Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Priority queues at theme parks!

312 replies

Bridget1983 · 23/07/2019 16:20

Who does this?! Cause I’m looking and thinking I would be mortified to be the person pushing in front of a 6 year old who has just queued an hour and a half for a ride!!

OP posts:
Avocado0nToast · 23/07/2019 17:10

if people could go first without it resulting in other people waiting longer then I would have no issue with it.

CalmdownJanet · 23/07/2019 17:10

I was in the priority queue for a flight once and as I passed a woman said to me "I don't think so bitch" Confused not sure what she was going to do really but I just kept going faster to escape the rough woman

YouJustDoYou · 23/07/2019 17:11

Concentrate on your kid if you're at a theme park, not dicking around moaning on mumsnet. If you can indeed supposedly pay for it as you say, more fool you for taking a 6 year old to a theme park to stand in the baking sun all day.

Aragog · 23/07/2019 17:11

The queue lines are also stated at the start of rides. The number of propriety passes are restricted, and these are taken into account when you choose to join a line. There is normally a strict procedure of how many of each line is taken for each ride, though some bigger rides also have a separate track for each lane too.

The queue times won't suddenly jump if someone with priority turns up usually - because they already have those factored in.

Priority doesn't always mean straight to the front. there is still often a queue there too, albeit much shorter.

JacquesHammer · 23/07/2019 17:11

It's not the better experience I care about, it's the fact it makes the experience worse for those who haven't paid the extra

So you don’t want the better experience but you also don’t want others to have it and you want your experience to be, in fact, better?

Butterflyone1 · 23/07/2019 17:12

I'd be mortified if I'm teaching my children that people actually paying extra to have a nicer easier life is a bad thing!

They are not jumping the line, they are paying for it as they clearly have the money and common sense to do it. Stop being so tight.

Pinkyyy · 23/07/2019 17:13

OP you sound ridiculous. If I pay for a better seat on a plane should I feel ashamed at the people in economy? No. I'll enjoy what I pay for and I'll let others do the same.

TSSDNCOP · 23/07/2019 17:13

Calmdownjanet excellent moment there for your foot to have been casually sticking out from seat 1A as she humphed down the aisle.

ScreamingValenta · 23/07/2019 17:14

Business class is not comparable.

But it is - if they got rid of business class and first class but had the same number of seats, everyone would have bigger seats and more legroom. It's exactly the same thing - some people 'suffer' (comparatively) because others can pay more to encroach on the service they receive. If anything, it's potentially worse on a flight because that might be something you're forced to do, whereas no one has to visit a theme park.

However, this is the world we live in. Some people can afford queue jump passes. Some people can only afford a standard ticket. Some people can't afford a ticket at all.

If you object to some people being able to afford queue jump tickets, you are being hypocritical - you should stay at home yourself in sympathy with those who can't afford a ticket at all.

To clarify, I have no issue with queue jumping or business class. I have an issue with the wealth divide in the UK - e.g. the pay gap between executives and other workers, lack of investment in the North - but that's a subject for another thread.

dreichhighlands · 23/07/2019 17:14

They could organize the rides the same way they do flights with a certain section of the ride always roped off for fast passes.
In reality this wouldn't make the experience for people in the standard line any better.
Keeping all of the ride open to all is a more egalitarian approach.

CalamityJune · 23/07/2019 17:14

OP, lots of people at that theme park will have travelled a long way to do so, maybe even staying overnight simply to go. It could be years before they come back there, if ever. Why on earth wouldn't they want to get the most out of the experience if they can afford to do so?

Alton Towers is £34 plus £60 for a Gold Fast pass. For 6 hours in the park factoring in queue times, I bet cost paid per ride attended will be about the same if not better on a fast pass.

User8888888 · 23/07/2019 17:15

I do sort of disagree with the concept as it does create a two tiered system where those without fast passes have to wait even longer. But.. if I’m going to spend a huge amount on a day out, I’m going to buy the passes so we don’t spend 50% of the day on a queue. I’d rather go once and do it with all the extras than go 2 or 3 times.

YouJustDoYou · 23/07/2019 17:15

It's not the better experience I care about, it's the fact it makes the experience worse for those who haven't paid the extra

So you're stomping your little foot in misplaced fury at Jane and John who were just doing what the theme park has offered as an option? YAMU. Can you imagine applying that same ridiculous logic to all of society? You must not have a larger car than me! It's not fair! You must not have a nicer house than me - it's not fair , I can't have it! You can't have the nicer bar of chocolate - it's not fair, I can't have it! You can't have that bettwr quality pair of shoes, because IT'S NOT FAIR THAT I CAN'T AFFORD IT! (stamps little foot in anger at the sheer injustice of life)

Avocado0nToast · 23/07/2019 17:17

I'm sorry but none of those plane examples are comparable. It's the direct correlation against those people who pay to q-bot mean that those who don't wait longer. That's it, plain and simple. And I am well aware I am in the minority who feel like this, and that's ok. I own my opinions Wink. Anyway it's too hot to argue about this anymore. Enjoy the sunshine and the fact we can have a day out at a theme park in the first place!!

Sirzy · 23/07/2019 17:17

I have no issue with the idea of the q bot type thing in general. However they do mean that even though we are entitled to the disability passes for rides we still can’t go because it just ends up in the same queue as those who have paid extra so undoes the idea of not being able to queue!

thedayofthethreeMagnums · 23/07/2019 17:17

what a bizarre thread.

Paying for extras doesn't make anyone entitled, it makes them organised 🤷

ReadMyLipss · 23/07/2019 17:19

RosesAndRaindrops

So by your logic you're saying that time is the only luxury you should NOT be allowed to pay for, yet every other luxury you can as long as you can afford it?

Care to explain why one is more important than the others and should get special consideration?

Aragog · 23/07/2019 17:19

They could organize the rides the same way they do flights with a certain section of the ride always roped off for fast passes.

They do this quite often on rides where there is more than one track ime.

EleanorReally · 23/07/2019 17:19

i think they are ridiculous, so many people do it, it is an absolute con

Avocado0nToast · 23/07/2019 17:20

BTW I'm not at a theme park - madness on a hot day!

ScreamingValenta · 23/07/2019 17:22

they do mean that even though we are entitled to the disability passes for rides we still can’t go because it just ends up in the same queue as those who have paid extra so undoes the idea of not being able to queue

Now that actually does sound unfair. You'd think they'd keep a separate queue exclusively for disabled riders.

JacquesHammer · 23/07/2019 17:24

I recall being at a theme park, straightforward queue, no Fast Passes.

A person with a team of carers, obviously with a life-limiting/ending condition was allowed to the front of the queue to be able to get on the ride on a particular carriage.

You wouldn’t believe the number of people complaining it was unfair. Utterly awful.

edwinbear · 23/07/2019 17:26

Perhaps a better comparison was on my recent holiday, the people who had paid for VIP, who got different coloured wristbands which meant they got served at the bars first, and also got straight into the a la carte restaurants as soon as they arrived, vs us with the 'normal' wristbands who had to wait until the VIP's had been served at the bar and had to come back in an hour to the specialty restaurants. I'm absolutely fine with that, and I explained to the kids that they'd paid for VIP wristbands and we hadn't. They completely understood that whilst I pay for queue passes at theme parks, I didn't pay for VIP in the hotel so we had to wait longer, they understood completely.

leghairdontcare · 23/07/2019 17:27

I've never paid but DS has autism so we've used the accessibility pass at Legoland. You get one ride where you can queue jump but for everything else you queue virtually. So you still have to wait the same amount of time but not in the actual queue. We wouldn't go if we couldn't do this.

Also, you can always get offers for Legoland which would offset the cost of a qbot so I would recommend that for anyone on a budget.

FlyingTingTing · 23/07/2019 17:31

YABU.

There's no "pushing in" or queue jumping involved.
Theres a separate queue, so those who are talking about "pushing in" are incorrect.

Swipe left for the next trending thread