I'm beginning to agree with Furie on this one.
I've been to Alton a lot over the past few years. It's one of the easiest parks in the UK for me to get to when I'm over in Manchester, and it's also one of the best parks in the country. I'm beginning to get a bit tired of the place though, as it's always busy whenever I can go.
Thorpe and Chessington are a pain for me to get to, as they're so far away from me, and require overnight hotel stays, so it's not worth me going more than once (or twice, at a push) during a season.
Add to that the fact that Merlin are trying to price gouge as much as possible these days. Price increases across the board, withdrawal of passholder privileges, adding additional attractions to the passes that I've no interest in to justify price rises... it all sucks.
I was originally going to drop the annual pass for this year and make an effort to do more visits to smaller parks I've not been to yet. However, between Jerry visiting Alton this summer, the Alton CF Live and then Ghosterforce, I've succumbed to buying a pass for one more year, as it's worth it. That does however seem to have resulted in the my plans to visit smaller parks going out the window.
Oh well, never mind. I'll probably drop the Merlin pass next year (at least unless they make it considerably cheaper or less restrictive), and focus on some of the alternatives.