Merlin Annual standard pass half price

horsemad

Got my passes from Gweek. They are still taking phone orders until end of Jan. Phone 01326 221361. :beer:

Possession

mum26 wrote: »

Does anyone know if I can order the vouchers from the lady at Gweek (just for standard passes) and then pay the extra to upgrade one to premium when we go to our first venue? Or do I have to upgrade one when I pay for them originally? Thanks x

I wanted to this for one pass, and the lovely lady at Gweek said I would need to do it when I exchanged the vouchers at an attraction.

loobylou232

I am very curious to see the lovely lady from Gweek. IfI am ever in Cornwall I must pop in to say hello. I wonder if she knows how well thought of she is?

blue_monkey_2

Something else which might be helpful to others.

We got a disabled persons and the carers card. The lady on the desk suggested we upgrade the disabled persons card to the Premium one because then the carers pass is also a Premium pass. She also said if we came with friends they could have one card and we could have the other to get free parking. I do love when people are helpful and help you save ££.

It also means when DD goes to camp in the summer, DS and I can head to London and do the attractions there.

We drove down to Chessington - a couple of rides and the zoo was open, spent a couple of hours there and came home.

ClaireB7

blue_monkey wrote: »

It also means when DD goes to camp in the summer, DS and I can head to London and do the attractions there.

So annoying that Standard passes aren't valid for the whole of August in London - I am assuming you and your DS are the disabled person and the carer ?

Haven't read all the T&C's yet but ... are there any entrance fee discounts for people visiting with a Standard pass holder ?

blue_monkey_2

ClaireB7 wrote: »

So annoying that Standard passes aren't valid for the whole of August in London - I am assuming you and your DS are the disabled person and the carer ?

Haven't read all the T&C's yet but ... are there any entrance fee discounts for people visiting with a Standard pass holder ?

Yes, DS is the disabled person, DD and I have a card of our own (standard - the August restriction is not a problem tbh, there are plenty more months in the year) and the carer card is for whoever we have come out with us for the day as we always need someone with us to give him 1:1. If DD is at camp then itll be just the 2 of us and I can use the carer card. Hope that make sense.

On the list of perks it did say that you could get a reduction on tickets for friends and family but I am not sure how much by.

I also got a Friend and Family railcard with my Tesco Clubcard Vouchers so that'll save on train fare too.

ClaireB7

blue_monkey wrote: »

Yes, DS is the disabled person, DD and I have a card of our own (standard - the August restriction is not a problem tbh, there are plenty more months in the year) and the carer card is for whoever we have come out with us for the day as we always need someone with us to give him 1:1. If DD is at camp then itll be just the 2 of us and I can use the carer card. Hope that make sense.

Makes perfect sense.

blue_monkey wrote: »

On the list of perks it did say that you could get a reduction on tickets for friends and family but I am not sure how much by.

Found it. The discounts vary depending on the attraction and "friends" tickets need to be bought 24 hours in advance but, still, some quite impressive savings in that lot

bgt

for those of you who have this pass, is it worth the money for yonger kids or older kids. Its me, hubby, 4 year old and 1year old. Not sure whether to get them or not?

GlennTheBaker

bgt wrote: »

for those of you who have this pass, is it worth the money for yonger kids or older kids. Its me, hubby, 4 year old and 1year old. Not sure whether to get them or not?

I and my wife had half-price passes last year and used them loads. We have a son who was 2 (just turned 3) so he got in free with us. Wife's pass was upgraded to Premium for extra £30 so free parking at attractions. Nearest Merlin place to us is Alton Towers and I lost count of the number of times we went there. Wife also took son sometimes on nice days when I was at work. We also visited Chessington (twice), Legoland Windsor (twice), Legoland Discovery Centre at Manchester and Sea Life in London.

Don't forget that the Annual Pass also gets 20% off food, drink and shopping at the various attractions too so on the occasions we ate there, we saved money too.

Definitely worth it for us.

ClaireB7

bgt wrote: »

for those of you who have this pass, is it worth the money for yonger kids or older kids. Its me, hubby, 4 year old and 1year old. Not sure whether to get them or not?

Well the 1yr old definitely won't need a pass as they get into all attractions for free but I think the 4yr probably will. Is it worth it for a 4yr old ? Not sure - don't know how many of the parks have stuff that cater for that age.

Generally speaking though, if you normally go to a Merlin attraction any more than 2 times in a year, then it's make perfect sense to get the 50% off passes.

Just having the ability, when the kids are off school, to decided to go to places like Legoland, Thorpe Park and Chessington or any of the London ones [ particularly when you have a family+friends railcard ] and know it won't cost anything is going to be a life saver when my OH has to look after them