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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think 2 hours queuing times is wrong at Merlin?

290 replies

ToBeOrNotToB · 30/10/2022 00:58

We went to Chessington Howl’oween. The queues for most of the big ticket rides were 2 hours long all day. Some were 90mins. We went on 3 big rides in total. Shouldn’t theme parks limit number of visitors to guarantee better value for money? (It costs over £100 for a family of four to visit).

OP posts:
supercalifragilistic123 · 30/10/2022 07:55

I had a similar experience and wrote an email of complaint. Merlin actually gave us complimentary tickets to use on another day.

I think 3 rides all day is crap. They definitely over sell entry. I don't think the merlin passes help either.

imnotthatkindofmum · 30/10/2022 07:56

SpinningFloppa · 30/10/2022 01:00

My son went as part of a school trip so during term time and still they only managed to get on 3 rides!

Schools usually book on a discounted week known as "schools week" its always rammed and there's always a load of knobs from other schools.

itispersonal · 30/10/2022 07:56

MavisChunch29 · 30/10/2022 07:53

The queues at theme parks (alton Towers and Disney) have always been known for being hours long and I think if it's under 2 hours long you are doing good

No, not always. Only recently. When I used to go to AT in the school holidays in the 1990s and 2000s a long queue was 45 minutes not twice that and more. And they never had to shut rides/close the queue to rides due to numbers of people.

No I went to Disney several times in the 90s hours queues, though they had more to look out whilst queuing. Nemesis the queues were hours and hours long.

OldTinHat · 30/10/2022 07:57

This thread has reminded me of dozens of trips to theme parks with the DC and queues of up to 2hrs. I've not been to one in donkeys, but this evening I'm going to the UKs oldest amusement park for their Halloween effort. Only four mazes and I'm now wondering if I'll even get through them. I can't stand for long either...perhaps I didn't think this through properly...

diamondsarefornextweek · 30/10/2022 07:57

@ToBeOrNotToB did you check the app to have a look at queue times on any of the other days the event was running, or on a weekend (not same as event, but to give you an idea of busy queue times)? Probably would have given you a decent idea of what to expect and avoided the unpleasant disappointment of 90m+ queue times.

SilverGlassHare · 30/10/2022 08:00

We took DC to Legoland on an extra inset day last October and bought fast passes, and we got on 15 rides. Tbh we probably didn’t need the fast passes but they did mean we could get back on rides DC loved easily. One of DC’s friends was taken in the summer holidays and went on 3 rides - it was ridiculous. I’d always do theme parks off season and/or get fast passes now but they really add to the cost of a family day out. Ours were more expensive than the actual tickets!

TestingTestingWonTooFree · 30/10/2022 08:01

I think part of the problem is paid for fast passes. Unless there are likely to be substantial queues, they wouldn’t be able to sell them. The pricing system relies on inequality and a long queue.

TestingTestingWonTooFree · 30/10/2022 08:03

@ScreamingFrog my 8 and 4 year olds enjoyed it recently (although the 8 year old was going to say it was Drayton Manor or her little sister made us go there)

thelobsterquadrille · 30/10/2022 08:03

ToBeOrNotToB · 30/10/2022 07:55

@BlackberrySky thanks, you got it. How long is too long and shouldn’t consumer have a say about that?

I mean, isn't the answer to that question "How long is a piece of string" though?

Everyone has different tolerances but common sense should tell you not to book to visit during one of the busiest events of the year if you don't want to face long queues.

Because clearly people are happy to queue for two hours plus - or they wouldn't go back year after year, and the events wouldn't stay as popular as they are.

You think two hours is unacceptable so the answer is not to go during a Halloween event during half term!

Original poster
ToBeOrNotToB · 30/10/2022 08:03

@TestingTestingWonTooFree Agree. Fast passes feel so wrong on every level. Hey kids! You’re better than those people over there!

We were also held up by multiple people trying to get their kids onto rides even though they were way too short. They were happy to put their children’s safety aside after queueing for so long.

OP posts:
WahineToa · 30/10/2022 08:04

YABVU

I live near a theme park: It’s an insanely busy time at theme parks atm and actually, they’re not making huge profits by cramming you in. They’re struggling after covid. They sell the number of tickets they’re legally allowed . During Halloween it’s definitely busier, every year. It’s busier this year than normal, the queues to get in are insane and everyone living around here has to put up with it and we aren’t the ones blimin going! We can’t go anywhere all morning and have to listen to you idiots beeping your horns for hours. The queues are roughly an hour longer than normal during Halloween, their busiest time of the year. So you really should have expected it. Why anyone wants to go to these expensive places is beyond me ( I watch thousands of people go in paying hundreds during a cost of living crisis! ) but if they reduced the amount of people going you’d pay a lot lot more. You can get a fast pass but I guess you don’t want to pay for that. Theme parks are so expensive to run and the safety responsibility is incredibly hard for staff. I think your expectations are very unrealistic for what a theme park is.

ShaunaTheSheep · 30/10/2022 08:04

ToBeOrNotToB · 30/10/2022 07:55

@BlackberrySky thanks, you got it. How long is too long and shouldn’t consumer have a say about that?

Of course you have a say - by choosing to go or not.
Overselling is hardly an unknown or unexpected or new issue. Just do a search on Mumsnet and you will see threads going back years.

Funkyblues101 · 30/10/2022 08:04

SudocremOnEverything · 30/10/2022 06:47

The queues are part of the business model. They’re holding mechanisms that prevent the park being overrun generally with people.

if they limit entires so there are no queues, the tickets will cost thousands each.

Paulton Park's business model is the opposite - zero discounts except for families of disabled children, I believe. Result: minimal queues and less stress for the disabled children (and their families/carers!). It's a great and very inclusive place, well worth the extra cost for the atmosphere.

toastofthetown · 30/10/2022 08:04

ToBeOrNotToB · 30/10/2022 07:55

@BlackberrySky thanks, you got it. How long is too long and shouldn’t consumer have a say about that?

Consumers have a say by voting with their feet. If consumers decide that queues are too long during the Halloween season and they don’t want to go, then the park will probably have to adjust things. If customers keep returning then the model clearly works.

WontBeLong · 30/10/2022 08:04

We have just spent 3 days staying at alton towers hotel and brought gold fast track pass for one of the days.only queued for 20 minutes for smiler,wickerman,nemesis etc.even on the first day went straight to nemesis without fast track and only queued for 30 minutes.

WahineToa · 30/10/2022 08:05

Fast passes feel so wrong on every level. Hey kids! You’re better than those people over there!

You could say that about lots of things. Better seats at the theatre? First class and business class travellers boarding first? It’s life!

SudocremOnEverything · 30/10/2022 08:05

The sepia toned images of queueless theme parks in the 90s and early 2000s…

Its just classic ‘it wasn’t like that in my day’.

but it was. Some photos of queues (some longer than the queue compounds constructed alongside the rides) in the early 90s

ClaraThePigeon · 30/10/2022 08:07

You could say that about lots of things. Better seats at the theatre? First class and business class travellers boarding first? It’s life!

Exactly and they're already in a theme park which a lot of people couldn't afford to take their children to.

CherryLongIsland · 30/10/2022 08:07

No, not always. Only recently. When I used to go to AT in the school holidays in the 1990s and 2000s a long queue was 45 minutes not twice that and more. And they never had to shut rides/close the queue to rides due to numbers of people.

I went to Alton Towers with the in laws for BILs 21st, he's 40 now. The queues were ridiculous and it was baking hot. We queued for about two hours for either nemesis or oblivion only for it to break down before we got on. MIL complained and was sent free tickets.

WhitethroughtheFright · 30/10/2022 08:07

EasterIssland · 30/10/2022 07:46

We went to Disney Paris in 2019. It took us 2h to get through security and we only managed to do 1 ride as they mostly were 90mins-2h queues. Put me off going there again

i want to go to legoland and was thinking Easter holidays (2nd week) but most likely will go another weekend not to spoil the experience so i feel your pain op

@EasterIssland Just don’t. Easter holiday either week or a weekend is the same level of busy. Look at all the complaints and believe them.
LEGOLAND is only advisable on a school day.

FlowerBrooch · 30/10/2022 08:08

I remember going to Disneyworld, we arrived before opening and then took the advice of a guy we met on the shuttle bus. We literally sprinted to the back of the park and worked our way forward. On one of the days we actually won fast passes which was pretty amazing.

We always arrive before opening time. I remember going to the Sea life centre and being first in. By the time we left we could see huge crowds of people and it was dire. Did the same to see the Bayeux Tapestry.

GeorgeA12 · 30/10/2022 08:09

This is easy to solve. The parks could operate a booking system, just book your time on a website and turn up for the ride time, a bit like a lot of hair dressers do now. You could also have a separate queue operating in case the ride is not full or people do not turn up for their booked time.

WahineToa · 30/10/2022 08:09

Exactly and they're already in a theme park which a lot of people couldn't afford to take their children to.

Yup. I cannot believe how many can afford it though, the traffic into this park each day is crazy. Where the hell is everyone getting their money for this? It’s so expensive!!

ClinkeyMonkey · 30/10/2022 08:09

Sounds like hell on earth. My DC think they would love to go to a theme park, but they complain bitterly if there's a 10 minute queue for ice cream. I will never ever pay squillions of pounds to listen to my kids moan and whinge about having to queue when I can take their iPads off them at home and listen for free😅

headstone · 30/10/2022 08:09

I’ve experienced this at legoland during half term , never again. I love theme parks though. Just have to not go in school holidays weekends. Went to euro Disney during a week day in November- no queues at all. We also went to a small theme park in Brittany (kingoland) in August and only waited maximum 20 mins per ride. Does anyone Know what the queues are like at Drayton Manor?