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Legoland Windsor

It doesn't take weeks of planning. Just take a look at your weekly shop. A very significant proportion of the products you bought, have Merlin 2 for 1 vouchers whether you noticed or not.

So a trip round the supermarket ( or better still Jack Fultons), will get you the discounted price and you were going to do it anyway.
 
Rick said:
@CGM - a continuation of the biscuit example, not exactly the same as a limited time retail offer, of course.

I don't disagree with you, but your approach is too simplistic. You can't look at gate expenditure in a vacuum, there is a formula whereby you have to provide value at the gate, to keep per cap spending as high as it is. Merlin thrives on merchandise and other auxiliary spending. If your gate price is too high, auxiliary spending takes a hit because people don't spend as liberally when they're through the gate.

Some people (not all) have a certain amount of money available to them when they visit - you have to find the best way to compartmentalise it and extend the revenue opportunities across various income streams/times of day.

There is a magic number and Merlin and other operators continually try and find what that magic number is by experimenting with different pricing, often using different pricing at their different properties. If it's too low, you run the risk of becoming the cheapest babysitter in town, if it's too high your supplementary income will nosedive.
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I appreciate this. I'm not saying lose the offers completely. I'm just saying bring the headline gate figure down. If there's a group of people who definitely won't be inclined to spend on food and merchandise, it's those who have been stung by the full gate price.

If they did bring prices down to the extent suggested, they obviously wouldn't be able to use the current voucher system but they could still have a system that allows entry for an equivalent amount.

I struggle to believe that the current system is the optimum pricing scheme when it comes to spend on gate vs. spend in park.
 
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I wonder if 2 for 1 is the best solution?

Let's say they moved over to a new system. The entrance price is reduced to £39, they keep the vouchers but change the offer to £10 off. The customer still gets a good perceived deal and the entrance price looks more reasonable. Would this give them the best of both?

...on reflection I've realised that's how the online pricing works so I guess they already do that.
 
I don't understand why anyone thinks it's a good idea to lower the headline price - it doesn't make any sense to me. It improves the value of annual passes, online discounts, family deals, overnight stays etc.

It being high can only serve to improve the perception of value that folks receive, when either using a BOGOF or receiving a lesser discount.

I suggest that a significantly insignificant number of guests pay the £55 value, that's correct based on everything I have heard when discussing this with folks in the know. If I'm wrong and a lot of people do pay it - think about that, if someone is willing to pay £55 for a day, why wouldn't you take it?
 
Several people I work with have young kids that always want to go to Legoland. All I ever hear them do is moan about the park, especially the high prices. I think the most polite way I've heard them describe the entry price is "F*#$ing outrageous!"
Trust me, plenty of people do NOT know about BOGOFs. And these are people who work with a coaster geek and often ask my advice on what parks to visit! (For the record, I usually reccomend either Paulton's or Drayton, depending on the age of the kids).
 
Regardless of deals and offers, at the end of the day £55 full price is just too much.

When I've spoken to most of my non theme park friends about trips about the prices, most have replied with f@#€ that. Also, Legoland seem a lot less lenient with online discount too. Whilst you may save around 40-50% on parks likes Towers and Thorpe, it's more like a 20-25% at Legoland.

So what may be £38-£30 for others, it's more like £41 at Legoland when it comes to buying your ticket online for the cheapest price. Whilst it's a noticeable saving from the walk up, I still feel it's too much. I also visited recently with uni friends (some on a tight budget), and had it not been for me getting them in with my pass for £25 each, I doubt they would've been able to attend.

Yes, I understand the proportion of spiking prices to make discounts look good value and that the Merlin have lots of deals on. But Legoland is definitely the most expensive UK park and perhaps Europe too. I may enjoy it, but I couldn't justify paying £41 online, let alone £55 on the day.

Yes, Disney have a tactic of charging little more for 14 days than 7 in Orlando, but regardless they are a premium product and of better quality even now. For one day (the most expensive option) at $110=£85 (average price) you get a 14 hour park day at the most popular theme park in the world.

On top of that, you get countless shows, meet and greets, big budget rides, a nighttime show and more. Not to mention the park is generally in good shape. At Legoland, you pay for a park that should be spotless shape, but isn't. It may be the cleanest and best kept uk Merlin park but there are still several areas that need cleaning.

You get a 9 hour day in a park, where you may only get 6 rides peak time and the entertainment offering is considerably less (despite being better then most other UK parks).
 
Matt Creek said:
Regardless of deals and offers, at the end of the day £55 full price is just too much.
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But that's irrelevant! See all my above posts as to why.

This is the most popular theme park in the country and makes up one of the most profitable parts of the Merlin portfolio. They're not hurting. If the attendance or revenue was flagging, then I would understand the suggestion that what they're doing isn't working and needs revision - but it isn't, quite the opposite. I understand the desire to be charitable and fair, but that's not really what we're discussing here.

Matt Creek said:
You get a 9 hour day in a park, where you may only get 6 rides peak time and the entertainment offering is considerably less (despite being better then most other UK parks).
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So you get six rides in, if you create a situation whereby you welcome more guests into the park - people will get less?

There seems to be a suggestion overall from enthusiasts that the Windsor Legoland park doesn't have the capacity to support its attendance. If that is indeed the case - pricing can be used to ensure that you're attracting the 'right' guests and not too many of them.

Push away all the fuzzy feelings at Disney, they want a certain class of guests when you look at their pricing.
 
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Fair enough for them being the most successful UK park (in current times). I think the brand alone is responsible for the park's high numbers. Despite only adding a new film and expanding the Star Wars attraction, a mate of mine who works there has said numbers are up.

Yes unfortunately Legoland suffer from capacity issues, which I think comes down to its success but in contrary, that most of its rides are low'ish capacity (but not quite as bad as Chessington) and limitations of expansion. This likely due to pretty much all park land being built on alongside council problems (see Ghost).

I can see I'm not going to win this, but will say in regards to what Legoland are doing, they are obviously doing it well enough to receive healthy numbers across the park. Obviously some people will miss out due to costs, but the park at the end of the day is the most successful UK park.
 
It's not about winning or losing @Matt Creek - I'm genuinely trying to understand your point but I'm ultimately failing to do so.

With regards to the brand, the fact that it is "Legoland" and not "Merlin's super fun brick block land" provides an opportunity to charge more.

As a visitor and a shareholder, I'm ok with that.
 
I think this is two totally different arguments being had here. @Rick is arguing that it makes sense to charge that much from a business point of view, and it does. It does work for legoland, people will buy tickets regardless of the price, and the majority use offers or passes, it makes sense to charge in the way they do, and as a result it's Britain's most successful park.

Everyone else seems to be arguing whether it's right for a park of this quality to charge so much. I fully agree that legoland is in no way worth £55, and no matter what offer you put over that, £55 is still the headline and people still pay it. It's only a part of what a family will pay in a day though, so after adding in food, lego, ORP's, and anything else, a day at legoland looks far from value for money.

So yes, it makes perfect business sense to charge what they do, but no, I think it is an outrageous price for any Park, let alone one where you will get only a few rides done if you go on a slightly busy day.
 
Additionally, much of the negative feedback about the park (long queues from the low capacity attractions) is because the headline price is high. People don't think about the 2for1 they used and base the value of their day out on £27.50 worth of fun. They think that two hour long queues so they only get six rides in a day isn't worth £55.

But I agree, lowering the price won't help with capacity as the park is already too busy compared to what the attractions can handle. However a £35 gate price with £28 online price looks better than a £55 gate price with a £27.50 2for1. Most people will still pay the lower figure, but they will judge the value of the attractions on the £35 price not the £55 one.
 
The problem is that 2 for 1 sounds so much more appealing then x amount off or buy 1 get 1 1/2 price. So less people are going to be enticed by this offer. Also the 2 for 1 works as an advert that is in everyone's house and quite often on cereals and chocolate which kids would see and pester parents about. The pricing system is not going to changed any time soon and much as I am not keen on it it is ultimately the best pricing system for merlin and it makes a lot of sense from a business point if view if not an ethical view.
 
I've not read the whole thread as it's longer than war and peace, so apologies if this point has already been made.

I'm quite happy to admit that £55 is a fair price in comparison to most activities. Try and book a full day out of activities for less than £55 these days and you'll struggle. Stuff like Karting, paintballing, escape rooms,etc... can all cost roughly the same, if not more for less time and people payout without whinging. What would annoy me more than anything is paying £55 and then having the up sell of food, photos and merchants etc. If they were to offer a free lunch voucher or a free photo pass it might soften the blow, reduce the perception it's a rip off and keep the value of discounts without losing too much money. Of course they would still prefer people booked in advance to adjust staff numbers accordingly.

All I know is 2 things that will outlast humans. The 2-for-1 kelloggs vouchers for Merlin and the DFS final sale.
 
Robert Jones said:
All I know is 2 things that will outlast humans. The 2-for-1 kelloggs vouchers for Merlin and the DFS final sale.
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You don't think Merlin will seek to shift revenue from on the day BOGOF purchases to discounted tickets via the attraction websites?
 
Rick said:
You don't think Merlin will seek to shift revenue from on the day BOGOF purchases to discounted tickets via the attraction websites?
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I don't think they will simply because it is a fantastic advert for their parks. It is in nearly every home in the country on one product or another.

It also entices new customers in by them thinking that 2 for 1 is a good deal and they don't have to search it out by going onto the park website.

Although Merlin might change how the BOGOF offer works and allow pre booking of tickets so they can better calculate the number of guests that will be on park that day.
 
Sexual assaults on girls, aged six, at LEGOLAND

Two six-year-old girls were sexually assaulted during a trip to Legoland.

Thames Valley Police said the girls were "touched inappropriately" at the Legoland Windsor Resort between about 12.15 BST and 12.30 BST on Thursday.

The offender was described as a white man in his teens or early twenties. He was wearing dark-coloured clothing and trainers.

Legoland said it was "deeply shocked" and "nothing of this nature" had ever taken place at the resort before.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-37057854
 
According to legolands facebook, they are offering free return tickets when you visit at the moment. They have also reversed their decision to close on the 6th of September, a day towers is closed (but RCR and galactica are open), and bubbleworks closes at chessington.
 
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