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WTF Merlin?

Towers Introduced 1 free Fastrack per day for Platinum Pass holders recently however Towers are now stating that 'one-shot Fastrack may unavailable on some attractions after 1700. In the meantime, we invite you to enjoy the many other attractions around the Resort and check back later.

Imagine implementing something then realising it's an issue because you used no forethought. Bunch of jokers
 
So just looked in that in a little bit more detail and something interesting to point out. Alton towers was part of the sale/leaseback agreement from 2007, along with Thorpe, Warwick castle and Heide park. But Chessington was not, and Merlin own that property and the land outright.

Also interesting to note that not many operators worldwide have gone down the same sale/leasing structure road, and those that have similar things in place usually involve a local municipality rather than big real estate investment trusts.
 
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VonRolland said:
Imagine implementing something then realising it's an issue because you used no forethought. Bunch of jokers
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Speaking of, Alton has backtracked somewhat on the staggered openings. Spinball and Galactica are now 10.30 A.M openings instead of 11:

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Coastiesaurus said:
So just looked in that in a little bit more detail and something interesting to point out. Alton towers was part of the sale/leaseback agreement from 2007, along with Thorpe, Warwick castle and Heide park. But Chessington was not, and Merlin own that property and the land outright.

Also interesting to note that not many operators worldwide have gone down the same sale/leasing structure road, and those that have similar things in place usually involve a local municipality rather than big real estate investment trusts.
Click to expand...

Makes you wonder too as Chessington is getting a 50 million pound investment with Minecraft whilst Thorpe Park get a new picnic area and AT get a new kiddie coaster with nothing seemingly on the horizon (AT pun intended)

Are they perhaps putting bigger investment into the park that they intend on keeping?
 
Wasn't it mentioned a few months ago that Merlin might be bancrupt by the end of the year if they keep burning money?

The whole company surely has some issues. I feel like their expansion drive is whats hurting them the most. It isn't bad to expand, but with the speed they've been doing it, is just not reasonable. Instead of focussing on earning money and keeping their existing properties attractive, they've overspent on blind expansion and tried to save money in their parks.

Chessington seems to be the new golden child for the park, with the amount of investent they're getting. But maybe - just maybe, Thorpe will also get something big, who knows.

Anyone remember the old 4 year plan for the parks? Those where the days.
 
It's kind of insane to think they're putting an Intamin Multi Dimension coaster in Chessington, while postponing anything substantial at Alton. I feel the "Old Merlin" had so much focus on Alton Towers, and Chessington was the afterthought.

The picnic area at Thorpe is certainly a hilarious "addition", I feel like Merlin will keep the "we just built Hyperia" card for the next decade.
 
I do find it disappointing that Merlin hasn’t capitalised more on the momentum from Hyperia.

Hyperia generated such enthusiasm and buzz for Thorpe, but 2 years on, it feels like they’ve done nothing with it. I’d hoped we might have a flat ride or something by now.
 
Matt N said:
I do find it disappointing that Merlin hasn’t capitalised more on the momentum from Hyperia.

Hyperia generated such enthusiasm and buzz for Thorpe, but 2 years on, it feels like they’ve done nothing with it. I’d hoped we might have a flat ride or something by now.
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Still a vast pit of mud under the ride with minimal 'theming' about, mean while in Romsey Paultons are heavily theming Valgard.
It is possible if you care, Merlin haven't cared for many years
 
Lukas D said:
Annual report is out:
https://www.merlinentertainments.biz/media/8353/motion-jvco-annual-report-and-accounts-2025.pdf

Press release:
https://www.merlinentertainments.bi...ishes-strong-platform-for-sustainable-growth/

Enjoy!
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Some initial observations from looking at that quickly..

So the total operating loss reduced from a loss of £132 million in 2024 to a loss of £58 million in 2025. Clearly an improvement but still a pretty significant loss.

UK visitors were down by 1.2 million however some of that could be down to no longer operating the Blackpool Tower.

The content of the Press release seems to have a more overall focus on the Lego parks and Chessington, the AT Bluey coaster gets a brief mention..

I don’t know.. Its not as bad as last years accounts but clearly all is not well within Merlin.. I do think we will see further restructuring at some point. I suspect that either Alton Towers or Thorpe Park could leave the group in the near future.

Would be very interesting to see how the parks are performing individually and which ones are profitable.
 
spicy said:
Some initial observations from looking at that quickly..

So the total operating loss reduced from a loss of £132 million in 2024 to a loss of £58 million in 2025. Clearly an improvement but still a pretty significant loss.

UK visitors were down by 1.2 million however some of that could be down to no longer operating the Blackpool Tower.

The content of the Press release seems to have a more overall focus on the Lego parks and Chessington, the AT Bluey coaster gets a brief mention..

I don’t know.. Its not as bad as last years accounts but clearly all is not well within Merlin.. I do think we will see further restructuring at some point. I suspect that either Alton Towers or Thorpe Park could leave the group in the near future.

Would be very interesting to see how the parks are performing individually and which ones are profitable.
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Instead of reporting in segments of gateway, legoland and resort theme parks, they've switched to reporting segments based on geography, and have included all types of attraction within each region into that regions segment. So we now have a breakdown for UK, Europe, USA and Asia. They've also back calculated these regions for the previous set of accounts.

It looks on there like the UK and Europe are profitable!!! Operating profits are actually up to £73M in the UK from £68M in the previously reported year.

It also looks at first glance like UK and European operating profits are propping up American and Asian operating losses. Although I'm not sure how investments in those regions factor into this.

Looking at the 'other' expenses, which are global, not tied to one region and includes Merlin Magic Making, Head Offices etc etc... Losses are up to £121m from £97m... I wonder if this has had anything to do with recent departures....

Screenshot 2026-03-24 235418.jpg
 
Let me guess: Weekends are only allowed if the day you are redeeming it is an even day?

Merlin is truly fun to watch. It keeps on giving.
 
VonRolland said:
Update to the Platinum Pass holders.
If you want to use your Fastrack you may not use it on any ride with a 90+ Minute queue.

God this company thinks of nothing ahead of time do they
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Merlin: We're giving our highest paying passholders a queue jump as a reward...

Also Merlin: You can't use that queue jump if there's an actual queue, it will slow down operations, silly...

Who wants to take bets that, for the rest of this season, queues will be overestimated to more than 90 minutes any time they are actually 45 minutes plus... Will be a win win for Merlin, they'll sell more fast tracks, they'll look busier than they are and they'll not have to let those pesky passholders use their perks.
 
Nicky Borrill said:
Who wants to take bets that, for the rest of this season, queues will be overestimated to more than 90 minutes any time they are actually 45 minutes plus... Will be a win win for Merlin, they'll sell more fast tracks, they'll look busier than they are and they'll not have to let those pesky passholders use their perks.
Click to expand...

I know this is a long running joke, but the people responsible for the queue times are in no way linked to the people selling Fastracks. Whilst there are times when queue lengths are overestimated, and that can cause people to but Fastrack, it is never done intentionally.
 
JoshC. said:
I know this is a long running joke, but the people responsible for the queue times are in no way linked to the people selling Fastracks. Whilst there are times when queue lengths are overestimated, and that can cause people to but Fastrack, it is never done intentionally.
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I can assure you we used to boost queue times when I worked there, as did everyone I worked with. Not to sell fastracks but to ensure with the amount of RAP & Fastracks we were dealing with the main queue time wasn't too far off.
 
VonRolland said:
I can assure you we used to boost queue times when I worked there, as did everyone I worked with. Not to sell fastracks but to ensure with the amount of RAP & Fastracks we were dealing with the main queue time wasn't too far off.
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So you...displayed a queue time that was, to the best of your ability and knowledge, an accurate representation of how long people in the main queue would wait, given all operational considerations, including Fastrack and RAP. And you...did that not to sell Fastrack, but to give as an accurate as possible advert for how long people would wait.
It may not have been totally accurate, and may have been a bit overestimated. And in turn, that may lead to more people choosing to buy Fastrack, but it wasn't done intentionally.

Which is what I said.
 
JoshC. said:
I know this is a long running joke, but the people responsible for the queue times are in no way linked to the people selling Fastracks. Whilst there are times when queue lengths are overestimated, and that can cause people to but Fastrack, it is never done intentionally.
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Oh I know, ride hosts 'usually' report / control queue times using the tablet on the wall. Or at least that was the case up until a few years ago at Towers. Wouldn't put it past current management to override them though.

Although, as a side note, you and I both know those times have been artificially inflated by ride teams deliberately in the past, maybe not to sell fast pass, but for other reasons, like putting off late riders at the end of the day. ;)

EDIT: I didn't see the 2 replies after your first one, so didn't see Von's reply... But boosting times for various reasons definitely happens Josh, I don't know about at Thorpe, but it 100% does / has done at Towers. I don't mean slightly out accidentally, I mean deliberately inflated by some margin, usually to put people off riding.
 
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When I was a ride op at Lego 10 years ago we would only get payed until 45 mins past ride close regardless of what time we actually signed out. Because of that I’d always hike the advertised wait time higher than I knew it to be in the final half hour so I wouldn’t have to do unpaid labour. I was never encouraged to be mindful of fasttrack sales though when calling through queue times, that’s surely a myth.
 
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