During the 2024-2025 winter season, Merlin Entertainments implemented several budgetary measures affecting its global operations. In January 2025, the company announced plans to lay off 234 employees at LEGOLAND Florida Resort, primarily targeting performers and entertainment staff. This decision aims to enhance competitiveness in central Florida's theme park market by outsourcing certain entertainment services while maintaining a core in-house team. However, this doesn’t seem to be exclusive to LEGOLAND Florida Resort and rather Merlin Entertainments Parks around the world, including the UK theme parks. This week, performers/entertainment staff from LEGOLAND Windsor Resort have been informed that they will no longer be employed. This is for both the Pirate Stunt show and at the Duplo Theatre. We suspect that this has impacted the entertainment teams at Alton Towers Resort, Chessington World of Adventures Resort and Thorpe Park.
Concurrently, reports emerged that Merlin Entertainments is considering job reductions at Alton Towers Resort. The company is consulting with staff in departments such as marketing, finance, human resources, and entertainment as part of a broader strategy to unify its attractions into a single global business. This also includes the previous announcement that Merlin Magic Making Studios North would be closing. This included 30 positions at redundancy, including staff within the workshop, digital, management and administration, and project management teams.
Additionally, in late 2024, Merlin listed two of its smaller Australian properties—Otway Fly in Victoria and Illawarra Fly in New South Wales—for sale. This move reflects a strategic shift to focus on larger, more profitable ventures, including LEGOLAND Discovery Centre and Madame Tussauds, and to expand hospitality assets along Australia's eastern seaboard. Merlin has also closed both of its attractions in San Francisco in previous years, including Madame Tussauds and The San Francisco Dungeon.
It is also worth noting that Scott O'Neil, Chief Executive Officer of Merlin Entertainments who joined the company in late 2022, left in December 2024. Fiona Eastwood has been named the Interim CEO whilst a permanent succession hiring takes place. During Scott’s time at Merlin Entertainments there were not too many investments made. Investments that have opened at the parks and attractions in the 2023 and 2024 season would have been decisions that were made back previous to his time at Merlin Entertainments.
In terms of what this means for the parks, it looks like the 2025 season at the UK Merlin Parks could be another year of lack of investment and poor operations. Alton Towers Resort started strong in the 2024 season with the opening of Nemesis Reborn; however, this took a very quick turn with: park operations being very poor throughout the season, increased food prices/poor quality, only 2 monorail trains in fit condition to operate and poor opening times. Furthermore, there were numerous times throughout the season when rides would close from 2 days to weeks for ‘essential maintenance’, even though the park is closed from November until the middle of March for this to take place. The other UK Merlin Parks have also faced very similar issues, with the most notable being the opening issues with Hyperia at Thorpe Park, which spent many weeks closed following opening. It looks like the 2025 season could be a very similar situation.
With the very imminent official announcement of Universal Studios coming to the UK, Merlin Entertainments need to have a serious wake up call and position themselves for the arrival of a company that is going to change the UK theme park industry forever once the park is open. At this time, it looks like Merlin Entertainments is going in the wrong direction and making as many cuts as possible. We will see what the future holds for Merlin Entertainments. Be sure to stick with us for all the latest updates.
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