Do you have a season pass or annual pass to anywhere? We have one for the aquarium, and decided to get one for the local theme park for the summer. I calculate out how many times we have to go to pay it off, and write it down. Yep, a little over the top! But mostly, we do it whenever we can, especially if it's the price of 2 or 3 visits.
not really useful in Canada as far as I know, but we used my sisters museum pass in the US everywhere and it was awesome. I have also found the multiple day transportation passes (metro, train, underground, etc. ) in London, Paris, Berlin and various US cities very useful. We always buy a multiple day pass through the resort for Xcaret when we are in Mexico...
We have a pass for the children's museum here. I hate the drive out there but DS loves the place. We're debating getting a zoo membership cuz it's far away but if we go once a year it's paid for itself basically... so if we go this summer then we'll get one. Parking isn't free but the pass covers it, which is nice.
with a family of 5, we tend to save $ by doing passes - especially if it's a place we would go more than once a year. We've had passes to a variety of zoos and museums over the years. Right now, we're getting ready to move, so I've let all of our passes lapse. I guess we'll have to consider new ones when we get to where we're going.
There's an indoor play area a three-minute walk from our flat so that pass pays for itself really well. We also get yearly cards (including ride passes) to Tivoli, aka my favorite place on Earth.
We had a pass to the Toronto Zoo when we were in Southern Ontario I'm curious about the museum pass! Was it the reciprocal agreement thing? That has saved me money over the years!
yep yep and yep to the pool for the summer! big huge savings, as 7 of us go daily! and For $20 the zoo is FREE for a year! and Sam's! cause I have to feed those kids!
We get them, but generally only if we can "pay" for them with just two visits (unless it's somewhere we go a lot). When the kids were younger we had memberships to quite a few of the museums here... Shedd Aquarium (honestly, I justified this one just so we could skip the massive line to get in), Field Museum, Museum of Science and Industry and the Lincoln Park Zoo (the zoo is free, but we did it for the parking, discounts and the extra events). Oh... and the Peggy Notebart Nature Museum (we went there quite a bit anyway, but also did it so we could have access to their bathrooms since we had a weekly playgroup at the park right next to it, plus it gave an easy inside option on rainy days). We hadn't bought a season pass to anything for quite a few years, but this year we took advantage of a preseason sale and bought season passes to the Six Flags here. One of my daughter's friends has a season ticket and has offered to take her along and my son is old enough that he's up to taking public transportation out there with friends. Figure if we take a family outing or two, plus some trips out with friends, we'll come out okay. Right after I placed my order, they sent me an offer for a season long dining pass for only $30 (lunch and snack each day). I was a sucker and got that too... but they're teens, any way to save on food costs is worth checking out.
LOVE the reciprocal agreements with memberships! When we lived in Texas, we had a membership to the Dallas Zoo. We took a massive 28 day road trip to visit my parents in MO and my husband's parents in MI. We timed our lunches along the way on a few days so that we were at town with a zoo on the reciprocal agreement list. We got in for free, we grabbed lunch and the kids got a chance to run free for a while before we loaded back into the car. They were always so tired from the time at the zoo that they were ready for afternoon naps which made the drive so much better
We do Costco, cuz it's up the street and cheap gas and lunch!! This made me giggle! Um, if you are a sucker, so am I. I gave in and bought the free refill cup, and wish they had a dining pass at my amusement park! We had a children's museum pass, and I adored the reciprocal agreement when we traveled across the country. 5 kids under 8 made it so nice to let them run around and then pile them back into the car.
We have an annual pass for our local Forest and the city parks as well as Costco We don't go to the local zoo often enough to justify the cost of a pass.
What?! $20 per year?! That's awesome. It's like $100 per year for the cheapest pass here (and that's not a family pass); the one we'll probably get is ON SALE for $185.
Be sure to take a look at any you have that haven't lapsed, a lot of ones we have include reciprocity at other zoos or science centers and such. Might be a good way to try out new places in your new neighborhood
Yes. We are members of Mote Marine Aquarium in Sarasota, Florida, even though we live in Pittsburgh. My husband grew up going there and then we started taking our girls each time we visited the family there. Because of that membership, we can get into most any zoo or aquarium for half price. We also just became a annual pass holder to Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh. I love going there. The displays change frequently, mostly with each season. We now have no excuse not to go. It's so pretty there.
When the kids were young we would get a pass for the National Zoo. The zoo itself was free, but parking was $$$. So, free parking AND free snacks each visit = a win-win. Now we have two. One for the Shenandoah National Park, and the other for Mount Vernon, George Washington's home. We've had the Mount Vernon one consecutively since the kids were tiny. There is lots of green space for them to run and enough animals to keep them occupied. I love that place! But we are spoiled living near D.C. where a majority of the museums are free. The unfortunate part is we're so busy with scouts and skating that we hardly take advantage of them!
We alway had passes for Disneyland snd iit payed fir itself we went so often. Well worth it. Right niw my older Dd has passes fur tge local water park being in Las Vegas they will get used slot
Years ago we enjoyed some memberships to the Richmond Science Museum, the Richmond Children's Museum, and Lewis Ginter Gardens (which was cheap for out-of-towners!) We took advantage of a reciprocal agreement with the science museum, too, when we visited my family in San Diego and went to the Reuben H. Fleet science museum. I'm thinking about looking at the cost of a season pass for our nearest outdoor swimming pool for this summer.
We have a membership to the San Francisco Zoo. It's a very short drive away & very close to my school. They have a really awesome playground. Once a month they have members' morning with free cocoa, coffee, & carousel rides before the zoo opens. We also get the boys passes to Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. It's a 2hr drive away, but we go enough that it's worth it. Each comes with a guest ticket, so hubby & I use those. There are also quite a few Bring a Friend days, concerts on the beach, & movies on the beach. Last year we saw Wang Chung! I keep meaning to scrap that.
My sister and I have a membership at the Henry Ford in Dearborn. We've been members for like 7 years. It includes the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village. And now we get free movies at the IMAX theater. We normally go to the Village at least 2-3 times a year. Plus the Museum is fun. We just upgraded from the companion level to the companion plus so that it will cover both of us and our nieces. They love going to the Village for the Carousel and Model T rides. Hopefully when they are a bit older they will be interested in the history. We are probably going to get a membership for the local Children's Zoo near us. The girls love the children's zoo, especially the carousel and train. It also gets us discounts at the Detroit Zoo.
Not so much an annual pass but I bought a commuter pass for one of the bus companies I use to travel to uni with. It gives me 50% off all travel for a year. I think it cost about $60 and in 3 months it's probably saved me over $100