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?

I see it differently. We've always had TP passes because we live close and in the past ds1 went after school many many times. Now ds2 uses one a lot and goes often. I've paid £80 for unlimited fun so seems ok. In the past I've used my Tesco clubcard to get one, For free. So getting fast pass was cheap easy and essential. Both say it's worth it and makes a big difference.

I agree with others, I book at restaurants, rather than do walk in, I prep, plan and pay extra if I can afford it, for better service. What's the difference?

How many restaurants charge for reservations?! I’ve never come across one.

I'm still not sure how paying £60 per ticket to watch those that can afford an extra £175 per ticket to go on all the rides is fair. £60 is expensive enough for a ticket. The fast passes is just pure greed (unless they are for medical reasons) by the theme park owners.

I just think there comes a point where money should not be able to be the decider, and that markets should not be the default assumption for how things operate. Skipping queues should be one of these! (Yes I am a hypocrite).

I accept, however, that most people are happy that market forces should operate for fast passes.

I just wonder where people think that line should sit - should it only be absolute essentials to life that should are not subject to market forces? I don’t think they should be the default assumption.

So many of the responses on here are emblematic of a ‘society’ of individuals. The ‘fuck you, I’ve got mine’ mindset. Let’s see how that works out for everyone over the next 10 years or so.

Yes, we know lots of people who have RAPs but we were hoping to go as a family, not have him tag on to someone else’s.

offering to take a friend with a RAP is very cheeky IMO, they might be busy, plus I think they have to reserve quite far in advance and I expect the Easter holidays may get fully booked.

@LickyAbleist nonsense! Absolute proof has to be shown, in the form of a letter from a Doctor ffs. My child uses one because of a bone disease if that’s ok with you?! You cannot see it, child looks perfectly normal but the reality is if we had to queue then my child wouldn’t be able to go or would need to be in a wheelchair and with most queue lines this is impossible.
I also have a relative with a child with Autism and she simply doesn’t UNDERSTAND queueing even at 14 years old because her brain isn’t developing as it should. Why should either of these children miss out? Just because you think “But, it’s not fairrrrrrrr”

14 year old who doesn't understand queuing is also obviously disabled. That NOT the majority.

Time is money. If I can pay to ride as much as possible in as little time as possible of course I will!

For some popular restaurants you have to leave a deposit when booking to secure the booking.

It's no different to any other service where you pay more for something better or quicker. We went last year, a long drive and much anticipated by our teens and it was super busy so if we hadn't paid extra we'd have driven all that way just to stand there looking at other people having fun.

offering to take a friend with a RAP is very cheeky IMO

Yes, it is. How is it going to make the friend feel? Getting invited to theme parks by all sorts of acquaintances who are not in the habit of inviting them on other day trips, just to take advantage of the RAP - they'll know what is going on!

That's not 'charging' because the deposit would be offset against the meal. It's to stop no-shows, and who can blame them in this flaky world we live in?

You don't know.what you're talking about. To get a RAP you have to send proof of your disability and how it specifically means you can't queue,to an external company called Nimbus Disability, who assess it and award you either a yellow or red RAP, or nothing. Please do explain how therefore 'the vast majority of people using it are not disabled in any way'? Are you better able to judge that than a disability charity?

Each RAP holder can ride with up to 3 companions, one of whom has to take responsibility for the RAP holder both in the queue and on the ride. Do you think disabled people should have to ride alone and not with their friends or family, because of their disability? My DD has a RAP as does DSs best friend - our families met up at Alton Towers last year and on some rides DD and the best friend were not allowed to be in the same car on a ride for safety reasons, so we were separated and DS had to choose to ride with his friend or his sister. So no, no 'half a dozen friends and family' our party weren't allowed to ride on the same car.

Your nasty prejudice is embarrassing you.

Indeed. In fact I quite like this as it spreads the cost of the meal. But no one is paying extra to make a restaurant reservation.

I’m sure the super rich can and do pay for access to in-demand places. Concierges in top hotels can get you reservations and get well tipped for it. Money always talks.

But there’s no routine way of paying for preferential treatment when you book a restaurant like the fast pass system.

@Nameychangington
All I know is what I've seen with my own eyes on multiple occasions. I don't know how the system was gamed but it clearly was.

All you've seen with your own eyes is people whose disabilities weren't obvious to you. And possibly families or groups of friends with more than one disabled member, queuing together with a RAP per every 4 people- we tend to stick together because of people who have no idea about disability and who judge our disabled family members (like you).

As I said, my DD and my DSs best friend both have a RAP, you might see both our families in a RAP queue together but we're not all going on rides using one RAP, it's a maximum of the RAP holder and up to 3 companions. And sometimes we get split up as the ride will only allow one RAP holder per car.

You're just seeing what you've already decided is happening, people without disabilities 'gaming the system'. It's not possible to do that, the RAP is judged by an external disability agency not the park, and only allows the RAP holder plus up to 3 companions to ride together. And Merlin now limit how many RAP holders can use them in a day. Plus you do realise that RAP holders have to wait the same amount of time between rides as the queue length? They just don't have to wait in a physical queue, the RAP card is marked with the time they can go on their next ride, which is the time the normal queue is waiting. You can't just rock up with a sunflower lanyard and skip the queues on as many rides as you like all day long.

Places like Thorpe Park should hold special "priority access" days, where they ONLY sell priority tickets. That way everyone would be treated equally but still be in the priority queue. It would be a good money maker for the site owners too and the sort of person who is willing to pay for the priority ticket probably wouldn't realise it was a massive con. And when they did work it out, there could be a "priority plus" upgrade, more money to access a new type of elite queue.

Does he like big coasters? My daughter loves Alton Towers but nothing that loops, and we found that more or less all the big rides looped at Thorpe Park. If he’s into his loops though, all good. As for the fast pass, go for it.

Queuing is a big part of the park experience! Rides feel so much more exciting after a long queue. If you’ve ever got on a big ride quickly you know how weirdly unfulfilling it feels. Savour the queues, you will remember them fondly after the day is done.

We got a ‘free’ fast track at Legoland as DS is autistic with severe learning difficulties and doesn’t understand queues. You can have a maximum of 3 people together.

There are actually different levels of fast track passes and you get the cheapest, basic one if it’s for disabilities and you’re not paying. We could use it for a ride or 2 then the app would time-out for a period of time (30 minutes or so) until we could use it again. If you are paying for a fast-track pass there are more expensive options that allow unlimited queue jumping.

Tbh I was pretty shocked at the level of queues at Legoland, it was technically an inset day tacked onto the end of a half term as well. Hour+ queues for really crappy basic kids rides. Considering the price of normal tickets I thought it was pretty outrageous.

Not necessarily so. Could just be a spoilt brat.

I just see it as an option if you can afford it. Like with anything, some people can't or don't want to afford a car and take the bus or walk. Some people can't afford a bigger house and are in crowded accomodation. Some people can't afford to eat good quality food.
Its just the way it is.
If your DH lives his entire life as a socialist and practices this across everything then he can have a point.
Otherwise, why would he have this bugbear just about theme parks, there are many more injustices in the world. What about people that can't afford to go to the theme park at all ? Should noone go??