Changes have been confirmed for Merlin Annual Passes as of the 28th November 2017. The main bulk of the changes are related to heavier restrictions on the Standard Merlin Annual Pass.
Standard annual pass changes:
Standard Merlin Annual Pass, new or renewed purchased on or after 28th November will no longer include Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays in August including September 1stand 2nd at five of our busiest attractions (Chessington World of Adventures Resort, THORPE PARK Resort, Alton Towers Resort, Warwick Castle and LEGOLAND® Windsor Resort). There will be no change in pricing for the Standard Merlin Annual Pass.
This will not change the existing restrictions which apply to the remaining 27 attractions and does not affect current passes until they renew.
Premium annual pass changes:
The price of Premium new and renewal passes will be increasing by £10 per pass. We have also made some small changes to the usage restrictions for the Share the Fun Vouchers. Our full terms and conditions will be available to view from the 28th November.
This will not affect current passes until they renew
The changes come after a review of the annual pass structure and have come only a few days after LEGOLAND Windsor removed their lifetime pass from the lineup.
Apart from the increase in price, the premium annual pass doesn't seem to offer anything new as justification for the new price increase apart from the currently unknown share the fun voucher usage restrictions.
In the FAQ's for the changes, it answers the question of why the premium pass has increased price and the answer was as follows:
To reflect the fantastic range of new rides and attractions that our Passholders will find within the world of Merlin.
