FAQs

The Pass is called the "Merlin Annual Pass" because all the attractions included in the Pass are owned/operated by the Merlin Entertainments Group – the Worlds Second Largest attraction operator.

Merlin Annual Passes allow entry to the Alton Towers Resort Theme Park, LEGOLAND® Windsor Resort, LEGOLAND Discover Centre Manchester, THORPE PARK, Chessington World of Adventures, Madame Tussauds London & Blackpool, Warwick Castle, the EDF Energy London Eye, SEA LIFE centres & Sanctuaries, the Blackpool Tower attractions including Jungle Jims, the Blackpool Circus, Blackpool Ballroom, Blackpool Tower Eye and the Dungeons

Premium Merlin Annual Passes don't have any restrictions (other than attraction opening calendars of course!)

The Premium Merlin Annual Pass includes:

• Free standard parking, subject to availability .
• No exclusions dates.

The following restrictions will apply to Standard Merlin Annual Pass renewed:

• No entry during the month of August at The EDF Energy London Eye, Madame Tussauds London, London Dungeon and SEA LIFE London Aquarium.
• NO entry to the EDF Energy London Eye on 14 February, 27 July to 31 July and 29 October to 31 October.
• No free entry during Fright Nights and other special events at THORPE PARK.
• Not valid for admission to The Castle Dungeon and Merlin – The Dragon Tower at Warwick Castle.
• No entry 29th to 31st October at The London Dungeon.
• Parking not included.

As well as entry to our attractions, a Merlin Annual Pass will entitle you to the following Passholder Perks:

• Up to 20% off in our shops
• 20% off in our restaurants
• Invitations to special events and new attraction previews
• Discounted stays at the Alton Towers Resort Hotels, Holiday Inn Chessington, LEGOLAND® Holidays

Offers can change from time to time, so we recommend that you like us on Facebook to stay up-to-date with all the latest Passholder Perks.

You can find full information on each Pass type here.

Your Merlin Annual Pass is valid for 12 months from the date of purchase. Please note that your Merlin Annual Pass will expire the day before you bought it the following year.

For example if you buy an Annual Pass on 20th July 2010 it will expire on 19th July 2011.

Both Standard and Premium Merlin Annual Passes are valid at our UK attractions only

However we do provide discounted entry to some of our overseas attractions, click here for more information.

Unfortunately the Castle Dungeon and Merlin Dragon Tower are not included with a Standard Merlin Annual Pass. Premium Annual Passes do provide access however tickets are limited so we advise that you get yours at the Warwick Castle as early in the day as possible.

You may be aware that Merlin Entertainments will soon be opening some new attractions and experiences in Blackpool. These attractions are expected to open late spring 2011, although they will not become part of the Merlin Annual Pass until late summer 2011. The attractions are:

• Blackpool Tower
• Blackpool Dungeon
• Madame Tussauds Blackpool

Your Merlin Annual Pass currently provides entry to SEA LIFE Blackpool

The attractions included in the Merlin Annual Pass are owned or operated by the Merlin Entertainments Group, attractions which we do not own or operate will not be included in the Merlin Annual Pass.

Here's a full list of our UK attractions:

• Alton Towers Resort
• Chessington World of Adventures Resort
• EDF Energy London Eye
• LEGOLAND® Discovery Centre Manchester
• LEGOLAND® Windsor Resort
• SEA LIFE centres & Sancuaries
  Birmingham, Blackpool, Bray, Brighton, Great Yarmouth, Gweek, Hunstanton, Loch Lomond, London, Oban, Scarborough, Weymouth
• The Dungeons
  London, York & Edinburgh
• THORPE PARK
• Warwick Castle

Once you have purchased the Merlin Annual Pass you can gain access to the included attractions when you want to visit (subject to operating calendars and some entry restrictions for Standard Passholders).

Click here for more information.

You can purchase a Merlin Annual Pass in the following ways:

• At one of the attractions
• Online via our homepage or one of the attraction websites

Yes, you can do this by visiting your home attraction admissions department, the cost of upgrading is £35pp, upgrades only apply to the remaining months of your Pass.

Unfortunately this is not possible. We offer three family options for groups of three, four or five. You can mix and match options to suit your party size; for example, a family of six may find that purchasing a family of five plus an individual is a cheaper option than purchasing two family of three passes.

For larger party sizes, we offer a 25% discount when you purchase 10 or more passes together, so you could save more if a group of you pull together, plus you don’t have to all visit at the same time. Visit our groups page for more information.

A Merlin Annual Pass can only be used by the named holder. Each Pass has the name and photograph of the Passholder. Pass sharing is not allowed and will result in permanent confiscation without compensation.

Please view the terms and conditions of use for full details.

We do not offer a Merlin Annual Pass which can be shared. However, we do offer discounts on group and family purchases. Please visit our groups page for more information.

A family Merlin Annual Pass can contain a maximum of three adults, we class adults as guests aged 12 or over at the time of purchasing.

You can purchase either two family of 3 Passes or 6 individual Passes.

If your child is currently 11 and will turn 12 during the life of your Passes they are still classed as a child until you come to renew so will not count toward your 2 adult maximum.

There is no set age a child requires a Merlin Annual Pass from.

However we do provide the following guidance:

• If your child is 3 years or over at the time of purchasing your Passes OR will turn 3 during the life of your Passes we recommend you purchase a Pass for them, this is because children aged 3 or over are required to pay admission when entering LEGOLAND® Windsor, SEA LIFE centres & Sanctuaries (including the London Aquarium) and LEGOLAND® Discovery Centre Manchester.
• If your child is 0.9 metre tall or over at the time of purchasing your Passes OR will you think will reach 0.9 metre tall during the life of your Passes we recommend you purchase a Pass for them, this is because children 0.9 metre tall and over are required to pay admission when entering Chessington World of Adventures and THORPE PARK.

You will need to purchase an individual Pass for each family member.

If you or another member in your group is disabled and will become/is already a Passholder you can find out all the information you need right here.

Please click here for more information.

Simply take your token along to one of our attractions.

If you have points to redeem against a Merlin Annual Pass you will receive a Standard Individual Merlin Annual Pass. You can choose to upgrade to a Premium Pass when you exchange your voucher at an attraction or at any point during the life of your Pass for £35.

All you need is yourself! We will take a photo of you when you arrive and no proof of identification is needed.

You can give your booking reference or gift voucher to a family member or friend along with a clear colour photo of you, your full name and date of birth and they can take it along to an attraction for you to have your Pass issued.

If you are part of a family Pass your family members can have the Pass issued on your behalf by taking a clear colour photo of you with them, your full name and date of birth.

All family Passes must be issued at the same time.

You have 6 months to collect any new or renewed Passes from your chosen attraction.

No. All Merlin Annual Passes can only be issued to a person.

Please call 08444 77 44 44 in order to have your confirmation resent.

Calls cost 10p per minute plus network extras

You can renew your Merlin Annual Pass for the renewal rates below within 8 weeks of it's expiry date.

To renew simply vist one of our attractions.

Renewal prices can be found here.

You can renew up until 8 weeks after your pass has expired. However, if your pass expired more than 8 weeks ago, you will need to sign up as a new Passholder and will not be able to purchase your Passes at our discounted renewal rates.

Please call 08444 77 44 44 in order to have your confirmation resent.

Calls cost 10p per minute plus network extras

Don't worry, next time you visit your home attraction, pop into our admissions department and they will happily update our records for you.

You can get your Pass reissued free of charge at your home attraction the next time you visit.

You need to visit your home attraction. The admissions team will look you up on the system and print you off a new card. Please note that an administration fee applies of £10 for each card reprinted. You will need to bring with you a form of photographic ID. Please note the fee still applies if your pass has been stolen.

If you are unable to get to your issuing attraction, we recommend that you contact the attraction prior to making any further visits. Here is a list of contact details for each issuing attraction:

• LEGOLAND® Windsor Resort: customer.services@LEGOLAND.co.uk
• THORPE PARK:Nicola.Carter2@thorpe-park.co.uk
• Warwick Castle: customer.information@warwick-castle.com
• Madame Tussauds London: guest.experience@madame-tussauds.com
• Alton Towers Resort Theme Park: annual.pass@alton-towers.com
• Chessington World of Adventures: adventurers.services@chessington.co.uk
• The EDF Energy London Eye: LE.merlinpass@londoneye.com
• The Blackpool Tower: theblackpooltower@merlinentertainments.biz

PLEASE NOTE:IF YOU VISIT AN ATTRACTION (OTHER THAN YOUR HOME ATTRACTION) WITHOUT YOUR PASS, YOU WILL BE CHARGED THE STANDARD ENTRY FEE WHICH IS NON-REFUNDABLE..

You can simply have your Pass reprinted at your home attraction (the attraction you originally had your Pass printed) once a crime reference number has been provided to us, these are provided by your local Police Station a £10 processing fee will apply.

Other than your receipt of payment we do not have proof of purchase we can issue.

Please provide the receipt you would have been issued when you had your Pass reprinted to your insurance company.

You can contact them to arrange postal fulfilment.

Please email us the persons name and date of birth, then simply cut the card up as we will cancel it on our systems if we haven't already done so.

All our Passes are non refundable however we can freeze you and your families Passes until after your baby has been born and you have had three months to recover, please contact us by clicking here to arrange this

You can purchase a Premium Merlin Annual Pass, you can choose to purchase just one if you are buying a family Pass and this will give you free parking for one car however please note the other Standard Passes will have the entry exclusions to some attractions during some periods, for full information on exclusions click here.

The Premium Passholder will need to be present to take advantage of the complimentary parking offer.

As stated in our terms and conditions which are agreed to at the time of purchase and redemption all our Passes are non refundable.

Your home attraction is the attraction you had your Pass issued by. They hold your record and in order to upgrade your Pass or have a Pass reissued you will need to revisit this attraction so make sure you have your Pass issued at your nearest attraction.

We do not provide Merlin Annual Passes to support charities or as raffle prizes, the Merlin Entertainments Group has it's own in-house charity, Merlin's Magic Wand, which we directly support. More information about Merlin's Magic Wand can be found here

Firstly, don't worry. This could be for a number of reasons:

• you may find that the email is getting delivered into your bulk, or junk mail folder so please take a look there first. If this is the case, please add our email address to your favorites or approved list to ensure that this doesn’t happen again.
• we may not have your email address correct, or we may not have it at all. To rectify this, simply sign up to the eNewsletter again here.
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We are sorry to hear that. Of course, we’ll do our best to put things right. If your complaint is regarding an experience you had at one of our attractions please contact them directly. Here is a list of useful email addresses:

• LEGOLAND Windsor Resort: customer.services@LEGOLAND.co.uk
• THORPE PARK: Nicola.Carter2@thorpe-park.co.uk
• Warwick Castle: customer.information@warwick-castle.com
• Madame Tussauds London: guest.experience@madame-tussauds.com
• Alton Towers Resort Theme Park: annual.pass@alton-towers.com
• Chessington World of Adventures: adventurers.services@chessington.co.uk
• The EDF Energy London Eye: LE.merlinpass@londoneye.com
• SEA LIFE Centres: enquiries@merlinentertainments.biz
• The Dungeons: For contact details see The Dungeons website.
• The Blackpool Tower: theblackpooltower@merlinentertainments.biz

If your complaint is regarding the Merlin Annual Pass specifically, then contact us here:

merlin.annualpass@merlinentertainments.biz

We will respond to your complaint within four working days. Please include as much detail as you can such as your full name, a contact telephone number, your Pass number and the issuing attraction. This will help us to speed things along for you and prevent any delays.

Please note that we are unable to handle complaints via our contact centre (08444 77 44 44).

Calls cost 10p per minute plus network extras