AIBU to think Merlin Ride Access passes are unfairly judged?

[Festivalfanatic]

We went to one of the Merlin parks Easter weekend and over the years I’ve seen many people get angry at Ride access lines and nothing has changed it seems.
this particular day it seemed everyone was on their high horse about it. Including one man exclaiming to his wife “ they let too many specials in “
then social media the last few days now the parks are open have loads of videos about RAP “ queue Jumpers “.

My DD has a RAP card and we wait just as long as everyone else sometimes longer than others to get on rides. It’s not instant access.

the pass times out for the length of time that the main line states and then you can’t use it again until it times back in. Then when it does time back in you have to go and scan in the ride you want and then there is also a line ( ok not as long as the main line ) but we will have to wait that amount of time anyway. Plus the waiting time in the RAP line. They do not let all the RAP line in its usually 1-2 at a time per ride. The rest is from the main line and then we get timed out for the length of time the queue indicates on top of the time we have already waited.
how would removing it or it not existing help the main line ? It would just actually make it longer so you would still be waiting averagely longer to ride anyway !
why do people judge it so much ?

what is the alternative ?

Exactly this.

and I'll say it again. Anytime someone wants 'all the perks' I'll gladly swap them to have my my able body back!!

Ridiculous how that needs explaining to a grown adult isn't it.

@SummerFrog2026corporate greed: totally agree. See my earlier post about private equity.

Ramming far too many people into Legoland on the hottest April day for 80 years and just sitting back listening to the cash registers chiming.

Greedy bastards.

i would put strong money on 95% of those being 'fast pass' holders.

Most of us who are disabled (or whose children are) need the 'waiting time' to deal with our/their additional needs (toileting which takes much more time & often needed more frequently, eating (requirement for many) to take medication, tube feeding, iv medication, sitting down to rest-it's nothing like just being tired from an active fun day out. It's an exhaustion that you can't really explain to an able bodied person)

Even if a few disabled kids can do another ride while virtually queuing., do you really begrudge them that when so much of the rest of their life is far far 'less' that an able body child's ???

Well said

Some of the ableist posts on this thread are so gross.

Yes I did & I agree.

blaming the disabled is just SO much easier than looking at the corporate greed though isn't it.

Honestly they can have my BB & my access card anytime they want my disabilities. I would love my life (prior to becoming disabled (literally) overnight) . Most people can't even imagine the head fuck it is to go to bed one night perfectly able, living your very 'normal' life & wake up in the morning disabled.

Or what it's like to have a child who has so many extra limitations & needs just to get through the day, let alone enjoy anything. But instead of appreciating their lives they want to make a disabled persons life even harder.

they're smug in their lives, they need to believe it's not just a saying Anyone (including their children) can become disabled overnight.

Yep, absolutely this. Some RAP queues at Chessington were well over 30 minutes, which defeats the object, and left me in lots of pain. Because I don't want my girls to miss put due to my disability, so I forced myself to queue for 1 ride and ended up struggling to walk for a week after.

They tried restricting access to the RAPS, they got moaned at. They tried the booking system, they got moaned at.
I'm not sure of the solution

I think it’s you that misunderstands. At no point am I spiteful or blaming anyone. You’re projecting rather.

I stand by my point. The majority of children don’t have unlimited access to things. That’s life. Should all children have equity? Absolutely.

No definitely not.

But as a PP said, make something too attractive and people will find a way to abuse it.

It undeniably gives an advantage to those of us who qualify with less severe needs. We go on a ride with RAP, and then whilst the countdown is going, my girls can go on a ride where an adult isn't needed to go on with them, and I can sit on a bench and watch, or we can eat lunch etc.

But the advantage in itself isn't the issue, it's the number of people using that advantage. There many be people in the main queue who also struggle, but don't quite qualify, and who end up waiting longer due to the number of RAPS. A family who really struggled to afford but came as a special treat, who only got on a few rides. It's the issue that making my day easier makes someone else's day a bit harder, and I also don't know what's going on in their life. It's a balancing act I think

When did giving a child a sip of water become ‘topping up their fluids’?

It’s just more of people judging how disabled someone looks.

theme park rides are amazing sensory experiences. For those that think autistic children shouldn’t go, I actually think they are the ones enjoying the rides the most.

I’ve never taken my child as she will melt down in a queue, and run off. It’s sad that parents brave enough to battle through their child’s extra needs to give them this experience receive this judgment.

Because it isn't 'giving them a sip of water'! It's giving them water via a NG or PEG tube. Which requires syringes, clean area to prep etc.

I don't think it actually is judgement in many cases.

They care that they are having to wait longer, that their toddler is struggling to queue because they are little, that they have spent a fortune on a day out to try to have fun with their family, and are not getting on many rides. People are generally most focused on their family, and if they feel that something is making their families day less enjoyable, then they are going to be frustrated, thats not aimed at a specific person, but the situation. They might have a 'face on' because they are tired and have a 3 year old whinging that they need the toilet and are debating whether they will make the ride before their child wets themself, or if they should leave the queue after 80 mins queuing. Just as people with disabilities want to have a fun day out with their families, people without disabilities also want to.

Plenty of chance to take a toddler when they’re older and more able to queue.

But many people’s disabled children will always be disabled.

This is 100% the problem. When a queue gets over maybe 15 minutes, they should start a virtual queue, and if you’re not back within X minutes when you’re called, you lose your spot to the next person. If they already HAVE a virtual queuing system, why not extend it to everyone?

It’s not actually a virtual queuing system they have currently for the RAP. They just time the RAP out for the length of the queue that they are jumping. So if they want to go on Nemesis and the normal queue is 2 hours, they instead use the RAP which is the shorter queue, but they can’t join another RAP shorter queue for 2 hours. Then if they want to go on Smiler after those 2 hours are up and Smiler has an hour queue, they get into the RAP queue but then can’t use it again for one hour. So it’s not really a virtual queue. They don’t get given a specific time slot to come back. They just can’t use the pass until a certain length of time has passed.

For crying out loud. The post I originally quoted wasn't even yours. Why are you making this about you?

Oooooh. Sorry there; I misunderstood. I mean, honestly, I find this all insane. A disabled child is not a fucking queue jumper; there have to be accommodations in place for them to experience the park if they wouldn’t be able to without those accommodations. I think a wide-scale virtual queuing system might still be the answer; then everyone queues virtually so everyone is happy and no one complains about their 3 year old being awful in queues, and then do away with all this RAP card stuff for disabled people and they just give you a pass and you DO go to the front of the line (I do understand there will be piss takers, so you’ll need some kind of limits in place, like only those who qualify for DLA or PIP).

I mean, we’ve reached an incredible level of person-based enshittification in this world if people are complaining about a disabled child “jumping the queue.” It just seems like a better solution for everyone could have been implemented.

I’m still not really understanding the impact on the abled.

from this thread it seems to be mainly about disabled people maybe being able to ride 1 maybe 2 extra rides and being able to eat lunch.

now if this was removed how would that benefit the main line ?

it still wouldn’t benefit you at all

the rap pass disappearing won’t make that toddler get on the ride any quicker.

I have a RAP, so there isn't an issue for me (apart from so many people having RAP that the queues were still too long to be manageable in many cases).

On skylion for example, they were taking 30 from the RAP queue and 40 from the main queue. If no RAP queue they would take 70 from main queue so it would move nearly twice as quickly, so that would benefit the main line significantly.

But my main point was that people aren't annoyed with specific disabled people, they are annoyed that they are having to wait longer themselves.

I wonder how they’ll sort the problem out?

We used to go regularly twenty years ago. We used to use the exit pass (wasn’t called RAP then), and got on the ride after no more than a five minute wait. Is it because too many people are disabled now?

You’re not going to cure a disability so places with have to come up with another method of restricting passes - they’re clearly not going to restrict numbers of paying customers.

When we try to park in disabled parking, if there isn’t a space because we’re too late and they’ve already gone, we have a choice. Park further back in the main car park or not go in. Maybe, the RAP will have to become first come, first served, when they’ve given out the allotted amount of RAP then no more can be allocated. Although, surely they would need to do the same with the paid for Fast Passes?

Alternatively, you pre-book your RAP so you know you’ll be guaranteed a pass, or you’re aware there are no more available for your day visit?

@Anewuser According to Merlin’s website, the number of RAPs allowed to enter per day is restricted. Once they are full, no more people with RAPs can enter the park; although as they have to be prebooked, there may be cancellations freeing up more spaces.

Those who cannot prebook a RAP that day, have the option of joining the main queues.

Anyway, the person with the RAP can only take three companions with them, presumably to accommodate the typical family with two children.

@Bushmillsbabe - you haven’t answered my question. Why is there thread after thread, complaining about concessions for the disabled at theme parks; but not about the better off people who buy fast track passes?

I think all these things already happen - numbers of RAP are restricted (have to be prebooked), fast pass sales are restricted. I have no idea how many of each are allowed each day. But I think either/both need to be restricted more, or they need to restrict how many come in to the park so the queues in general are smaller. But all that would cost Merlin money, so it won’t happen.

restricting further is not fair on those disabled though and it will still have no impact on the length of the main line.
the main line is not long because of RAP.

Well no because everyone would be in the main line it wouldn’t the line would just be longer in which the time would still be as long.
nowhere have I seen them let on so many rap per main line.
also a couple from rap and most from thr main line and also a lot of fast tracks.