National Rollercoaster Day Competition

National Rollercoaster Day – Straight Face Challenge

1               Promoter

1. The promoter of this competition is Merlin Attractions Operations Limited, Arbor Building, 16th Floor, 255 Blackfriars Road, London, SE1 9AX (the "Promoter").

2               The Competition

The competition is to keep a 'straight face’ (or blank expression) on a Merlin rollercoaster at either Chessington World of Adventures, Thorpe Park, LEGOLAND Windsor or Alton Towers and share your ride photo keeping a straight face as part of the ‘Straight Face Challenge ’. Eligible Entrants must upload their entry to Instagram or Facebook and tag @MerlinEntertainments and include the hashtag #StraightFaceChallenge. Accounts must be public until winners have been selected. The eligible rollercoasters are the following: 

LEGOLAND: Minifigure Speedway, The Dragon, Dragon's Apprentice. ALTON TOWERS: Oblivion, The Smiler, Nemesis Reborn, Rita, Thirteen, Wicker Man, Galactica. Thorpe Park: Hyperia, Stealth, The Swarm, Nemesis Inferno. Chessington: Mandrill Mayhem, Dragon's Fury, Rattlesnake, Vampire. Submissions taken from any other rollercoaster or ride will not be eligible.

2.1            

2.2           The competition will run from 11:00 am GMT on 16 August 2026 to 11:59 pm GMT on 23 August 2026 (the "Closing Date"). The winner will be notified by email by 06:00 pm GMT on 28 August 2026.

3               Eligibility

3.1           Entrants must be 16+ and resident in the UK and must not be employees of or immediate family members of employees of Merlin Entertainments, their agents or anyone professionally connected to this competition ("Eligible Entrants"). Entrants under 18 require consent from a parent or guardian.

3.2           Only entries from individuals will be accepted. Any entries that the Promoter believes have been made via participation in a syndicate or use any robotic, automatic, programmed or similar entry method will be disqualified. Any images that in Merlin’s reasonable belief are AI-generated or AI-enhanced will not be considered.

3.3           Any entry that, in the sole opinion of the Promoter, is deemed to be inappropriate for publication is ineligible. Incomplete or illegible entries will be disqualified.

4               How to Enter

4.1           In order to enter the competition, Eligible Entrants need to share an official ride photo purchased at a Merlin theme park on the eligible rides at the eligible attractions, both listed in term 2, showing them partaking in the ‘Straight Face Challenge’ to Instagram or Facebook using the hashtag #StraightFaceChallenge and tagging @merlinentertainments. Accounts must be public until winners have been selected.

4.2           The image submitted must be taken of the entrant and the entrant must have permission of all persons in the photograph before sharing. In the event of a 3^rd party featuring in the ride photo not granting permission or withdrawing their permission, the entrant must remove the photo from social media. In this instance, competition entry would not be affected.

4.3           The submitted photo must have been purchased and can either be a digital download or a physical copy but should not include watermarks. A photograph of the physical copy will need to be taken and shared on social media utilising the terms on 4.1 to qualify as an entry.

4.4           All entries must be received by the Promoter before the Closing Date. All entries received after the Closing Date will be automatically disqualified.

4.5           The competition winner will be drawn by an independent adjudicator or via a verifiable computerised system producing random results from entries received in accordance with these terms and conditions.

4.6           By entering this competition, the entrant and the entrant’s parent/legal guardian agree that, in the event that the entrant is the winner of the competition, the Promoter and its parent company may use the entrant’s name, image and town or county of residence to announce the winner of this competition and for any other reasonable and related promotional purposes. It is further agreed that the entrant will participate in any reasonable publicity required by the Promoter.

4.7           The Promoter will make all reasonable efforts to contact the winner. If the winner cannot be contacted or is not available, or has not claimed their prize within 7 days of the announcement date, the Promoter reserves the right to offer the prize to the runner-up,

4.8           Entrants may enter the competition Up to two times; however, duplicate images from the same entrant will not be entered. Where the image contains multiple people from the same party, the same image may be posted multiple times, from individual social media accounts linked to the individuals pictured.

5               The Prize

5.1           The prize will be for the winning entrant and up to 3 others to win a Platinum Merlin Annual Pass, valid for one year from the point of redemption, which are subject to Merlin Annual Pass terms and conditions available www.merlinannualpass.co.uk/important-information/terms-conditions/annual-passes. The Passes must be redeemed by 31/12/2026.

5.2           There is no cash alternative for the prize and the prize is not negotiable or transferable.

6               General

6.1           All entries are subject to approval by the Promoter. In particular, the Promoter will reject entries which are offensive, abusive, misleading, unethical, discriminating or defaming in nature.

6.2           This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed, administered by or associated with Meta, Facebook or Instagram.

6.3           By submitting an entry, the entrant and entrant’s parent/legal guardian are agreeing to be bound by these terms and conditions. Entries must be the sole work of the entrant. Any plagiarised entry, or entry that is not the sole work of the entrant be disqualified. Entries must not have been published or received any prize or reward.

6.4           Insofar as is permitted by law, the Promoter, its parent company, its agents or distributors will not in any circumstances be responsible or liable to compensate the winner or accept liability for any loss, damage, personal injury or death occurring as a result of taking up the prize except where it is caused by the negligence of the Promoter, its parent company, its agents or distributors or that of their employees.

6.5           All competition entries and any accompanying material submitted to the Promoter will become the property of the Promoter on receipt and will not be returned. By submitting an entry and any accompanying material, the entrant and entrant’s parent/legal guardian agree to assign to the Promoter all intellectual property rights and waive all moral rights in the entrant’s competition entry and otherwise arising in connection with the entrant’s entry to which the entrant or entrant’s parent/legal guardian may now or any time in the future be entitled.

6.6           By entering, the entrant and entrant’s parent/legal guardian acknowledge that the entry may be posted on the Promoter’s website and on social media, but the Promoter is not obliged to use, post or display any entry submitted. Merlin shall have full right and power to copy, publish, broadcast, display, distribute, use, edit, alter, combine with other material, refuse and adapt any or all proportions of entries in any way and for any purpose whatsoever, at any time, now or in the future, in any media.

6.7           If there is any reason to believe that there has been a breach of these terms and conditions, the Promoter may, at its sole discretion, reserve the right to disqualify the entrant from participating in the competition.

7               In the event of circumstances outside its reasonable control, the Promoter reserves the right to void, suspend or cancel the competition where it becomes necessary to do so, but will always endeavour to minimise the effect on entrants to avoid undue disappointment. 

7.1           The Promoter reserves the right to modify these terms and conditions at any time on giving notice via Merlin Annual Pass Official Site and the Merlin Entertainments Instagram account {@merlinentertainments}

7.2           These terms and conditions shall be governed by English law, and entrants agree to submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.