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Merlin Annual Pass - To renew or not to renew?

Will you be renewing your Merlin Pass or investing in one?

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    59
MattyH

MattyH

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Apologies to team if this isn't in the right place.

With the main season over now, the time for renewals will be soon upon us and with more budget cuts and nothing exciting announced at the Merlin Resorts, many will be asking the question of whether or not to renew.

Will you be renewing? Maybe you haven't had a merlin pass but will be investing in one for the new season. I thought I would create the poll and thread to see what the opinions of other people are on this topic.
 
Me too, also with heavily gritted teeth. For what you get, it is still great value if you hammer the hell out of them. I did Warwick x1, AT x6, Thorpe x 4, Chessington x2, Legoland x 2 and doing Weymouth sea life next month. Also not paid a penny for parking plus made good use of the (fast dwindling) ERT and used all my share the funs which I thought were very reasonably priced. Also saved loads on 2 hotel stays plus restaurants etc, but obviously you could argue that I wouldn't have spent that money in the first place had I not benefitted from discount. But overall I feel my pass was well worth the money I paid for it as I feel I used it to my advantage.

However that doesn't detract from the fact that it is becoming increasingly poorer value for money every year. Next year we'll be faced with an increased price, a 50% increase for share the fun vouchers(!), No new attractions at Thorpe, no new attractions at Chessington, half of AT still closed, the parks still on reduced opening hours, the age of free entry being reduced and possibly even cutbacks on outlets you can use MAP discount (we won't know until AFTER we've renewed of course, just like how we learnt of all the cutbacks last year just before the beginning of the season).

Hence, I've decided that I'll definitely be renewing mine as I definitely get good value for money for it. But I wont be renewing for the family as it's just no longer worth it for them. It'll be a return trip to Paultons Park next year for the family as it far better catered for their needs than any of the Merlin parks and I don't mind paying for a park that values our custom.

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As much as I am extremely dissatisfied with Alton Towers at the moment, I will be renewing my pass. Not renewing, and I can entirely understand why anyone wouldn't, would, for me, be cutting my nose off to spite my face. I just wouldn't see anybody from my TS friendship group if I didn't have a pass all year. Meets are always a laugh, whether it's a mini meet or official, and I would miss that.
 
As bad as the cuts are, is anyone here willing to not go on nemesis for an entire year?

Unfortunately, towers could cut half the rides and still have better offerings than other uk parks. The only real competition for Thorpe and towers is pleasure beach, and its just too far away for regular visits.

My pass runs out in may though, so at least I get to see how bad next season is before renewing. If I didn't currently have a pass, I think id wait until the park had announced closures before buying.
 
I haven't got one yet. And won't be buying one for some of the above reasons. However, if you save your club card points up enough you can get one through Tesco Clubcard Boost so me and the wife are doing that. By the time we've got money for two of them the parks will have announced all they need to announce
 
Haven't had an annual pass for four years and I don't miss it. We go to AT once a year for the Fireworks, but I was bored of Thorpe Park and had done all the London attractions several times.
 
Don't do it. There's nothing of note happening in 2017. Stay away from all Merlin attractions in 2017 and you'll enjoy 2018 a lot more.
 
I cannot justify the cost of an Annual Pass anymore as I visit infrequently. I haven't had one for a number of years now, besides my money will be going in Roland's pocket next year. #blankchequeforroland :D
 
At the start of the season I was unsure about my 2017 season ticket, I have previously had a BPB season pass for many years, but with the Smiler incident I realised 2016 was an ideal season to do a Merlin for a change, which I did.
I have enjoyed the change, but geography has sent me back to Blackpool for next year, a twenty minute drive instead of hours of hell on the M6.
The fact that Blackpool have had an £80 special offer made next years choice of pass very easy.
Blackpool is a far easier place to go to, especially for a quick fix on a rainy afternoon skive from work, and I have missed the Wild Mouse and staff team a great deal, and you can usually park close by for free.
The only drawback is busy day operations, but I only tend to do parks off peak or early hours on a Sunday anyway, as I'm an old git with dodgy knees, lengthy queues can be a literal pain.
BPB cannot cope well with large numbers of punters, so I tend to get in and out quickly in the main season, having done about half a dozen coasters in an hour or two, something far more difficult to do at the Towers.
I will still do the Towers at least once next season, using the Sun offer if it runs, but I will be pleased to avoid the mess of the Cheshire roadworks on the M6.
 
I'll be renewing after visiting Warwick Castle twice, Chessington twice, Thorpe twice, Legoland once and Towers probably ten to eleven times, not to mention all of the food and drink discounts means my pass was definitely worth it, despite all the annoying decisions Merlin make it's a steal.
 
This year I decided enough was enough. I chose not to renew my pass and not to visit Towers for the first time in 18 years. Sentimentality and the social aspect of meets kept me returning for the last few seasons but I was so unimpressed with the state of the park last year, the prospect of several closed rides and further cuts sealed the deal.

The season has now finished and I'm happy with my decision. I don't plan on visiting next year either. In its current form, I found that I don't miss the park one bit. I still have fantastic memories from the park in its heyday but that's not the same park that exists today.

Most places I visit and spend money get just one chance. If I visit a restaurant and I have a bad experience, it's unlikely I'll return. I think this is true for most people. Alton have had more than enough chances.

This situation where there are many of us bemoaning the state of the park but then forking out several hundred pounds on passes, food and merch each year is ridiculous. We complain about falling standards and cuts but then we completely endorse the measures by handing over our money year on year.

I know there are some who dislike the direction of the park and are just visiting for meets, but there must be a better way of socialising than meeting people exclusively at a very expensive venue that you believe to be subpar. It's obviously tricky with this being an Alton Towers forum but there are meets at other parks, many of them much better than AT. (Not that I'm the best advocate of this, I've been much too busy and poor to attend any meet so far this year.)

Anyway, I won't be getting a new pass this coming year. As I said, I won't be visiting Alton. I may visit Thorpe once to try DBGT. I've done all of the midways that I want to and all Sealife Centres are practically identical.
 
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I didn't purchase a MAP for the first time in 2016, and haven't missed it in the slightest.

I always got good value out of it in the past. Around 7-8 trips to Towers, a couple to Thorpe and the odd one to Warwick Castle, London and Chessington usually in a year. Along with discounts on hotel stays (and discount on alcohol consumed at the hotels, which possibly technically paid for the annual pass by itself!) But trips became increasingly more frustrating with the obvious cost-cutting, lack of customer service et cetera. Although I was still technically getting a good deal out of the pass, the enjoyment factor had almost completely died for me - with the notable exceptions of Scarefest and fireworks.

This year myself and the small group of friends that I've visited Merlin parks with in the past decided to invest the money that we would have spent on an annual pass on a 3-day trip to Phantasialand instead, and it was 100% worth it. We had an absolutely incredible time at a vastly superior theme park which we had never visited before. Everything about Phantasia juxtaposed what we'd experienced at Merlin parks for years previous, and reinforced the reality that the standards in the UK are beyond unacceptable for such major theme parks.

I've also punctuated the theme park open season with trips to UK parks which my Merlin Annual Pass has caused me to neglect; two visits to Drayton Manor this year, and one each for Lightwater Valley and Blackpool Pleasure Beach. The standards really aren't that dissimilar and, for around £20 each, they're surprisingly good value. The burden of the Merlin Annual Pass is the need to get your money's worth and consequently visiting the same few parks over and over again. I feel released from that burden now.

Granted, I did visit Alton Towers once this year, but only because I was offered a £10 "share the fun" voucher by a friend who fancied a trip. I had a decent day there still, but it just reinforced my utterly indifferent feelings towards the place at the moment... I don't plan on returning until SW8 opens.

So, in short, I won't be investing in one this year. I'll be spending my "annual pass fund" on a long weekend at Liseberg this year. Generally I would encourage others who've become disillusioned with Merlin to do the same; spend the money on a European theme park trip or visiting some of the "smaller" UK parks, you own't miss your MAP as much as you think you will.
 
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My pass is due for renew at the end of May, so giving Towers and Merlin 8 weeks or so of the new season to get their house in order and convince me to invest again :rolleyes:
 
bluesonichd said:
My pass is due for renew at the end of May, so giving Towers and Merlin 8 weeks or so of the new season to get their house in order and convince me to invest again :rolleyes:
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Which pass will you be going for this time round?
 
On a slightly related note, the MAP holder "exclusive" 48 hours only pre booking for Ceebebies hotel that is going on at the moment..... Quoted me almost double ATH and Splash Landings prices for off peak weekdays. Safe to say I won't be taking advantage
 
matthewgcole said:
On a slightly related note, the MAP holder "exclusive" 48 hours only pre booking for Ceebebies hotel that is going on at the moment..... Quoted me almost double ATH and Splash Landings prices for off peak weekdays. Safe to say I won't be taking advantage
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How did the price compare to the Moon Voyager and Enchanted Lodge rooms? As the room layout in the CBeebies rooms is more like the Moon and Lodge rooms with the bunk beds in a seperate part of the room compared to the double bed. Also Splash rooms are smaller so I expect them to always be cheapest.
 
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