To think the fast track queues at Thorpe park are unfair?

[NameChangedSummer]

Disagreement with DH.

we have an annual pass for Chessington and I don’t mind waiting there as we can easily go another day. However on a busy Saturday there are so many RAP users and Fast Track that the main queues can take 2 hours and move very slowly. As I say i don’t really mind as are annual pass holders but the young DC get quite impatient! DH does get annoyed that people can pay to literally queue jump.

However, DS has just reached 1.4m and is desperate to go to Thorpe Park in the Easter holidays for his birthday (the ticket being his main 10th bday gift). It will be his first time, the only time he goes this year, we won’t be buying annual passes. I’ve looked and for £200 (x2) we can buy a ‘ultimate’ pass that would allow fast track to every ride and very little queueing. We can afford this and I think it would just make the whole day so much more enjoyable and special for DS’s 10th Birthday, rather than queuing all day and getting on a handful of rides.

DH however thinks that people who pay to queue jump are dicks and it just makes it worse for the main queue on busy days, so is very reluctant and just wants to get a normal ticket and deal with the queues. And put the money towards a Merlin pass next year when the younger DC is taller and we can just do more often.

is DH being unreasonable to say they are unfair?

My son has RAP for adhd, before I knew about them we did go to a couple of the big parks. And it was hell on earth for him queuing and me and the whole family. Try taking an austitic or adhd child to a theme park and queuing for hours and you will understand. The people, the proximity to people, the stress and the wait times are incredibly stressful and cahse extreme anxiety.
Once we gor the pass and went to tbe theme park it was like a whole experience had opened up to us, I even said to my husband this must be what it is like taking a normal child out for a day. It was mindblowing how much it changed for us and to be able to experience a day out without the meltdowns and stress and having to leave early.

A few people have mentioned the big coasters at Thorpe Park, he’s only been to Chessington and Paultons. Nothing has fazed him yet, Mandrill and Dragons Fury are is his favourites - but I do appreciate Thorpe park is another level. I’ve not been for some years (Saw was brand new last time I went and I remember it being quite intense!). Are the newer ones worse than that?

Hyperia is the big one, but I find many others too terrifying to even watch - Saw, Stealth, Nemesis are all huge (I am a wuss though)

Thorpe Park only has really big coasters or very scary mazes where real actors play absolutely terrifying zombies. 🧟 🧟‍♀️🧟‍♂️

I couldn't go on any of the rides but my teenage daughter and her friends love Thorpe Park and have been on all the crazy rides multiple times.

Yes. I think TP is worse! Scarier. Better.

seriously though, chessington and Paulton's are for toddlers, very meek and mild. TP is a step up to a completely different level and thus shouldn't be underestimated. There is actually very little at TP, for young, small, not courageous. Go knowing this.

I love it all and go on stealth regularly, have done for years, and took both ds's as soon as they were tall enough.

Ds2 went weeks ago as marketing trial, costing £5 only, but was disappointed that newer Hyperia had technical faults and closed.

Theme parks make a fortune from these fast passes. There is no way they are going to stop or reduce the number of them any time soon.

Going to space or on a holiday to China would also be extremely stressful but that’s why people who can’t handle that don’t go. Parents tricking their ND children into going to highly stressful places just because other children seem to enjoy it are not doing their ND children any favours at all. I bet they would not actively choose to go there if they knew what it would be like.

My DSs best friend has autism and his autistic special interest is rollercoasters. He can talk for hours about track types, chain lifts, speeds, banking, roll backs, I don't know what else. Going to theme parks gives him great pleasure, no one is 'tricking' him to go, how'd you reach that strange opinion? His parents would love to not have to drive to a theme park every month, it's him that's choosing it. You don't know or speak for all ND children.

Eh?? My little autistic son LOVES theme parks. It's his favourite thing to do. He adores rollercoasters (he had ADHD too) and a theme park is a brilliant place for him to burn off his energy. It is his number 1 choice for a day trip out. He's certainly not being tricked into going to theme parks - I'd far rather go for a nice country walk! Who are you to say what ND people do / don't like? Also, are you under some weird mistaken belief that all ND people do / don't like the same thing...??

I agree with your DH, it's unfair. That said, recently went for a brief visit somewhere with DD and we bought a pass to several museums (which did not mean not queuing but we didn't have to queue twice) and also a 'skip the queue' ticket for one particular place, which meant that we had to go away for an hour and do something else then come back but did not stand in the quite long queue. I don't see this as queue jumping - we didn't get in early - but queue avoidance. The ticket was not afaik more expensive (I didn't pay for this particular ticket) and anyone could buy one.
Anyone can buy a priority ticket, of course, but it sounds much more expensive which means people on a budget have to queue for ages whilst the better off can swan past - looks unfair. I'd go on a less busy day just not to feel guilty, really.

That's how theme park RAP passes work too, sort of. You do 'skip the queue' but then are timed out for the length of time you would have otherwise queued for. So if the regular queue is for an hour, you'd be timed out for an hour after the ride. It makes sense - it means that ND people (if relevant) can avoid queueing, but don't get to go on any extra rides. I think it's a good system.

Well, that seems reasonable. But what happens if everyone 'skips the queue' I wonder.

The park allows x number of RAP users to book in a day. Everyone can't 'skip the queue' using a RAP, you have to send in proof of your disability and why it means you can't queue, and get it assessed and approved before, then book RAP place for the day you want to go - these are limited per day,and obviously you still have to book the park tickets too.

Each RAP user can go on a ride, say Hyperia, when they arrive.

They wait in the short queue which is only for RAP holders. Once they've.been on Hyperia, if the standard queue for Hyperia was 1 hour at that point, the RAP user then has to wait 1 hour before they are allowed to join the short RAP queue for their next ride, say Nemesis.

They go on Nemesis, then if the standard queue for Nemesis at that time is 90 minutes, they then can't join a RAP queue for their next ride until 90 minutes is up. Etc etc.

So there will be an amount of waiting in the shorter RAP queue as several RAP holders could have completed their 'time out time' at the same time, but it's a lot shorter than the wait in the standard queue.

So RAP holders still have to wait, they can't just go on rides all day long with no queues, they just don't have to do the waiting in a physical queue.

Edited,. missed out an explanation

I have just checked in case anyone doubts that RAP are limited at Thorpe Park - the next weekend date with any availability at all for a disabled RAP is Sunday 1 June. All of the available RAP have already been booked for the half-term week beginning 26 May, and for the following week beginning 2 June too.