• ℹ️ Heads up...

    This is a popular topic that is fast moving Guest - before posting, please ensure that you check out the first post in the topic for a quick reminder of guidelines, and importantly a summary of the known facts and information so far. Thanks.

Have Merlin lost the plot???

I should also add that this is the “Essential” tier, which grants practically nothing aside from entry and has quite a few exclusion dates.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe it grants around 300 days of entry, with weekends over summer being excluded alongside the usual suspects.
 
Matt N said:
I should also add that this is the “Essential” tier, which grants practically nothing aside from entry and has quite a few exclusion dates.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe it grants around 300 days of entry, with weekends over summer being excluded alongside the usual suspects.
Click to expand...
The Discovery Pass offered 200 dates and retailed for £99.

The Essential pass offers 339 days of visits. The Gold Pass used to offer around 340 days of visits, usually a bit over.

Saturdays in August are blacked out for the Essential pass, as well as Bank Holidays, but that's surprisingly it (Fireworks too, obvs). Sundays in August are fine.

I can see many families buying a single Gold Pass, to enable the discount and the free parking, and then having Essential Passes for everyone else. Especially at £79 a throw.
 
GooseOnTheLoose said:
The Discovery Pass offered 200 dates and retailed for £99.

The Essential pass offers 339 days of visits. The Gold Pass used to offer around 340 days of visits, usually a bit over.

Saturdays in August are blacked out for the Essential pass, as well as Bank Holidays, but that's surprisingly it (Fireworks too, obvs). Sundays in August are fine.

I can see many families buying a single Gold Pass, to enable the discount and the free parking, and then having Essential Passes for everyone else. Especially at £79 a throw.
Click to expand...
I've never understood why Merlin do not do a family pass for (say) 4 people and your last sentence could pretty much make up a decent family pass, for perks and price: ≃ £440 or ≃ £36pm is quite a good deal to be honest (based on these sale prices). Tweak the benefits a bit and I reckon that could be popular. I often think when talking to friends about passes that 4 x passes for a family always sounds more expensive than one total price for 4 people, even if there wouldn't be much difference in the pricing!
 
GooseOnTheLoose said:
I can see many families buying a single Gold Pass, to enable the discount and the free parking, and then having Essential Passes for everyone else. Especially at £79 a throw.
Click to expand...
What we used to do. But seriously, the annual pass is only value if you're going >2 times, and then you're talking less than £25/visit. Merlin might as well drop their trousers and bend over...

As for blackout dates, who even goes at super-peak times?? Id rather gouge my eyes out with the sharp end of a chicken McNugget!
 
Smiley said:
As for blackout dates, who even goes at super-peak times??
Click to expand...

1. Lots of people, that’s why it’s deemed “super peak”. Look at Halloween, likely the busiest weekend of the year for participating parks.

2. Other Bank holidays can be surprisingly quiet due to a combination of this mentality and so many visitors having exclusion based MAP. I fondly recall visiting Chessington on an exclusion date and doing 5 laps of Mandrill Mayhem the year it opened.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top