New Merlin VIP Pass the Best Value Pass??

Stageshoot

Wondered what others thought about the new Merlin VIP Pass.

I know everyone has different needs from a Theme Park Pass, but this really does seem like a dream with what it offers for the money (Based on my usage, will be different for others of course)

MERLIN VIP PASS - £500 Individual £400 Family (3+ Cards) Per Year.

Seems a lot but when you consider its £250 a year more than the Premium Pass and with what it offers for me its a bargain,

But would like to see what other users of the Merlin Passes think.

First Let me say Iam a heavy Merlin User..

My Average Yearly Usage

Alton Towers 30+ Days
Thorpe Park 10ish Days
Other Attractions maybe a total of 15 days a year.

Now the Premium Pass gave unlimited Access and Parking for £150 a year which is great,

But as a Queue hater, I avoided going at weekends and busy months due to the long lines on favorite rides.

So the Big sell on the VIP PASS is the Unlimited Fastrack

Alton Towers Fastrack Unlimited is £93 a day
Thorpe Park Fastrack Unlimited is £75 a day

Now I have NEVER paid that as I always just stood in line, but a lot of the time now 45mins to an hour is an average wait and 2 hours common on the Smiler.

So 30 x £93 and 10 x £75!!!!! All for the extra £250

Throw in you can now use the Waterpark free at Alton Towers which was not included on the Premium Pass, at £12 a pop or £75 a year. Great for a dip after the park.

Also parking at Alton Towers is in the Priority Parking £16 a pop rather than the standard parking right by the gate so no more monorail slugs to get an out at the end of a long day.

And the drinks are now totally free no £7 a day or 75p a refill marlarky.

And 2 Unrestricted passes to give to friends to go with you any day you want (£40 each ish?)

And 2 Special Event tickets to use on extras like behind the scenes etc.

+ Other stuff they have still to announce.


Is it me is it the BEST DEAL EVER! for a theme park fanatic.


Open to what people think on this one.

susancs

Stageshoot wrote: »

Is it me is it the BEST DEAL EVER! for a theme park fanatic.


Open to what people think on this one.

I must admit that I personally don't feel it is a very good deal as the renewal for a premium individual pass is £119.40 per person or £93.60 per family member pass, so £380.60 more for an individual pass and £307.40 more for each family member. As a family of 4 we would prefer to spend the £1230 extra costs towards budget flights to Salou and hotel accomodation to do another visit Portaventura theme park which has the rides, good weather, lots of professional shows, plus a great waterpark. If you are a theme park fanatic you would love it there.

We have had a lot of use out of our Merlin passes and got value for money by using them a lot to visit London attractions, Warwick Castle and Thorpe, Chessington and Legoland and on occasion Alton Towers, but we did not renew recently as although we did enjoy them for a couple of years, we are now a bit bored with them all. We tended to go on rainy days and early in the day to avoid the huge queues. We went to Alton Towers in the school holidays when it was raining and strolled on and off most rides. We went to Legoland quite a few times on a rainy Sunday and it was similar. Going Early to Legoland and Chessington and doing the park from back to front meant you could do a lot before the queus formed. We wouldn't have found the extra costs worthwhile to save on queues. We also purchased one refillable Merlin drinks cup for the season and just filled it up, so never paid £7 a day for a refillable cup.