This post originally appeared on the Dollywood Insiders page, as I’m a proud Dollywood Insider! 

Have you ever thought about “going for the gold” at Dollywood? The Gold Season Pass offers quite a few additional benefits, but it does cost $50 more than a regular Season Pass. Today, I want to showcase how much money my family saves by having just one Gold Pass in our family (one is all you need if you typically all go to the park together!).

Parking

Parking is free with a Gold Pass and that equals a $15 savings every single time you come to Dollywood. Three days of parking alone will almost pay for your upgrade, friends.

Still need more convincing? No problem!

Food

You will save 20% on your food purchases in the parks (including sit down restaurants!). My family ate at Front Porch Cafe (Insider tip: the servings are not only delicious, but also generous, so consider splitting your meals for additional savings). Our bill shrank from $30 to $24 all thanks to showing my server my Gold Pass!

Shopping

We all know that the shops inside both the theme park and water park have some truly irresistible merchandise. Your Gold Season Pass gets you 20% off those purchases, as well! On our most recent visit, we picked up a sparkly mermaid pillow, a Christmas ornament for my sister, a mega bath bomb for the girls and some locally made shaving soap for my husband. Thanks to the Gold Pass, we saved a total of $9 on our purchases throughout the park.

So for my family, a typical day at Dollywood as a Gold Season Passholder provided us with $30 in savings. We will most likely visit the parks five more times before the end of the year, and we’ll be parking and eating each time we visit, and I usually can’t leave the park without an extra purchase or two. Over the course of the season, a Gold Season Pass will not only make up for its cost, but it will also save you in the long run! Therefore, it’s quite a bargain, don’t you think?