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Merlin Entertainments


RobF

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I would assume so, but then again, think about how hard it is to come up with a name that fits the attraction and its theme. It literally took John Wardley and Nick Varney nearly a whole night (and a whole bottle of Southern Comfort) to come up with the name Nemesis.

 

Lol it takes longer than a night to come up with theme park attraction names, although it seems like it takes them half an hour at best now

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Lol it takes longer than a night to come up with theme park attraction names, although it seems like it takes them half an hour at best now

If I remember correctly, it says in John Wardley's book that they came up with the name for Nemesis in an evening in the pub... I think?

 

I agree with the view that Merlin's names are getting less creative, but it's not just their UK parks, as is proven by "Oblivion:  The Black Hole."   :lol:

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I hope they hurry up and announce annual pass days so I know which attraction to renew my pass with before the sale ends, as I don't live close to any and for that reason don't know which park I'll be visiting first :(

Isn't there a way to upload your photo and get your pass posted to you? Or have they got rid of that option now?

Might be worth asking Merlin via FB/Twitter if there's another option open to people in your situation :)

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Isn't there a way to upload your photo and get your pass posted to you? Or have they got rid of that option now?

Might be worth asking Merlin via FB/Twitter if there's another option open to people in your situation :)

 

I have messaged them and they keep saying check back on the page, info will be released soon....

 

As far as I'm aware renewals must be done at an attraction showing the old passes,

 

Thanks for the help though :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

So, Merlin are doing away with Merlin Memberships - not a huge shock considering they weren't taking any new memberships since 2014 (I think).

I've had mine since July 2013 and am kind of gutted as it meant spreading the cost plus not having to faff about with renewals. The good thing is that they are taking last payments this month and then those who have membership will still be able to use their pass until September - so 6 months free.

Think it is going to be difficult for families with memberships as it means renewal involves forking out a wad of money in one go so potentially losing custom.

Was good while it lasted...

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I guess this was bound to happen sooner or later.  

 

It's a shame that the idea never really worked out, as pay monthly things do work in a variety of other situations (and I think some parks do have that system for their Annual Passes too?).  Then again, the idea never really appealed to me since I was happy to just pay a lump sum each year..

 

Good that they're offering 6 months free, and apparently they will honour the current sale prices to anyone who wishes to change from a Merlin Membership to an MAP until November time.  So they've handled this well.

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To be honest, it was a matter of time before they pulled the plug on the membership scheme. Unfortunately like the Rocket Rods, it seemed to be one of those things flawed from the start and having constant glitches throughout it's existence.

On the other hand, it's a shame there won't be w system now for those who prefer to pay monthly than all at once for their passes now.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Preliminary 2015 results are up, there is a report and a webcast you can watch if you are extra keen.

http://www.merlinentertainments.biz/results-and-presentations

 

Some random bits

However, 2015 was a difficult year for Merlin following the accident at Alton Towers early in the summer season. The safety of our guests and employees must always come first and we have sought to learn every possible lesson to help ensure there is no repeat of what happened on 2 June.

2015 has without doubt been the most difficult year in Merlin‟s history. The accident at Alton Towers in June and the media

coverage around it, led to a significant reversal of the strong momentum we had seen in our UK Resort Theme Parks

business and consequent impact on overall Company performance. More importantly, people we had a responsibility to

safeguard sustained serious injuries and ride safety processes we believed robust on this occasion proved inadequate.

Revenue in the Resort Theme Parks Operating Group fell by 12.4% on a like for like basis, primarily reflecting the significant decline in visitation at Alton Towers following the incident of 2 June. The performance of the Operating Group was dominated by the impact of the incident at Alton Towers and the resulting significant decline in park visitation through the main trading season. Whilst the majority of the impact was experienced at Alton Towers Resort, this created a difficult day-visit theme park market across the UK. As a result THORPE PARK, our other major rides park, also experienced a decline in visitation.

With regard to our existing estate the planned capex cycles are working well with a pipeline of innovative and compelling propositions coming out of Merlin Magic Making. The „Derren Brown Ghost Train‟ at THORPE PARK and „Galactica‟, the fusion of Virtual Reality into an existing roller coaster at Alton Towers, are good examples which will be launching this year.

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  • 2 months later...
  • 3 weeks later...
59 minutes ago, CharlieN said:

I'm just hoping, for Merlin's sake, that this ride opens soon!

That's Merlin's problem that they created for themselves and fully deserve to feel the bite of their own mistakes. They might actually learn a thing or two. So don't feel sorry that a massive global couldn't-care-less corporate mess isn't getting the rise in profits they thought they would with this Ghost Train opening.

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Although it's irritating, I too feel a bit gutted for Thorpe as they are evidentially excited to show this attraction off - for money focused reasoning or not. I'm sure Merlin didn't think "oh you know what'd be funny, we say Ghost Train will open on this date, and then not open it! The loss of money will be worth it!". I'm sure they weren't expecting the ride to have issues, and so there's no point pointing a finger at anyone because it could be delayed for any number of reasons, however in no way have they purposely created this problem for themselves. 

 

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