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Merlin announce no more free parking for Annual Pass holders

I'm not renewing next year I don't think.
The prices just go up and up and all they do each year is take more and more off the pass so you get less for your money.
If you look at the Merlin Annual Pass Facebook page everyone's proper pissed off about it. :p

Also there's more changes they've made as well.

""During August; Annual Pass holders shall not be able to attend Legoland Windsor before 2pm. There is also no entry into any Blackpool attractions from the 22nd-31st of October.""
 
That's right, when everybody is skint enough as it is and pay loads on entrance, food and merchandise, they squeeze a few more £s out of us to park a car on a bit of tarmac.

Bastards.
 
Well with this up-roar about the parking charge, I think they are going to be getting rid of it before it gets out of hand. They will probably realise they will lose a lot of visitors now. 1 example is Family_Furie, they go there a lot as its cheap for them to get there, and with the £5 charge, they will be forced not to go as much, maybe only twice a year.

Merlin = idiots!

Edit:
Lightwater Valley have responded with on their own facebook and Twitter pages:
We value your business and think that parking your car should always be free of charge, don't you? If you drive all that way to see us it's the least we can do ...
 
I can't even remember how much it is for parking at AT as I haven't paid for a few years because of my AP. It's just getting ridiculous, restrictions to when you go I can kinda work with but the whole car parking charge is extremely annoying. My pass doesn't run out till July so I will see how I feel then about it.
 
Update from Merlin on FB:
Hi Everyone,

We'd just like to confirm that parking will be free to current Standard Merlin Annual Passholders for the life of the pass they now hold

We will be revealing a new pricing structure in January 2011 for both the Standard & Premium Passes which rest assured will reflect the new restrictions.
 
Another year of free parking then thanks to Benin not renewing his pass until 31st October :p
 
An extra fiver is a bit annoying each visit if we've paid £500 for passes for the family.

However, it's not as bad as for say Ian, who may nip into Thorpe a few times a year on his own. At least I get four people in for my fiver.

I was going to say though, I'd be tempted to send my AP back and ask for a refund (if it wasn't a Tesco one :lol: ) as the terms and conditions are changing to the negative. I'd have to look at the T's & C's very carefully, but I suspect they'd struggle to hold the charge to current AP owners as free parking was part of the advertised service an AP gives.

Not sure how it will affect my future decision on a Merlin AP to be honest. Though it may well mean I spend a lot less in park in future.
 
I'm loving reading masses of people on Merlins Facebook page just having a huge go at the company.
Hopefully they'll realise it's a bad move and by upsetting loyal customers they'll end up losing more money then they would probably gain.
 
Oh and it just gets worse..

Additional charges apply for entry into:


11.1 any concerts taking place at the Attractions;
11.2 any themed special events taking place at the Attractions;
11.3 secondary attractions at Warwick Castle including, but not limited to, the Castle Dungeon;
11.4 secondary attractions at Chessington World of Adventures;
11.5 all Christmas event openings;
11.6 secondary attractions at Alton Towers Resort Theme Park Theme Parks including, but not limited to, the Alton Towers Waterpark, Extraordinary Golf, Alton Towers Spa and Scarefest Mazes
11.7 any other event as determined by The Merlin Entertainments Group from time to time."


I renewed my pass on 7th November, so I'll be kicking up a fuss if any of the new regulations apply to me.

EDIT: It seems that those terms were the 2010 terms.. Although that doesn't seem to make sense.. Fireworks and scarefest were included this year!
 
You can't visit any London attractions in August either, right?

I think the AP is becoming too complicated with all the restrictions... Luckily, I lost my AP and got it reissued a month before it expired, and got an extra year. If this wasn't the case I wouldn't have bothered...

Usually people complaining annoys me, but I think charging for parking is a bit OTT... it was one of the best benefits for me, with Alton being my most visited attraction.

I guess they're slowly removing stuff to make the 'premium pass' seem better in comparison, when in reality it's just everything you used to get on the regular AP anyway.

The dirty, evil robbing bastards!
 
furie said:
However, it's not as bad as for say Ian, who may nip into Thorpe a few times a year on his own. At least I get four people in for my fiver.
Click to expand...
Nail/head.

I've been without my own reliable transport for a few years but after getting a new car, I planned on whoring my annual pass next year by doing many more trips to Thorpe and Chessie. That's out of the window now!

What about die hard regulars like Beans and A-Kid? They'll be out of pocket by at least £100 each season...just for parking a car on a bit of tarmac.

It's not like Thorpe, Legoland, Chessington and Alton are doing it to prevent regular commuters abusing their car parks. I very much doubt this extra revenue they're fleecing off people will pay for extra security guards and CCTV. I can't even see how it will pay towards maintaining the car parks, as they've managed perfectly fine in the past.

It's all about squeezing every last penny out of people who walk through the gates.

I will, of course, continue to visit Thorpe, CWoA, Legoland and Alton, but on a very limited basis or with people who have recently renewed their pass.
 
How much is it to park at Thorpe and are Chessington going to start charging aswell?

It is annoying and Merlin have become more money grabbing than ever before.

Still the 20% off everything makes the pass still worth it if you are at the parks alot, especially at Alton with 20% off hotel bookings, every round of drinks, meals etc.. Definately worth having a pass for that.

I won't be renewing my pass this year anyway due to not visiting the parks enough to warrant one but in the past when I visited Thorpe quite alot this would have pissed me off alot more.
 
I was totally appalled when I saw this. It's just ridiculous, as if we aren't doing them enough by giving them a lump sum of our money (I know that AP holders are barely a scratch on the surface of their income) but it's just morally wrong. It's as if they see it as we aren't paying enough for our pass's before paying for the parking etc. Just no Merlin!
 
Can somebody link me the Merlin AP FB page? I'd love to read the comments.
 
So whats the difference between a Standard and Premium pass?

And my god these things have got confusing with all these restrictions. Last time I had one of these, it was £79 and you just got in anywhere for free....
 
LOL, the EXPLOSION of hate on Facebook has been so funny all afternoon.

I wasn't going to renew ANYWAY, but, this is a final reason not to.

If I'm paying a fiver a time I won't bother, simple as. Like when Jake and I popped into Thorpe on the way to Brighton this year just to ride Stealth. We spent money on food and drink, now we wouldn't bother at all.

I'll go to Alton maybe once or twice next season then, and I usually get the train now anyway, but, any quick trips for the hell of it are OUT now. Actually, we popped into Alton on the way back or to somewhere didn't we Jake? Won't BOTHER doing that again.

Ugh, so spiteful. The 20% will be the next CASUALTY, mark my words. That'll be premium only within the next year.
 
The 20% off and free parking were the only good points of the passes.... yes you get unlimited entry, but for how much now £150?

Pfft, I'll stick to the BOGOF's like a cheapskate :p
 
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