gardens which had multiple flower festivals throughout the year, Legoland only needs to put on one during the JAN-MAR time-frame. This flower festival doesn’t have to be as elaborate as the old Mum festival that had hundreds of thousands of chrysanthemums decorating the park. All they need to do is increase some of the flower displays and perhaps unveil some new Lego sculptures for a limited time.
Since Leogland won’t be using nearly as many flowers as the old CG, it would actually be cheaper for them to purchase the plants versus trying to grow them themselves. I even had a senior gardener at CG tell me it was cheaper to purchase the plants versus trying to maintain a greenhouse complex. Growing your own flowers only makes sense if you’re going to have a massive amount of floral displays…something Legoland is unlikely to do.
The kind of concerts I had in mind are on a smaller scale than the ones Kent had. I was thinking more of the big band concerts that Busch Gardens has such as The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra or the Terry Myers Orchestra. Scheduling a few of these kinds of concerts during the winter period is a relatively inexpensive way to generate enthusiasm amongst the older crowd so they’ll want to purchase an annual pass.
These aren’t the only ways to entice the snowbirds to visit the park on a regular basis. I was just throwing out a couple of ideas that seemed good to me. I hope Legoland gives this some serious thought and doesn’t think it can get more seniors to visit the gardens by doing nothing.
Although Ed says CG is gone, Adrian Jones (GM of Legoland) disagrees when he said in a recent article that, “Cypress Gardens has not gone away either. Jones said a separate gate will be available for those wanting to visit the botanical gardens.” He also said, “The water ski shows will also continue - this time with a pirate theme.”
Remember that during one of the worst years in the old park’s history (2003), CG still had 600,000 people come visit it. That’s about 30% of the total attendance that Legoland hopes to achieve. I think it would be foolish to write the old park’s demographic off and think you’ll have a more prosperous park by doing so.
http://www.newschief.com/article/20110819/NEWS/108195006/1021/news01?Title=Manager-Legoland-here-for-long-haul |
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| re: Legoland Offers Discounted Annual Passes to Seniors by Ed | 2011-08-29 17:15:40 |
Ed
Merritt Island
Lego Star V
956 Posts | If to anyone the Old CG was just a ski show and the old botanical garden that Legoland was forced to keep if they wanted the land -then indeed they can claim CG is still there. Kind of the unwanted child in the background - but still there. But more of the old CG is gone than what remains. The topiaries are gone, plantation gardens are gone, the waterfall is gone, the animals are gone, the adult shows (ice skating, circus, etc.) are gone, the butterflies are gone, the concerts are gone, the flower festivals are gone, full service sit down restaurant is gone, the live southern belles are gone, weddings are gone, the gazebo shows are gone, the 6 million Christmas lights are gone, etc. Also Legoland, no matter what limited lip service they are forced to give the old gardens and ski show since they must have them, is designed and advertised for children up to 12 years old. This is not the old CG designed to attract the older crowd 60 years old and up. It will not offer most of what the old CG had or anything close to it even on a very limited scale. Just the way it is - it is now a children's park for children. They will do everything to attract children, not seniors. Seniors were the past, children are the future. Indeed maybe that is what it should do now - times change and things move on. Enjoy what was forced to remain of the old CG - you will just be disappointed if you expect more of what was. |
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| re: Legoland Offers Discounted Annual Passes to Seniors by Sean | 2011-08-30 17:58:22 |
Sean
--Guest-- | "The topiaries are gone": The topiaries were originally not a permanent feature at the old CG and were brought out for seasonal events. There’s no reason why LL couldn’t bring the topiaries back for a limited time for the flower festival I recommend they put on during the Jan-Mar time-frame. Even if LL doesn’t bring back the topiaries, guests can still marvel at the more elaborate Mini-land Lego creations that are located in the vicinity of the old topiary area.
"Plantation Gardens are gone": These gardens were created during the Busch years and were almost completely replaced with sod while Kent ran the park. Based on the current park map, it doesn’t look like they’ll change much under LL. You can’t really say guests will miss something that was gone before LL even purchased the park.
"The waterfall is gone": No, the waterfall is still there…it’s depicted on the current LL park map.
"The animals are gone": The animal area was added in 1980s, was later shutdown during the Busch years, was resurrected during the Bill Reynolds years, only to be shutdown again by Landsouth. Needless to say, this area has had a very rocky existence. The animal area wasn’t getting an extensive amount of foot traffic after Kent reopened it. LL can definitely find something better to install in this area. Perhaps they can add a miniature golf course like they have at the California park.
"The adult shows (ice skating, circus, etc.) are gone": The circus show ended years before LL purchased the park. The Royal Palm Theater where the ice skating shows used to be was originally a movie theater with a curved screen so guests felt like they were part of the experience. LL is making it a movie theater once again with 4D effects. There’s no reason why adults won’t like the 4D movies. Disney World has plenty of 4D movies that are popular with adults as well as children.
"The butterflies are gone": The butterflies are a fairly recent addition to the park…they were added 1993. They were brought back by Kent, but were gradually reduced until they were completely gone during the later Landsouth period. LL could bring the butterflies back if they wanted to, but they decided a Lego flower display was a better option. I would have to see what they actually come up with before I decide whether I liked one more than the other. Even if the butterflies never return, that hardly justifies the claim that CG is dead because this small attraction has been replaced.
"The concerts are gone": Yes, the concerts are gone. That’s why I recommended LL schedule some concerts during the Jan-Mar time-frame to entice more snowbirds to visit the park.
"The flower festivals are gone": The flower festivals ended years before LL purchased the park. I still think it would be a good idea for LL to schedule one flower festival during the Jan-Mar time-frame to generate interest amongst the snow birds. Let’s see what they do.
"Full service sit down restaurant is gone": You’re probably referring to Aunt Julie’s Kitchen which was actually a buffet. This buffet was rarely crowded, so you’re really grasping at straws trying to say its demise is something that fans of the old CG will miss.
"Live Southern Belles are gone": This is something I will miss. One thing LL can do is bring the live Southern Belles back during the Jan-Mar time-frame as a selling point for the snow birds to come and see them. If the belles never return, at least we have some Southern Belle Lego creations to remind guests of the park’s heritage.
"Weddings are gone": LL never said they aren’t going to have weddings. Landsouth spent a fortune renovating the Snively Mansion for corporate events and weddings, so let’s see if LL decides to utilize it for that intended purpose. Even if they decide not to stage weddings on the property, that hardly was a selling point for people to come and visit the old CG.
"The gazebo shows are gone": I rarely saw much of a crowd watching the gazebo shows after Kent bought the park. Again, this is a weak argument about what fans of the old CG will dearly miss. You might as well say Busch Gardens is gone because it got rid of its marching band (The Sheiks of Morocco).
"The Christmas Lights are gone": We don’t know if LL still has all the old Christmas decorations or not. If they do, I think it would be better to utilize them versus throwing them away. We have to wait to see what they do. |
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| re: Legoland Offers Discounted Annual Passes to Seniors by Greg | 2011-09-01 21:23:25 |
Greg
Winter Haven, Florida
Master Builder
1451 Posts | I'll never feel that "CG is gone" so long as the Botanical still exists. Because that's all the park was when it originally opened in 1939. Even the ski show wasn't original to the park. Shoot, even the Southern Belles weren't original to the park!
Cypress Gardens = The Botanical = Still exists. | | |
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Visit my YouTube channel for Legoland Adventures!
https://www.youtube.com/adventuresbygeorge |
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| re: Legoland Offers Discounted Annual Passes to Seniors by Ed | 2011-09-07 12:53:08 |
Ed
Merritt Island
Lego Star V
956 Posts | Well if we want to go back to 1939, then indeed CG is still what it was. If we want to go back to 1935 many would ague that the original swamp land was the "real" Cypress Gardens.
Of course all the things that were added over the years to CG was way more than the original gardens and were added over the years because the old gardens alone could not attract enough guests. The reality is far more of what was CG is gone than remains. What remains is what was very popular in the 1930's -1960's but least popular today.
It is not CG anymore - it is Legoland a children's park. Legoland is not going to spend money to attract seniors - it will spend money to attract it's new audience which is children with their parents. There will be no "special" senior events like limited flower shows or senior concerts - just isn't what Legoland does. Legoland did not buy the CG land to save CG - they purchased it to build Legoland. Legoland will live or die based on the ability to attract children and their parents. Legoland knows this and this is what they will put all their efforts at. Legoland was forced to keep the old gardens in order to buy the land - seniors should be happy to enjoy that and expect nothing else. Why on earth would they expect anything else - after all it is like 1939 again and they should be very happy what is left of CG is back to the 1939 "basics". If going back to 1939 is not good enough for the seniors - than indeed CG is in reality gone. |
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| re: Legoland Offers Discounted Annual Passes to Seniors by Sean | 2011-09-07 17:08:43 |
Sean
--Guest-- | Ed sounds like he thinks he's the President of Merlin Entertainment when he declares that Legoland will not offer any special senior events. Don't forget that he previously predicted Legoland wouldn't offer any deep discounts to attract seniors to the gardens...a prediction already proven wrong. Quote:| >Why should LL even do any special effort to try to attract the older demographic? Frankly there were not enough of them left that visited CG for the historic gardens when it was CG and there will be even less now. Besides most seniors don't spend in the park when there only an hour or two which is even more reason not to target the older demographic. LL is not a charity or the government - no other park does a deep discount just for seniors and there is no reason or need for LL to do it. < |
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| re: Legoland Offers Discounted Annual Passes to Seniors by Ed | 2011-09-08 14:50:30 |
Ed
Merritt Island
Lego Star V
956 Posts | Obviously I am not the president of Merlin Entertainment and am giving my opinion. I'm not always right and I will admit it. Opinion is opinion and opinion is not fact. Opinion is like a prediction and I must admit I can't predict the future with 100% accuracy. But if you look at all my past postings over the years - I do a pretty good job predicting if I have to admit so myself. I am giving my opinion just like Sean does. Sean has also been wrong many times in the past with his opinions/predictions, but he would never bring that up. I'm not going to point them out - too many to go into, and serves no real purpose.
I give my opinion and no one has to agree with it, or even like it. Nor do I have to agree or like other opinions. Always felt it was important to get the other side of a story or opinion - obviously some don't agree. The whole purpose of message boards is to get other opinions. Something Sean always seems to have a problem with if you don't agree with him.
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| re: Legoland Offers Discounted Annual Passes to Seniors by Sean | 2011-09-09 20:26:43 |
Sean
--Guest-- | The bulk of Ed’s past postings consisted of either beating up on LandSouth or declaring Cypress Gardens is dead and criticizing any ideas to make the gardens more popular. I can’t say he’s done a “pretty good job predicting” since he has made very few actual predictions.
Very few of my own postings involve predictions. Most of what I post is geared toward informing other forum members on new park developments, providing historical insights, and offering opinions on how to improve the park.
My opinions are worded as opinions – I don’t make provocative declarations that make it sound like I’m stating a fact. I also have no problem with people disagreeing with my opinions as long as they are cordial in their disagreement. |
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| re: Legoland Offers Discounted Annual Passes to Seniors by Ed | 2011-09-14 16:34:15 |
Ed
Merritt Island
Lego Star V
956 Posts | I did beat up on LandSouth and I was proven right to do so. I did predict that if LandSouth eliminated the concerts, shows, rides, animals and went "back to the basics" it would shut down. Well it did and even faster than I expected. Sean supported most of this as his so-called ideas to make the "gardens popular" and "improve the park". Sean did indeed predict that the "back to basic" CG would succeed because it did in the "historic past".
CG has a great history and I was part of it and enjoyed it. When I saw everything that LandSouth did or didn't do would obviously destroy it - I stated so. My so called "provocative declarations" are considered so mostly because they were not agreed with and some folk have very thin skin. Stay out of the kitchen if it gets too hot and I force no one to respond to me - yet one always does and gets annoyed about it!!!!!
"Historical perspectives" are nice, but it is now Legoland and a new history has begun. Time to accept it and move on. The old gardens are now a side show at best and that is the best that can be expected - obviously my opinion.
By the way all of the above is my opinion or informing other forum members - it is not fact! Please let's be clear about that to avoid any confusion. |
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| re: Legoland Offers Discounted Annual Passes to Seniors by Sean | 2011-09-16 21:29:14 |
Sean
--Guest-- | It was obvious that LandSouth was experiencing severe financial difficulties well before they decided to get rid of the rides. It doesn’t take a great oracle to predict that the park was going to close if they stuck with the same Adventure Park formula. By going “back to the basics,” the park did stay open longer than it would have otherwise.
I never said the “back to basic” park would succeed…that’s Ed mischaracterizing my position once again. I did indicate LandSouth would have a better chance to succeed provided they properly restructured the park—something they didn’t do.
I previously explained to you in an older thread all the mistakes LandSouth made during the transition and how they didn’t follow through on several key elements. I don’t want rehash an old topic…people are free to review my past postings to see what I actually advocated if they’re interested. When you look at how poorly LandSouth handled the restructuring, it was a miracle that the park stayed open as long as it did.
We’ve already discussed your tendency to word your opinions as fact. Your absolute tone makes it abundantly clear that you’re not open to ANY ideas that remotely relate to the old CG. It seems like the very mention of CG makes you seethe with anger. You might as well have the following quote saved to your clipboard so you can conveniently cut-and-paste it to any reply you make concerning CG: “Cypress Gardens as a theme park is gone - it is now Legoland and it is for children. Legoland's success depends solely on attracting children and their parents - that is where 100% of their effort will be.” |
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| re: Legoland Offers Discounted Annual Passes to Seniors by Ed | 2011-09-23 15:23:33 |
Ed
Merritt Island
Lego Star V
956 Posts | I'm not open to agree with any ideas that relate to the old CG because the old CG does no longer exist. Hard to agree with adding special senior events to a chlidren's park. It is now Legoland and they don't want to be anything like or associated with what CG previously was or did as an amusement park. To me this is obvious since they don't even mention the old gardens on their website - which is where most will go to find out about Legoland and what is there. The following does sum it all up: “Cypress Gardens as a theme park is gone - it is now Legoland and it is for children. Legoland's success depends solely on attracting children and their parents - that is where 100% of their effort will be.” This appears to be exactly what Legoland is doing. |
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