Theme parks are ruined if you don't pay for a fast pass?

[Twoweeksinaugust]

AIBU to think it's hardly worth even going to a theme park on a sunny day unless you want to pay the £300 extra for a fast pass?
The queues are absolutely awful, and it's very hard for the dc to understand that although it looks like we'll be on the next turn, a dozen people come through woth a fast pass and teh queue doesn't move at all.
It just feels beyond the reach of a normal (but expensive) day out, and is now in the realms of a once every two years thing if you want to buy the passes?

I'm in my mid-50s so a bit older than you.

We had that in the early 2000s at Disneyland Paris, it was great.

paultons Park seems to be in the minority, I understand they do cap and it means Qs are reasonably timed, a day out there is much more enjoyable. The food is overpriced for sure but we go there over anywhere else.

I hate these fast passes with a passion. I think they send such an awful message to kids that if you have money, you don’t have to follow the rules like everyone else. I feel so bad having to explain it to our kids when we see the ‘too posh to queue’ brigade just bypassing the huge queue. Sadly don’t think these passes will be going anywhere soon though - too much money in it

The irony of complaining about a queue when you’re part of it. It’s like complaining about the traffic when you’re part of that, too.
Do you think that you should be the only family allowed in? Or do you think that the queue is because, like you, thousands of others have done exactly what you’ve done?
Get some waterproofs and go on a drizzly day. Easy.

Meanwhile, in the real world outside of merlin's own press release which doesn't show profit and loss, they lost ~£500 million in the last full financial year and are sitting on huge amounts of debt.

Don't just google things and pretend you know stuff.

Do you understand what EBITDA is?

it is up 0.7%

And you basically think the world has gone to shit?

What’s your point? Of course some parents will say no

it would seem many many many say… sure we will go back

You and I are going around In circles

you didn’t return. You voted with your feet

other have returned. They voted with their feet

hence these theme parks not withdrawing fast passes. It works for them as it doesn’t put off thousands upon thousand returning under their own free will

It’s not for me to judge someone who believes that £100+ and hours of long queues is worth it to get a few minutes of thrills - each to their own… But,
yes, I believe someone is a “thick robot” if they don’t believe it’s worth it, and yet go anyway!

Yes
but you can grasp that many many WILL think it’s worth it
hence they return
or even buy an annual pass (without a fast pass)
hence why years after introducing fast passes.. they are still going strong

I can’t stand theme parks
i don’t regard the many returning year after year as some kind of brainless robot

Do you understand what pre-tax loss of £492 million is or £3.9 billion debt means? Decreasing revenue perhaps, which they have also reported? It's easy to cut costs temporarily to give yourself a boost to EBITDA but it doesn't mean you have a stable, profitable company.

If, say, a company is paying out a huge amount of revenue in depreciation and debt payments, that doesn't actually mean they can keep going indefinitely. Fundamentally a company needs to make a profit long term, and Merlin is doing that.

I'm sure you can try to argue away a 3.8% drop in visitor numbers as a "good" thing" as well.

Seriously, don't just google stuff you clearly don't understand.

Fundamentally Merlin provide leisure services. It's easy to say "they exist to make money", but they aren't a supermarket. If they provide an increasingly poor value service, which they are, people will simply stop going. It's too easy for people to just jump on a plane - it's easier for me to get to Germany and go to places like Europa park which offer a far superior experience than it is to go to Alton towers, and universal are just around the corner - for Merlin to just assume they can provide a poor offering and people will keep attending.

And yet here you are defending Merlin. Odd that.

You seem a bit over invested here. If you don't want to go - don't go - its no biggie for the rest of us. No ones life was made worse because they didn't go to a theme park.

I am not defending anyone. How peculiar.

i am pointing out that if something didn’t work, the business would have withdrawn it years ago

and I am “defending” if anything those people who choose to return year after year

This
all this

So to be clear you think Merlin is losing money hand over fist?
Righto. Let’s see how long they hang on for! 😆

Well, you are, with clearly no idea of what you are talking about.

It's funny, really.

No they’re greedy corporate companies.

Its outrageous that people pay to enter the parks, to ride the rides, don’t get to do that because it’s just too busy and the fast passes get in first, constantly!

I mean would you go to the cinema and have your stand because they’d sold so many tickets? So why do theme parks overfill them and then people claim they’re “not a charity” honestly, why are you excusing this behaviour.

“Greedy corporate companies” 😆

Yes that’s correct 🙄!

Did you have an actual
point?

@MrsOni do you go to centre parks? Yes? And enjoy?

loads of people enjoy and return
loads of people think it’s a clawing greedy corporate trying to squeeze money out of parents

I don’t think the former are robots. Do you?

It is capitalism

if you don’t like. Vote with your feet and don’t go. I don’t like. So I don’t go.
but clearly many many many do like and return

I don’t go, but again I’ll ask what your silly quote with 😆 emoji was about?

It just seemed such an odd thing to write, tha one line.

Am I not allowed a view on this thread? Do
i have to agree with the nonsense you’re putting?