Merlin Annual Pass Omdömen 

Pay a lot of money for a gold pass and when you go to a theme park you cant get on a ride. Waiting times over an hour bloody ridiculous
Waste of money. Too many people let in

Can’t get through to speak to someone and it seems booking conditions for my annual Merlin pass has changed, so I can’t book the attraction I want for my sons birthday which is in 5 months time. It’s not one days lack of availability, there’s three months that can’t be booked and I don’t know why.

Love thorpe and Alton great days out for thrill seekers

Ability to go to many different places under one pass. It is a shame that with the essential pass you need to book at the very last minute (I day before) as booking it earlier (for certain attractions) says that you can't as the essential pass is a limiting factor. I understand that they are trying to see the demand and only if there is still spots then they will make them available to essential pass holders. It definately makes the silver pass a better option with free parking and food discounts.

I’m generally a big fan of the Merlin Pass and enjoy visiting the various parks, but there is one issue that has become increasingly frustrating during my recent visits.

The biggest problem for me is the way the normal queues are being managed alongside FastTrack. On a number of rides, I’ve stood in the standard queue and watched what seems like a constant stream of FastTrack guests being allowed through, while only the occasional person from the normal queue is permitted to board.

A particularly frustrating example was my visit to Thorpe park on Friday night. The advertised queue time for Hyperia was around 45 minutes, but we ended up waiting approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes. During that time, it was extremely noticeable how many FastTrack guests were being allowed through compared with people from the standard queue.

From where I was standing, it appeared that the member of staff managing the queue was often waiting for FastTrack guests to arrive before allowing them through, while very few people from the normal queue were being allowed to proceed. Obviously, I appreciate that there are operational reasons for managing the queues in a particular way, and I don't know exactly what instructions the staff member had been given, but as a customer standing in the queue for nearly two hours, it was incredibly frustrating to watch.

I completely understand that FastTrack is an additional paid service and that customers who pay for it should receive some benefit. However, when the balance becomes so heavily weighted towards FastTrack that the standard queue barely moves, it starts to feel less like FastTrack is providing an advantage and more like the regular queue is being made unnecessarily slow.

As a Merlin Pass holder, I already spend a significant amount on my pass because I want to enjoy the parks regularly. I shouldn’t feel that I then have to pay even more on top of that simply to have a reasonable chance of getting on the rides without spending huge amounts of time standing in a queue.

I’m not against FastTrack itself — I’m against the feeling that the standard queue is being made so slow that paying for FastTrack starts to feel like the only practical option.

I appreciate that ride capacity, staffing and operational issues can all affect queue times, and I accept that advertised queue times are estimates. However, there needs to be a fairer balance between FastTrack and standard guests. If a ride is advertised as a 45-minute wait, having customers stand in the queue for around 1 hour 40 minutes while watching large numbers of FastTrack guests being prioritised is extremely disappointing.

I really enjoy visiting the Merlin parks and want to continue getting value from my Merlin Pass, but this is becoming a significant issue for me. I’d really like Merlin to review how FastTrack and standard queues are being managed, because the queue experience has a huge impact on the overall enjoyment and perceived value of the Merlin Pass.

Great - can book next day events. Once in the booking website , easy to book.

Need to improve - not very easy to find the booking site , because all searches take you to membership purchase ( not booking ). Might be good to add the option from the attraction website too , or add a code instead of payment.
On the booking - could not see option to pay carpark ( plenty options on fast tracks) , nor discount on carpark given for members.
At Thorp Park - difficult to navigate inside the park ( is this on purpose ?) - need more arrows and on each junction to point where different rides are. No physical maps either.

Alto towers need to sort it out

I have been impressed with the range and variety of places we can visit with our Merlin Annual Pass - it’s not all rollercoasters and theme parks. The process for booking trips and visits is very easy and there’s always been availability for when we’ve wanted to book. The places themselves are very engaging, clearly being taken care of and the staff have always be friendly and welcoming.

Most benefits don't start until physical card is received (took 3 weeks)-why in 2026? Booking the perks such as friends ticket didn't work initially even with physical vouchers. Phone hours are very limited. I found some of the perks difficult to use and had to call the helpline when they were open.

It’s great value for money and a variety of attractions.

**Very disappointing customer service – misleading experience with Gold Pass offer**

I’m extremely disappointed with my experience with Merlin.

My mum kindly gifted me a Gold Pass, which I redeemed in good faith because there was an offer giving an additional three months. Unfortunately, I didn’t spot the small print stating that gift passes were excluded from the offer.

I contacted Merlin to explain the situation, as this was clearly a genuine misunderstanding. What I find particularly frustrating is that if we had realised gift passes were excluded, my mum would simply have given me the money to purchase the pass directly. The end result would have been exactly the same, but we had no reason to expect that a gifted Gold Pass would be treated differently.

My mum was also planning to purchase a Gold Pass for my husband, but because Merlin won’t honour the offer on my pass, our passes will now be out of sync. We were genuinely considering purchasing a second pass, but this experience has left a very bad taste in our mouths and has made us question whether we want to spend any more money with Merlin.

I understand that terms and conditions exist, but good customer service should also recognise genuine misunderstandings and consider reasonable goodwill gestures. Instead, I’ve been left feeling that Merlin is more interested in relying on small print than looking after a customer who was intending to purchase another pass.

Very disappointing, particularly given that this could have been resolved so easily with a little goodwill. I would strongly encourage Merlin to reconsider how it handles situations like this. I have not used the pass yet and the team will not even allow me to change the start date. They have been extremely inflexible and left an extremely sour taste in my mouth. Given their inflexibility, my husband will not be purchasing a pass

Terrible mis-selling - Platinum pass paid for upfront in May

Terrible mis selling - can’t use free passes when you choose to
Pass has not been sent to me despite paying in full for the year and constantly following up with the team.

The Merlin Pass gives access to some amazing days out for all ages and comes with some great perks. We've had the best year so far taking advantage of lots of theme parks, sealife centres and experiences. We also get free parking and discounts on food, drink, shop purchases and hotel stays. Love the fact you can spread the cost monthly if you want too.

Some of the perks are not quite as you'd imagine them, such as the bring a friend vouchers are not valid for the duration of your pass, they will expire before you receive your next one. and you won't receive the first until almost bang on the 30 days after you pay for your pass (this seems to be a deliberate delay before sending the packs now instead of simply a backlog)
Customer service should anything not be as you expect, will likely be disappointing. The first reply to my email seemed as though they had not read beyond the subject that you have to choose from when submitting.
The new system since last time I had a pass to pre-book tickets instead of just showing a pass on the gate, I get. However, its poorly implemented, and looks like they use two isolated systems which don't talk to each other properly.
The parks themselves are looking better than they have in the past, unless you visit the toilets, which seem to be avoided by staff at all costs.
The restaurants at the parks also now feel like they've seen better days, and the pizza and pasta buffet, a past favourite of my children, has left a sour taste in our mouths after our visit to Chessington.
I will not be holding my breath (except to visit the toilets) at any visits to the attractions for the remainder of my passes, and will not be likely to purchase one again, the value for money is now far to borderline.

We got the Merlin Pass through the offer for stay a night and receive the annual pass. When we bought the offer, it wasn't necessarily clear that it would be an "Essential" pass which means you receive none of the normal discounts of the other Annual Pass holders.

Booking process is easy and there are a range of places to visit. Just a pity there is no discount on parking as it makes going to the places not possible for a few hours - it has to be an all day commitment for the price.

I highly recommend getting a Merlin Annual Pass, so much on offer from Theme parks to Sea life adventures, days out in London, Cadburys world and so much more. These cards are game changers as an Individual card holder or as a Family of pass holders.
Best thing we have ever done and its meant we go out have great adventures and make amazing memories.

Brilliant. Our family love it. Amazing days out. We find it easy to book, we are off to London for the weekend to use this weekend

Found it hard to login and book things.We also needed a carers pass which was hard to negotiate in an essential pass.had to make many phone calls some people helpful there gave me the run around.

Keeping this short and sweet - just very poor all round

Love our Merlin Pass, however continually struggling with Thorpe Parks customer service team. I have requested a member of management from Merlin contact me directly regarding my issues at Thorpe Park and so far just keep getting the same customer service employee at Thorpe Park. Please contact me regarding my case - Case number [#-13580366-] F.H