A lot of comments on social medias about how much the price inflation is - but actually, its only about 50 quid on each pass. and even then, this is without the sure-to-come summer deals, extra benefits you now get, taking into account how hard the company may have been hit by COVID, and its still, in the scheme of things, a pretty banging deal. For cheaper than 4 park visits you get to visit dozens of attractions for free for an entire year? Genuinely an impressive feat how much the UK community have been able to kick up about such a standard and typical, fairly well executed business move.
Sure, compared to other international passes like Cedar Fair, Walibi etc, its pretty steep;
But its on the same level as Phantasialand's pass, for access to a plethora of different, vastly popular attractions. I think personal experience and intended use will weigh much more into the true value of the pass now.
I haven't had an MAP for years, I've always just used friends' magic passes, but I still think these are a good deal. If I were to visit merlin things more than a couple times, I'd probably get one, but I simply don't, so don't need one. I truly suspect that you only need to use these new passes 3+ times to get the value out of them, which isn't bad at all for an annual membership kinda job. Unfortunately having this opinion on some of my personal SMs would have me descended upon like a chicken carcass in a wolf pit, but I totally see why the MAPs have been jigged up and why the price change has come along. For me, the only reason I would complain would be British entitlement (as in, I don't like change, even tho this is totally reasonable, so I have a problem with it, because f*** you).
