Hey readers,
If you like going to the top attractions in the UK then one way to save money
on days out is to purchase a Merlin Pass.
What is a Merlin Pass?
A Merlin
pass is a pass that you pay for to enter 30 top attractions (see further down
of all the attractions available on the Merlin pass).
You can either pay
monthly or annual and each type of pass opens up different offers to you such
as reduced food, car parking costs.
How much does it cost?
There are
two types of Merlin pass that you can buy - standard annual pass and premium annual
pass, each comes with a set of their own perks that you can use during the time
at a Merlin attraction.
Standard annual pass.
Annual prices.
* Individual
price (adult or child) - £179.00 or family price per person. 3+ ( max 3 adults.
Adults aged 12+).
* Renewal
price - prices from £109.00 per person.
Monthly prices.
* Individual
monthly price - £8.99 per person plus joining fee £29.99 per person.
* 12-month
minimal term. Total of 12 months cost £137.87.
Premium annual pass.
Annual price.
* (adult
or child) £229.00 per person.
* Family - 3+
(max 3 adults 12+) £189 per person.
Monthly price.
* £11.99
per person plus £34.99 joining fee per person.
* 12-month
minimal term, a total of 12 months cost £178.87.
Perks.
* Entry into
UK attractions.
* Free Royal
Mail Delivery (3-5 Working Days).
* Up to 20%
discount on food, beverage and retail.
* Short Breaks
offers and discounts with Merlin Holiday Club.
* Invites to
exclusive Passholder Preview Events.
* Discounted
entry for family & friends.
* Free car
parking at our Theme Parks and Warwick Castle.
* Visit
anytime without restrictions (Subject to T&Cs).
* Exclusive
Passholder pack.
* Priority
entry to UK attractions (subject to availability).
Additional bits.
A complimentary carer pass - this
is a pass for any carer to help assist with a disabled person. It is not
allocated specifically to one person but to the carer at that time of
visiting.
This pass is free so you don't have to pay any cost towards the ticket. There
must be at least one responsible adult in the visiting party (the party means
the disabled guest and the guest using the carer Pass) in order for the party
to enter an attraction.
To apply for
the carer pass you will need to provide proof of disability when getting the pass issued, this can be any of the following documentation:
* Disability
Living Allowance (DLA).
* Personal Independence Payment (PIP).
* Blue Badge (photo ID required).
* Signed letter from GP (photo ID required).
Documentation
should be dated within the last 24 months, documentation dated later than this
maybe rejected.
Type Talk.
When
speaking to us via the telephone we accept all Type Talk calls. All of our agents
are fully trained to use this service.
Hearing and Assistance.
Many of the attractions have the hearing assistance service for anyone uses a hearing aid.
Ride Access
Pass.
Guests with
certain disabilities are able to get a disabled access pass which means they
can enter via the ride exit to avoid the queuing.
Buggy hire.
There are a
limited amounts of buggies to hire at Merlin attractions. You would be wise to
come early so you won't be disappointed.
The cost of hiring out a pushchair for
the day is £10 and a refundable deposit of £10 is required.
Buggies must
be returned, at the very latest, 30 minutes prior to the advertised Park
closing time to guarantee that the deposit is returned.
Buggies
cannot be taken through any queue lines and therefore must be left outside the entrance of the rides, keeping the entry point clear.
Please note
items left in buggies or prams are left at the owner's risk.
Wheelchair hire.
There are a limited number of wheelchairs and not all Merlin attractions due them such as
Madame Tussauds. However, the theme park based ones do.
The
cost to hire out a wheelchair is A £20 refundable deposit
is required and a rental charge of £10 applies to guests who cannot show
documentation confirming their eligibility.
You can hire them at the box office on a
first-come, first-served basis.
Pop badges.
Pop badges are collectible badges that you can
collect at different Merlin attractions and put them on your passholder
lanyard.
They all have different designs and different ways to get them. I have only got a few but I explain below the ways in which I got them.
Legoland Windsor - can get a Legoland pop badge
when you purchase a kid's meal at any restaurant within the resort.
Thorpe Park - Didn't have any in the shop they
claimed so don't know how you get them.
Alton Towers - didn't bother been told
you can get them from a machine in the sea life centre within the resort at a
cost of £2.
We are planning on going back in a few weeks and test out that
theory and shall update to let you know.
After Thorpe park and visit to Legoland, I was so
disheartened trying to get pop badges for my two little children but the time we
visited Alton Towers I had completely given up on the idea of getting
them.
Circus, Blackpool - Main tower reception you
can pick a circus pop badge up.
Blackpool Tower - Tower shop you can pick up
a badge with no purchase needed.
The Blackpool Tower
Dungeon - You need to
purchase a dungeon guide for £2.60 with a Merlin pass and the assistant will
give you a set of for each Merin passholder.
Blackpool Sea Life centre - one at the rock pool area
and completing an activity sheet with children (answers are upside down on the
sheet). You can collect the pop badge from the shop at the end.
Blackpool Madame Tussauds - visit at the nice
assistant at the shop and she will give you a few pop badges with your choice
of the image such as Groot or Spider-Man, etc.
When to buy a Merlin Pass.
The best
time to buy a Merlin Pass is in January as they have a sale on and you grab a
fab deal.
Friends and family ticket.
With being a
Merlin passholder you can save up to 50% with getting day tickets for family
and friends. You can even book the tickets online to any of the resort theme
parks.
Each valid Merlin Annual Pass allows for the purchase of up to 5
friends and family tickets.
Failure to present a valid Merlin Annual Pass when
collecting your friends and family rickets will result in a non-refundable the ticket being charged at full gate price.
Terms and Conditions.
* This is collect at the attraction ONLY ticket.
* Tickets
must be booked at least 24 hours in advance.
* The
friends and family ticket is for standard entry only.
* Tickets
are valid for one visit to the specified attraction.
* Prices are
subject to availability.
* A valid
standard, premium or V.I.P. Merlin passholder must be present when collecting
the tickets.
* Failure to
present a valid Merlin annual pass when collecting your friends/family ticket
will result in a non-refundable ticket being charged at full gate price.
Attractions.
Chessington World of Adventure.
The London
Eye.
Thorpe Park Resort.
Alton Towers Resort.
Warwick
Castle.
National Sea
Life Centre Birmingham.
Sea Life
Brighton.
Legoland
Discovery Centre Manchester.
Legoland
Windsor resort.
Blackpool
Tower.
Legoland
Discovery Centre Birmingham.
Madame
Tussauds Blackpool.
Madame
Tussauds London.
Sea Life
Blackpool.
Sea Life
Bray.
Sea Life
Great Yarmouth.
Sea life
Loch Lomond.
Sea Life
London.
Sea Life
Manchester.
Sea Life
Sanctuary Hunstanton.
Sea Life
Scarborough.
Shrek's
Adventure.
The
Blackpool Tower Dungeon.
The
Edinburgh Dungeon.
The London
Dungeon.
The Warwick
Castle Dungeon.
The York
dungeon.
Weymouth Sea
Life Adventure Park.
Attractions in order of location.
North England.
Blackpool - Sea Life Centre, The Blackpool Tower Dungeon, Blackpool Tower, Madame
Tussauds.
Manchester - Legoland Discovery Centre.
Scarborough - Sea Life Centre.
Weymouth
- Sea Life Adventure Park.
York - The York Dungeons.
East England.
Great
Yarmouth - Sea Life Centre.
Sanitary
Hunstanton (Norfolk) - Sea Life Sanctuary.
South-West England.
Weymouth - Sea Life Adventure Park.
South England.
Bray - Sea Life Centre.
Brighton - Sea Life Centre.
Chertsey - Thorpe Park Resort.
London - Chessington World of Adventure, Madame Tussauds, Shrek's Adventure,
The London Dungeon, Sea Life Centre, The London Eye.
Windsor - Legoland Resort.
West Midlands.
Birmingham - National Sea Life Centre, Legoland Discovery Centre.
Alton
(Staffordshire) - Alton Towers Resort.
Warwick - Warwick Castle, The Warwick Castle dungeons.
Scotland.
Edinburgh - The Edinburgh Dungeon.
Loch Lomond - Sea Life Centre.
Is it worth it?
You need to
add up the total and then work out how many attractions can you get to which
will determine whether it is value for money.
I live in the midlands so better
lengths to travel and more options as a pose to someone who lives in Edinburgh
say.
Blackpool.
The other week we went to Blackpool as there is were six Merlin attractions in
the area so makes a lovely trip away with the family.
In the Blackpool Tower, there is a circus there which is fantastic and definitely recommend.
You do not need to book but it would be advised so you don't miss out.
You can
pay for tickets on the day however Merlin advise that it can take 60 minutes
queuing for the tickets.
Alternatively, you can book online and guarantee to
have tickets for the day you visit.
However, it does come with an extra cost on top of the
Merlin Pass costing £5 for standard seats or £5.75 for second-row or £7.95 for
front row seats.
Both the £5.75 and £7.95 come with complimentary ice cream or
popcorn (the popcorn is excellent quality and comes with a sealed back with a
weight of 170g ish, which is a lot and definitely not expecting such a huge
amount). Along with a soft drink of your choice.
Cheers for
reading X