Queue Times Discussion 2026

[Slackjawedyokel]

You say that - but I wonder how much they actually made from park entrance fees. Not a lot of guess.

Yes that’s absolutely fair but for me it does mean that Merlin parks probably aren’t for me and I probably won’t bother to visit again. I would like to visit a park, pay a realistic entrance fee and have a reasonable expectation of a good experience. Merlin’s gone for an alternative twin-track approach where you pay a smaller entrance charge (sometimes very small if you have an annual pass or collect a twofor etc) and it’s a bit of a lottery whether you have a decent day out or have to come back multiple times to get the full experience OR you open your wallet, shake it and probably have a pretty good day out, bypassing the families in the regular queues. If not too many of the attractions you want to go on are shut.

Nope- I’d rather go further afield to places where the entrance fee’s higher but reliability and ride ops mean you’re almost certain to have a decent experience.

 

[Bowser]

Yes that’s absolutely fair but for me it does mean that Merlin parks probably aren’t for me and I probably won’t bother to visit again. I would like to visit a park, pay a realistic entrance fee and have a reasonable expectation of a good experience. Merlin’s gone for an alternative twin-track approach where you pay a smaller entrance charge (sometimes very small if you have an annual pass or collect a twofor etc) and it’s a bit of a lottery whether you have a decent day out or have to come back multiple times to get the full experience OR you open your wallet, shake it and probably have a pretty good day out, bypassing the families in the regular queues. If not too many of the attractions you want to go on are shut.

Nope- I’d rather go further afield to places where the entrance fee’s higher but reliability and ride ops mean you’re almost certain to have a decent experience.

Nailed it.

It’s frustrating to be trapped on this island where this is the dominant theme park model whilst much of Europe is spoilt for choice with what you describe.

 

[Jb85]

Yes that’s absolutely fair but for me it does mean that Merlin parks probably aren’t for me and I probably won’t bother to visit again. I would like to visit a park, pay a realistic entrance fee and have a reasonable expectation of a good experience. Merlin’s gone for an alternative twin-track approach where you pay a smaller entrance charge (sometimes very small if you have an annual pass or collect a twofor etc) and it’s a bit of a lottery whether you have a decent day out or have to come back multiple times to get the full experience OR you open your wallet, shake it and probably have a pretty good day out, bypassing the families in the regular queues. If not too many of the attractions you want to go on are shut.

Nope- I’d rather go further afield to places where the entrance fee’s higher but reliability and ride ops mean you’re almost certain to have a decent experience.

Can’t say I disagree with a word you say to be honest.
For me the Merlin parks aren’t worth bothering with anymore. I got now mainly for nostalgia…… to ride the coasters (as let’s face it everything else has gone)

It’s not the same …. But equally the other parks aren’t really a competition

 

[rob666]

Not everything has gone.
Even though the actual planting has been neglected, the gardens themselves remain magnificent.

Just a shame hardly anyone sees them, or plays on the stepping stones.

 

[Benzin]

Not everything has gone.
Even though the actual planting has been neglected, the gardens themselves remain magnificent.

Just a shame hardly anyone sees them, or plays on the stepping stones.

Is there a RAP queue for the stepping stones?


The lack of supporting capacity in the park is more telling every week. Be interesting to see what the Trip Advisor reviews end up like.

Hoping next week is dead given they're doing 4pm closes.

 

[rob666]

Is there a RAP queue for the stepping stones?


The lack of supporting capacity in the park is more telling every week. Be interesting to see what the Trip Advisor reviews end up like.

Hoping next week is dead given they're doing 4pm closes.

Amusingly, I have never, ever, had to queue.
Only fallen in once, and had to wait for a young couple coming the other way once.
Favourite part of the "always walk on" day.
Like the Pagoda Footbath.

 

[Enter Valhalla]

For me the Merlin parks aren’t worth bothering with anymore. I got now mainly for nostalgia…… to ride the coasters (as let’s face it everything else has gone)

It’s not the same …. But equally the other parks aren’t really a competition

I agree with the first part of this comment, but disagree with the second.

I’m not bothering with Merlin’s UK parks at the moment because I just find them a miserable experience, perhaps because of frustration of what they could be doing vs the poor experience that we’re actually seeing.

In terms of the competition though, I think Merlin has until very recently always done well out of the other theme parks in the UK being below par, but this is really starting to change now.

Paultons is the obvious one. They’re investing in really high quality theming and really transforming from a small local amusement park into a proper theme park, with operations and aesthetics vastly superior to anything that Merlin offer.

Aside from Paultons, we’ve seen five years of huge investment at Drayton Manor as well as lots of developments to their events offering (at a time when Merlin are cutting theirs), Lightwater Valley and Pleasurewood Hills’s new owners have wasted no time in installing new rides which have really got the parks buzzing again (and they’ve just had a really busy Easter holidays as a result), Crealy are, like Paultons, moving into proper theming with two new flat rides this year both very heavily and well themed, BPB are at least starting to make small improvement rather than rapidly declining at the rate that Merlin parks are, and of course we have Universal and Puy du Fou on the horizon.

2026 is the year of the independent parks in the UK, I just hope they can sustain it.

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

Paultons is the obvious one.... with operations

The actual speed of loading and dispatching of rides is something which Paultons Park still struggles with, it's especially noticeable on their flat rides or single train coasters. At the moment it's acceptable, because they have fewer visitors and there are multiple attractions available per head for a wider range of guest ages, but it's very much masking slow ops.

we’ve seen five years of huge investment at Drayton Manor

2022 saw Vikings, 2023 saw Thomas & Percy's Submarine Splash, 2024 saw Gold Rush and a new train for The Wave. There wasn't anything new for 2025 or 2026. Drayton Manor Park & Zoo has had three years of modest investment, but even that's been a bit hit and miss.

2026 is the year of the independent parks in the UK, I just hope they can sustain it.

Drayton Manor Park & Zoo and Lightwater Valley aren't independent.

and Puy du Fou on the horizon.

I do find it a little difficult to cheerlead for fascists and xenophobic hate mongers, especially with the current fractured state of things.

 

[Enter Valhalla]

2022 saw Vikings, 2023 saw Thomas & Percy's Submarine Splash, 2024 saw Gold Rush and a new train for The Wave. There wasn't anything new for 2025 or 2026. Drayton Manor Park & Zoo has had three years of modest investment, but even that's been a bit hit and miss.

I disagree with your opinion that investment at Drayton Manor Resort (to give it its correct name) has been modest by UK standards, or by the standards of a park of that size.

You also missed out the Adventure Cove retheme of 2021.

A new Viking area, a retheme of two other areas, and a new coaster isn’t what I would call modest investment for a park that size, especially when we consider that Merlin have done very little given their size and budget.

Drayton Manor Park & Zoo and Lightwater Valley aren't independent.

Blatantly obvious that I meant independent of Merlin, and totally irrelevant to the point being discussed anyway.

Although if we’re really going to humour this point, then I would say that you failed to mention that Pleasurewood Hills, Universal and Puy du Fou, all of which I also mentioned are not independent either.

I do find it a little difficult to cheerlead for fascists and xenophobic hate mongers, especially with the current fractured state of things.

I know nothing about Puy du Fou’s history or operations, and I am certainly not suggesting anyone should “cheerlead” for them. I’m merely responding to the original point claiming that there is insufficient competition in the UK.

I highlighted several examples of how I believe that competition is stepping up, based on how the competition stacked up against Merlin in previous years. This point still stands. The fact you’ve only nit-picked has not done anything to challenge my claim.

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

I disagree with your opinion that investment at Drayton Manor Resort (to give it its correct name) has been modest by UK standards, or by the standards of a park of that size.

You also missed out the Adventure Cove retheme of 2021.

A new Viking area, a retheme of two other areas, and a new coaster isn’t what I would call modest investment for a park that size, especially when we consider that Merlin have done very little given their size and budget.

The investment in terms of both capital expenditure and scope has been modest, not huge; especially if you compare it to the Merlin parks (as you have invited). It's not an opinion, it's based in objective fact. In the same time frame:

• Chessington World of Adventures - World of Jumanji, World of Paw Patrol and the still under construction Minecraft investment.
• Alton Towers - The Curse at Alton Manor refurb, Nemesis Sub-Terra's reinstatement, Nemesis Reborn, Forbidden Valley, Toxicator, Hex refurb, Skyride refurb, Bluey the Ride: Here Come the Grannies (a conservative estimated spend of £50 million for Towers alone)
• Thorpe Park - Hyperia, Project Sparkle and... hmm... don't look here, but £18 million on a single coaster is still worth mentioning.
• LEGOLAND Windsor - Flight of the Skylion, Mythica retheme, LEGO Minifigure Speedway, Woodland Village

Although if we’re really going to humour this point, then I would say that you failed to mention that Pleasurewood Hills, Universal and Puy du Fou, all of which I also mentioned are not independent either.

If we're really going to humour the point, you said "2026 is the year of the independent parks in the UK". As of 2026, the Universal and Puy du Fou developments aren't open, which negated mentioning them.

Blatantly obvious that I meant independent of Merlin.

It wasn't.

 

[Enter Valhalla]

The investment in terms of both capital expenditure and scope has been modest, not huge; especially if you compare it to the Merlin parks (as you have invited). It's not an opinion, it's based in objective fact. In the same time frame:

• Chessington World of Adventures - World of Jumanji, World of Paw Patrol and the still under construction Minecraft investment.
• Alton Towers - The Curse at Alton Manor refurb, Nemesis Sub-Terra's reinstatement, Nemesis Reborn, Forbidden Valley, Toxicator, Hex refurb, Skyride refurb, Bluey the Ride: Here Come the Grannies (a conservative estimated spend of £50 million for Towers alone)
• Thorpe Park - Hyperia, Project Sparkle and... hmm... don't look here, but £18 million on a single coaster is still worth mentioning.
• LEGOLAND Windsor - Flight of the Skylion, Mythica retheme, LEGO Minifigure Speedway, Woodland Village

You’re failing to take into account that the investment that Drayton Manor Resort has had, has been impressive for a park of that size, and doesn’t support the claim that there isn’t competition from other UK parks. There clearly is.

 

[Hid]

Towers and Merlin's biggest problem they don't keep up with the upkeep enough so the new investments look worn out by next season Toxicator cass in point

 

[Jb85]

Towers and Merlin's biggest problem they don't keep up with the upkeep enough so the new investments look worn out by next season Toxicator cass in point

First point you’ve made in a while I actually agree with !!!

 

[JAperson]

Drayton has had significant investment for a park of its size in the UK, and even in comparison to literally every other park owned by the same company. Merlin have likely spent more on it's parks sure, but Drayton has had the biggest set of investments it's had in a very long time.

 

[Rob]

Hang on, isn't this meant to be a thread where everyone can post about the queue times of the day!? Seems like we've got a long way from that, and there are various other more appropriate threads for the above discussion.

Thanks!