Alton Towers to remove disability pass for people with ADHD and anxiety

[AnitaRita]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2gwgj4xreo
Too many people wanting to join the "Fast pass queue" so you actually end up with two queues rather than one queue and a fast entry! Got to agree with them - if you're too anxious to queue then a white knuckle ride is probably not for you!

They are there to make money plus they are not open for several months of the year anyway.
Fast passes are limited and sell out. Once they are gone, you have to join the normal queues.

Don't disagree with any of this. As ever, it's the entshittification of the customer experience.

You can, it it doesn't mean the person next to you with AuDHD can...

It’s being massively abused and the company has now had to change their rules.

Brilliant post

Lucky folk never having to experience adhd 🤪

Theme parks also need to do their bit. Stop staggering the opening time of rides, as this creates queues from the very start of the day.

Ensure rides have enough staff to turn around as quickly as possible.

Improve virtual queuing and booking.

Unfortunately, I'm not shocked at the ignorance shown on this thread re autism, ADHD, and anxiety.

I'm sure at some point the naysayers will have a family member affected by these difficulties,.and see the world through a different lens.

I'm autistic and struggle with queues. I have never had one of these passes and when I went to theme parks as a teenager I went on the quietest day/time I could find and avoided the very popular rides with long queues. The differences between a ride and a queue:

-- you don't know how long the queue will last. If time estimates are given, they might be wrong, which can be hard if you've been mentally telling yourself you only have to endure it for x minutes when in fact it's x+y minutes.
-- the people around you might be very loud, and that would be your main sensory input (making it different from a ride where people around you might scream but there's also the noise and sensations of the ride - I find multiple loud conversations much harder to deal with than other types of noise)
-- the people around you might bump or jostle you, it's unpredictable. Unexpected physical contact plus loud noise sends my body into an acute 'fight or flight' stress response even if mentally I know nothing dangerous is happening
-- once you are in the queue, you are 'trapped' and can't leave to escape the people around you, take a break, use the bathroom etc. Yes, you can't leave the ride once you're on it either, but the ride is far, far shorter. With some rides this is a mental stressor (you'll lose your place in the queue if you leave, annoy the people you're with, etc) but in others the queue system can make it physically difficult to just walk away
-- depending on the time of year it can be very hot or cold and you might be sensitive to that. I have no problems with cold but will faint if I have to stand for a long time on a hot day
-- all of these things can be much worse if you're a child, so you can't just walk away if you need to, or if you have trouble verbally communicating your needs

Obviously nobody, autistic or not, enjoys the above things, but there's a difference between disliking something but putting up with it, and it causing such distress that you can't do the thing in question.

I don't actually have a strong opinion on the passes either way and wouldn't use one myself. This is just a post for the people who struggle to empathise and understand how someone could have severe anxiety in a queue yet enjoy a ride. Assuming of course that those posts are genuine and not just attempts to be nasty about those who find it difficult.

We already do. It’s so prevalent I basically don’t know anyone that doesn’t have an ND family member. That’s the whole point - it’s become so common it’s losing meaning. We did say but were told we were being ‘ableist’ for even thinking this. 🤷‍♀️

This isn't correct. Firstly you've never been able to have 15 people use one pass. It's for the pass holder plus 3 others.
secondly, autism and complex needs have been excluded from the Merlin ride access pass. Amazes me how you have had time to write all that but not enough time to actually look into the facts of the situation you're talking about.

I understand how the RAP system works, I've used it as a carer with a friend who is physically unable to queue. You join a virtual queue and then you join another bloody queue of people with RAP, which makes it hard for my friend to actually access any rides.

To be honest I've been with people who have invited additional cousins with autism/ADHD diagnoses just to use their ride access pass. These people can queue. They would queue for a shorter ride whilst in the virtual queue for a long one.

Theme parks are stressful, they are a sensory nightmare, sensory rooms aren't full of anxious people waiting for rides, not in equal numbers to those using a RAP in the name of neuordivergence/anxiety.

It is a very highly abused system. Yes there will be a few that will struggle but managing by visiting on quieter, term time days will have to be the way forward due to the level of abuse the system has experienced.

It's like so many so-called invisible disabilities. So many people think they can game the system, that genuinely disabled people don't get a look in.

At this point are people just choosing to be ignorant? Google the actual facts, what the changes are and who will be excluded as a result. Don't just use it as a way to make you feel right about your own ignorant opinions on adhd.

I have 3 ND children and never used these passes. I kind of feel like if you find queuing hard you probably need to practice it as a skill more. On the other hand I wouldn't go on August bank holiday, but would look to book at a quieter time - recently we have been in early April and early October. Plus those around in the queue should learn to be tolerant of fractious kids in the queue. If you have profound learning needs or a physical disability that is different.

Fast passes/queue jumps are still available, you just have to pay for them like everyone else who hates queueing. It doesn't mean people are excluded, just that an expensive day out is a bit more expensive. But people will stretch to it if it's important to them.

I actually don’t think people know they’re gaming the system. I think we’ve taught everyone that every ‘condition’ is a disability, and that it’s how you feel that matters, and nobody can push back. So this is the result.

Plenty of people never get to go to a theme park. My sympathies are somewhat limited.

Quite! It's a luxury not a human right.

The cynic in me thinks this is more about selling more fast track passes , rather than consideration for “more disabled” customers. One just plays better in the media/society.

Gold fast track at legoland is from £75 pp we will just use some of our dla / pip for this . Will
they still have free carer tickets as that always helps a lot ?

But they are a business and not a charity.

Tell you don’t deal with ND children without telling me you don’t deal with ND children.

My two will pretty much never go on a roller coaster again. They simply will not queue, no matter how much they want something the would simply turn around and walk away. We could spend all day, walking from one place to the next.

As many have already pointed out it’s not a queue jump. It’s a virtual queue (I would have no issue with this being offer to all).

Rollercoasters are a huge dopamine hit for ADHD kids so can definitely be a benefit to ND children (but easier to pick on the anxiety trend I see!)

Yes I think so as this is what we plan to do as it’s really the only option now

So many 'experts' on this thread. I think they should go and work for CAMHS.

There are rides at Disney World where the main queue is fully wheelchair accessible and the rides have easy access wheelchair spaces. So in those cases an access pass is not needed is it?