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?

you think that everyone who goes to a theme park without realising they don’t get to ride all the rides lacks mental capacity? I do t think so, they’re duped into thinking king it’s a fun day out, when it’s not. You do realise that children are born everyday and they get older and then go to theme parks, then the realise.

And if your definition of I must be living in a horrible place because I think these corporations are greedy, is definitely deserving of a 😆😆😆😆😆!

Dear god, I’m allowed an opinion about these corporations without lapsing into a dark world about it!

the point where the "labour" argument falls down though is that not "everyone" could afford the higher price so the "fair" option would still be more unfair for some than the "unfair version" - there would be a % of people who under the "Tory" system were "haves" who became "have nots".

There's no way of doing it that is fair to everyone, which is standard for pretty much any goods or purchase.

DH and I will take the kids to Thorpe Park and Alton Towers in September.

Paying for the 'joy' of being flung around like a rag doll 😅

I wonder if the american theme parks are far superior. From watching YouTube vlogs I have observed the queues dont seem as bad and they are generally less busy. Maybe its because they have so many theme parks. It is worth taking an unauthorised absence and going in school term. I remember when they introduced fast passes at tussauds theme parks years ago. You could buy a fast pass ticket that was unlimited on all rides that had that option. Then I noticed this had changed to purchasing a fast pass for each individual ride and its single use. Then recently it was even more expensive and beyond justifiable. A lot of people are boycotting the theme parks. Who wants to spend the day standing in a queue and going on one ride... I miss the old days at theme parks. They were never as bad as now... yes, there were queues, but not like the queues now.

Probably a stupid question, but what would happen if everyone had a fast pass?

Loving the predictable MNery about how better things are on the continent.

Yup, rather than Alton Towers I’ll go to Finland or France or Germany or Belgium. 🙄

I’m guessing the posters who go to these theme parks abroad are staying in the ‘far superior’ Euro versions of Center Parcs, or are possibly camping.

Yanbu.

British theme parks are hellish at peak times. We used to have annual passes to Legoland when dc were tiny because we lived nearby and in those days pass holders didn’t need to book - we would often turn up at 4pm and have a picnic for tea and then do the rides as the day crowds drifted home (Merlin lets you ride the last ride as long as you are in the queue at 6pm!) and we’d often knock out 14 rides if we popped in on an off-peak day but I feel those days are gone!

We happen to be in Copenhagen on vacation and we went to Tivoli today - it’s not huge and the rides aren’t “insane” but honestly we had an amazing day. Moderate queues for a few rides but nothing silly. The park is utterly beautiful, the food is incredible (there’s even a 2 Michelin star restaurant!), the prices are sensible.

I found Disney Orlando and Paris queues also ruined the experience. I queued for 45mins to get an ice cream at Epcot! I gave Disney a 1 star review - feeling frustrated and ripped off ruins my holiday vibe.

For total experience would rate Efteling, Phantasialand, EuropaPark, even Plopsaland, above Merlin or Disney.

I have vowed never to go to a UK theme park again. I would much ride a MTB for thrills, or go to a National Trust property for a beautiful day out.

@DenizenOfAisleOfShame Sorry if it annoys you but it is true.

I’ve been to several Centerparcs in Europe and enjoyed them all far, far more than the UK.

Of course the downside is you can’t pop to a continental theme park for a day out. But I’d truly rather not go to a UK theme park at all any more - when you’ve seen how well parks can be managed, there’s just no un-seeing what a rip off and poor quality experience you get in the major parks in Britain.

It doesn’t annoy me. It amuses me.

I do agree that theme parks are terrible places - I’ve done my stint and it’s over now thank god - and I’d no more go to a Finnish or German etc theme park than a British one.

As for Center Parcs, I like them. A great deal of MN opinion is snobbery IMO. Anyway, I would never schlep to, say, Holland for a three day stay when I could drive to one in England.

So if they are “duped”…. Why do so many return?

You don’t enjoy them. Many many do not enjoy them. But surely you can grasp that some genuinely do enjoy them?

As someone who lives near a few theme parks, the only time I ever go is on a week day, during term time. So everyone takes a day off school/work and it's a fantastic day for all. I absolutely refuse to go any other time, as the lines are just not worth it.

The ones i’ve been to this year have mostly still be absolutely fine with a fast pass. Paulton’s Park don’t even do them. Alton Towers was fine. It was only Legoland where we struggled.

How many return please do post me the stats!

Look if you’re happy going, paying a fortune, then paying more for fast passes, then more fool you!

A fool and their money are easily parted!

Let’s hope they bring out “even faster passes”, then you can buy those as well. Spending even more money for a day out that should really be covered by the one entry fee. You should be able to pay, go in, get on the rides and not have the elite set that get to go on rides the others that don’t because they couldn’t or wouldn’t pay extra fees.

Good for you!

It depends on the type of pass. If it's the premium, go straight to the front of the queue one, obviously it wouldn't work - so they cap the number of those they sell.

If it was the less expensive type which is effectively virtual queuing - you get a slot for the ride and turn up in that slot to ride it - then everyone in the park would be using virtual queuing, which would be much better. Yes, they would still have to wait but that time could be spent having lunch, walking round, possibly going on the less popular rides that had minimal queues.

The technology is now there to make 'virtual queuing' the default - almost all visitors will have a smart phone so an app could be installed - but the parks won't do it while they can charge extra for virtual queuing.

I agree OP, we went to legoland last October (not in half term but it was a weekend) and barely got on any rides. The queues were insane and far longer wait times than advertised, especially when the staff were so slow getting people on and off the rides (SO slow) and despite arriving very early, most of thw rides were not opened until midday. It completely put us off. By contrast, La Mer De Sable (which is quite near Disneyland Paris) was great with young kids and we had an amazing time (young kids mind - don't visit with established thrill seekers!)

So the tens upon tens upon tens upon tens of thousands that visit theme parks every year… you think most of them go once and never again?

I have been a few times. I don’t enjoy. My kids loved.

my sister goes annually. She and her family bloomin love it! No fast passes

People paying hundreds to go to concerts… unfathomable to me but my word - I can fully understand that for others, travelling long distance, paying hundreds for a ticket, queues queues etc…. Would be totally worth it. For me? Hellish and a waste of my money

The technology is now there to make 'virtual queuing' the default - almost all visitors will have a smart phone so an app could be installed - but the parks won't do it while they can charge extra for virtual queuing.

The other reason they won’t do that is because the park would be unmanageable. Their capacity is based on thousands of people standing in queues. If all those people were not in queues then the other areas would be like Waterloo at rush hour and miserable for everyone.

Post me the stats, I’ll decide then.

Edited to say quoted the wrong post.

Here are some stats: Theme parks in Britain – Who’s going and how often?

1 in 10 parents go to a theme park every 3 months.

thank you for bothering to do that for me!

So a tenth? Not prolific is it, I bet if it were more efficient it would be a lot higher than that, good job it isn’t though as the parks would let in more and more making the queues even more lengthy! I mean they could make it a certain number of people in the park and everyone gets a turn, but no you must pay to get in, then pay extra to make good use of the park.

Greedy corporations!