Merlin Entertainments will launch a pay monthly equivalent of its annual passes, under the name of a ‘Merlin Membership’ later this month.
Details were first broken by the unofficial Alton Towers fan site TowersTimes earlier this week.
A 12-month contract is applied at the time of purchase and features associations with credit checking and debt collection agencies as per a mobile phone contract or car insurance paid by Direct Debit.
Merlin operates the Alton Towers, Thorpe Park and Chessington World of Adventures theme parks among its 31 attractions in the UK.
It has been conducting market research over a monthly Direct Debit version of its current pre-purchase annual passes for a number of years in the form of online surveys.
The membership will be available in ‘standard’ and ‘premium’ formats along the same lines as its annual pass offerings.
The memberships will cost £12.99 and £15.99 per month respectively and feature all of the perks – such as the 20% off food and shopping discount – as the Merlin Annual Pass.