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FARMINGTON — The coronavirus pandemic is keeping amusement parks closed, much to the disappointment of many Lagoon season pass holders.
Many reached out to Matt Gephardt frustrated with how Lagoon is handling the closure by not offering refunds.
Bridget Edwards and her family purchased Lagoon Season Passports for Christmas, totaling just under $500 for their family of four and a parking pass. They were ready to start riding rides for Lagoon’s opening weekend, March 28.
But that opening date came and went, with the pandemic keeping Lagoon shuttered with a county order for non-essential businesses to remain closed.
Edwards said she reached out to Lagoon to see if the park was offering anything for customers not able to visit Lagoon, like extending the season passes to be valid next year. “They sent me back this kind of copy and pasted answer,” she said.
“Just saying ‘no refunds’ and then blocking people on their Facebook page isn’t going to be OK,” she said.
We looked at several amusement parks across the country. Big ones like Disneyland are currently offering refunds for months the park is closed or offering extensions on their passes. Many regional parks like Six Flags, Cedar Point, and Worlds of Fun listed they were extending 2020 season passes to the 2021 season.
By phone, a Lagoon spokesperson told us there’s no reason to give refunds at this point because pass holders have only missed out on eight days at Lagoon. The average season is about 150 days long.
Just saying ‘no refunds’ and then blocking people on their Facebook page isn’t going to be OK,
–Bridget Edwards
Lagoon pointed out season passes are sold at a discount and pay for themselves after about two visits to the park. This means if the park is able to open this summer, patrons will have plenty of opportunity to get their money’s worth from the passes.
The spokesperson said it is too early to determine if additional perks or options will be made available, as they still do not have a firm opening date due to the pandemic. For now, one thing is firm: no refunds.
Lagoon also mentioned all tickets, not just season passports, are subject to terms and conditions that exclude refunds, like bad weather. Last year, Lagoon closed early for the season due to unprecedented cold and snow. The terms state bad weather is not a valid reason for a refund.
