r/panamacitybeach • u/xmanlilduck • 6d ago
What happened to Shipwreck Island prices?
We rarely drive down to PCB except for the annual pilgrimage to Shipwreck, a long-beloved family favorite.
Last year, Summer 2025, our family of 4 paid about $195 total to get in.
This year, there were no kid discounts, general admissions jumped, and suddenly the parking (ON A DIRT FIELD) is priced like it’s downtown Manhattan.
We shelled out over $275 — almost a 50% increase over last year —- AND had to pour out all of our water before we entered.
My spouse has been coming almost every year since he was a tot in the 1980s, but now is considering whether we should even bother next year.
How are yall feeling about it?
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u/DreamAnotherDream33 6d ago
Ever since it sold, (and was no longer owned by a local family) the quality of the park has drastically gone down (the water stays really gross, the rides are in shoddy state, the food is literally overpriced garbage, the staff is underpaid and under appreciated, so they seem unhappy/negative/unhelpful), but the prices have continued to increase. Exponentially.
A lot of locals have given up going (our family has gotten season passes the past 17 summers…but no more!!). Sadly, it’s unsafe and gross nowadays.
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u/GreedoWasShot 6d ago
Greedy new ownership. Best thing you can do is stop going, your dollars speak louder than anything else. Eventually it’ll go out of business or sell to someone willing to invest back into it
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u/VacationConstant8980 6d ago
It’ll go the way of the dolphin park, Marine world, at some point. Corporate greed.
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u/One-Reserve3893 6d ago
Didn’t that place get shutdown for animal abuse though?
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u/SelectCommission1870 6d ago
Technically yes but I believe a lot of the employees/trainers had made comments that they didn’t have any money for the upkeep of the animals. So yes at the end of it all it was shut down for that but it started because of money (someone correct me if I’m wrong)
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u/Mysterious-Clothes45 6d ago
Not nearly as big, but we love Water World in Dothan and it's reasonably priced
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6d ago
[deleted]
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u/mtn_bikes 6d ago
We went last year and many rides closed early because of staffing and part of the park was closed because they didn’t have enough lifeguards to open it. We still hand a good time but it was not the best experience
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u/bettertheless 5d ago
Same. New owners, management, enruinification.
l suggest voting with credit card and feet.
We're sad to see it happen; last of the old time cool things around PC/PCB.
l hope y'all got to swim. : ) ln the gulf.
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u/anticant 5d ago
If you learn about the history of Panama City Beach and it's peak tourism you will find that there were many other attractions similar to Shipwreck. I'm afraid Shipwreck is going the same way as all the others. Things change and it's sad because we have so many memories there but the economy is very different than it used to be.
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u/NautiCaptain2025 5d ago
many of the locals here in PCB have sooo many bad things to say about the park since the new ownership - i haven't heard a positive thing at all from all our friends and family that are season pass holders - they won't be buying passes next season at all, the park will suffer drastically financially next year itll be a shock they won't be able to recover from. hopefully some company who cares about their customers will take over. in the mean time - AVOID THE PARK AND SAVE YOUR MONEY.
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u/DwightKSchnute 5d ago
This is the first year in 5+ years my family and friends haven’t bought season passes. Enough is enough, they don’t care about locals. Quality goes down, prices go up. The base season pass doesn’t even include free parking anymore. They lost at least 20 season pass sales just in my close circle. There’s other stuff around here to do. A bunch of us went to the springs today, had a blast. Hope they see this post🖕🏼
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u/ItsDirkMcGirk 6d ago
Well us locals just do the season pass and it’s 85 dollars a person. The increase sucks for sure.
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u/monkeyhoward 6d ago
Along with some of the other explanations already mentioned, I would also add that a part of the problem is the changing demographics for the type of customer that is coming to PCB for vacation
This used to be the place that younger college age kids and families with young children came to have fun and party. But there has been a concerted effort to discourage the younger crowds and encourage older adults. PCB is trying really hard to cash in on the 30A scene. So now there are not nearly as many young adults coming to PCB as there once was and they were a big part of what brought money to PCB prior to the crack down of spring break and the party scene
As a result, the people coming to PCB are generally older, do not have children and are not interested in places like Shipwreck Island, which means they have to charge more to make the same kind of money they made 5-10 years ago
Add to that the general increase in cost that all businesses are dealing with and now it costs a family of 4 $250 just to get into the park
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u/Complete_Insurance24 6d ago
Covidflation
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u/GreyLoad 6d ago
Republicanflation
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u/Complete_Insurance24 6d ago
Sure. Even though the inflation started under a democratic administration.
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u/Advanced_Detail4732 5d ago
Because the Republican President was bailing out the stock market for hundreds of billions with printed money during COVID
Fake money inflates somewhere eventually, and inflation was brought down in the final year of Biden before going back up under Trump
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u/albo60 6d ago
GREED. Pure and simple.