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Merlin Annual Pass 'Sale'

I think the pre-booking for the dungeon is a pretty good idea and possibly one insisted on my the council /county hall as the queues outside had got ridiculous. Paying £1 to avoid a 2 hour queue seems fine, but premium pass holders should be allowed to go straight in without booing maybe. But then I guess if too many premium holders turn up at once then it throws the rebooked time slots out
 
*Prods Roland.*

That is frankly disgusting. They have the cheek to charge their very loyal passholders a BOOKING FEE when they've already paid a premium for the pass anyway?!
 
The park is owned by Nick Leslau and leased to Merlin for 35 years (2007 - 2042).

Leslau owns a property firm so it probably comes under that somewhere.
 
Yeah and we heard that itself is going on the stock exchange soon, or possibly has already.
 
Yes I believe your right, it's going to be floated this year so even more emphasis on making profits for their shareholders
 
I thought Leslau only owned the land itself and Merlin owned everything on the land? </off topic>

I'm not buying a pass, again. The product just doesn't appeal to me, especially when money is tight and I can save to go elsewhere!

:)
 
delta79 said:
And bad pr can damage stock prices, i hope they don't have any. Oh dear
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Alas, investors don't care about the same things as enthusiasts do. Merlin's bottom line is probably going to have issues in the next few years, but it won't be because of things like this.

For more than four years now, Merlin have screwed over passholders annually, and every time they've gotten away with only a bunch of negative posts on their Facebook wall and a few message boards. In fact, I'd hazard a guess that they're selling more MAPs than ever.

Every year, we hypothesise that the end is nigh and this will be Merlin's downfall but it never comes, so I think they've probably figured out by now that they can keep doing it. Expect it to continue (and expect enthusiasts to keep on buying MAPs).

Sorry folks, but Merlin really couldn't care less about you.
 
Jordan said:
Sorry folks, but Merlin really couldn't care less about you.
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I've had some good responsive service from Merlin at times.

Alas though, it's the exception more and more, Alton Towers used to be the height of quality service for me, it was exceptional, Merlin started off very well also, but it's just getting worse.

I wouldn't say they don't care, but I would say they care less and less.

Are they starting to become victims of their own success and expansion, without the infrastructure and quality personnel behind the scenes to manage such a behemoth?
 
Dar said:
I thought Leslau only owned the land itself and Merlin owned everything on the land? </off topic>
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I think Leslau owns the land. Leslau is the landlord, Merlin is the tenant. It pretty much works on Merlin having the flexibility of having control of the theme parks for a certain time period, then when said time period comes nearer to an end Merlin has the flexibility to either renew the lease or not bother. Although Merlin could also come into a sticky situation as Leslau's investment firm could refuse a lease renewal and look towards another company.
 
James said:
I think Leslau owns the land. Leslau is the landlord, Merlin is the tenant. It pretty much works on Merlin having the flexibility of having control of the theme parks for a certain time period, then when said time period comes nearer to an end Merlin has the flexibility to either renew the lease or not bother. Although Merlin could also come into a sticky situation as Leslau's investment firm could refuse a lease renewal and look towards another company.
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I can't imagine even for a second that Nick is that stupid.

He's many things in my opinion, but stupid isn't one of them.
 
So we have two Nicks in very imporant positions in regards to Alton Towers; Varney and Leslau. The question is, would you trust a Nick? I wish Roland would come and nick the park off the pair of them!

:p
 
GaryH said:
I've just noticed something.... if you go here:

https://www.altontowers.com/book-my-trip/merlin-annual-passes/#alton-towers-annual-pass

Then scroll down to the Alton Towers Annual Pass bit - their price for a new one is £120, and a renewal is £100. So they actually offer renewals cheaper than new passes - so why the hell doesnt the MAP work like this!!!!!!! Grrrrrr
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As the Merlin pass is at a special price at the moment making the regular pass just as cheap as a renewal.
 
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Talk about going around in circles.

If you can wait until 9 February, everything will become clear.
 
James said:
I think Leslau owns the land. Leslau is the landlord, Merlin is the tenant. It pretty much works on Merlin having the flexibility of having control of the theme parks for a certain time period, then when said time period comes nearer to an end Merlin has the flexibility to either renew the lease or not bother. Although Merlin could also come into a sticky situation as Leslau's investment firm could refuse a lease renewal and look towards another company.
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Leslau owns the lands free-hold, but non of the parks assets (rides/ buildings). In all practical senses it's more of a secured loan as he can't sell the park as it stands to anyone but Merlin.
 
Drayton Manor have released the details of their ‘season passes’. I know it’s not Merlin, but I thought I’d pop it in this thread to provide a contrast. It looks like Drayton Manor’s passes are valid until the end of the season rather than for 12 months like the Merlin passes. Using the ‘Way Back Machine’ this isn’t a change, but something I didn’t know about. Again, using the ‘Way Back Machine’, they’ve raised their discounts. The merchandise discount has risen from 5% to 20% (although personally I think the park’s merchandise is pretty poor these days) and the food and beverage discount has also risen from 10% to 20%. So basically they’ve raised their discounts to bring them in line with Merlin. Season ticket holders can now get a friend in for £15. The cost of a pass has risen to £60. It was £50 in 2014, but it’s still cheaper than the £70 they charged in 2013. Or half the cost of a 2015 Alton Towers Annual Pass (although the Alton Towers pass runs for 12 months rather than expiring at the end of the season, and Alton Towers is of course a bigger park)

2014 Season Ticket Page:
http://web.archive.org/web/20140626043654/http://www.draytonmanor.co.uk/tickets.php?sub=season-passes

2015 Season Ticket Page:
http://draytonmanor.co.uk/tickets-and-prices/seasonpass

For 2015 there is a second pass for £90 that includes Christmas (with one present per pass holder) and February half term.

I’d love to know what effect the changes have on merchandise and food sales, although I doubt it’s information the park would ever release. Park merchandise is very limited and generic nowadays. If the greater discount drives up sales, perhaps they might offer more merchandise. Conversely food at Drayton Manor is, in my opinion, cheap by theme park standards, but I think this is reflected in the quality. Perhaps they’ll raise the prices of food next season if they’ve introduced a bigger season pass discount. We’ll have to wait and see.
 
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