WTF Merlin?

[Trax]

Not sure if worse or equally bad, but you got a point.

 

[Tonkso]

They need to change the model. Low cost entry, upcharge upcharge upcharge is outdated, belongs back in the 2010s. Look at the parks which are doing well and none of them use this model. Phantasialand, which seems to be the gold standard here, normal entry costs and a limited Fast Pass offering. Or closer to home, Paulton's Park.

Thorpe was apparently (according to a Google Search, this could be wrong!!) £18 on the gate in 2000, which is about £34 now. Actually not far off the actual gate price today, BUT most do not pay the gate price as Merlin has 2-4-1 offers all over the place and various other discounts. Do people need to get used to paying the gate price? Does the gate price need to go up to reflect other costs? Min wage is a lot higher in 2025 than it was in 2000, and energy costs are vastly different.

Guest experience is getting better, using Thorpe as an example the park is looking like they care again with repaints and refurbishments, but they did get a reputation and it still lags behind its European counterparts. I am visiting Parc Asterix again next weekend for the first time since 2019, this should be Thorpe's parisian counterpart*, but Asterix feels like it's in a league above Thorpe. Where are we going wrong?

Something has to give at Merlin, because there are still things at Merlin parks you just wouldn't expect in other parks, and this isn't a good thing. Also, outside of the parks there's something completely 'merlin' about their attractions that screams... 'merlin'...

*As in the big thrill park on the edge of a metropolis, serving that market.

Also, honourable mention. Hyperia's extended downtime last year cannot have helped them. Not necessarily their fault, but they would have lost a lot of revenue there.

 

[Trax]

Phantasialand, which seems to be the gold standard here, normal entry costs and a limited Fast Pass offering. Or closer to home, Paulton's Park.

Phantasialand has shifted since COVID. They used to be just a bit cheaper than Europa Park, but now they constantly have promo offers for early birds and you can get tickets for as low as 28€, and even during holidays a discount of >30% is easily possible. The park is completely overcrowded thanks to this great policy.
But they don’t try to upcharge you everywhere, so still better than Merlin.

 

[Tonkso]

I wasn't aware of that aspect, but Phantasialand is noticeably never quiet (at least on a weekend) when you could find quieter weekend days before. Phantasialand have consistently good operations however, and whilst they do experience downtime (sometimes extended) it doesn't feel as rampant as in a Merlin park. Phantasialand just feels better run, this is totally subjective and hard to quantify, but it just seems to be consistent? I know I am going to have a great day at Phantasialand and get plenty of rides in, even when its packed. I can't get that from a Merlin park.

I don't want to put Merlin down too much as I love their parks, they're special to me and I would not have invested in a Gold Pass otherwise, but there are still some fundamentals that just aren't done right, and it's hard to explain.

 

[JoshC.]

Thorpe was apparently (according to a Google Search, this could be wrong!!) £18 on the gate in 2000, which is about £34 now. Actually not far off the actual gate price today, BUT most do not pay the gate price as Merlin has 2-4-1 offers all over the place and various other discounts. Do people need to get used to paying the gate price? Does the gate price need to go up to reflect other costs? Min wage is a lot higher in 2025 than it was in 2000, and energy costs are vastly different.

I think with Merlin parks (and likely many others), it's become a lot more difficult to say what the "gate price" is.

For Merlin, they specifically focus on online sales now. There's a lot less of the 2-4-1 offers, etc about now. It's all a drive for buying online, which will cost between £29-£39 depending on the day. If you were to walk up tomorrow and buy a ticket at the park, it would cost over £60 I believe (a quick look on the website doesn't show me the price)

That's still cheap for what is technically a big park with some big, premium ride experiences though. Perhaps too cheap.

I wasn't aware of that aspect, but Phantasialand is noticeably never quiet (at least on a weekend) when you could find quieter weekend days before. Phantasialand have consistently good operations however, and whilst they do experience downtime (sometimes extended) it doesn't feel as rampant as in a Merlin park. Phantasialand just feels better run, this is totally subjective and hard to quantify, but it just seems to be consistent? I know I am going to have a great day at Phantasialand and get plenty of rides in, even when its packed. I can't get that from a Merlin park.

I have noticed Phantasialand seem to have a constant stream of offers and such. My midweek, non-German school holiday visit earlier this year was particularly busier than expected (quite possibly the busiest I've had outside of peak Winteraum days), and I do think in part it's down to them going down a route of having more offers and making it cheaper to get into.

 

[rollercoaster.jpg]

Phantasialand notably stopped offering seasons passes a few years back, right? So it's a different business models.

During my time in the UK last summer, my Merlin season pass averaged to less than £15 per park day. But I'm one of those 'undesirables' that doesn't spend in park.

 

[Nicky Borrill]

They need to change the model. Low cost entry, upcharge upcharge upcharge is outdated, belongs back in the 2010s. Look at the parks which are doing well and none of them use this model. Phantasialand, which seems to be the gold standard here, normal entry costs and a limited Fast Pass offering. Or closer to home, Paulton's Park.

Thorpe was apparently (according to a Google Search, this could be wrong!!) £18 on the gate in 2000, which is about £34 now. Actually not far off the actual gate price today, BUT most do not pay the gate price as Merlin has 2-4-1 offers all over the place and various other discounts. Do people need to get used to paying the gate price? Does the gate price need to go up to reflect other costs? Min wage is a lot higher in 2025 than it was in 2000, and energy costs are vastly different.

Guest experience is getting better, using Thorpe as an example the park is looking like they care again with repaints and refurbishments, but they did get a reputation and it still lags behind its European counterparts. I am visiting Parc Asterix again next weekend for the first time since 2019, this should be Thorpe's parisian counterpart*, but Asterix feels like it's in a league above Thorpe. Where are we going wrong?

Something has to give at Merlin, because there are still things at Merlin parks you just wouldn't expect in other parks, and this isn't a good thing. Also, outside of the parks there's something completely 'merlin' about their attractions that screams... 'merlin'...

*As in the big thrill park on the edge of a metropolis, serving that market.

Also, honourable mention. Hyperia's extended downtime last year cannot have helped them. Not necessarily their fault, but they would have lost a lot of revenue there.

Makes sense to me...

If I add up the value of my passes, then there are years I've spent less than £5 per visit. Passes are way too cheap, getting people through the door, who don't spend money, just serves to reduce the quality of the experience for everyone. Offer passes, sure, but they should be at least the price of the average (top two divisions) football season ticket... Why can I buy an annual pass, for every member of my family, for every Merlin park in the country, for less than the price of a Derby County season ticket? It's weird.

 

[DJ Tripper]

Makes sense to me...

If I add up the value of my passes, then there are years I've spent less than £5 per visit. Passes are way too cheap, getting people through the door, who don't spend money, just serves to reduce the quality of the experience for everyone. Offer passes, sure, but they should be at least the price of the average (top two divisions) football season ticket... Why can I buy an annual pass, for every member of my family, for every Merlin park in the country, for less than the price of a Derby County season ticket? It's weird.

Very valid point but supporting Derby is very much a rollercoaster ride in itself.

Up The Rams!

 

[Tonkso]

Makes sense to me...

If I add up the value of my passes, then there are years I've spent less than £5 per visit. Passes are way too cheap, getting people through the door, who don't spend money, just serves to reduce the quality of the experience for everyone. Offer passes, sure, but they should be at least the price of the average (top two divisions) football season ticket... Why can I buy an annual pass, for every member of my family, for every Merlin park in the country, for less than the price of a Derby County season ticket? It's weird.

This year is the first year I've got a pass, and we did it because we wanted to do a weekend with my family at Legoland, so 6 adults and 2 children. With us doing the other parks it made sense for us to get the passes and buy their tickets (which were birthday presents) with the passholder discounts. This obviously hits their revenue, as they lose out on the gate price for my family, and our repeat visits earn them less per-visit overall. Yes we get food, we buy pins and t-shirts, but we never buy things like fast pass at a Merlin park. They even lose out on the car-park revenue from us.

For me, the pass is great value, I've saved a lot of money. I am a happy consumer.
For them, well, 500m in losses? Are passholders really driving revenue?

I'd place bets on the passholder and 2-4-1 deal era being over. Passes won't go anywhere, but they have already been devalued this year. I expect an increase in gate price, which I accept has to happen, but they need to sort some other fundamentals out first.

On a side note, there are some things out of Merlin's control that the government could help with. With the cost of living at the moment and the negative effects on the hospitality industry, tax breaks on the amusement industry could be supportive to the wider economy as it drives overnight stays and local restaurant trade. Not just for theme parks, but zoos and other attractions too, the leisure and tourism industry in general. (I also want a reduction on tax on pub beer too to make drinking out more attractive than drinking at home again).

 

[MackMan]

For me I would say Merlin's problem's are complex, but I would say their investments in their parks are strange at times.

Thorpe had a 12 year coaster drought, in between Merlin built a bunch of a shoddy small additions which all no longer exist or are not popular (Bar Ghost Train, which was the biggest L in the amusement industry in the UK). Other than that we had I'm a celebrity, Angry Birds, Black Mirror, and The Walking Dead. All massive waste of money which could of funded some good rides.

Alton has their own coaster drought at the moment, and it seems that is not changing at the minute. Obviously they've redone a few rides over the past few years, but still the park needs something truly new. I think Merlin when they invest they invest well (Hyperia, Smiler) but when it comes to the smaller investment years, they just burn their cash for no reason sometimes.

I visited Gardaland a few years ago, and I think that park is completely Merlin to its core. It has great attendance and even opening hours, but they've not really added much recently.. Well in terms of good roller coasters. Gardaland has so much potential to be up there with like Portaventura, but it seems Merlin doesn't wanna invest.

But yeah I think the low cost model is unsustainable, but for price hikes I think the parks are going to need open longer when Universal opens. Though obviously with neighbours this is difficult, but why pay for 10-6 when you can get a 09:-11:00 at Universal. Also I think the Halloween offerings at the parks are going to need heavy reform, as Halloween Horror Nights look very firmly to be in the plans, and into the early morning they will operate.

I think Merlin needs to pick itself up and make radical changes before Universal comes around, if they're struggling now, imagine what happens when a park that will be superior in basically all ways opens.