To think the fast track queues at Thorpe park are unfair?

I have just checked in case anyone doubts that RAP are limited at Thorpe Park - the next weekend date with any availability at all for a disabled RAP is Sunday 1 June. All of the available RAP have already been booked for the half-term week beginning 26 May, and for the following week beginning 2 June too.

The park allows x number of RAP users to book in a day. Everyone can't 'skip the queue' using a RAP, you have to send in proof of your disability and why it means you can't queue, and get it assessed and approved before, then book RAP place for the day you want to go - these are limited per day,and obviously you still have to book the park tickets too.

Each RAP user can go on a ride, say Hyperia, when they arrive.

They wait in the short queue which is only for RAP holders. Once they've.been on Hyperia, if the standard queue for Hyperia was 1 hour at that point, the RAP user then has to wait 1 hour before they are allowed to join the short RAP queue for their next ride, say Nemesis.

They go on Nemesis, then if the standard queue for Nemesis at that time is 90 minutes, they then can't join a RAP queue for their next ride until 90 minutes is up. Etc etc.

So there will be an amount of waiting in the shorter RAP queue as several RAP holders could have completed their 'time out time' at the same time, but it's a lot shorter than the wait in the standard queue.

So RAP holders still have to wait, they can't just go on rides all day long with no queues, they just don't have to do the waiting in a physical queue.

Edited,. missed out an explanation

Well, that seems reasonable. But what happens if everyone 'skips the queue' I wonder.

That's how theme park RAP passes work too, sort of. You do 'skip the queue' but then are timed out for the length of time you would have otherwise queued for. So if the regular queue is for an hour, you'd be timed out for an hour after the ride. It makes sense - it means that ND people (if relevant) can avoid queueing, but don't get to go on any extra rides. I think it's a good system.

I agree with your DH, it's unfair. That said, recently went for a brief visit somewhere with DD and we bought a pass to several museums (which did not mean not queuing but we didn't have to queue twice) and also a 'skip the queue' ticket for one particular place, which meant that we had to go away for an hour and do something else then come back but did not stand in the quite long queue. I don't see this as queue jumping - we didn't get in early - but queue avoidance. The ticket was not afaik more expensive (I didn't pay for this particular ticket) and anyone could buy one.
Anyone can buy a priority ticket, of course, but it sounds much more expensive which means people on a budget have to queue for ages whilst the better off can swan past - looks unfair. I'd go on a less busy day just not to feel guilty, really.

Eh?? My little autistic son LOVES theme parks. It's his favourite thing to do. He adores rollercoasters (he had ADHD too) and a theme park is a brilliant place for him to burn off his energy. It is his number 1 choice for a day trip out. He's certainly not being tricked into going to theme parks - I'd far rather go for a nice country walk! Who are you to say what ND people do / don't like? Also, are you under some weird mistaken belief that all ND people do / don't like the same thing...??

My DSs best friend has autism and his autistic special interest is rollercoasters. He can talk for hours about track types, chain lifts, speeds, banking, roll backs, I don't know what else. Going to theme parks gives him great pleasure, no one is 'tricking' him to go, how'd you reach that strange opinion? His parents would love to not have to drive to a theme park every month, it's him that's choosing it. You don't know or speak for all ND children.

Going to space or on a holiday to China would also be extremely stressful but that’s why people who can’t handle that don’t go. Parents tricking their ND children into going to highly stressful places just because other children seem to enjoy it are not doing their ND children any favours at all. I bet they would not actively choose to go there if they knew what it would be like.

Theme parks make a fortune from these fast passes. There is no way they are going to stop or reduce the number of them any time soon.

Yes. I think TP is worse! Scarier. Better.

seriously though, chessington and Paulton's are for toddlers, very meek and mild. TP is a step up to a completely different level and thus shouldn't be underestimated. There is actually very little at TP, for young, small, not courageous. Go knowing this.

I love it all and go on stealth regularly, have done for years, and took both ds's as soon as they were tall enough.

Ds2 went weeks ago as marketing trial, costing £5 only, but was disappointed that newer Hyperia had technical faults and closed.

Thorpe Park only has really big coasters or very scary mazes where real actors play absolutely terrifying zombies. 🧟 🧟‍♀️🧟‍♂️

I couldn't go on any of the rides but my teenage daughter and her friends love Thorpe Park and have been on all the crazy rides multiple times.

Hyperia is the big one, but I find many others too terrifying to even watch - Saw, Stealth, Nemesis are all huge (I am a wuss though)

My son has RAP for adhd, before I knew about them we did go to a couple of the big parks. And it was hell on earth for him queuing and me and the whole family. Try taking an austitic or adhd child to a theme park and queuing for hours and you will understand. The people, the proximity to people, the stress and the wait times are incredibly stressful and cahse extreme anxiety.
Once we gor the pass and went to tbe theme park it was like a whole experience had opened up to us, I even said to my husband this must be what it is like taking a normal child out for a day. It was mindblowing how much it changed for us and to be able to experience a day out without the meltdowns and stress and having to leave early.

I just see it as an option if you can afford it. Like with anything, some people can't or don't want to afford a car and take the bus or walk. Some people can't afford a bigger house and are in crowded accomodation. Some people can't afford to eat good quality food.
Its just the way it is.
If your DH lives his entire life as a socialist and practices this across everything then he can have a point.
Otherwise, why would he have this bugbear just about theme parks, there are many more injustices in the world. What about people that can't afford to go to the theme park at all ? Should noone go??

Not necessarily so. Could just be a spoilt brat.

We got a ‘free’ fast track at Legoland as DS is autistic with severe learning difficulties and doesn’t understand queues. You can have a maximum of 3 people together.

There are actually different levels of fast track passes and you get the cheapest, basic one if it’s for disabilities and you’re not paying. We could use it for a ride or 2 then the app would time-out for a period of time (30 minutes or so) until we could use it again. If you are paying for a fast-track pass there are more expensive options that allow unlimited queue jumping.

Tbh I was pretty shocked at the level of queues at Legoland, it was technically an inset day tacked onto the end of a half term as well. Hour+ queues for really crappy basic kids rides. Considering the price of normal tickets I thought it was pretty outrageous.

Queuing is a big part of the park experience! Rides feel so much more exciting after a long queue. If you’ve ever got on a big ride quickly you know how weirdly unfulfilling it feels. Savour the queues, you will remember them fondly after the day is done.

Does he like big coasters? My daughter loves Alton Towers but nothing that loops, and we found that more or less all the big rides looped at Thorpe Park. If he’s into his loops though, all good. As for the fast pass, go for it.

Places like Thorpe Park should hold special "priority access" days, where they ONLY sell priority tickets. That way everyone would be treated equally but still be in the priority queue. It would be a good money maker for the site owners too and the sort of person who is willing to pay for the priority ticket probably wouldn't realise it was a massive con. And when they did work it out, there could be a "priority plus" upgrade, more money to access a new type of elite queue.

All you've seen with your own eyes is people whose disabilities weren't obvious to you. And possibly families or groups of friends with more than one disabled member, queuing together with a RAP per every 4 people- we tend to stick together because of people who have no idea about disability and who judge our disabled family members (like you).

As I said, my DD and my DSs best friend both have a RAP, you might see both our families in a RAP queue together but we're not all going on rides using one RAP, it's a maximum of the RAP holder and up to 3 companions. And sometimes we get split up as the ride will only allow one RAP holder per car.

You're just seeing what you've already decided is happening, people without disabilities 'gaming the system'. It's not possible to do that, the RAP is judged by an external disability agency not the park, and only allows the RAP holder plus up to 3 companions to ride together. And Merlin now limit how many RAP holders can use them in a day. Plus you do realise that RAP holders have to wait the same amount of time between rides as the queue length? They just don't have to wait in a physical queue, the RAP card is marked with the time they can go on their next ride, which is the time the normal queue is waiting. You can't just rock up with a sunflower lanyard and skip the queues on as many rides as you like all day long.

@Nameychangington
All I know is what I've seen with my own eyes on multiple occasions. I don't know how the system was gamed but it clearly was.

Indeed. In fact I quite like this as it spreads the cost of the meal. But no one is paying extra to make a restaurant reservation.

I’m sure the super rich can and do pay for access to in-demand places. Concierges in top hotels can get you reservations and get well tipped for it. Money always talks.

But there’s no routine way of paying for preferential treatment when you book a restaurant like the fast pass system.

You don't know.what you're talking about. To get a RAP you have to send proof of your disability and how it specifically means you can't queue,to an external company called Nimbus Disability, who assess it and award you either a yellow or red RAP, or nothing. Please do explain how therefore 'the vast majority of people using it are not disabled in any way'? Are you better able to judge that than a disability charity?

Each RAP holder can ride with up to 3 companions, one of whom has to take responsibility for the RAP holder both in the queue and on the ride. Do you think disabled people should have to ride alone and not with their friends or family, because of their disability? My DD has a RAP as does DSs best friend - our families met up at Alton Towers last year and on some rides DD and the best friend were not allowed to be in the same car on a ride for safety reasons, so we were separated and DS had to choose to ride with his friend or his sister. So no, no 'half a dozen friends and family' our party weren't allowed to ride on the same car.

Your nasty prejudice is embarrassing you.

That's not 'charging' because the deposit would be offset against the meal. It's to stop no-shows, and who can blame them in this flaky world we live in?