Merlin Annual Pass Reviews 

Since they changed the rap experience it's gone awful. Had our passes 3 yrs now and last 2 yrs hardly been used as wkends and school holidays there is no chance of getting raps. Unless u book mths in advance which is no good when u have autistic children. It needs to go back to the old way where u turn up on the day and get the rap. Or if u are passing holders u will automatically get a rap when u book. This new way sucks big time. So far we've used our passes only 3 times this yr. And their accessable team is awful. I've emailed them loads complaining about how bad their new rap booking system is and just get the same old lies and rubbish back. 4 passes going to waste this yr.

We've been Merlin Annual Pass holders since 2018, and we absolutely love it! The pass has been amazing value for our family — we use it regularly and it’s saved us so much money over the years. There’s always something fun to do, from theme parks to attractions across the UK, and it never gets boring.

As a special needs user, I also want to highlight how inclusive Merlin is. They've put in place a thoughtful and supportive system that really makes a difference. It’s clear they’ve worked hard to ensure everyone can enjoy the experience comfortably and safely.

Highly recommend the pass to anyone looking for adventure, flexibility, and great memories all year round!

I don’t usually leave seriously scathing reviews without giving some sort of positive feedback, but after what’s happened recently with Merlin, I feel compelled to warn others. We joined as a family of four with Premium and Gold Merlin Annual Passes, full of excitement about exploring all the UK attractions. What a mistake.

First, Bear Grylls Adventure was shut with barely any notice. A rare and unique attraction, especially valuable to those of us in the Midlands. Then we find out the Blackpool attractions are shutting down from 1st August. That’s two major regional hubs gone in quick succession — it’s starting to feel like Merlin is abandoning everywhere north of Watford.

If you don’t live near London, what exactly are you paying for? Our passes promised variety, flexibility, and nationwide experiences. Now it just feels like Merlin is closing things from the top down and pretending like it's business as usual.

To make matters worse, their Merlin Pass bot is an absolute joke – it’s like arguing with a brick wall. No real help, no ability to escalate to a human, just generic links and recycled answers. For the money we’ve paid, it’s genuinely insulting.

Merlin is gutting its offerings while still marketing the passes as if nothing’s changed. If you’re considering buying a pass, don’t. Wait until they prove they’re investing in new attractions (that are not just additional to pay for on top of a pass solutions) or at least stop quietly shutting them down.

Total rip-off. Empty promises. No transparency. Avoid.

My daughter has a merin pass and booked a ticket for her friend to you to Thorpe park with her. However, a night before her friend got ill and could not make it anymore. On the day of the booked visit I phoned the customer service and they happily re-booked the ticket for a day that my daughter and her friend can make it. Quick, polite and friendly customer service. Thank you.

Absolutely fantastic value for money thank you for a year of adventures as a SEND family we are so greatful for the opportunities the pass gives our family.

Love having access to fantastic venues across the country. Often plenty of availability if you book in advance.

Purchased merlin passes on the false pretense we could easily book access passes for my disabled child.
You have to book 4 weeks in advance for weekends and even then your limited to only 1 of the days on that weekend.
We went to Chessington today and was told access passes will become available through the day but after constantly trying to get them they was totally unavailable.
I don't want to have to book something 4 weeks in advance and feel the only way to beat this obviously broken system is just book for days that I may not actually attend and this is what other pass holders are obviously doing as the disabled access pass lines are empty i took a photo of one of the busiest rides in the park with2 people queing but cant upload on here unfortunately.
It's very disappointing that whilst disabled access passes are unavailable due to no spaces they will still happily let you purchase fast track tickets.
I have only used the passes 3 times now and if they offered me half my money back I'd happily take it and would never renew my merlin passes again.
We was at chessington for 3 1/2 hours and managed 1 ride before the kids wanted to leave says it all l!

Stayed at chessington for 4 nights .hotel was fab .accomadtion was fab .little treats left in room were lovely .the Azteca restaurant was a let down .from last time we were there .same food every day .while there I didn’t have a car so ate there 2 nights .got take away uber other 2 nights .in the park the smoke house was lovely .the extra time in park was so good .

With your flexible passes you introduced, most of days of school off term, Saturday Sundays are added as exclusions so flexible passes cannot attend. It’s still shameful though.

Good value and takes the stress out of squeezing everything into one day, or feeling frustrated by queues.

Annual passes are great to have but as we’ve fount out not if you have additional needs the booking process at locations for access pass is awful meaning we can’t visit locations for near 4/5 weeks because now you have to pre book the ride access passes and there fully booked for weeks on end makes having the benefits of a pass completely void. But when you can get the access passes pre booked it’s a wonderful experience having the passes it’s just a shame and disappointing it’s all suddenly changed restricting people with additional needs even more and limiting our experiences to a “normal” life can’t just decide let’s go to a Merlin today have to book weeks in advance

Merlin pass is great for money saving, however the parks are becoming a bit of a mess, the atmosphere has changed, they have got rid of the walkabout actors who made the unbearable wait times fun.
Prices in park have gone up and quality has gone down.
Food in most parks is of little quality and very overpriced.

Me and my friend both have Merlin gold passes, we go to a different venue every Tuesday and never get bored of what they have to offer! Out trips have payed for the pass 10 times over so far! It’s definitely worth it!

Hi Merlin,
I have had a Merlin Annual Pass for longer than I care to remember! Using it predominantly when my son was young but even though my son is now 19 and we hardly ever visit anymore, I have kept the passes on monthly payments. Last week I booked 2 friends and family tickets to visit the London Aquarium, then went to book mine and there was non available. I called Merlin as thought it was an error and was told that the allocation for pass holders was full. New paying customers had availability every 15 minutes for the whole day. I couldn't move or have a refund for the tickets I purchased for my friends. So I had to book and pay for my own individual ticket even though I have a Premium Merlin Pass.
I don't think this is a very fair system and certainly not what I signed up to years ago when you just had to turn up with your pass to enjoy the fun at any location, no pre-booking required.
I would either like a refund for the ticket I was forced to purchase or I would like to pursue the possibility of having a refund for all of my monthly payments since Merlin brought in this new policy and separate allocations, as the pass I am paying for is not what it pertains to be.
Can you please look into this and contact me to discuss and rectify.
Order Number 589670512
Yours kindly,
Robert.

Worst customer service. Rude, unprofessional and disrespectful management.wouldn’t recommend giving your money to Merlin entertainment. Save it and take it elsewhere trust me they aren’t worth the effort. Just money grabbing they don’t care about customers and basically block you everywhere if you even try to get a name or email to complain. Please just save your money and just pay for the attraction cheaper anyway

Tried to use the silver pass to get discount on hotel stay compared to booking without the pass. To book without the pass all members of the party got tickets and accommodation which was cheaper than booking with the pass as the overnight stay does not include tickets for the whole party sp would have to purchase them separately. What's the point. Membership now cancelled.

AVOID buying!!! SCAM!!
I have bought a basic Merlin pass years ago and that works fine. So I bought a silver merlin pass when my daughter goes to school and we need a day out during school holiday and weekend.
My pass was activated on Dec 2024. I then realised I can't make any booking to sealife aquarium even it should be available on Silver Pass Calender.
On their passholder prebook hub, they just black out most of the days in the coming three months. When I am writing this review in Jan 2025, I have only got 8 days in Feb and 12 days in March that I can choose from to book a visit to Chessington World of Adventure. All the weekdays are unavailable. I feel like they assume Silver holders are not free on a weekday and reserve all booking quota to a basic Merlin Pass maybe. But it is very disappointing as the pass is expensive for a family of 3 and I now have even less days to choose from to visit the theme park. Definitely not recommended. (P.s. Customer service is hard to reach and not helpful)

Having a Merlin pass has meant a lot as I would not be able to take my granddaughter out on so many trips. We both really enjoy ourselves and have so much fun and build loads of memories and more to come for the future. I would totally recommend getting one if you don’t have one already.

At the weekend I made full use of my Merlin pass for me and my 6 year old, we travelled down from Derby to stay in Thorpe (off site) we arrived at 8:30am to the park one we have never visited before due to living In the midlands and going to Alton towers on regular occasions! We got into the theme park and played on playground until the gates opened, looking in the distance at Hyperia which I would have loved to go on if I wasn’t with my son! Ted loved the day and we managed to get onto 13 rides with little queue by 1pm so decided to make the short trip over to LEGOLAND for the afternoon where we got to a show at the 4D cinema just on time, we also managed to catch the pirate show which with the special effects and humour captured the imagination of my son. We also went on a couple of rides but left around 4:30pm after a lot of steps and fun to retire to our hotel for an early night! On the Sunday we again arrived early this time to Chessington Wolrd Of Adventures, this is our favourite Merlin attraction due to having a great mix of animals and rides. We paid for early entry to go onto the mandrill, ostrich stampede, mamba strike, griffins galleon and the gruffalo ride, I would recommend this to anyone who wants to check off several rides quickly! We spent the rest of the day going around the park, caught the bird show, the sea lion show and more rides checking off 13 activities we planned out! All in all a great Merlin weekend

It's very easy to use and access over the included attraction; does pay the value invested.