Paul2014

No real loyalty to the customer (never is this day and age) but given all the issues the pass had last year, as a passholder I would of expected some token gesture, even if it was just throwing in an extra golden ticket per renewal but to now value the pass £199 more and add nothing but access to Shrek is a bit poor.

Exactly but the problem for Merlin will be the higher price will now mean when things don't live up to what is sold then passholders will rightly be more vocal about the issues. There's no more hiding behind the "it's a new pass things will improve" excuse

Renewal prices , single pass is £599 per person & family of 3 £499 per person. New pass price 2015 Single pass £699 (£199 increase) family of 3 £599 per person Still only 1000 passes and no added extras, so a full on £200 increase from last year. To soften the blow LEGOLAND have an exclusive ride time event for VIP's this Saturday, 8:15 - 10am full entry to Heartlake City.

Think someone has got confused with Discovery Centre, Theme park makes no mention of this on the website.

They've withdrawn both 18th July & 22nd August as they are Ministry of Sound nights.

You collect a wristband for the evening part and last year they were strict about it, if you didn't have one then you couldn't ride.

Some of them might but there are a few of us who do as we're told, honest!

I think the thinking around free entry for premium must be to get more people in, hoping they'll then spend on food & drink etc. Whilst it was great for us to have a really empty park for a few hours financially it can't have been good for them. If the 4pm start isn't an error then it's great value for people who arrive later but it will mean the park will be a lot busier than previous years.

Lol now don't be giving them ideas! For £5000 whilst there would be a smaller amount of pass holders you'd probably be more likely to be inconvenienced by them. For that price we'd be talking ride access via the exit, seating preference, re ride without getting off....... Better the devil you know

If I remember correctly they stopped selling in August and rumour has it there were around 700 paid passes (disabled pass holders get one free for the carer) they may have offered the remaining via the corporate customers though. How'd they annoy you?

The pass is currently limited to 1000 so it is restricted (didn't even sell out). As we've discussed before on the thread, people will value the pass like I did - you work out the cost per visit and the amount of trips you'll make and if you break even or exceed the amount then it's great value. It's also worth reiterating that you get 4 tickets included per pass which have the value of around £140 each (park entry and unlimited fastrack)

Thankfully Thorpe have carried on with the requirement of each ticket needing a pass number attached to it. Should stop the abuse of people booking more than they need.

People would still buy at that price. Would only take around 12 visits to Alton Towers and you've broke even.

Current VIP members will soon be getting a renewal email offer, then after they've accepted / declined it'll go on general sale.

Nemesis Inferno is one of the few rides that at least last year operated differently for VIP holders, the Thorpe team decided we could use the exit even though the booklet says fastrack. Also worth mentioning the staff who manage fastrack merge points are also able to instruct us to use the exit and it's something I've experienced on Nemesis Inferno. I don't think it's fair to use the word "demanding" unless your 100% certain that's what happened and if it was what happened I'm sure the staff would have called for security.

Sorry it was the way in your first post you singled out VIP users, not explaining that it was anyone who purchased fastrack that was instructed to use the exit. Unfortunately if the park decide to close the fastrack entrance then they have to make allowances for people asking / offering seating as those guests are simply following the instructions and those instructions in turn remove the guests option of choosing where to sit.

So as I thought it's not VIP pass holders fault or any other fastrack user then. If they've been telling people to use the exit then actually it's fair enough to offer seating / accommodate a guests request if it's possible (something that the other parks do in that situation) after all you've paid for fastrack and it's not your fault you can't use the fastrack entrance and queue for front row etc.

Nemesis by chance? The only way a VIP passholder can use the exit is if the fastrack queue is closed, staff instruction or there is no dedicated fastrack entrance. The pass doesn't offer a choice of seating apart from when the park have fastrack for front row (Stealth) Some staff will offer you seating without you asking for it, whether that's an instruction from higher up or one that the individual member of staff has decided on I don't know but it's been said before if the staff follow the booklet and stick to it just like pass holders then there are no issues. If the booklet has been followed by both then it's tough luck for any VIP who makes a scene, and the staff member shouldn't be worried about a complaint as they've done nothing wrong.

I don't expect it this year though, they've even been replying on Twitter / Facebook that it's still strictly limited to 1000 - this year I expect they will sell all 1000 though.

All indications from the VIP team so far suggest at least this year it will still be 1000, which if true is good news but your right as soon as that number changes it'll be a different story.

I can't see it happening either but the amount of effort they went into on both Saturday & Sunday to actually make sure the chart was updated must be for a reason. Given the state of things at Alton you'd think they want as many fastrack sales as possible. On another note Dan, I see on TS us VIP holders are getting part of the blame for SRQ going! We haven't actually been updated about Nemesis fastrack, we were using the exit (which is procedure) because the chain was across stopping access to the (old?) fastrack entrance. Have you heard if the exit is the new fastrack?

One of the improvements this year is at the "VIP express collection" desk at Alton is that they actually keep a tally of how many VIP passholder have collected wristbands, whether they'll then use that info to balance other fastrack sales I don't know but the info is now there for them unlike last year where they didn't seem to keep a record.

There is also the chance that upto 50 VIP holders may turn up for this event. They've just sent the invites out first come first served. Invite also says ex-campmates will be there, along with the media.

The only bit I remeber on Towers Street was the outrage at Alton Towers VIP Fireworks* and how they'd placed the seating area slap bang in the middle of the lawn. And the usual points of view of the class system shouldn't be there etc. *VIP fireworks was nothing to do with the VIP annual pass.

Thing is that is already on offer for day VIP's who pay for it, minus the boot licking