Update December 2025: It appears (according to well informed sources) that Brian Bacica will shortly no longer be with Busch Gardens Tampa. Screen shots of an internal Merlin message show him moving to LegoLand Florida to become VP on December 10th. I was able to independently confirm the LegoLand opening through a connection also applying for the position. This means Busch Gardens will have its 3rd park President in the last year!

Update: August 1, 2025 Per the Pass Perks website, “Starting August 1, 2025, Pass Perks Monthly Rewards will be placed on an extended hold as we make exciting enhancements to the program.” They also state that, “While we’re making improvements, we’ll be delivering complimentary Pass Perks to our Passholders and Members as a token of our appreciation for your continued loyalty.” The rewards earned for July 2025 did drop into my app, so that was good to see. Six Flags does promise, “BIG updates are coming later this year!”, but it appears the reason Pass Perks is being suspended is due to “technological upgrades” with the actual implementation of the new program coming in 2026. In a recent earnings call the company did mention the desire to have existing passholders visit more frequently, so there is a desire to encourage loyalty. If they go the way of the airlines it might be points based on spending in the parks rather than visits, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

A former Disney employee plead guilty to “hacking” charges related to logging into Disney’s menu software and making changes and was sentenced to 3 years in Federal prison and nearly $690,000 in fines. The hacks included altering allergen information, inserting joke names for dishes and changing some fonts to Wingdings. They employee had access to this software as part of their job, but logged in after he was fired. This appeared to be primarily for printed menus and the errors were caught before the menus were distributed to the park restaurants. Some of it appeared to be humorous like changing “shellfish” to “hellfish”, but changing allergen information has the potential to be life threatening and there was a high profile death related to allergies at a Disney Springs restaurant last year.

If you are veteran or active duty military you and your family can potentially head to Busch Gardens for free with their great military offers! The Waves of Honor program permits any U.S. active duty military, activated or drilling reservist, or National Guardsman to one complimentary admission per year to either SeaWorld, Busch Gardens or Sesame Place for military personnel and as many as three direct dependents. Veterans can get up to four free tickets for them and up to three guests to Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. Tickets are available until May 18, 2025 and must be used by July 31, 2025. If you’re a veteran reading this after May 18th, put a pin in this as the promotion seems to come around every May and is also available at other parks like SeaWorld. If you’re eligible this can be a great way to have some free fun at Busch Gardens this summer!