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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think Chessington needs to get the police involved...

100 replies

halfwayupthehill · 03/09/2013 23:46

Today one ride, Bubbleworks was brought to a halt when a customer decided to get out the boat during the ride. This meant lots of people were stuck on the water ride. Security escorted him off the ride but not off the premises afaik. Apparently this has happened before.
Later two women put their toosmall children on sea storm by barging past the attendant. Security were called, a standoff ensued for at least 15 mins, the women got their way. They had earlier been seen queuejumping.
I would have closed the ride, given every in the queue fastpasses to an attraction of their choice and called the police.

OP posts:

SilverApples · 04/09/2013 09:42

Pity you can't always tell if someone is a twat by looking at them too.

YouTheCat · 04/09/2013 09:44

I looked at Bubbleworks on youtube as I have never been to Chessington.

It looks exactly like the sort of nice quiet ride that someone with SN might love. But it is enclosed. There are too many colours and looming puppet type things and I think if my ds went on it he would most certainly be an adult making for the exit.

Maybe they should make it easier to exit the ride so as not to inconvenience other customers?

SoupDragon · 04/09/2013 09:47

Sometimes people do "odd" things because they have SNs.
Sometimes they are just a twat.

Its a bit daft telling the OP off for not being more tolerant of SNs when the chances are the person was just a twat and you weren't there.

Clearly the second group of people were just being obnoxious. The first could have been doing it for a "dare" or just being stupid or any other twattish reason. Or there's a small chance he may have had an invisible disability.

SilverApples · 04/09/2013 09:48

Lost my DS briefly on the ghost train on Brighton pier. He was fascinated and stepped out to have an explore.
The staff were very nice about it.

PoppyWearer · 04/09/2013 09:51

As it happens, my 5yo DC1 adores Bubbleworks and Seastorm, but we have been to a few different theme parks and which rides make her upset (she has no special needs) is totally unpredictable and varies widely from day to day.

Plus if you are new to a theme park, there is no way of knowing what they will like/dislike. We went around one of the rides at Drayton Manor Park with her clutching me tightly and sobbing her eyes out. She then had nightmares about it. This was a ride that was "suitable for young children".

There was another ride at either Chessington or Legoland (I forget which, they blur into each other after a few visits!) where she got squirted with a jet of water and sobbed/shrieked the rest of the ride.

I'm not condoning the actions in either case, but wanted to add my examples so that there is the balance that it isn't just children with SNs who might have issues. Theme parks are bloody stressful places!

SilverApples · 04/09/2013 09:53

I like the OP's thinking
'In london every time a customer gets in an argument about fare or whatever, the driver justs cuts the engine and calls the police. So basically, if you are endangering your kids and refusing to leave the ride/park, the they should call the police.'

Except at Chessington, it should be effective security. And they shouldn't back down and let people break the rules, because that just complicates things. Those women will try the same thing againand again, because it worked. They should have been escorted away from the ride within 5 minutes.
The Bubbleworks person, they need to find out what happened and why and then decide, but security should have been involved.

YouTheCat · 04/09/2013 09:53

Might not have been SN. Might have been a panic attack or they might have felt ill (I know all those lights would make me want to barf).

But it doesn't hurt to have a bit of empathy just incase.

saulaboutme · 04/09/2013 09:57

In a share if our experience last week on Bubble Works.
Queue up, lots of noise, music, psychedelic lights, DD saying we're going to get soaked, get on boat tub, go through, DS realizes it's pretty shit until the very end when you get soaked.

It is very easy to get off that ride and walk out at certain points.

BellaTheGooseIsDead · 04/09/2013 09:58

YouTheCat - exactly, it looks lovely with all the ducks but once you're on it it's a bit like that episode of The Simpsons where Lisa starts hallucinating at Duff Gardens

I can totally imagine it might have been a panic attack or other MH issue causing the disruption.

DanicaJones · 04/09/2013 09:58

YANBU about the Sea Storm people causing a disturbance OP

ClangerOnaComeDown · 04/09/2013 10:25

I just Youtubed the bubbleworks ride - it looks like a freakish nightmare! I would ditch out too!!

Dawndonnaagain · 04/09/2013 10:30

Its a bit daft telling the OP off for not being more tolerant of SNs when the chances are the person was just a twat and you weren't there.

Works the other way too.

Why the fuck are parents of those with special needs not allowed to say, hey hang on a minute have you considered this possibility?

SilverApples · 04/09/2013 10:33

I don't think anyone was being bolshie with the OP, it was a couple of subsequent posters that were the recipients of WTF responses.
Like CocktailQueen.

OnTheBottomWithAWomensWeekly · 04/09/2013 10:37

What is the obsession with calling the police for everything around here? They are trying to deal with crime, they don't have time for every little argument and difficulty you can dream up.

DanicaJones · 04/09/2013 10:40

I think the below reply to the OP was rather sarcastic and also a bit unfair as most of us can't imagine a situation where the Sea Storm ride incident would have happened because the children had SN.

"I hope the two minor incidents you posted about didn't spoil your day out too much. If you are still annoyed, how about imagining yourself in the position of the people who have to care for the children who disrupted your lovely outing for a few minutes, all day and ALL NIGHT?

Life isn't much fun for the person with SN either."

YouTheCat · 04/09/2013 10:42

Sometimes sarcasm is all that gets you through the day when you are constantly faced with people who have no empathy and no idea what you might have to cope with day in day out.

BellaTheGooseIsDead · 04/09/2013 10:43

You're right about that Danica, what I posted about does get to me sometimes and I was a bit harsh to OP especially since I agree about the Seastorm incident.

I was much more annoyed to be told that I shouldn't take my DC to theme parks.

DanicaJones · 04/09/2013 10:45

Fine if it is justified as may be the case with the bubble works incident, but the above referred to the other incident too where it is hard to see how that applies.

DanicaJones · 04/09/2013 10:45

OK. Crossed post

YouTheCat · 04/09/2013 10:47

True though. The second incident does just sound like someone being a cow.

But suggesting they call the police is total overkill - in both situations.

LIZS · 04/09/2013 10:49

Surely it is a civil matter , not one for police. If there was a breech of the conditions of entry they can be evicted by security but tbh I'm not sure you got the full picture.

Jude89 · 04/09/2013 10:59

The Bubbleworks was better when it was Professor Burp's bubbleworks.

I was at Thorpe Park a few years ago and in the queue for "detonator" when a large group queue jumped and went straight on, the (vastly underpaid, teenage) member of staff let them straight on, took them to the top, allowed the countdown to run to 0 then left them up there and announced to the rest of the queue that there would be a short wait while security got there, when security arrived he brought the ride down (slowly, not like its meant to) and they got escorted out of the park.

SoupDragon · 04/09/2013 11:22

Why the fuck are parents of those with special needs not allowed to say, hey hang on a minute have you considered this possibility?

Obviously they are allowed and I never said they weren't.

However, there is absolutely no need to be rude and sarcastic to the OP for making a judgement based on what she saw. Very few people simply said "Do you think he may have had SNs?"

Corriewatcher · 04/09/2013 11:27

A good friend of mine went to Chessington last weekend and was telling me how the place needs to get to grips with the large amount of queue jumping that was going on. Apparently, other customers were getting very irate but the staff weren't dealing with the queue jumpers and let them get away with it (mind you, they sounded rather scary!).

Maybe if they sorted out the totally unreasonable queue jumpers, everyone would chill out a bit more about letting people with special needs have a few concessions to enable them to enjoy the place too.

YouTheCat · 04/09/2013 11:29

Letting people with special needs have a few concessions?

Really?

People with Sn have just as much right to enjoyment as anyone else.

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