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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

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

67 replies

AKMD · 09/04/2012 19:53

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?

OP posts:

SeaHouses · 09/04/2012 20:19

I've no idea what station is even near Stoney Stanton!

I know it is going to cost £200 for 1 adult and 2 children to go to Legoland, Chessington, and Thorpe Park travelling from rural Yorkshire, staying in a central London hotel and getting the train out to the theme parks each day from Waterloo. That is not including entry as I am buying Merlin Cards with tesco vouchers.

Greatherbert · 09/04/2012 20:20

Svrider, where are you? That sounds like a brill idea. After all my ungrateful children would be happy with a small ride and then the shop to buy a small gift. The whole legoland experience was sadly lost on them. The highlight was the very overpriced shop. They didn't even like the gourmet( not ) burger at £20 with crapy fries and sparkling additives.

SheikYerbouti · 09/04/2012 20:21

btw, I travelled there from Bath - Had to change at Reading and Slough but it was ok (2 kids of 5 and 7). I got a family railcard and the tickest worked out at about 40 quid return [plus 28 for the railcard. It was another tenner for the bus. Petrol alone in my car would have been about 70-80 quid.

Sparklingbrook · 09/04/2012 20:22

Do Legoland still do the expensive parking to be nearer the entrance? haven't been for ten years. Thank goodness. Awful, awful place.

Heswall · 09/04/2012 20:25

I can't believe how busy these places are considering the economic climate.

Originalplurker · 09/04/2012 20:26

No yer not.

Toilets too.

MadameChinLegs · 09/04/2012 20:30

Best way to keep the cost of these places down? Leave the kids and go as a group of women. Then you only pay one entry (or half of one if you have a BOGOF), one fifth of the petrol and one fifth of the parking. Plus, if you stay over somewhere, you can get rather merry and have even more worries about puking on the rides on the second day.

wheredidiputit · 09/04/2012 20:37

YANBU.

DH and I were discussing whether to go away for a week in the summer holiday or go for some day trips.

Legoland, chessington and a couple of local attractions and it nearly the same amount of money as booking a caravan for a week in Deven or Dorset.

wheredidiputit · 09/04/2012 20:38

Devon even.

Original poster

AKMD · 09/04/2012 20:42

They charge for toilets too?!

SeaHorse I was thinking about Alton Towers as being an 'interesting' place to get to by public transport but we'd actually be more interested in Legoland, which I know is fairly well connected. It would cost us more to take public transport there than to take our car though.

OP posts:

creamteas · 09/04/2012 20:52

If anyone is going to the NEC, you can park for free at local stations and get the train one or two stops into Birmingham International.

Weekdays the car parks are packed, but at weekends mostly empty. Try Marston Green, Berkswell or Tile Hill are all park and ride stations and take less than 10 mins to get to the NEC.

fedupofnamechanging · 09/04/2012 21:06

Hecate, you need to get off that fence and say what you really think

Fluffycloudland77 · 09/04/2012 21:14

It's the cost of the food too, I went to a game fair with dh and four icecreams was nearly £10!. £3.50 for a burger, £2.50 for chips etc. Takes the piss.

WhereYouLeftIt · 09/04/2012 21:43

Thanks, creamteas, I never thought to do that (my local station has astronomical parking charges).

ConcreteElephant · 09/04/2012 22:21

Let's not be too keen to polish Blackpool Pleasure Beach's halo - the charge to go in is new (ish). You used to be able to wander around the park / among the rides etc for free and I was a bit shocked when they started to charge for the privilege. If they'd done that years ago my poor DM would have been paying to be a walking coat stand/ baggage rack for the family :)

I think most of these places are squeezing their customers where they can get away with it.

OP YANBU.

Sparklingbrook · 09/04/2012 22:23

Have they stopped you taking your own food to BPB too Concrete?

ConcreteElephant · 09/04/2012 22:30

I don't know Sparkling - DParents no longer live in the North West so I haven't been there for ages. That would be phenomenally tight wouldn't it? But I wouldn't be surprised.

DM was family coat carrier at Alton Towers too but at least there she got an hour's entertainment wandering round the gardens surreptitiously taking cuttings from the plants

Sparklingbrook · 09/04/2012 22:33

Picnic Policy Have I read it right? No picnics in the park?

PuggyMum · 09/04/2012 22:35

We always take a lovely picnic to Alton towers and left it at guest services for£4 a day. Could leave quite a big bag and not far from the lake....

Went on our annual visit last year and can no longer do this.... Have to pay £10 for a locker that's miles away and doesn't fit a decent sized picnic in it!

Am so annoyed we won't be making an annual visit anymore! Only when a new ride appears.

ConcreteElephant · 09/04/2012 22:43

They seem to have made the concept of a sandwich and a bag of crisps terribly complicated - it's hard to tell what they mean from that isn't it?

I'm vegetarian - would I get to report to an Access Ambassador on arrival? What if I want to go straight to the Grand National. I'm somewhat amused by that page but also feel a bit like all the fun has just been sucked out of BPB... It used to be a slightly shoddy looking, ramshackle kind of place - now it looks all slick and professional :)

mummytime · 09/04/2012 22:46

Why would you stay in central London to go to Legoland, Chessington or Thorpe Park? They are pretty close to each other, and all on Waterloo lines. So a good investigation of those lines would guide you to cheaper places to stay.
Little kids would like the first two, the third is best suited to teenagers and up, who would find Legoland dull.

cece · 09/04/2012 22:47

My Merlin Pass has just expired. The main reason I have not renewed it is the parking costs. I think it is terrible to charge for parking when the entry fee/passes already cost a fortune.

Sparklingbrook · 09/04/2012 22:48

I think you will get whisked through Concrete

Raw onion goes straight through me so I will be seeing the Ambassador too just to be on the safe side.

ConcreteElephant · 09/04/2012 22:52

Sparkling :)

It has just occurred to me that I may find myself at Peppa Pig World in the next couple of years - I'd better start saving / selling organs now...

Bluebell99 · 09/04/2012 23:00

Cece, same here, our merlin passes have just expired too and we are not renewing either, mainly due to the parking charge which I feel is a cheek, but also I hate the fast passes that increase waiting times for people who have already paid a fortune to get in. Basically ok to queue jump if you pay!

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