Blue Light Card Member Day: Is It Worth the Effort? (My Honest Review)

After nearly ten years of having a Blue Light Card, I finally decided to try one of their Member Day events (previously known as Services Day).

I took the family along to the Chessington World of Adventures Member Day on 14 March, partly for the sake of the blog and partly because it promised a cheap day out. The idea is simple: cheaper tickets, free parking, money off food, and a supposedly quieter theme park.

Short version? We saved money… but I wouldn’t rush to do it again.

Below is the honest version: how much we saved, how busy it really was, and whether I think Member Days are actually worth the effort.

What is a Blue Light Card Member Day?

A Blue Light Card Member Day is a one-off event where a theme park opens to Blue Light Card holders and their families. These usually happen once (sometimes twice) a year and tend to fall in March or November.

Parks I’ve seen involved include:
Chessington World of Adventures
LEGOLAND Windsor
Alton Towers

In theory, it should be quieter because the park isn’t open to the general public. In reality, it depends on how many people turn up.

I hadn’t been to Chessington in over ten years, so I don’t have a perfect like-for-like comparison, but I can tell you what we experienced.

How much did the Member Day cost?

This is where Member Day looks strong on paper.

At Chessington, all tickets were £18, whether adult or child. For comparison, tickets for the following weekend were £29.50.

For our group:
Member Day tickets: £18 each
Normal price: £29.50
Saving per ticket: £11.50
Total saving (6 people): £69
Parking: Free (normally £4)

Food, drink and gift shop discounts

Food and drink were 20% off, which matters more than you’d think given theme park prices.

We spent £39 feeding and watering six people. That’s not cheap, but for a theme park, it felt almost reasonable. Not a bargain, but it didn’t sting as much as it usually does.

You also get 20% off in the gift shops, if overpriced cuddly toys are your thing.

Please note: I visited Chessington again in 2026 (several years after writing this post) and they still gave me 10% off when showing my Blue Light Card. I’m not sure if this is the same for all Merlin attractions, but I assume it is.

How busy was the park?

Busier than I expected. Much busier.

Given the time of year and the fact that it was a Member Day, I assumed queues would be short. They weren’t.

Queue times we saw:
Smaller rides: 5–15 minutes
Zufari: 30 minutes
Gruffalo River Ride: 35 minutes
Rattlesnake and Vampire: around 60 minutes
Dragon’s Fury: up to 90 minutes (before it closed)

At one point, six rides weren’t running at all.

I later spoke to a colleague whose son had visited in the summer and he told me queues were much longer then, so maybe I’m being a little unfair. But it certainly wasn’t the calm, exclusive experience I’d imagined.

Food ordering chaos (but forgivable)

Ordering lunch was a bit of a mess.

Some machines weren’t printing receipts, which meant queuing again at the counter to find your order number. Food took over 15 minutes to come and it was wrong. After watching several people return to complain about missing items, I checked our order before sitting down. Good job, because something was missing.

That said, it was early in the season, and it felt like a lot of staff were new. We were probably the guinea pigs before the full-price crowds arrived.

So… was Blue Light Card Member Day worth it?

For me, probably not.

Yes, we saved money on tickets and food. Free parking is nice too.

But:
it was busier than expected
queues were long for key rides
similar ticket savings are easy to find elsewhere

I’ll happily go back to Chessington, just on my own terms, using a deal that suits us better.

If you want a guaranteed discount and don’t mind crowds, a Member Day can make sense. If you’re hoping for a quieter park or something that feels genuinely exclusive, you may be disappointed.

Would I recommend a Blue Light Card Member Day?

I wouldn’t say “don’t do it”. I also wouldn’t say it’s a must-use benefit of the card.

For me, the real value of the Blue Light Card is still the everyday stuff: supermarkets, eating out, and the discounts you’ll actually use regularly.

If you’re weighing up whether a Member Day is worth it, it helps to look at this alongside the other savings available. I’ve broken down where you can actually use the card and which discounts are the most reliable in my full Blue Light Card discounts list.

If you’ve been to a Member Day yourself, let me know what you thought in the comments. I’m genuinely curious whether mine was just a “bad timing” visit or if this is how they usually are.