to feel ripped off at having to pay for parking at theme parks and other touristy places?

[AKMD]

It's not as though there's a great deal of choice at some of these places.

Alton Towers - middle of nowhere
Whipsnade Zoo - middle of nowhere although if you go down the hill a bit there's a NT carpark on Bison Hill
Thorpe Park - MoN
Chessington, Legoland etc.

When they're charging £20/£50 a ticket to get in, I feel a bit ripped off having to pay for parking at £4/£5 a time as well. AIBU?

Nope. Pisses me off too!

Yanbu.

Part of the great british rip off.

YANBU - it's a total rip off. The entrance fees are bloody expensive. I'm not sure how they expect people to get to a lot of them other than drive.

Yes I think it's a bit cheeky too. It's not as if you'd be able to take advantage of free parking and go anywhere else. But then if they didn't charge for parking, they'd just stick it on the entrance price instead. This way they get to make the day out look slightly cheaper than it actually is.

When it was introduced at Thorpe Park I stupidly thought it was because they had problems with people parking all day and busing it into the local town Staines (it's only a couple of miles) then I found out it was all of the Merlin group doing the same

If your an annual pass holder it is free though...

I do agree though the entrance prices are costly enough without extra for parking!

Presumably the alternative would be for them to offer 'free' parking and charge, say £22 and £52 a ticket or something instead. Theme parks are just incredibly expensive and you just have to factor the parking into the astronomical cost of the ticket and either be happy to pay that or not go. It's not the parking that's a rip off particularly, it's the whole cost, or that's how I see it.

I hate the fact that you have to pay the ridiculous entry prices even if you aren't going to go on any of the bloody rides! I'd prefer they stamp your hand or something. No stamp-no ride.

And then those of us who are just supervising our children but not actually planning on being suspended by our tits 14000 miles in the air and then swung twice round the earth before having a poker shoved up our arse can just go in, keep an eye on the kids and stick to paying eighthundred and forty quid for a luke warm coffee flavoured beverage and a scone so stale you can use it to beat whales to death.

YANBU

We went to Legoland last week. Dick Turpin is obviously a stakeholder.

We are intending to go to Chessington, Thorpe Park, Alton Towers etc on public transport. So obviously I'd rather they charged for parking and kept the cost of admission down.

And it's not just theme-parks and attractions - anything at NEC (or any exhibition centre I presume) such as a craft fair or a concert, parking is £8 on top of that! Really puts me off.

I'm sensing you are not a fan Hecate

Drayton Manor have started doing this too, pisses me right off

:o Hecate

DH and I actually decided not to go to Legoland these holidays because the tickets are so expensive (even with a 2-for-1) and we felt that the carparking charge was the last straw. If you're charging so much for an entrance ticket then absorb the carparking, please.

yy to non-riders not paying.

I bloody hate rides.

Hecate, you can do that at Blackpool Pleasure beach. If you don't want to go on the rides, you pay £5 entry and that lets you go in the maze and on the monorail and wander about.

How can you get there on public transport? Directions by train usually go something like this: "The nearest train station is 18 miles away in MoN station 2. Trains run twice a day and the local taxi service charges £30 each direction between MoN station 2 and the park. Enjoy your journey!"

Thinking about it, the solution would be to have a set ticket price including car parking, and then give a discount at the gate to people who hand in valid bus and/or train tickets.

YANBU
I like to get the bastards back by being totally unable to afford to go AT ALL
I go to the £1 a person local farm park instead, free Parking and small rides 20p a pop
In ya face merlin group

The boss of Merlin was on the radio last week talking about how business is booming. It's actually very reasonable to take the family apparently.

what gave me away, billy?

No. I really hate these rip off places.

Didn't know that about blackpool. Will have to go there. Ta.

We're going to legoland the weekend after next. It would cost a bloody fortune to get there by train/taxi/bus and take forever. Don't really see the choice but to drive.

AKMD, it is pretty simple to get there on public transport. Which theme park do you want to know about?

Well, Everyone, there is an answer, isn't there? Don't go to any of them. You all know that the entrance price is too high for a family and you all know that they charge for car parking and you all know that their shop prices are astronomical £7 or £8 for a cheapo mug. I expect you all take a picnic, too, because their restaurant prices are too high quite nice food at Legoland though. I don't want to go any more.

Seahouses how do i get to Legoland from stoney stanton in Leicestershire then?

You can get a bus from Windsor to Legoland. The bus stop is outside the theatre and it is a 5 min walk from Windsor and Eton Central railway station. We went on Friday on public transport as it was cheaper then driving/parking

I guess whilst people go to these parks and are prepared to pay the ridiculous entrance fees and the parking fees then they will charge them. If people stopped going then the fees would soon lower...