Save on Summer Fun with Duke Discounts

Fernando Orozco found himself face to face with the largest fish species in the world, the whale shark, earlier this year when he visited the Georgia Aquarium with his family.

Read More

In the whale shark exhibit, Orozco and his family wandered along water tunnels and posed for photos with a whale shark mascot. Orozco saved $32 on four aquarium tickets using Duke’s employee discount program, PERQS. 

“I enjoyed watching our kids have fun,” said Orozco, a comparative medicine specialist III in the Duke Division of Laboratory Animal Resources. “Just watching them look up and look at the fish, just watching their minds kind of explore everything, was the best part about it. I’m still a kid at heart, too, so we were all gawking at the whale shark together.”

As staff and faculty plan summer activities (the first day of summer is today), they can save on close-to-home fun such as the movies as well as trips to North Carolina theme parks or the Georgia Aquarium. Here are some discounts that can inspire a summertime outing:

Watch a summer blockbuster

Elizabeth Fiorentino Williams with Duke Staff and Family Programs/Staff and Labor Relations sells movie tickets on Thursdays in the Human Resources building.

With Disney Pixar sequel “Finding Dory,” alien thriller “Independence Day: Resurgence,” and “The Legend of Tarzan” all hitting theaters this summer, save a few dollars on each ticket by buying tickets in advance through Duke Human Resources.

Regal Entertainment Group movie tickets are accepted for any movie at any time and available for $8.50 apiece. Tickets are sold every Thursday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Duke Human Resources Staff and Family Programs office at 705 Broad Street in Durham, room 201. Tickets are also sold every Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Medical Center Human Resources, room 1527 in the Blue Zone of Duke South Clinic. That office is closed daily from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. for lunch.

Only cash is accepted when picking up tickets.

Clarice Barbee visited the North Carolina Zoo with her family.

Visit 550 acres of animal exhibits

See African lions and polar bears at the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro. Duke employee tickets are $9 to $13, which is $2 off the regular admission price.

Duke administrative assistant Clarice Barbee took her two brothers to the North Carolina Zoo last year. She found out her brothers had never been to a zoo before, even though they were in their 50s. The money they saved on tickets that day went toward lunch and ice cream. 

“We had a really wonderful senior citizen outing that day. The fellas enjoyed the zoo so much, they did not want to leave,” Barbee said. “Whoever said the zoo is just for kids definitely doesn’t know my brothers.”

Ride rollercoasters at Carowinds and Kings Dominion

Kristina Eilbacher and her fiancé, Adam, with their Carowinds season passes.

Carowinds theme park in Charlotte opened Fury 325 last year, one of the world’s tallest rollercoasters that features speeds of nearly 100 miles per hour. 

Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia, just opened Delirium, a spinning pendulum ride that sends guests 115 feet into the air.

Both parks, which also feature family-friendly rides, offer discount tickets, in which Duke employees save up to $25 off the single-day admission price.

Duke Neurosurgery physician assistant Kristina Eilbacher and her fiancé, Adam, visited both Carowinds and Kings Dominion within the past two years. They love rollercoasters with steep drops and speeds of 80 miles per hour or more.  

“We’ll usually go around the park, walk around, and then finish the day out with going on the rollercoasters again,” she said.

Cool off at a water park

Float down the Lazee River, ride a raft along a 600-foot-long flume or slide down steep water chutes at Wet ‘n Wild Emerald Pointe Water Park in Greensboro.

Duke employees save $11.49 on general admission adult tickets and $8 on tickets for children under 48 inches tall. Find the discount ticket promo code online.

See sharks and fishes in Georgia

The Georgia Aquarium in downtown Atlanta has more than 10 million gallons of fresh and marine water, featuring species such as the whale shark, California sea lion, loggerhead sea turtle, bottlenose dolphin and African penguin. (View the African penguin exhibit by webcam.)

Duke employees receive a $10 discount on general admission tickets for adults as well as save on child and senior tickets.