AIBU to think Merlin Ride Access passes are unfairly judged?

I don't think it actually is judgement in many cases.

They care that they are having to wait longer, that their toddler is struggling to queue because they are little, that they have spent a fortune on a day out to try to have fun with their family, and are not getting on many rides. People are generally most focused on their family, and if they feel that something is making their families day less enjoyable, then they are going to be frustrated, thats not aimed at a specific person, but the situation. They might have a 'face on' because they are tired and have a 3 year old whinging that they need the toilet and are debating whether they will make the ride before their child wets themself, or if they should leave the queue after 80 mins queuing. Just as people with disabilities want to have a fun day out with their families, people without disabilities also want to.

Because it isn't 'giving them a sip of water'! It's giving them water via a NG or PEG tube. Which requires syringes, clean area to prep etc.

It’s just more of people judging how disabled someone looks.

theme park rides are amazing sensory experiences. For those that think autistic children shouldn’t go, I actually think they are the ones enjoying the rides the most.

I’ve never taken my child as she will melt down in a queue, and run off. It’s sad that parents brave enough to battle through their child’s extra needs to give them this experience receive this judgment.

When did giving a child a sip of water become ‘topping up their fluids’?

No definitely not.

But as a PP said, make something too attractive and people will find a way to abuse it.

It undeniably gives an advantage to those of us who qualify with less severe needs. We go on a ride with RAP, and then whilst the countdown is going, my girls can go on a ride where an adult isn't needed to go on with them, and I can sit on a bench and watch, or we can eat lunch etc.

But the advantage in itself isn't the issue, it's the number of people using that advantage. There many be people in the main queue who also struggle, but don't quite qualify, and who end up waiting longer due to the number of RAPS. A family who really struggled to afford but came as a special treat, who only got on a few rides. It's the issue that making my day easier makes someone else's day a bit harder, and I also don't know what's going on in their life. It's a balancing act I think

I think it’s you that misunderstands. At no point am I spiteful or blaming anyone. You’re projecting rather.

I stand by my point. The majority of children don’t have unlimited access to things. That’s life. Should all children have equity? Absolutely.

Yep, absolutely this. Some RAP queues at Chessington were well over 30 minutes, which defeats the object, and left me in lots of pain. Because I don't want my girls to miss put due to my disability, so I forced myself to queue for 1 ride and ended up struggling to walk for a week after.

They tried restricting access to the RAPS, they got moaned at. They tried the booking system, they got moaned at.
I'm not sure of the solution

Yes I did & I agree.

blaming the disabled is just SO much easier than looking at the corporate greed though isn't it.

Honestly they can have my BB & my access card anytime they want my disabilities. I would love my life (prior to becoming disabled (literally) overnight) . Most people can't even imagine the head fuck it is to go to bed one night perfectly able, living your very 'normal' life & wake up in the morning disabled.

Or what it's like to have a child who has so many extra limitations & needs just to get through the day, let alone enjoy anything. But instead of appreciating their lives they want to make a disabled persons life even harder.

they're smug in their lives, they need to believe it's not just a saying Anyone (including their children) can become disabled overnight.

Well said

Some of the ableist posts on this thread are so gross.

i would put strong money on 95% of those being 'fast pass' holders.

Most of us who are disabled (or whose children are) need the 'waiting time' to deal with our/their additional needs (toileting which takes much more time & often needed more frequently, eating (requirement for many) to take medication, tube feeding, iv medication, sitting down to rest-it's nothing like just being tired from an active fun day out. It's an exhaustion that you can't really explain to an able bodied person)

Even if a few disabled kids can do another ride while virtually queuing., do you really begrudge them that when so much of the rest of their life is far far 'less' that an able body child's ???

@SummerFrog2026corporate greed: totally agree. See my earlier post about private equity.

Ramming far too many people into Legoland on the hottest April day for 80 years and just sitting back listening to the cash registers chiming.

Greedy bastards.

Ridiculous how that needs explaining to a grown adult isn't it.

Exactly this.

and I'll say it again. Anytime someone wants 'all the perks' I'll gladly swap them to have my my able body back!!

If you don't understand, read the put I quoted. It's not complicated.

Disabled children almost always have more limited access to everything, their parents are even more likely to struggle more financially. But it's just spiteful to suggest further restricting their access to theme park rides.

the restrictions should be on the number if fast passes theme parks sell, but they're a business & will do whatever makes them the must money

stop blaming disabled people when corporate greed is the problem!

@AmazeAmaze

That all sounds lovely I’m theory if it’s just a few people. But the reason parks and other places are struggling is the huge numbers using these passes.

What are the statistics for how many RAPs are issued by Nimbus pa?

I tend to find on all these threads moaning about the advantages disabled people get, whether it’s blue badges, Motability cars, special education, benefits, etc, there is a great deal of hyperbole by posters about the cost of massive amounts of taxpayers’ money, which is unaffordable for the country, etc - when I look at at say the spending on say disabled benefits, it’s 3% of GDP. Not a massive amount in comparison to the increase in the tax take, due to fiscal drag. Ditto, people complaining about too many blue badge spaces - we rarely go anywhere and see blue badge spaces above the recommended 4% in a car park!

Imo, posters are just jealous of the disabled’s few concessions and moan about them, rather than the truth that they are being impoverished by corporate capitalism. Why not have threads moaning about how unfair it is, the better off people can buy fast track passes (Platinum passes, etc)?

Because every child is unique. My child has ADHD and is autistic. They LOVE theme parks and the rides. The sensory feedback they get from rollercoasters makes them so happy and their ADHD is all the better for walking about a park all day, which we can achieve through the RAP. Their ADHD gives them the energy and passion for the rides and moving about freely. It's when they are in a difficult queue line surrounded by others that their attention shifts from the excitement of the day to feeling closed in, the smells from other people, the heavy theming of the queue lines, plus the waiting, too much and then they will bolt, sit on the floor with their hands over their ears distressed, etc.
They can wait in a RAP queue with minimal people, free space, no problem. They can't wait in a 40 min queue with a snaking queue line with people and smells surrounding them on all sides. The sensory side is too much. A theme park with a RAP is a very different sensory experience to a theme park visit without a RAP.

That all sounds lovely I’m theory if it’s just a few people. But the reason parks and other places are struggling is the huge numbers using these passes. If it becomes a big “benefit” to people it makes it much more likely people will try and scam the system to get one. And because of that it actually makes life harder for disabled people who really need one as well. There’s been plenty of people on other threads here and other social media who use RAP passes saying the queues for it get so long they can no longer go at all. Some people genuinely cannot queue AT ALL. So if the RAP queue is 30 minutes long they still can’t wait that long so need to leave. Also because of the sheer numbers requesting RAPs lots of places limit how many can be given out on a day. This then limits disabled families choices as it then becomes unlikely they can ever do things spontaneously. I’ve seen people mention that on here as well. Some disabilities mean planning in advance doesn’t work as you might not know if you’re well enough to go on a certain day. If you now have so many people wanting passes that they limit the numbers and sell out, those other disabled people cannot go at all now. So its not just non disabled people who lose out here.

I attend a hobby event which involves a LOT of queuing. It also attracts a lot of people with disabilities. They provide an access pass. The queues were getting so long for it that they were getting so many complaints because those at the end of the access queue were still waiting an hour at times. Then they tried to limit the number being given. They got complaints about that as well. I’m not sure how they win here? This is the issue a lot of companies are facing.

What a Vile comment.

Do you also judge whether someone is entitled to a blue badge by how they 'look' as well ?

Yes. But some children have limited access to those things, and a disability.

I’m not sure what point you’re making but all children have limited access to things. Time, money, days off work, location.

My DS has Audhd and would probably qualify for one. I didnt apply has he doesnt really need it more than most young bouncy boys and i also think he ultimately needs to learn to manage himself in an NT world so a RAP wouldn't do him any favours (in fact the only queue related melt down ive ever had was from my DH haha).

Kids with more autism than DS( not sure how to say this) absolutely should retain access but I think it needs to be restricted a bit more, especially as you can bring 4 friends in. We actually went once with DS' friend who is "more" autistic and cant queue, NGL i loved just skipping onto rides, and the poor lad would have been on his own if he cant bring friends, but the extra kids were making it a bit shit for the ones in the main queue.

Wow so are you saying that disabled people shouldn’t be allowed to enjoy a theme park? 🤬

Tbh, even if it does make it unfair, I don't think it's really worth all the handwringing and 'what can we do to fix it'-ing. If there's one small area of life where disabled people will have a better experience than able bodied people and are at an advantage then great - in most other areas of life they have a reduced experience and are at a disadvantage. I wouldn't begrudge them a win.

You really don't. I sent 1 gp letter with 2 lines on it saying 'X has arthritis. This means she finds standing for longer periods very painful'.

It's really helpful for us, I wouldn't be able to take my 2 girls to a theme park without it, and I am really grateful to have it. It's disingenuous to say it doesn't give an advantage over those who don't have it. We can sit and eat our lunch, go to the toilet, my girls can play in park whilst waiting for time out

But I do think people take the mick. The group behind us in a queue were alternating between a RAP card and the app to halve their time outs. Others have 2 RAPS in 1 family and alternate between them - we could do this but we don't. There are also people on RAP Facebook groups sharing ways to cheat the system.

It's also a bit in how it's managed. On a very popular ride at legoland today, which had a 90 min wait, half the slots on each go were being taken by RAP users as far as I could see, and I can see this would cause a lot of frustration. Although I have never encountered any hostility from non RAP users, I can understand why they might get annoyed.

This reads like you don’t really think children wearing ‘head sets’ have an actual disability..

Also there’s often an overlap there anyway. Many of the families I know with autistic children also intermittently use wheelchairs or large special needs pushchairs when required. So a child in a wheelchair may have the sole diagnosis of autism anyway. I’ve seen children simultaneously wearing ear defenders whilst sitting in a wheelchair/special needs pushchair.