Will Busch Gardens follow the leader with a ticket rate hike to match Disney?

Walt Disney has just raised their ticket prices to a staggering $82 dollars for a single day ticket, and just a few days later Universal has done the same. Usually when this happens, the effect is like a domino and other parks follow along. In fact it's become somewhat of an annual event, and just as despised by theme park goers as Daylight Savings Time.

But with the weak economy, and no major new attractions (yet) at either Busch Gardens Tampa or Sea World Orlando will Sea World Parks and Entertainment follow suit? Not yet, according to this article over at PB Pulse, powered by the Palm Beach Post (click here).

"At this time, we have no plans to increase prices at SeaWorld,” said SeaWorld spokesman Nick Gollattscheck to the PB Pulse. “We run our business plan independently from the other theme parks.”

Sounds great, but as certain as the tides of the ocean, the prices will be raised. And when they do, there will be plenty of boos and hisses to be heard. Everyone will forget the times that Busch Gardens kept their tickets the same, or the fact that you can now eat for free in the park when you purchase a ticket online (click here for that story). No, the people who go to the parks as part of their vacations will concentrate more on the money they have to spend and less on the money saved.

Why do they increase prices so much? Not being a theme park analyst, I can't answer that question, but to the guesses of many the answers range from increased costs of running the parks, to greed, and even some analysts calling it a "good sign of a recovering economy."

Disney raising ticket prices as a sign of an improving economy? More than anything it could be the sign of a weakening dollar, with a lot of Disney's guests coming from International travelers. Here's something else to ponder. Disney has been the industry leader in just about every field, including raising ticket prices. If Disney ceased with the ticket increases on an annual basis, would the rest of the theme park world continue with their increases?

The one thing that is known, as of this week Sea World Parks and Entertainment (parent company of Busch Gardens Tampa) are not raising prices. A seemingly wise move as neither Sea World Orlando or Busch Gardens Tampa have not opened major attractions, while Universal Orlando (who also raised ticket prices :::boo hiss:::) had perhaps the most anticipated attraction of all times with the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. And what did Disney have? Captain EO and the Main Street Electrical Parade came back.....but hey, it's Disney and you know you'll still go no matter what the cost, right? Right? Is this thing on?

For more information on Sea World visit the official Sea World Orlando site.

For more information on Busch Gardens, visit their official site.

For more theme park adventures, be sure to follow me on Twitter!