• 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.

Merlin Entertainments: General Discussion

That’s kind of surprising that there’s no MAP access from effectively next year onwards, couple this with the selling off of a lot of the Sealife Centres. It makes the Merlin Annual Pass a lot less compelling for anyone north of London, as that’ll be the only cluster left at this point.

As noted above, with all of the outsourcing and selling off of assets, what’s left for Merlin to run? Just largely ride operations and management? Even stuff like marketing and design is largely outsourced.
 
jon81uk said:
As far as I know Blackpool Council continued being the owner of the Tower even whilst Merlin was managing it. Now Merlin are giving it to new management.
Click to expand...
Yup, Blackpool bought out the previous owners around the millennium.
It sounds more like Merlin are simply passing management back to the owners.
 
For those of you who don't have a pass or not received this email, here is everything in full. You could read this and see it as Merlin has given up the attractions voluntarily or Blackpool Council have asked for them back to run themselves via Blackpool Tourism Ltd.
Blackpool Council has today announced that a number of attractions in Blackpool, which are currently operated by Merlin Entertainments on their behalf, will be managed by Blackpool Tourism Ltd from 1st August 2025.

Because these attractions will no longer be operated by Merlin, any new and renewing Merlin Annual Passholders and new Merlin Monthly Memberships purchased from 1st August 2025 onwards will not have access to the following attractions included with their Pass:

- The Blackpool Tower (incl. the Blackpool Tower Eye, the Blackpool Circus and the Blackpool Tower Ballroom)
- Peter Rabbit™: Explore & Play
- Madame Tussauds Blackpool
- The Blackpool Tower Dungeon

However, we’re pleased to confirm that existing Merlin Annual Passholders and Merlin Monthly Memberships will still be able to access these attractions until 31st December 2025, excluding any applicable restricted or closed dates and subject to membership fees being paid continuously during this time. After this, the terms and conditions will then change, meaning that these attractions will not be accessible with your Merlin Annual Pass or a Merlin Monthly Membership from 1st January 2026 onwards.


FAQs


What has been announced?
On 4th June, Blackpool Council announced that two buildings it owns will in future be managed by the Council’s wholly-owned tourism company, Blackpool Tourism Ltd. These buildings (and the attractions within them) are:

· the BLACKPOOL TOWER building
(including the Blackpool Tower Eye, the Blackpool Tower Dungeon, the Blackpool Tower Circus, the Blackpool Tower Ballroom and the Fifth Floor); and

· the MADAME TUSSAUDS building
(including Madame Tussauds Blackpool and Peter RabbitTM: Explore and Play).

These arrangements mean that the attractions within these buildings will no longer be managed by Merlin Entertainments, who have operated them on the Council’s behalf since 2010.


What is the current situation – and when will the change happen?
· Merlin will continue to manage and operate the attractions up to and including Thursday 31st July.
· Blackpool Tourism Ltd will commence management and operation of the attractions from Friday 1st August.


What is happening with the other Merlin attractions in Blackpool?
Merlin will continue to operate SEA LIFE Blackpool and The Gruffalo & Friends Clubhouse, in a building leased from Blackpool Council.


What is happening with Merlin employees who work at the attractions in the Blackpool Tower and the Madame Tussauds building?
We are proposing that all employees who work in these attractions would transfer across to Blackpool Tourism Ltd. We are currently consulting with affected employees about these proposed changes. Out of respect to our employees currently going through this process, during this period we will not be answering any questions that arise, whilst listening carefully to their feedback on what is proposed. No decisions have yet been made.


What is happening with Merlin employees who work in SEA LIFE Blackpool and The Gruffalo Clubhouse?
They will continue to be employed by Merlin. These sites are not part of this announcement – and therefore are not affected, and SEA LIFE Blackpool remains part of the Merlin Annual Pass attraction line-up.


Does Merlin still have an interest in the future of these attractions?
Merlin remains absolutely committed to the ongoing success of tourism in Blackpool, not least so that the two brands we are franchising to Blackpool Tourism Ltd can continue to flourish with our creative input. We look forward to continuing to work collaboratively with Blackpool Council over the months and years ahead.


I have a Merlin Annual Pass or a Merlin Monthly Membership, will I still be able to access these attractions?
Yes, you will still be able to access these attractions until 31st December 2025, excluding any applicable restricted or closed dates – and subject to membership fees being paid continuously during this time. The terms and conditions will then change, meaning that these attractions will not be accessible with the Merlin Annual Pass or a Merlin Monthly Membership from 1st January 2026 onwards. Anyone taking out a new or renewed Merlin Annual Pass or a new Merlin Monthly Membership up to and including 31st July 2025 will also be able to access these attractions until 31st December 2025, excluding any applicable restricted or closed dates – and subject to membership fees being paid continuously during this time. From 1st August 2025, new and renewing Merlin Annual Passholders and new Merlin Monthly Memberships will not have access to the Blackpool Tower Eye, the Blackpool Tower Dungeon, Madame Tussauds Blackpool and Peter Rabbit: Explore and Play included with their passes.


Will I get a partial refund or a reduced future price on my Merlin Annual Pass or Merlin Monthly Membership from 1st January 2026 to reflect the reduction number of attractions available?
No. From 1st January 2026, there will still be a wide range of attractions across the UK which can be accessed using the Merlin Annual Pass and Merlin Monthly Membership – continuing to offer great value for money.


Why wasn’t this made clear before I renewed my pass?
This change has come about as a result of recent discussions between Blackpool Council and Merlin. Because the Council owns the buildings in which these attractions are located, it is for them to decide how they are managed and operated. An agreement on this change was only recently made, and is being communicated now - at the earliest opportunity - to new and existing Passholders on the same day as the announcement. If you renew your Pass before 31 July 2025, you'll still have access to the affected attractions until 31st December 2025. After that, your Pass will continue to offer access to many other top Merlin Entertainments attractions across the UK!


So, I’m paying more for less?
While the affected Blackpool attractions will transition to new management, your Merlin Annual Pass will still give access to over 20 of the top UK attractions – including Alton Towers Resort, Thorpe Park, the LEGOLAND® Windsor Resort, the London Eye and many more. We’re committed to ensuring your Pass remains great value, and are focused on providing excellent experiences at our attractions for all of our guests, included you our valued Passholders.
Click to expand...
 
A bit of wild speculation is this the beginning of Merlin shifting focus away from the UK and giving their portfolio of Attractions and Parks to new operators maybe keeping one or two.
 
Last edited:
Hid said:
A bit of wild speculation is this the beginning of Merlin shifting focus away from the UK and giving their portfolio of Attractions and Parks to new operators maybe keeping one or two.
Click to expand...

They are shedding properties across the globe so I don’t think their focus is geographical, it’s more likely they are shedding properties that are not that profitable.

It’s possible with Blackpool that the council have made the decision. The council moved from Tory to Labour control and Labour are less keen on outsourcing to the private sector in general.
 
Bert2theSpark said:
That’s kind of surprising that there’s no MAP access from effectively next year onwards, couple this with the selling off of a lot of the Sealife Centres. It makes the Merlin Annual Pass a lot less compelling for anyone north of London, as that’ll be the only cluster left at this point.

As noted above, with all of the outsourcing and selling off of assets, what’s left for Merlin to run? Just largely ride operations and management? Even stuff like marketing and design is largely outsourced.
Click to expand...

Yeah, we typically only use our passes for AT and Blackpool, we tried for Cadbury World but seems they only let 3 passholders a day in, so it’s easier to say that we can’t use the passes there.

Alton Towers continues to disappoint and we’ve visited a lot less this year, we’ll probably plan a Blackpool trip to do a last lap of the attractions there and then cancel the passes.

If AT ever up their game we can just get a season pass instead.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ash
The MAP thing has never really been a thing for me...given my location and the lack of Merlin attractions in my area other than Edinburgh Dungeons (their only Scottish attraction surely?) all means that a pass is a waste of money for me honestly as I can only manage at best manage one or two theme park trips a year and since I have none planned this year, no real loss honestly for me.
 
Quantum said:
Hopefully this will help Merlin fund another Lego park on some obscure part of the world where nobody wants it
Click to expand...
You know that in general the Lego parks are the most profitable part of Merlin's portfolio? I get why from the perspective of a UK enthusiast it seems like all the money our parks make gets funnelled into new Lego parks, but I bet if you run the numbers it's actually the other Lego parks (plus 3rd party investments) funding the new ones.

Also while I'll admit Korea was an unusual choice in location for building a park, China is hardly an obscure part of the world. The next 2 parks in the pipeline are both within an hour of Disney parks (I can confirm that as I just made one of those trips this morning).

Just wanted to address this comment as it's one I keep seeing repeated, and while I agree it had some truth in it 5 or 10 years ago I don't think it will going forward.
 
QTXAdsy said:
The MAP thing has never really been a thing for me...given my location and the lack of Merlin attractions in my area other than Edinburgh Dungeons (their only Scottish attraction surely?) all means that a pass is a waste of money for me honestly as I can only manage at best manage one or two theme park trips a year and since I have none planned this year, no real loss honestly for me.
Click to expand...
I think unless you’re in the London area to be able to hit the 3 theme parks they are rapidly devalued now.

All the sea life centres are essentially the same, the lego discovery centres aren’t really worth the time for a trip and even the London south bank attractions are a one and done really.
 
It is fairly common for council owned facilities to change operators. It is likely that it wasn’t even Merlin who made this decision.

Take leisure centres for example. The council own them but outsource the operation of them to private companies on 5-10 year contracts. At the end of their contract, when the operation comes up for tender, it can often be awarded to a different operator, hence why you’ll frequently see leisure centres rebrand. The same applies to public transport operators and near enough every public service.

If Merlin’s contract was up for renewal, another operator may have come to the council with a more attractive proposal and they went with that one rather than renewing Merlin’s contract. Merlin wanting to get out of the operation would be fair more complicated particularly if they were mid-contract.

Having said that, I know that Merlin are doing a lot of load shedding at the moment, so maybe if their contract came to an end, they didn’t put themselves in the ring for renewal.
 
I've said this before, but I do think that this shedding of attractions is not necessarily a negative sign. I think it could potentially represent a change in strategy from Merlin.

For years, they were focused on growth above all else. "Catching the mouse" was the corporate goal, and they diversified and expanded aggressively. People criticised them for this, saying that they were spreading themselves too thinly. But now, they're starting to close attractions, which would suggest that the days of "expansion above all else" are dead.

In my view, this could be a good thing. Yes, it seems as though there is some short-term pain in some cases, but in the long run, could this streamlining potentially lead to a better experience at the core lineup of attractions that Merlin retains?
 
Only renewed my Merlin Pass this week and now the only places I use it outside of the theme parks will no longer be valid from 1st January 2026.

Hadn't realised but Merlin had handed operating control of the Sandcastle back to Blackpool Council quite recently as well.
 
Enter Valhalla said:
If Merlin’s contract was up for renewal, another operator may have come to the council with a more attractive proposal and they went with that one rather than renewing Merlin’s contract.
Click to expand...
There is no other operator, Blackpool have made clear they are taking the running in house, using the same working staff, with a new company Blackpool Tourism Ltd...created by the council.
Because of the size and scale of the Tower operation, it is very difficult to operate the massive rusting dinosaur at a profit...especially with a couple of million season passes about not "paying on the day".
Historically the Tower used to make profits during the wet weather in the holidays...but people just don't go to Blackpool as trippers in the rain anymore.
So it struggles in bad weather now, used to be the opposite.
Another example of cheap passes buggering up the market.
 
I think this really depends on what Merlin want….

Top line revenue …. Or bottom line profitability

Shedding loss making attractions may not hit the top line so much but profit wise it may make a big difference.

Seems like something you would do when you are preparing to float. Or split the business up
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top