Rick
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Crux
Made the most of a rare midweek day off this week decided to do some of the Merlin attractions in Blackpool (skipped Tussauds, my significant other would like to go back when the Marvel stuff opens at Easter - but we're both fairly indifferent with regards to the core attraction). Therefore we did Sea Life, lots of time in the Ballroom, Tower Top & Dungeon).
The Good
At the attraction where only my partner 'signed us in', Merlin have a (paper based) record that she visited, but have no idea that I did). Not that I would condone it, but you could easily use an expired pass, or someone else's pass without any trouble.
We'll be back for the Marvel stuff and the Circus (that & the Ballroom still the best parts of the Tower for me).
The Good
- All solid & enjoyable attractions - felt pretty well looked after & well run (bar one thing that irked me, which I'll come back to).
- (For us, not Merlin) - We didn't spend a penny as we're both passholders - didn't fancy Harry Ramsden's in the Tower so opted for Pizza Hut Buffet around the corner.
- It's been a while since I did any of those attractions, despite living fairly close and it felt like very little was new or different - I guess those two things go hand in hand. I know Midway is different to RTP in that regard, but I wonder if there is a better model to help drive repeat visitation.
- Photos - We usually just politely pass on the set piece photos as we did the other day but it felt somewhat relentless doing it over and over, with plenty of 'Oh go on, it's just a bit of fun' from the poor folk running it. The two before the 4D Cinema in the Eye are particularly offensive.
- Ticketing - they need to sort this out. As a passholder, you arrive at each individual attraction entrance and are presented with a clipboard and a pen. You then have to write your name, last four digits of your pass number & sign - at some attractions, we both had to sign our name and at others only one of us had to do this and write a number in a 'How many people?' column*. You do all this whilst brandishing a Merlin pass with a barcode on it.
At the attraction where only my partner 'signed us in', Merlin have a (paper based) record that she visited, but have no idea that I did). Not that I would condone it, but you could easily use an expired pass, or someone else's pass without any trouble.
We'll be back for the Marvel stuff and the Circus (that & the Ballroom still the best parts of the Tower for me).
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