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 ?

No it’s not. Unless you paid for genie+ where you booked lightening lane slot (or is you’ve been recently whatever the new system is now as they’ve scrapped genie+)
A few of the new rides are often on virtual queue when they first open. But otherwise every single ride has the standby queue (normal queue) or lightening lane which is accessed by paying for it or as it used to be paying for genie+ and then selecting which ride you want every 2 hours. Either way, you still pay for it.

And people definitely do judge on appearances. My daughter is 15 but is very very tall and looks older. She has had to jump up and down etc even in the RAP queue to ensure shes ok posturally, and shes had young people much older than her make horrible remarks and challenge why she is there. Even the staff have been tricky with her. It is awful if these disabilities rule your entire life (as her does) and you've planned in even more detail than a military operation just to be there. It’s hard if people then drag your mind back to reality when you’re meant to be having frivolous fun with your friend/s.

My DD loves theme parks
there is a lot she can’t do in life like the climbing places, or physical activities etc

theme parks and concerts with accessibility is something she can manage with the support on offer and I couldn’t imagine not taking her because she is disabled.

I agree wholeheartedly when my ds moved from his local primary school to a specialist high school placement it ment he'd have to get a taxi (he cant do ordinary buses let alone school ones and its too far to walk to) i spent months before getting him used to being in a taxi without me we used the same taxi driver and he just went around the block at 1st and slowly extended it until he could do the school trip. It was hard work but now he can get in a taxi and go somewhere as long as someone he trusts puts him in it and someone he trusts is at the other end. Id love for him yo be able to use buses but as he still has meltdowns on them with myself and/or other trusted people its a long way off but we keep trying, though at some point if things don't improve we will have yo give up trying.
The problem is so many parents can't or won't put in the effort they seem to think that it means that these things set in stone rather than things that maybe improved with hard work and the right strategies.

The other issue is it’s very much a one size fits all approach.

DS has a very limited period he can cope with being anywhere that isn’t home. Even somewhere he has really looked forward to after an hour and a half he is at his limit generally. He hates it but it is what it is.

For him it would be better if the pass gave immediate access to whatever number of rides people could normally access in a full day on average somehow so he could go do it and then leave when at his limit. A virtual queue for him would add to the stress and would still be pointless as he would only manage one ride anyway.

as I said before there isn’t an easy answer but the current approach is very flawed!

What about people who suffer with bowel or bladder issues, who very much want to ride the rides but could shit themselves waiting in the queue 😆 (I say that as a wife of someone who has ulcerative colitis!)

And yet again Mumsnet letting the ablists scream and shout about hard their lives are because a disabled child gets to go on a ride.

It stinks here.

As a parent of a child with a medical condition which makes queuing difficult if not impossible I am very grateful for these passes and it means he has an opportunity to experience these places just as any other child can. I can assure you I would much rather he was "normal", didn't have to have an invasive medical procedure on a daily basis, be pain free and not have regular hospital visits and admissions so I you can be damn sure I'm going to take advantage where we can to compensate for his enjoyment

There solution is remote queues for everyone. It’s bonkers in this day and age that anyone can tolerate 2 hour queues while paying a fortune for the experience. I haven’t been to a theme park for years but recall a virtual queuing system at Disney for the popular rides. It worked well and meant when you lined up it was only about 10 mins.

They will need to cap entry and ticket prices will need to rise. They make a fortune off the back of fast passes and people being stuck in queues all day (therefore only getting on a handful of rides). This would probably mean the end of Merlin passes. But the status quo is miserable.

It’s so difficult to resolve this issue because it’s understandably very emotive. All the posters jumping on to explain why they / their child need to have a priority access pass are proving that point.

I think the vast majority of people agree that priority access should be provided for those who need it, but so many people now seem to be eligible which has created a system which is unmanageable and unfair and leads to questions over whether ALL of those people should be entitled to priority access. I have no idea how you create an objectively fair way to decide that though.

I dont know if I felt emotion writing my post about why my daughter has to “come back later” for a ride instead of joining a (long) queue. I just felt that people with hidden disabilities (or not hidden if things go wrong) were being understood in this thread. Theme parks are a bit of fun. Disabled people face far, far worse things in life which really do make them emotional. Everyone should have fair access to fun things in life if at all workable.

With the old system I can see how this would have caused anger. But the current system doesn’t really make the line longer for those waiting in the main line.
it is a “ fairer” way - maybe not perfect but farier.
they have also limited the amount of access users per day.
which has been really unhelpful for us but it is what is. The rap pass now has to be booked in advance and only so many a day or we can’t go.
we still wait just not in line it’s not instant access like it used to be.
it might not be perfect but I don’t think it’s a huge impact on those in main line as it used to.

To you it is worth it. For me, the travel, the cost, the queuing , the crowds all seem pretty hellish.

Just out of curiosity, if a child meets the criteria for a RAP but is too small to go a particular ride, will the rest of the people with that child have to join the main queue?

People would try to get a diagnosis for themselves or their child that will stay with them all their lives, affect insurance quotes, probably some job applications, for a condition that dont or may not suffer from, just to skip queues at theme parks?

When the basic level fast pass that does similar is about £35?

Tbh if someone is willing to try to go to these lengths good luck to them.

And how do you decide which family member should carry this diagnosis with them all their lives?

Yes you have to show photo ID when you’re getting on the individual ride

But what happens if a ride breaks down? Do you just lose that ride for the day now?

What if a parent has ADHD and time blindness and misses the slot? Now they’ve got really upset kids because they’ve missed 4 rides in a row and haven’t managed to get on a ride for hours.

What if a child has a favourite ride and he’s been looking forward to riding it all day. But just before his time slot he has a meltdown and misses the slot. Now he’s missed out on that for the whole day.

Basically if a child (or adult) with any disability misses a time slot due to something relating to their disability would people just think never mind. Why is it different to missing out on theme parks totally? If someone says if a child can’t queue they shouldn’t go, everyone says that’s ableist. Why would you think if a child/adult cannot manage to always get somewhere on time that would be ok to just say tough? So do you not think people would be campaigning for a new type of RAP where if you get one you dont need to book slots? Or if you book you are allowed leeway on the time or get a second chance to book where others cannot etc.

Honestly as lovely as virtual queues for all sounds, I really don’t think it would be as simple as it sounds. People will ALWAYS have reasons why they need different rules to others - whether true or not.

Even with the pass, I go for things like inset days or odd days off at my child’s school when it won’t be as busy because the RAP doesn’t go the whole way to making it less stressful for those with ND.

I take a packed lunch to avoid the busy cafes / buffet places and just do what I can to bring the stress level down!

Yes the person with the rap has to be present on the ride

In reality it’s always going to wind people up, there is nothing you can do about it, English people queue so they expect everyone to queue.

But then everyone wound be sat around cafes or on benches dnd it would feel horribly crowded. It only feels uncrowded when most people are contained in a queue.

in terms of the pass, if you had to physically sit in a separate quiet area to wait I think most people would be happy.

But a family can choose to use that wait time to do lunch or another ride, thus getting more value out of their day than others. Not all families with the pass but some will.

I stopped using theme parks because the standard queue was so long, or you can pay ££ extra to 'virtual queue'. Whereas if you qualify as having a disability you get a free carer ticket and free virtual queuing. Seems very unfair, I suspect some people just use the RAP to queue jump, even if the person with disabilities doesn't like the ride.

Yes we can eat lunch which is probably something we have done.
whilst we wait.

other than lunch time though because I need to eat
we do genuinely sit in quiet areas or got to the medical room to do meds/ IV fluids etc.

Better access to toilets and fewer people in the theme park or a virtual queue for all would work, but they would all affect profits so we are left with an unfair shit system the works for noone and pisses people off

You haven’t thought this through. You’re suggesting that the child’s adult companions can use the RAP because the child needs to avoid the experience of queuing?

What happens at the ride- they all go on and leave the child unattended?

Obviously not.

If the child can’t go on the ride they will never need to be in the queue.