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Thorpe Park Annual Pass


Lordcutter6

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  • 1 year later...

Couldn't find where to post this so put it here instead. How long has it been since it became £35 to upgrade from standard to premium merlin annual pass?! It used to be £30. Have I missed this or is this new?

And how long has a standard pass been £140.40 per person when at one point passes were £120?! This is just getting ridiculous, whether or not anyone tries to respond with 'they need to increase prices to keep up'.

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I have never paid full price for a merlin annual pass (tesco points/staff discount) but the last time I saw, I don't remember them being that much! They were at one point £120 for sure. Just checked the Thorpe Park website and it's £156 on the day... For a standard. It's £192 for a premium on the day, almost £200. That is insane.

And just to add, last year I only paid £62 for a premium annual pass (not sure if it was a renewal) with staff discount which I think was a lot lower than I expected. Maybe somebody made a mistake or maybe it was a renewal and the discount was on renewal price. Either way, that was way better than £192...

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  • 2 years later...

Casually going to dust off this topic....

 

It would seem that Thorpe are offering a new tier of TP Annual Pass.

 

This is called the Premium Thorpe Park Annual Pass, it includes all the usual perks (discounts on food etc etc.) but also includes free car parking and free entry into their special events.

 

Last paragraph on this webpage:https://www.thorpepark.com/tickets-passes/ticket-information/tickets/thorpe-park-resort-standard-annual-pass/

 

Looks really quite hidden on the webpage and with no price or option to buy one I'm presuming they're a new introduction.

 

In addition to that the regular TP AP has risen in price to £70

 

Thoughts? 

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Up until now, the Thorpe AP never gave you free parking, access to special events, etc. Really and truly, you'd think it should have, but that's the Merlin way I guess. I'm glad that they've offered a Premium option now to be honest, to give those who solely visit Thorpe more choice.

As for the price, well it's still cheaper than visiting twice and gives you 20% off; still good in my eyes!

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To be fair - there are not many company's that don't :P

I understand this, the purpose of a good business proposition is to make a profit and develop the business: resulting in even more profit. I understand that thorpe and merlin need to make money and I do not have a problem with that. What I have a problem with is the way they go about it.

I don't know if it's thorpe's choice or if they are being pushed on by merlin however I do not see why they feel the need to make an upcharge in every way possible. I do not understand this approach as although it makes money in the short term it results in unhappy customers which results in lower profit margins in the long run. Although I love the attractions within thorpe park, I am starting to feel that the gap between the amount of money they take in and money they put in for future developments is getting larger. Whilst some developments have been of a high quality, others are of a very poor quality and it shows that less money has been invested at times. I understand that every development cannot be consistent however the amount of money they take in has been inevitably rising and the amount of money put in with passion from the park has decreased massively. In no way am I saying that merlin are a bad company as I love their attractions, however I feel their greed has taken over and is lowering guest satisfaction massively.

This year thorpe park have added even more charges to the paying annual pass holder. They charge £5 for annual pass holders to park which is utterly ridiculous, the charge for parking should not exist anyway. They are also charging to February half term visits, an 'event' which consists of shorter hours and a lower ride line-up than usual operations. They also charged £10 for annual pass holders to visit fright night, then encouraging them to upgrade to a 'horror' pass for £50, when visits to fright nights should undoubtedly be included anyway. I do understand that £48 was a remarkably cheap price to buy an annual pass, however despite it being included in the terms and conditions, I feel that it is unacceptable to then charge more and more. I must have paid thorpe park £100 or so overall last year, yet the annual pass appeared to be £50 cheaper. They have now introduced a two tier system, however the charge for the pass has now risen overall. I feel that adding a premium pass is unacceptable, as all the 'added extras' should be included in the standard pass originally. If thorpe upped their pass charge to £100 and included all the 'extras' I feel that it would be more acceptable as pass holders would know what they are getting into from the outset.

However, they went for a different approach; charge low and then add an exceptionally high amount of charges. As I stated earlier this results in lower customer satisfaction and then lower profit margins overall. The queues at guest services this year and the number of complaints appear to be the highest in a long time, so I can only hope the park adjust their approach in the near future.

Merlin have stated in their business proposition: 'We love what we do, namely delivering memorable experiences that put smiles (or screams) on people’s faces. We aim to immerse our visitors in our brands, constantly delighting them and often enlightening them through fun learning."

I cannot view this statement as entirely true, the amount of upset, angry and disappointed faces at thorpe park has risen this year for a number of reasons. A day at thorpe park is simply no longer of a reasonable price, and when visiting their is either awful operations or dreadfully long queues. The statement may be true in saying a day at their attraction is memorable, however not necessarily for all the right reasons. I understand this business model is covering all of merlins attractions, however I feel that this no longer applies to thorpe park. The way thorpe park run I feel is not an effective business and a day there is no longer affordable, whether with having an annual pass or being a day guest. I understand that people continue to visit, however the amount of complaints has risen and I feel concerned for the way the management team have decided to run their business.

My main point of this summary was that I feel the way the pricing within the company is not effective and relevant to merlins business model. I feel the way the annual pass has been approached is unfair, not only for thorpe park but for merlin as a whole. The tiering system is not only unfair to those who cannot afford a more expensive pass, a lot of the relevant factors in the upper tiers should be included in the standard pass anyway. The amount of exclusion dates and added charges is utterly insane.

I do not have a proposition of how thorpe park should move forward, however I think the way they currently run their business is unfair to not only enthusiasts and pass holders, but general guests and visitors as well. I have put a lot of time, thought and effort into this post and I hope others will agree with my position as well.

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The standard Thorpe pass did always let you into FN before (as did the Tussauds pass even the early Standard Merlin one) but in 2008 the park hit capacity a few times. Annual pass holders weren't happy they couldn't get in (although capacity of the parks being reached is always in the terms). Anyway, for the 2008 fireworks Merlin/Thorpe introduced the booking thing for £3 where you could book a space to guarantee entry and remove the risk (although you could still turn up and get in with your pass at no additional cost if they hadn't hit capacity). So at Thorpe it just spiralled on from there. Wasn't it in 2011/12 that it all came to light that Thorpe Park and Gardaland were no where near profitable? Who says that all these additional fees are going into the back pockets of Merlin and not to actually run the park. Just look at Stealth, that thing costs a fortune to run. FN mazes costs loads (actors aren't cheap, after all it was cheaper to run the 5 main coasters an hour than it was Saw Alive apparently). 

 

Thorpe's opening hours are the longest of any of the Merlin parks, they don't cut back on that. All annual pass holders can attend the annual pass days and previews. The £48 pass was never going to stay, that was just to get the numbers back up in a struggling park. £70 is where the Thorpe Park pass was a few years back (I think it was £78 actually) and offering a premium is fine, gives people the option. If you've spent £100 at the park this year on events then get the premium. It's a no brainer, that's the point, you're saving yourself money. Yes okay everything should be included but it's not, hasn't been for years. People have wanted a premium Thorpe pass for ages and now they offer one people kick up that the standard pass should allow you into everything. Why pick up on that now? It's been that way since 2009 from what I remember. 

 

I'm not sure how the money gets distributed throughout Merlin, I assume the RTP (Resort Theme Parks) operate under their own leaf. So all the money made (and in some of the parks cases maybe lost) is totalled together and then depending on the spend each park is getting that year distributed. Tussauds has put everyone in a false sense that investing in rides every year is awesome! Between 2000 and 2006 we saw Tidal Wave, Detonator, Vortex, Zodiac, Quantum, Eclipse to be replaced by Rush, Slammer, Samurai, and 3 major roller coasters. Business sense it was never going to work! 

 

Yes Merlin aren't perfect, nor are Thorpe. If you don't like it simple, don't visit. If you visit and just complain they'll try and sort it, maybe, but in the end you're still giving them numbers. Don't visit then they lose money, guests etc then they're more likely to act.

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How can you have a sale on something that has never existed before. As you were unable to buy them until now I don't see how they could have been selling at £99.99 before hand. Unless I'm mistaken and they have been selling at that price for 3 weeks (Did check that 3 weeks was the time frame specified in trading regulations - there is a few exceptions). The fact this pass even exists is a joke but then they have gone ahead and broken the same trading regulations as merlin did. Waste of time for even considering to buy one. 

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I don't understand what they got on their website

 

Its says a new Annual pass is £59.99. However it also says that you can renew for £59.99 but with a £10 discount. Now is the £59.99 with the discount or not? If that is the final price what's the point of renewing?

 

Hope someone can help

 

Thanks jake

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I don't understand what they got on their website

 

Its says a new Annual pass is £59.99. However it also says that you can renew for £59.99 but with a £10 discount. Now is the £59.99 with the discount or not? If that is the final price what's the point of renewing?

 

Hope someone can help

 

Thanks jake

 

It's very similar to the Merlin Annual Pass situation.

 

A Standard TPAP now costs £69.99, and a renewal of a Standard TPAP costs £59.99.  However, they're doing the January special offer which means that buying a new Standard TPAP is the same as a renewal (an incentive to draw people in, basically), and the renewal stays the same price.

 

In other words, for this month, a Standard TPAP costs £59.99, whether you buy a new one or a renewal. :)

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