Funworld November 2009

U.S. parks and attractions offer generous discounts, special events, and more, to honor and thank members of the military
by Keith Miller

In an era when United States attractions participate in a wide variety of community outreach programs, discount offers, and special events, there’s one effort in particular that seems to resonate emotionally with both the attractions and their guests: recognition for members of the military and their families.

Although some attractions offered discounts and other benefits and recognition to the armed forces for decades, the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, and the subsequent U.S. military action in Iraq and Afghanistan have made these offerings much more widespread.

Busch Entertainment Corporation’s (BEC) Worlds of Discovery parks are a good example. “We’ve had discounted admission for military probably since we opened Busch Gardens Tampa in 1959,” says Fred Jacobs, BEC’s vice president of communications. “The really significant admission programs started with the Gulf War in 1990. Since then, we’ve probably given close to 6 million free admissions to members of the armed forces and their families.”

Though BEC has a long history of generous offerings to members of the military and their families, the company is by no means the only one to extend such offers. A look around the attractions industry reveals such goodwill toward the men and women of the armed forces is actually quite prevalent, and the acknowledgment and recognition take many forms.

Discounting for Military Widespread
Under its “Here’s to the Heroes” program, BEC allows active military members and reservists one free admission annually to any Worlds of Discovery park, except for Discovery Cove and Aquatica in Orlando. Up to three dependents receive free admission, and they don’t have to accompany the service member to the park. BEC has a Web site specifically devoted to this program (www.herosalute.com) to help explain it to service members.

Like the Worlds of Discovery Parks, the San Diego Zoo has a long history of offering admission discounts to military personnel. “Our discount and free admission programs for military have been in existence since World War II, when much of the Army was housed in tents right next to the zoo, and are considered a tradition in San Diego,” says Christina Simmons, the zoo’s public relations manager. The zoo offers free admission to active duty U.S. military personnel, and spouses and dependents receive a 10 percent discount. But in an uncommon twist, the zoo offers these discounts to foreign military members, as well.

Since most family entertainment centers don’t have an admission charge, implementing a military discount is more challenging. “We offer an across the- board discount to everyone in their party,” says Lee Hovis, general manager for Adventure Landing in Jacksonville, Florida. “Food, mini-golf, laser tag, gokarts, and even waterpark tickets are included. The only thing we don’t discount is [game] tokens. We have a military appreciation day in September with free admission to the waterpark. We also do a $1 ticketing program with the USO every year.”

Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, adds an extra dimension to its military program by offering complimentary admission not only to the active military, but also to retired veterans, disabled veterans, reservists, and their families. By late summer, 21,111 guests had already taken advantage of the free admission in 2009.

Dealing with Increased Customer Traffic
As popular as many of these discounts are, one concern for some parks and attractions is with the additional traffic and lines they could create at front-gate ticketing booths during peak periods.

With the huge traffic volumes with which Walt Disney World and the Disneyland Resort have to contend, The Walt Disney Company addressed this concern by shifting a large percentage of the ticketing transactions to the International Ticket and Travel (ITT) offices located on military bases and properties. This strategy not only cuts down on ticket booth lines, but it also avoids constantly having to explain to other guests why certain visitors are receiving complimentary passes.

“That underscores the importance of being as strategic and targeted as possible in communications to reach a particular group,” notes Dave Herbst, print managing editor at Walt Disney World. “The real blessing with the military is they internally have terrific systems of communications that our people can tap into to get a message across, and they get a lot of the transactions executed on the bases.”

In 2009, Disney offered active or retired military members free multiday tickets to its U.S. theme parks under the “Disney’s Armed Forces Salute” program and heavily discounted multiday passes to family members.

Marching an Extra Mile
Beyond free or discounted admission, many attractions offer discounts on food and lodging, as well. Disneyland Resort grants discounted rooms to U.S. military families, and Walt Disney World provides savings up to 40 percent at Disney Moderate Resorts. Also, located in the heart of Walt Disney World is Shades of Green, one of only five Armed Forces Recreation Centers in the world and the only one located at an amusement park. The resort is a separate operation from Walt Disney World, but in addition to Disney’s complimentary tickets, it offers discounted rooms, dining, and recreation.

In August, the new Wilderness at the Smokies indoor waterpark resort in Sevierville, Tennessee, rolled out its “We Salute You” vacation package to military families. It includes two nights at the resort, passes to all indoor and outdoor waterpark attractions, two tickets to the Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies in nearby Gatlinburg, and free pizza and Pepsi. The package would normally cost $600 but is available to military families for less than $300.

“We had a response [to the package] immediately,” says Kim Bridges, the resort’s director of public relations. “Our owners are very supportive of our country, and being in a national park area, we wanted to do this.”

Public Displays of Respect
Beyond these generous ticketing and lodging discounts, some attractions go even farther to acknowledge military personnel and their families. Dollywood holds a special flag-raising ceremony every morning and selects one veteran and one child out of the crowd to stand in honor as the flag is raised. “We also often recognize veterans at shows,” says Pete Owens, the park’s public relations manager, “and they are always welcomed with warm applause.”

The Walt Disney Company was one of the original sponsors of the U.S. Marine Corps “Toys for Tots” program 58 years ago, and the company’s “Operation Uplift” has sent more than 90,000 postcards to troops around the world since 1995, thanking them for their service. Also, each year “Operation Disney Care” packages go to USO centers around the world, with Disney DVDs, books, magazines, and games enclosed to entertain service personnel and their families.

Prior to every engagement of “Believe,” the signature killer whale show at BEC’s three SeaWorld parks, trainers ask all active and retired members of the U.S. military and allied nations to stand and be recognized. According to BEC’s Jacobs, the audience shows “overwhelming support. The response from the rest of our guests is amazing to see.”

This brings up the question of whether such singular recognition, along with complimentary ticket programs, spawns pressure from other groups for special treatment. Most attractions say no. “We’ve had tribute programs before, ones that honored emergency services workers like police, firefighters, and EMTs,” says Jacobs. “But I think most groups understand the great burden our military and their families are being asked to carry right now and are content to join us in acknowledging and thanking them.”

Judging by the feedback parks and attractions receive, it seems all this recognition has a profound impact on the military personnel themselves and their families. “The letters and e-mails we get are often so touching it’s hard to make it all the way through them,” says Jacobs. “We’ll get hundreds of letters this year, and each one is incredibly touching. The notes from kids are my favorites, though. They combine pride for their mother or father, pride in what our military is accomplishing, and genuine gratitude for the experience we’re providing and the opportunity to connect as a family.”

Contact News Editor Keith Miller at kmiller@IAAPA.org.