“Free Beer” comes to an end at Sea World & Busch Gardens
All good things must come to an end so the old saying goes and one of these will shortly be the last pouring of the complimentary beer tastings at Anheuser Busch-InBev two theme parks Sea World and Busch Gardens.
Personally I think this is a mistake and it’s not going to help the company in keeping its customers loyal. I know big business has to look at the bottom line but the bottom line is made up by customers who pay admission fees to enter the park and this was one of the nice little extra’s that adults enjoyed during a hot day at the theme park.
The decision has been reached by Belgian based InBev who are the new owners of Anheuser Busch as they look to sell off the entertainment division to help pay the $52 billion acquisition they finalized last year. So from 1st February 2009 the complimentary beer tasting will stop and all we can hope for is that the entertainment division is sold off quickly and that the new owners come to realise how important this seemingly trivial part of a day out at Sea World / Busch Gardens really is.
I was just at Sea World Orlando today and found out the bad news. As soon as my card expires there will be no renewal. This was one of the highlights of a day off. A quick trip out to Sea World to ride the Kraken roller coaster and have have a couple of complimentary brews. But it looks like that is to be no more. Too bad AB is taking this stand. I wonder if it would have changed policy if the company had stayed in American hands? They just lost another customer and from what I read here I’m not the first and certainly won’t be the last! I think they are shooting themselves in the foot here, especially with the current economy. People are going to more careful than ever with discretionary dollars and try to make them stretch. For AB this is certainly a step in the wrong direction!
Rick
January 14, 2009 at 12:38 am
WELL, I WILL NOT BE RE-NEWING MY YEAR PASS. I JUST LOVED TO STROLL ROUND THE LOVELY PARK, TAKE IN A SHOW, RIDE ON CRAKKEN AND THEN FINISH OFF WITH A FEW BEERS. A PERFECT AFTERNOON. WHAT MISERIES!!
LETS HOPE THEY REALISE THEIR MISTAKE AND REINSTATE OUR BUD. WHAT ABOUT THE POOR OLD CHAPS BEHIND THE COUNTER. WILL THEY LOOSE THEIR JOBS. BRING BACK OUR BUD HOSPITALITY CENTER.
JULIE
Julie
January 17, 2009 at 7:36 am
As I understand it, the brewery and the theme parks will be totally different entities now, I am not sure that the brewing company is even going to retain ownership of them. How sad that two tiny free beers would prevent people from renewing their passes … the parks are better off without people who can’t enjoy their beauty without drinking. Pathetic. There are more suitable places to drink and if you are so desperate for a free beer I’ll throw a couple of bucks into your bucket at the traffic junction.
admin
January 22, 2009 at 11:45 pm
Nice, no advice.
LitholeLeta
April 19, 2009 at 12:00 pm