Can an attraction sell annual passes advertising 12 months of entry to the park then close for 4 months

[Aimee1987]

So over the summer I bought a family pass to a local attraction where it specifically says in the annual pass page 12 months of entry to the park. I just went on their website and it says the season is over and we will reopen in March. I bought the pass thinking I'll use it in the winter to entertain the kids. This place has lots of indoor stuff as well as outdoor.
AIBU
Yes it's normal
No if they close for 4 months of the year they should have said it on the annual pass website. This is false advertising.

Sometimes places do passes for the season, so 2021 season or whatever.
Other places do annual passes that go cross seasons, even if they are closed. So e.g. If I bought passes for Paulton's Park On 1 June 2021 they would be valid until 31 May 2022, even though they're closed over winter.
By saying 12 months it shows it is valid for times they re open across a full year.

It's normal - whether it's big places like Alton towers or small farms they often have closed months, clearly written on the website, the annual pass is effectively for 8 months

I can see how you'd make the mistake, it's the type of place I'd expect to be open year-round, at least at weekends. You'll probably use the tickets next year, so while you might rightly express disappointment to them and suggest they make the "open March - October" much clearer, I'm not sure you'll get much by way of discount. If they refund it then you'll just buy another in March, right?

Sorry, OP, you obviously missed the small print. Unless you had only just bought it I think you're out of luck re a refund, as you could easily have used it lots of times since the summer already.

Just make good use of it when it reopens and don't buy it again next year. Sorry.

They can't sell as an 8 month pass, because if you bought in march it would be an 8 month pass, if you bought in September you'd expect 8 months but only get 4

So unless they only sold them on 1 day a year, people would lose out compared to others and it wouldn't be fair. That's why they all do a years pass and you have the same amount of days to use it as anyone who bought on any other day of the year, everyone loses the winter portion so its fair

I've never bought passes, but I know it's common for places to close over that period, despite them all selling yearly passes

Your pass lasts 12 months from the date you bought it, it doesn't guarantee entry for 12 months.
So no matter when anyone buys their pass, they still get 8 months of entry.
Better than just selling seasonal passes IMO.

Sounds pretty normal to me. A lot of attractions close over the winter months.

I have annual membership of the National Trust but the houses are closed for some of the year.

Their website says "Annual Pass - A whole year of fun - because you can't do it all in a day!", which sounds a bit misleading to me since they're not open for the whole year

However the small print in the T&Cs says "All online tickets are non-refundable and valid for use during the current operational season on any day during the main season that the park is open – please see seasonal opening times here", so good luck expecting them to do much

They can't sell as an 8 month pass, because if you bought in march it would be an 8 month pass, if you bought in September you'd expect 8 months but only get 4

Very true - but they could call it a "Season Pass" which might at least make things a bit clearer

A season pass wouldn't be clearer as if you bought it in the middle of summer you would have half of one "season" and half of the next. Whenever you buy it you get a years worth.

The only way it could be clear is "12 month pass (note we close for winter Nov-Feb)".

YABU because the second I went on the annual ticket pricing page there were multiple references to the attraction being seasonal and being closed for part of the year so it's not like they didn't make the information available before you paid for the pass.

Having said that, I do think it is a bit disingenuous to sell a "12 month" pass that you cannot use at all for 4 months of the year. Even though it means everyone has the same opportunity to use it over 8 months, whether you buy it in March or October, you don't actually get 12 months worth of visits.

There are a couple of similar attractions near where I live that close for at least a couple of months a year (one is based next to a holiday caravan park that closes Jan 1st - March 1st every year so it's not worth staying open as it would barely break even if they stayed open without the tourist money) so instead of having an annual passes, they both do a "Season Pass" that you can buy at any point during the year, but it is on a sliding scale, so that later in the season you buy it the less you pay relative to the amount of time available - so of you buy it in March, you pay full price but by August it's 50% off since you only have 5 months to use it.

It’s normal. However there’s nothing to stop you emailing them to say you’d like a refund/extension because you misunderstood and found their website misleading- you might get lucky.

I'm guessing the other one you were looking at was Crealy? We had annual passes last year, to be fair being able to pop in to the soft play at any point was lovely!

Lol, I just knew you were talking about World of Country Life even before you said (it’s local to me). They always close over winter but usually have special members only events or holiday week stuff opening even in off season, so if it’s not being advertised might be worth calling to clarify.