OldFarmerDean Posted February 28, 2015 Report Share Posted February 28, 2015 To be fair people who pay on the day price are pretty stupid... I can see why they have put it up as most people use 2 for 1 vouchers, and would now imagine that online prices would be cheapest option which is ideal for them so they know how many guests to expect... Or just buy an annual pass for like £10 more. So a slight overreaction from everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPJames Posted February 28, 2015 Report Share Posted February 28, 2015 To be fair people who pay on the day price are pretty stupid... I can see why they have put it up as most people use 2 for 1 vouchers, and would now imagine that online prices would be cheapest option which is ideal for them so they know how many guests to expect... Or just buy an annual pass for like £10 more. So a slight overreaction from everyone.£30 is still an extremely hefty sum for a day out in summer when a guest(an average guest does NOT plan their day out step by step) gets on an average of 5-6 rides due to 2 hour queues. Then on top of the £30 entry fee, you have to pay money for food and also travel. This makes a day out to the park around £40-£50 in total even with a 2-4-1 or discount voucher!I don't know who Merlin think they are, but raising the gate price to £60 for peak days is ridiculous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldFarmerDean Posted February 28, 2015 Report Share Posted February 28, 2015 I'm hoping the pricing structure works for them... They're going to end up with less guests but still making similar money, smaller queues, greater guest satisfaction?.. That or trying to get everyone to get an annual pass. 2016 we'll see how their pricing reacts to this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted February 28, 2015 Report Share Posted February 28, 2015 £30 is still an extremely hefty sum for a day out in summer when a guest(an average guest does NOT plan their day out step by step) gets on an average of 5-6 rides due to 2 hour queues. Then on top of the £30 entry fee, you have to pay money for food and also travel. This makes a day out to the park around £40-£50 in total even with a 2-4-1 or discount voucher! I don't know who Merlin think they are, but raising the gate price to £60 for peak days is ridiculous. Its £29.99 online though.. Same price as if you had a BOGOF - its in the parks interest that people book in advance and pay online and this is what they will be encouraging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPJames Posted February 28, 2015 Report Share Posted February 28, 2015 Its £29.99 online though.. Same price as if you had a BOGOF - its in the parks interest that people book in advance and pay online and this is what they will be encouraging. £29.99 is 1p difference to what I was just talking about... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt 236 Posted February 28, 2015 Report Share Posted February 28, 2015 Wow! £60 is a lot of money for a day out to the park on the day!!!!!!!! Thought I wasn't going to see the ticket break this price until at least 2017/2018 but I guess the park's logic of buying online, using 2 4 1's or just getting an AP are much more clever options most go in for these days. How long before the £70 price break I wonder? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pluk Posted February 28, 2015 Report Share Posted February 28, 2015 Mumsnet will explode at this news, but I think it is a good sensible move. Probably the biggest single thing they can do to spread the crowds out of the (sometimes unbearable) peaks days and into the (sometimes loss making) quite times. I hope it is the beginning of the end of the voucher reliance across the whole of Merlin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted February 28, 2015 Report Share Posted February 28, 2015 £30 is still an extremely hefty sum for a day out in summer when a guest(an average guest does NOT plan their day out step by step) gets on an average of 5-6 rides due to 2 hour queues. Then on top of the £30 entry fee, you have to pay money for food and also travel. This makes a day out to the park around £40-£50 in total even with a 2-4-1 or discount voucher! I don't know who Merlin think they are, but raising the gate price to £60 for peak days is ridiculous. In fairness, a day out at a theme park is not usually a cheap thing - most people expect to pay that sort of price for one of the UK's most well-known theme parks. £60 for a day out at Thorpe Park is ridiculous; anyone who pays that will not get value for money. However, £30 is a lot more reasonable in my opinion, and probably represents good value for money (look back 10 or so years ago - the on the day price then was around £32, and online was about £20. Given everything added in the past 10 years, paying an extra £10 online seems quite decent!). Also worth noting how there are no 'adult' or 'child' tickets. If you're under 1m tall, you get in for free. If you're over 1m, you have to pay that price. That's a bigger issue in my eyes, especially at the moment when there's not that much for someone to do when they're just over the 1m mark! Matt 236 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pluk Posted February 28, 2015 Report Share Posted February 28, 2015 Original link appears to have been removed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian-S Posted February 28, 2015 Report Share Posted February 28, 2015 Works fine for me, looks like they've put up Ultimate Fasttrack too to £80, could have sworn it was £75 last week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstroDan Posted February 28, 2015 Report Share Posted February 28, 2015 It isn't so much what MOST pay - it is the horrid psychological "Thorpe Park is a rip off" that ripples through the heads of guests around the country! £59.99 is obviously absurd - in fact, it could be the most expensive theme park outside of Disney or Universal property on Earth?I haven't the time to check obviously... Hilarious. Hopefully guest figures will plummet and I will have every ride to myself. Also - kids of 1.0m+ seem to have to pay standard rates? Bit harsh given they have practically nothing to do... Project LC, TPJames and pognoi 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted February 28, 2015 Report Share Posted February 28, 2015 Mumsnet will explode at this news, but I think it is a good sensible move. Probably the biggest single thing they can do to spread the crowds out of the (sometimes unbearable) peaks days and into the (sometimes loss making) quite times. I hope it is the beginning of the end of the voucher reliance across the whole of Merlin. Increasing to £60 on peak days will not stop this voucher reliance, indeed, it will promote it moreso for those people who just decide one day to turn up to the park... They're pretty much pushing people to book online to get the 'deal' and try and push the whole 'value for money' thing... Rather than creating an actual day worth the money... As an on-the-gate price, regardless of the amount of people who actually pay that much to enter, is pretty ridiculous, especially if kids between 1m and 1.4m have to pay that... So they're going to put the family market off going because of the expense to go in... What's Towers going for this year out of interest? Europa is €40 odd for a day ticket right? THAT'S value for money... £60 for Thorpe is not... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstroDan Posted February 28, 2015 Report Share Posted February 28, 2015 Europa-Park is €42.50 for one day, which is £30.50. This is the standard, walk-up ticket price. Disneyland Paris 1-day park hopper based on a walk up price is typically cheaper, too. The model that Merlin use in the UK is baffling and so different to what happens in Europe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Posted February 28, 2015 Report Share Posted February 28, 2015 £60?! Absolute madness, I don't know how they can justify that ridiculous amount of money, but I'm expecting perfect operations on every peak day based on that! Can't believe the greed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPJames Posted February 28, 2015 Report Share Posted February 28, 2015 Europa park- €42.50/£30.83 for an Adult to visit(on the gate price). Portaventura- €45/£32.64 for an Adult to visit(on the gate price). Disneyland Paris(two parks)- €70/£50.77 for an Adult to visit(not 100% sure if this is the gate price though). Thorpe park- £60 to visit! Considering the three European parks I have listed are three of the most highly rated and attended theme parks in Europe, it is extraordinary that Thorpe park(a park which doesn't even make the apparent top 10 European theme parks) is charging more for a single day out to its park. The three parks above offer so much more to do for a single day out; they all contain more rides, attractions, shows and entertainment around the park. In any right mind, it would make more logical sense for the European parks which offer a better day out to be charging more than an English park which offers no where near as much to do. I completely respect that Thorpe Park can be entered for £30 with vouchers or online. However, I am really against the whole idea of charging a ridiculous amount of money on the day to try and trick people into having to pay the full amount on the day if they forget to book in advance. I'm sure the European parks will also have several offers to residents around the respective countries, however they don't feel the need to charge so much for a gate ticket in the first place. I think it's a really poor show from Merlin to feel the need to charge such high gate figures; not only for thorpe but for all of their parks over the UK. A £50 price tag last year was really on the limit for an on the gate price however rising it to £60 is nothing but utter greed from thorpe park and merlin. It's a really upsetting move from Merlin, a day out at the parks are continually becoming less worth the ridiculous prices. I imagine it's not long before we see the £70 barrier being broken in 2017/2018. I hope that when Paramount arrives it places a cheaper pricing structure for a much better day out, then thorpe can really reconsider how they have been operating and they will realise that guest satisfaction does matter. I wish they could only realise their mistakes now however everyone knows that is never going to happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted February 28, 2015 Report Share Posted February 28, 2015 I really don't see why people are so surprised by this. The park "want" you to book in advance online - the on the gate price is to drive people to do this. Those who don't book online will have some sort of voucher and will pay around £30 too. A lot of places put up higher walk up prices to encourage people to book online in advance. I completely respect that Thorpe Park can be entered for £30 with vouchers or online. However, I am really against the whole idea of charging a ridiculous amount of money on the day to try and trick people into having to pay the full amount on the day if they forget to book in advance.I dont think you give people as much credit as they deserve - people don't just get in their car and drive to Tp without atlesst a little research, there's no "trying to trick" people.And if they really are stupid enough to turn up with no research what so ever - an annual pass is £59.99. So whilst on the face of it £60 does sound stupidly high - in reality liturally no one will pay it. Cal and OldFarmerDean 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian-S Posted March 1, 2015 Report Share Posted March 1, 2015 Merlin will charge what people are willing to pay, I'm sure if they thought profits wouldn't take a dive they'd charge £100/£50 combos. We got our MAP's in the sale and have already covered the cost, when we went to London, it was absolutely pouring, yet there was an hour long queue for both the London Eye and Tussards, after we'd done them, we both agreed we'd never actually pay to go into the places if we hadn't had the MAP's (we didn't consider either of them worth even the discounted entry cost), but we met people at both places who had paid the full price + the fast track fees on the door so to speak. I actually said to the guy on the Eye to go back into the booking office and see if they did the MAP deal where they subtracted his entry off the cost like they do at the parks because otherwise it was going to cost him a fortune to visit the other Merlin places that day like he was intending with a family of 3, dunno whether he did or not but he seemed pretty hesitant because they 'wouldn't use the passes again'. Our neighbour also went to TP last year on a whim and paid full entry + ultimate fast track for 5, so people do do it, probably more than than we think lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark9 Posted March 1, 2015 Report Share Posted March 1, 2015 Kerfuffle, Inferno and Benin 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstroDan Posted March 1, 2015 Report Share Posted March 1, 2015 For the record, Europa-Park charge €42.50 (£30.50) whether you rock up at the gate or book online. The price... is the price. And if you want to go to EP, that is precisely the price you pay! Heaven Forbid. Europa-Park is the most popular park in Europe after Disneyland Paris so they must be doing something right. Why must Thorpe Park operate like this. Suggesting £60 figures just gives them a bad reputation. Inferno and TPJames 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Posted March 1, 2015 Report Share Posted March 1, 2015 The main issue with this (aside from it being a downright rip-off) is that people will be looking for an experience worth £60 even if they haven't paid it, as the fact that it's £60 on the gate suggests that the day out will be worth that. Such a poor system. TPJames 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted March 1, 2015 Report Share Posted March 1, 2015 For the record, Europa-Park charge €42.50 (£30.50) whether you rock up at the gate or book online. The price... is the price. And if you want to go to EP, that is precisely the price you pay! Heaven Forbid. Europa-Park is the most popular park in Europe after Disneyland Paris so they must be doing something right. Why must Thorpe Park operate like this. Suggesting £60 figures just gives them a bad reputation. Thorpe and Merlin in general *want* people to book online in advance the gate price is there to encourage people to do this and I'd bet 99% of people do so! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Posted March 1, 2015 Report Share Posted March 1, 2015 It'd be interesting to see what their actual online bookings rate is. A certain other Theme Park has online bookings of less than 20% of their gate. It's crazy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Project LC Posted March 1, 2015 Report Share Posted March 1, 2015 Thorpe I thought had an issue of people thought it was expensive. I don't think trying to charge £60 on the day is going to help. Regardless of if people get discounts its still the fact that it seems like they were trying to charge you £60. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted March 1, 2015 Report Share Posted March 1, 2015 The main issue with this (aside from it being a downright rip-off) is that people will be looking for an experience worth £60 even if they haven't paid it, as the fact that it's £60 on the gate suggests that the day out will be worth that. Such a poor system. I think this is a very good point. Regardless of how much someone pays, if they know the walk up price on a peak day is £60, that's the figure they're going to be thinking of. They'll always be the questions of "Is this worth £60?" or "Would I have been happy to pay £60 to come here?". And I think most people will answer those questions with a no. It's certainly a strange tactic, but I can see the logic behind it. Many people are (hopefully) booking in advance, or using vouchers or something, and so get into the park for somewhere between £25-30. Personally, I think that's very reasonable. And then by doing so, Thorpe can predict gate figures better and prepare accordingly, which is great considering Thorpe sometimes have been very unprepared on busy days. It also encourages more people to try and go on off peak days; something that Thorpe have wanted to do for a few years now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstroDan Posted March 1, 2015 Report Share Posted March 1, 2015 Thorpe Park should simply ban people from arriving on the day if it is that much of a problem. Or Merlin need to massively increase ride capacity in the park... which hasn't really been the case of late as development has slowed down. As Jamie says, if £60.00 is the 'standard' gate price on some of these days, people will think that TP is a £60 day out regardless of what has been paid. It only adds to the notion that theme parks are a 'rip off'. I also concern myself that those using vouchers are going to be quite shocked when they realise that £30.00 IS half price... frankly many people would probably assume that £30.00 was the FULL price!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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