Gary Posted December 26, 2013 Report Share Posted December 26, 2013 Oooh £125 hmm I wanted a premium pass but do you think I would be able to get one any cheaper than that? What is this eBay thing about? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Posted December 26, 2013 Report Share Posted December 26, 2013 I hope those pictures aren't the new pass design - it looks awful! As for the upgrades/changes, I don't think much of them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted December 26, 2013 Report Share Posted December 26, 2013 Have to see what the actual list of changes are tomorrow... Dreading what the Fastrack package thing will be... Unless it's a one off pack for a park of your choice, but I've seen what happens when they let MAP holders use Fastrack, and it isnt pretty... £125 is decent enough value though it must be said... Be interesting what the VIP passes involve... For £500 I'd expect a personal escort on every ride... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inferno Posted December 26, 2013 Report Share Posted December 26, 2013 I love the birthday friend and family vouchers - brilliant! My b-day is in November though, so I'll miss out on that offer because they'll all be closed You win some you loose some I guess. For me, the included Fastrack is a disaster waiting to happen... We'll see how that pans out. £125 for a premium pass is brilliant though! Another fantastic sale Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitchada04 Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 http://www.merlinannualpass.co.uk/compare-passes.aspx Looking here, this VIP pass could anger quite a few pass holders. Standard pass holders no longer get priority entry so I'm guessing that means having to queue with the peasants. The VIP pass gets you global entry, unlimited Fastrack, preferred parking, behind the scenes tours and unlimited drinks. So the drinks capsule is no longer available for Standard or Premium pass holders it would seem. Looking on the perks section, ERT at Towers has also vanished so I wouldn't be surprised if this becomes a Premium and VIP perk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glitch Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 Can I buy a premium now at £125 and use it as my renewal in August? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 Can I buy a premium now at £125 and use it as my renewal in August? I think you can. Also, SCB, I think VIP pass holders get the drinks capsule free, and other holders have to pay for it. I remember a questionnaire a year or two back which mentioned about it. XD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 Merlin, screw you with your obsession of making fastrack as difficult to run as possible. The new merlin designs feel very very end of tussauds era. I was half expecting a 52 visit limit on the standard pass to reappear! . Ugly designs, ugly benefits, ugly passes. pluk, Inferno and Glitch 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EC! Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 There is no way I'm downgrading to standard then as it looks like they want you to buy premium by giving standard even less perks then before, plus I don't like the fact they are just flinging fast track all around the place, I feel that is a ticking time bomb that!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark9 Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 Yeah I mean, if I was going down the pass route, it would remain at the Premium level. That VIP one, aside from the special events which could literally be anything, is way too overpriced when many of the perks of the pass don't interest me. It would be marvellous to have the funds to visit Gardaland, Heide Park and every Lego park in a year but thats unrealistic. For someone who only uses the pass for Thorpe, Chessington and Alton all the other things won't persuade me to upgrade upwards. Taking away the perks from the premium such as the capsule will only anger those in which the perk was previously useful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt 236 Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 Must admit, pretty concerned about this introductory fastrack thing as this could salt an already painful wound especially if operations at some parks remain as dire as those seen this year. Despite Standard being price frozen, I fear some perks could be removed from it next year such as Towers ERT and even discounts which despite its £4 rise I hope to stay with Premium next year providing a new major attraction appears within at least one of the parks. VIP sounds very interesting, with the tours, free drinks, complimentary parking, special events and unlimited entry to international attractions , however costs far too much for what will presumably be one year entry only,at least there's only going to be 1000 available, that being said though for the price being charged I doubt many will not want to pay the huge price and opt for the premium pass instead. Am I the only one that thinks this slight pass shake and result of a questionnaire Merlin did in Christmas 2011 where they were asking about complimentary preferred parking, unlimited fastrack and access to international attractiones as this VIP sounds very similar to this. Swarm123 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 Have they fully gotten rid of the capsule? I would also be on the side of VIP get them included rather than pay extra... The Fastrack reads as a £15 package per park... So you'd essentially 'buy' a package for free off the system... The lack of info on it suggests this is once a year at each park (Legoland has Qbot so is a natural exclusion) to me... If it was every visit it could be problematic, but if it's just an extra 'sale' of it then it won't be that bad... Assuming that's how they would run it, but Merlin aren't logical... I guess our very own Marc Simpson will be one of the VIP pass holders Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stretchy Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 When reading about this has anyone read the terms and conditions?There were the normal things about no kissing of frogs and clauses about rides may not be open for most of the year (the new form of Gerstache) and then there was this odd line in the middlePlease note that the EDF Energy London Eye will be shut for maintenance between 6 January to 17 January 2014 and the London Dungeon will be shut for relocation until March 2014.The question is, where is the London Dungeons being relocated too? Oddly, only last year it was closed till March whilst they relocated. Now those merlin lawyers wouldn't have just done a search and replace for 2013 with 2014 would they. I am sure they are paid far too much to do that. Inferno 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EC! Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 The Dungeons are relocating again??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenC Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 I'm underwhelmed by the discounting levels for this year - 2011/2012 had the Standard passes at 50% off (£79) and 2012/2013 saw them at £99 - this year £105. The ongoing (pre-sale) price has hardly changed during this time. Merlin have been clarifying a few things via their Facebook: Fastrack The fastrack voucher will entitle you to £5 off against any single fastrack at our Theme Parks (excluding LEGOLAND Windsor Resort) or you are able to use the voucher towards a bigger value fastrack package. You will get a voucher for Alton Towers Resort, THORPE Park and one for Chessington World of Adventurers Resort. This explains the "£15 saving" offered (3 x £5), and I actually doubt will impact Fastrack operation/wait times to any horrible degree. Drinks Capsule We can confirm that we we will be offering Drinks Capsule however we have currently not finalised the details for the Drinks Capsule. We will be sending information via email once we have got the details for the changes. We have not removed the Capsule for our Passes. Mitchada04 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inferno Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 I looked on the website this morning and saw a nice banner stating that I could upload a photograph, fill in a form, and have my pass posted to me. I've just been on to do that, but this option has now 'magically' disappeared, which means we're back to the old way of guessing which attraction I'm likely to visit first in order to queue and pick it up on the day... I've picked Thorpe, but what happens now if I decide I want to visit Alton's Feb Half Term, or go to the London Eye before I go to Thorpe? Perhaps their photo uploader wasn't working or something. Meh. Amazing prices though, so shouldn't complain. I've just renewed my Premium for £119.00, so cheaper than advertised. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 Please note that the EDF Energy London Eye will be shut for maintenance between 6 January to 17 January 2014 and the London Dungeon will be shut for relocation until March 2014. Please can you post a link to where it says that? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 http://www.merlinannualpass.co.uk/terms.aspx - Section 9 here. After a bit of thought, I'll be getting a Premium Pass this year (first time ever; quite a significant decision for me actually!). From what I've got planned, the perks of the Premium over the Standard (specifically the London attractions during August, Warwick Castle stuff and free parking) are actually of use to me now, so it makes sense. The 'Birthday Club' and free entry to FN is all the better as well. Little concerned about the priority entrance to the park thing though. Does that mean Standard holders will now how to join the masses? Doesn't feel right to me; if people are giving their loyalty to the parks, they should get the privilege of having a dedicated entrance. Seems to me like this is the solution they've come up with to the slow moving AP queues for getting into the park - rather than make AP entrances better / quicker, let's just be more picky about who gets in... As for the VIP Pass, I think it's a nice idea. The Exclusive Experiences (lift hill walks anyone?) and Behind the Scenes tours seem like a great idea (I wonder if Thorpe was a test run for Merlin for these sorta things, and if there'll become more widespread across the Merlin parks sometime soon?), and little things like the free unlimited drinks and global entry sounds good. Certainly there is a market for that, even if it is a very small one. Not gonna lie, if I was going to be travelling around the world one year (like I plan to in the near-ish future), I'd probably go for one. Admittedly, it is very steep - baring in mind it is an INTRODUCTORY price too - but for the convenience it would bring, as well as the extra incentive to visit more of the attractions, why not... Coaster 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pluk Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 It was a few years ago I know, but I used to get a Tussauds annual pass for about £60, it included all UK attractions (inc London Eye etc), all European attractions (Heide Park etc), parking was free for all and the fastrack system was free to all ala Disney. The closest package to have something like the same experience now costs £500. Progress eh? If it was just in line inflation it wouldn't have touched £100. coastercameron98, JoshC. and Coaster 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 Such is the way the world works... Then again, we are willing to pay the price of the Premium ones these days (of course, we don't get much of a say when they change the t&cs, because in the long run, the customer doesn't matter, as more will appear)... It's still a very decent value pass for what it's worth, back in those days it was £30 to enter the parks, such excellent value back then, but I wouldn't say the value these days has been lessened on the Premium Passes (which is probably one of the issues, those who purchase the 'Standard' level completely lose out on most things, dirty peasants)... Free Fastrack didn't work particularly well (then again, it still doesn't today), and the car parking issue is of course a problem that will live on due to bringing our parks in line with the rest of the world... I have no idea what the number of people who used MAPs on international attractions is (they don't seem to be aware of the existence of a 50% off deal we get in Germany and New York)... Free entry being given from the VIP pass is kind of useless apart from those rich enough to do more than Heide Park and Gardaland (or umpteen Sea-Lifes) in a year... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coastercameron98 Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 As much as I think the VIP Pass is a good idea, I have no idea howt they are going to be able to market it successfully enough to make it worthwhile. Also I don't like the idea of them taking perks from other passes to form the new one but I admit the global entry would be good for a few. If they can somehow successfully market this (a change that no one was particularly demanding or wanting) then there should be no excuse for them not being able to market a wooden coaster which there is huge demand for and 90% of people would use. I remember when my parents would be able to take me to Chessington and get us all in paying the full gate price of £50 for all 3 of us and now the prices have resulted in these extortionate amounts that we see today Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 The London Dungeon "moving" must be a misprint/copied and pasted from last year. There's no way it would be being moved again! As for the 'sale' prices, I'm not amused... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 If they can somehow successfully market this (a change that no one was particularly demanding or wanting) then there should be no excuse for them not being able to market a wooden coaster which there is huge demand for and 90% of people would use. Eh? This is blatently a result of the numerous surveys they've done asking people what changes they'd like to see from MAPs... It's easy as hell to market to those who are stupid to part with £500 that easily like to be the 'elite' of the MAP holders... Advertising a premium 'must-have' product is child's play compared to a ride that in the UK has several preconceptions of being dangerous, rough and unsafe... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 Advertising a premium 'must-have' product is child's play compared to a ride that in the UK has several preconceptions of being dangerous, rough and unsafe... Rubbish. Woodies are not unsafe, people do not think they are unsafe (apart from a few idiots) and I'm sure people would ride one if it were installed at Thorpe or any other Merlin park! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted December 28, 2013 Report Share Posted December 28, 2013 I'm sure after Big Dippers' accident people didn't think they were unsafe (like many would for any accident on a ride)... Still, the surveys Merlin do must count for something when talking to the mass market... Considering the experiences available at Blackpool, Spain and Florida, it's no surprise the masses don't think highly of wooden coasters... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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