Page 17 | Theme parks are ruined if you don't pay for a fast pass?

Twoweeksinaugust · 2026-08-09T13:33:07+00:00

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?

Pinkchickenwine · 13/08/2026 09:56

Quitedark · 13/08/2026 08:51

Of course you can think they’re greedy.

But what you shouldn’t think is that no one enjoys these days and everyone leaves feeling duped.

clear?

Show quote history

Yes thanks! Even without upper case letters! Go me!

Quitedark · 13/08/2026 13:16

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

LameBorzoi · 14/08/2026 04:06

Quitedark · 13/08/2026 09:26

I don’t enjoy them
but I am not their target audience
My teen and tween loves them
so… maybe once every couple of years, I have a day where I feel ripped off, they have a day they love.

Them’s the breaks

Edited

Show quote history

I guess in your case, your kids are having a great time, so it's worth it.

In my case, I got this idea in my head that big theme parks were some magical, essential childhood experience.

I'm glad I didn't go too overboard with the last booking. They had a nice enough time, but it wasn't their favourite trip. And it's so expensive.

QueenStevie · 14/08/2026 08:54

In this day of tech, we need to make use of it for virtual queues.

Disney manage to do it where you choose your timeslot for your ride before you even get there so you know that you have the 'big' rides covered and then you can go on other things in between.

One of the water parks in Florida had a system called (iirc) tapu tapi where you had a little device like you sometimes get in a restaurant which vibrates when it's your turn. That was good because you could go on something else or just chill on your sun lounger and head over to the ride when you knew it was your turn. There are solutions to this, they just have to invest in them.

lilkitten · 14/08/2026 13:28

Depends where you're going. Our nearest is Alton Towers, about half an hour away. Even going in summer it's now generally quieter than it was when I was a kid, so I regretted paying for a fast pass last time. We're going on Monday but we're not paying extra. But Disneyland Paris, I don't think we'd have got on much without them.

DenizenOfAisleOfShame · 14/08/2026 13:47

lilkitten · 14/08/2026 13:28

Depends where you're going. Our nearest is Alton Towers, about half an hour away. Even going in summer it's now generally quieter than it was when I was a kid, so I regretted paying for a fast pass last time. We're going on Monday but we're not paying extra. But Disneyland Paris, I don't think we'd have got on much without them.

Disney used to do tickets from machines that gave time slots for the fast queue. There was a limit to the number of tickets you could get, but IIRC there was no charge.

Has it changed now?

lilkitten · 14/08/2026 14:03

DenizenOfAisleOfShame · 14/08/2026 13:47

Disney used to do tickets from machines that gave time slots for the fast queue. There was a limit to the number of tickets you could get, but IIRC there was no charge.

Has it changed now?

Show quote history

It was a few years ago that we went, but we were given them as part of the hotel/travel package, we had a certain number per day where we just walked up and handed them in. I think I did do one of the timed ones where you got it from the machine and waited for a set time, but we mostly use these ones that our travel agent gave us.

HappyToSeeSomeCloud · 14/08/2026 14:10

We did AT a few weeks ago. It was manic minimum 45 min queue per ride. Even cbeebies. Everything is so spread out too.
We then did Paultons Park in the south , we booked 2 days as were staying close by. No queue was longer than 15 min. Most walked on and some We just stayed seated and went round again. No broken rides. Immaculate park. Well managed . We enjoyed it that much we extended our hotel and extra night and booked a 3rd day at PP

lilkitten · 15/08/2026 15:05

HappyToSeeSomeCloud · 14/08/2026 14:10

We did AT a few weeks ago. It was manic minimum 45 min queue per ride. Even cbeebies. Everything is so spread out too.
We then did Paultons Park in the south , we booked 2 days as were staying close by. No queue was longer than 15 min. Most walked on and some We just stayed seated and went round again. No broken rides. Immaculate park. Well managed . We enjoyed it that much we extended our hotel and extra night and booked a 3rd day at PP

Oh no, we're going Monday. TBF, since we live local we go quite regularly, and talking to the staff last time they were down on numbers with COL and having shifts cut, so it's good to see things getting busier again.

Jane379 · 01/09/2026 08:22

DenizenOfAisleOfShame · 13/08/2026 07:51

So, the MN hat trick is all here:

a) continental theme parks (and accommodation) are better. So ditch the drive to Legoland and get a ferry or the Eurostar or a flight, arrange somewhere to stay, and fill your boots with rides in obscure theme parks in places like Finland or Germany.

b) corporations that run theme parks make profits. Boo, hiss. They should be charities.

c) people are ‘duped’ by these corporations. Plainly, the average Brit has the common sense and IQ of an earthworm.

Edited

Efteling is hardly 'obscure' for one, and being less well-known in UK doesn't mean less good.

In France, incidentally, I'd recommend the Parc Asterix for Asterix fans.

Jane379 · 01/09/2026 08:26

DenizenOfAisleOfShame · 12/08/2026 05:16

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.

Not a huge theme park fan, but aren't rollercoasters etc pretty much similar whatever country you're in? Obviously going in England is more convenient.

Efteling I do know was designed by a well known fairy tale illustrator , so I can see why some might like it because of that.

Jane379 · 01/09/2026 08:36

DonaldWheresMaTweezers · 11/08/2026 07:33

Many of us on this thread are old enough to remember theme parks before the days of fast passes. But young people and children will know no different. For them, either spending hundreds on fast passes or standing in a barely moving queue is normal.

But they want, quite naturally, to visit a theme park - their peers will be going, they'll also nowadays be seeing videos on social media of people going on thrill rides and raving about how amazing they are.

There are so many things nowadays that have become shit. It's OK for a middle-aged person like me to think, well, I 'did' theme parks when I was younger, I've been to many nice restaurants before they went downhill or closed, I've had nice days shopping on high streets before they filled up with vape shops, I've been on trains in the days when there was reasonable prospect of getting a seat etc. But young people are growing up in a really crappy world and they won't know that things can be better.

Business are constantly thinking 'how can we make/save more money' - and that is reasonable as long as they don't lose sight of the customer. That's what theme park operators have done by monetising queuing, making a poor experience part of their business model. Not a 'standard' 'ordinary' 'does the job' experience, such as flying Economy rather than business class, but an experience that is unpleasant and frustrating. And anyone born in the last 20 years ago will think 'normal = unpleasant'.

Show quote history

'I've been on trains in the days when there was reasonable prospect of getting a seat etc. '

this does depend on area somewhat. I go Victoria every day and usually can get a seat.

Restaurants and high streets are agree have often gone downhill.

ChristmasCwtch · 01/09/2026 08:37

The last time I went to a theme park without a fast pass (Chessington), we did 2 rides the whole day!! Total nightmare.

I wouldn’t go to legoland without it now. I buy the middle tier fast pass, which cuts the queue time in half and you get a QR code which means you aren’t physically standing in a line. 100% worth it!!

We went to Orlando this summer and again the Lightening Lanes at DisneyWorld were a blessing. We stayed at a Universal hotel with free fast pass and again, it made the holiday more pleasant.

I wouldn’t go at all if there wasn’t a fast pass option.

Daisymae55 · 01/09/2026 12:24

ChristmasCwtch · 01/09/2026 08:37

The last time I went to a theme park without a fast pass (Chessington), we did 2 rides the whole day!! Total nightmare.

I wouldn’t go to legoland without it now. I buy the middle tier fast pass, which cuts the queue time in half and you get a QR code which means you aren’t physically standing in a line. 100% worth it!!

We went to Orlando this summer and again the Lightening Lanes at DisneyWorld were a blessing. We stayed at a Universal hotel with free fast pass and again, it made the holiday more pleasant.

I wouldn’t go at all if there wasn’t a fast pass option.

Edited

You see I don’t understand when people say this?

We were at Chessington on Saturday. It was super busy and we didn’t use a single fast track. Got on about 10 rides and that was with 2 breaking down when we got to the front of the queues. Been going regularly to Chessington and Legoland all summer and never only managed 2 rides.