WTF Merlin?

[Dar]

I can't wait for a Silverstone situation on a fireworks night!

(For the Silverstone round of F1, they implemented surge/demand-based pricing, which got itself all muddled up to the point that prices were going up as people were waiting to finalise their tickets so you could have a £200 ticket in your basket than went up to £400 before you could pay )

With visitor numbers up 13%. It is entirely possible that this demand based pricing is a genuine attempt to spread the increased visitors out a little more, and improve the experience for all guests, rather than another cash grab.

How far in advance are they going to be surging prices? And how elastic is the demand for a day out? If you've done no planning and turn up to Towers when they've put the prices up, are you going to just drive home or are you going to grumble and pay up? So I think there's more 'cash grab' going on than trying to spread demand.

They're not blind to the fact that guest satisfaction is a key factor to their success and growth. What they really need if they wish for visitor numbers to keep improving, is more capacity and better reliability!

I agree that they're not blind, but maybe they are a bit deaf. They're measuring KPIs all over the shop, but are they really measuring the right KPIs? I think the overall package is what's letting them down. Capacity and reliability are just one area they need to improve, but they also need to improve outside the rides. TLC and Thorpe sparkle magic are great in principle, but other parks achieve the same in half a closed season as Merlin are in 3 years. Why are they still partnered with a catering company that let an outlet get a 0 food hygiene score?

 

[Dan Nguyen]

Theme parks here in the States have been doing dynamic pricing for years now. Basically slower days are cheaper and busier days are more expensive. You can thank Disney for coming up with the idea of charging more on peak days. Most parks here give you two options to buy in advance. Pay a lower price but be locked on a specific date or pay Saturday prices and you can use the ticket at any time during the season, no strings attached.

I'm kinda shocked it hasn't really caught on overseas yet.

How far in advance are they going to be surging prices? And how elastic is the demand for a day out? If you've done no planning and turn up to Towers when they've put the prices up, are you going to just drive home or are you going to grumble and pay up? So I think there's more 'cash grab' going on than trying to spread demand.

Most parks here base their prices on crowds the previous year. Magic Kingdom for example charges almost $200 for a single day admission on their busiest days. If you go on a random weekday in February or May though, you'll only have to pay around $120-$130 for your ticket.

 

[Nicky Borrill]

How far in advance are they going to be surging prices? And how elastic is the demand for a day out? If you've done no planning and turn up to Towers when they've put the prices up, are you going to just drive home or are you going to grumble and pay up? So I think there's more 'cash grab' going on than trying to spread demand.

I think they're talking very live, but within the requirement that already exists to pre book. So for example, 2 days out from a weekend, it's looking insanely busy with pre books, and the weather is looking like it could be hot, bump up those prices, keep people away from what is already an over subscribed day. If a midweek day is looking extremely warm, people tend to book on the day and just head over, so push the prices a little in the few days before. Last year, bank holidays were surprisingly quiet by all accounts, as people (and the parks) expected peak days so stayed away. If this is the case, drop the prices a few days before. Etc...

You're not going to have any situations where people have turned up expecting one price and find it's another, as you're supposed to book anyway, and they'll just point to this requirement.

I agree that they're not blind, but maybe they are a bit deaf. They're measuring KPIs all over the shop, but are they really measuring the right KPIs? I think the overall package is what's letting them down. Capacity and reliability are just one area they need to improve, but they also need to improve outside the rides. TLC and Thorpe sparkle magic are great in principle, but other parks achieve the same in half a closed season as Merlin are in 3 years. Why are they still partnered with a catering company that let an outlet get a 0 food hygiene score?

Oh 100%, agree. They have so much more to improve on. Think you're half vs 3 years is a bit of an exaggeration, especially when it comes to UK rivals. Can't remember any UK park being transformed in one closed season to the same level as Thorpe or even Towers seem to have been this year, never mind half a closed season... But I get your point, and I do agree. That transformation was only so noticeable because a lack of effort in preceding years had left the parks looking dreadful. And there's still so many areas that need work desperately. It's a start, and hopefully the beginning of a new ethos, but the jury is still out.

As for the food... I guess it's contractual. There will be a minimum term. The food is absolutely gross though, even the chicken place at Towers has gone downhill. Quite how you can ruin a deep fried chicken joint that wasn't exactly special in the first place, is beyond me, but they've managed it. The sooner that contract is up the better.

 

[Screaming Coasters]

Theme parks here in the States have been doing dynamic pricing for years now. Basically slower days are cheaper and busier days are more expensive. You can thank Disney for coming up with the idea of charging more on peak days. Most parks here give you two options to buy in advance. Pay a lower price but be locked on a specific date or pay Saturday prices and you can use the ticket at any time during the season, no strings attached.

I'm kinda shocked it hasn't really caught on overseas yet.


Most parks here base their prices on crowds the previous year. Magic Kingdom for example charges almost $200 for a single day admission on their busiest days. If you go on a random weekday in February or May though, you'll only have to pay around $120-$130 for your ticket.

The Tussauds Group used to do this with their parks back in the 90's and early 2000's. It wasn't until Merlin took over that it was scrapped to fixed pricing. Always felt this was a weird move. Merlin products as a whole are severely undervalued, they rely on volume which then pushes other operators out. The bubble has finally burst and moves need to be made. I agree with surge.

 

[Nicky Borrill]

The Tussauds Group used to do this with their parks back in the 90's and early 2000's. It wasn't until Merlin took over that it was scrapped to fixed pricing. Always felt this was a weird move. Merlin products as a whole are severely undervalued, they rely on volume which then pushes other operators out. The bubble has finally burst and moves need to be made. I agree with surge.

The only pricing that's fixed at Merlin parks is the make belief 'full gate' price... Which absolutely nobody pays. Online prices already fluctuate based on peak / off peak. (See image below.) This announcement seems to merely indicate a switch to AI to fine tune demand based pricing based around factors other than the date.

 

[spicy]

Isn't the full gate price basically only for the 'buy one full priced adult ticket get one free' deals on cereal boxes etc.

A way of marketing where people think they are getting a deal but aren't really, only saving a few £ if they bought 2 online tickets. Although that may change if the online prices increase quite a lot under the new AI system.

 

[Nicky Borrill]

Isn't the full gate price basically only for the 'buy one full priced adult ticket get one free' deals on cereal boxes etc.

A way of marketing where people think they are getting a deal but aren't really, only saving a few £ if they bought 2 online tickets. Although that may change if the online prices increase quite a lot under the new AI system.

Yes. In theory it’s the price you’d pay if you turned up on the day with no ticket. However, with the requirement to book, this doesn’t happen a lot at all these days. (Although I hear they will actually sell you a ticket on the day now, if the park is not fully booked, I don’t know this for sure though.)

It’s more common purpose is the starting point for discount vouchers like partner offers and MAP friends and family discounts.

 

[Dar]

Think you're half vs 3 years is a bit of an exaggeration, especially when it comes to UK rivals.

Oh I've given up on UK parks, I was more pointing to our European friends and what magic they can make happen! (and I was being a touch facetious)

I just wonder if the 'will' is there to really push the parks to be world class again, or if the team are happy settling in to being the nation's top chain. You look at EP getting the log flume and everything ready to open less than a year after a fire, alongside an already massive capex project and all the regular plussing they do every year, and wonder when have Merlin stretched themselves to really excel and impress? Nemesis maybe, but we'll see if it's the start of a turnaround or if they grasped the strength of feeling around the ride and knew they couldn't skimp.

Timescales aside, Thorpe is genuinely looking excellent this year from what we've seen. I really hope they can keep the standard up over the next couple of years, and that it's seen as the start of an ongoing expense and not just a lump sum. I like that they're being colourful and bold with the painting,

As for the food... I guess it's contractual. There will be a minimum term. The food is absolutely gross though, even the chicken place at Towers has gone downhill. Quite how you can ruin a deep fried chicken joint that wasn't exactly special in the first place, is beyond me, but they've managed it. The sooner that contract is up the better.

I was talking to some friends about this and we agreed that getting rid of the brands was the big mistake! The food wasn't amazing, the prices weren't great, but you knew roughly what you were getting from a brand you recognised. I remember the first season of Burger Kitchen near Dark Forest, they were serving one order at a time. You would order and they would stand there and wait until your food appeared at one of the hatches, put it on a tray, give it to you, and then take the next person's order. I can't get my head around the kind of management decisions that went into designing and approving that process, but I do know they shouldn't be anywhere near F+B in parks!

 

[Nicky Borrill]

I was talking to some friends about this and we agreed that getting rid of the brands was the big mistake! The food wasn't amazing, the prices weren't great, but you knew roughly what you were getting from a brand you recognised. I remember the first season of Burger Kitchen near Dark Forest, they were serving one order at a time. You would order and they would stand there and wait until your food appeared at one of the hatches, put it on a tray, give it to you, and then take the next person's order. I can't get my head around the kind of management decisions that went into designing and approving that process, but I do know they shouldn't be anywhere near F+B in parks!

It was Mcdonalds when I worked there!!! Both that unit, and the one next door to Nemesis Donuts. The cred street one looked incredible, with all the Ronald theming and that giant car coming out of the roof. The FV one did not look so good, almost like a McDonalds Burger van, but it was, at least, a Mcdonalds, and as you say, you knew what you were getting.

I think a mixture is best, and I do like that Thorpe seem to be sticking to that route. They have Aramark on site, but they also have a good selection of outside traders, and long standing big brand franchises too. I have no idea why they don't just do this at Towers again.

 

[cookie]

Presented without comment.

 

[Benenen]

This is tragic. I believe the justification is it’s mainly pre schoolers visiting on those days and those 3 rides get lower ridership due to the height restrictions. However look at these queue stats from June 15th last year which would have hit the criteria for these off peak closures. Tiger Rock and Rattlesnake have the largest waits. Why won’t it make sense? https://queue-times.com/parks/3/calendar/2023/06/15

 

[emoo]

I was wondering what so special about the random Tuesdays in May as the 7th and 14th were not listed in the exclusion list. Started to think they might be the best days to go... ...Parks closed. Shame.

 

[Will]

Rattlesnake only gets long queues due to woeful throughput.

I'm kind of surprised - and would argue that Zoofari in particular should be a winner with younger visitors. It's obviously penny pinching, but not something disastrous that would have me reconsidering an off-peak trip (though admittedly, I'm unlikely to do Chessie at all this year)

 

[Galahad]

Oh I've given up on UK parks, I was more pointing to our European friends and what magic they can make happen! (and I was being a touch facetious)

I just wonder if the 'will' is there to really push the parks to be world class again, or if the team are happy settling in to being the nation's top chain. You look at EP getting the log flume and everything ready to open less than a year after a fire, alongside an already massive capex project and all the regular plussing they do every year, and wonder when have Merlin stretched themselves to really excel and impress? Nemesis maybe, but we'll see if it's the start of a turnaround or if they grasped the strength of feeling around the ride and knew they couldn't skimp.

Timescales aside, Thorpe is genuinely looking excellent this year from what we've seen. I really hope they can keep the standard up over the next couple of years, and that it's seen as the start of an ongoing expense and not just a lump sum. I like that they're being colourful and bold with the painting,


I was talking to some friends about this and we agreed that getting rid of the brands was the big mistake! The food wasn't amazing, the prices weren't great, but you knew roughly what you were getting from a brand you recognised. I remember the first season of Burger Kitchen near Dark Forest, they were serving one order at a time. You would order and they would stand there and wait until your food appeared at one of the hatches, put it on a tray, give it to you, and then take the next person's order. I can't get my head around the kind of management decisions that went into designing and approving that process, but I do know they shouldn't be anywhere near F+B in parks!

My very personal opinion, we are in no danger to have world-class parks with Merlin around. They are uncapable to conceive, build or maintain rides of a certain complexity. By saying this I have Gardaland in Italy in my mind.. I will never forgive them for utterly spoiling that poor park. That said I give them the merit to have achieved good results in restoring Nemesis or the curse at Alton Manor, hoping they will be able to keep them well maintained and fully functional.