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?

This is why I like Paultons, beautiful park and even in the summer holidays we've never queued for more than maybe 20 minutes.

Why can't they all just have virtual queues. Like you can log into a ride and then you are allocated a slot. Your phone alerts you within a certain number of minutes to tell you when to make your way to that ride and queue. If you fail to do so and miss slot then you must go back to ride to sign in again.

Unless they profit from having people lingering around in queues? But they can't buy anything if they're in a line.

Surely it's better to maximize the time people are able to purchase things like snacks etc by reducing the amount of time they spend idle but waiting in a long line.

Over dramatic? That’s literally the point of her post, that you don’t have to go and that it’s likely not worth it on a busy day without a fast pass. HTH.

When we went to Disneyland Paris I thought who in their right mind would pay £400 for a fast track pass? But fuck me, never again.

You would get to see so much more. Hours were spent in some queues.

Tbh im a fast pass person for anything, if i can pay extra and get through faster quicker, i`ll pay the extra, and not just for theme parks i do it for all sorts.

I think they should be limited to people who cannot wait in queues, for example those with disabilities.

Or they should be much more limited and only for people who buy certain ticket packages, like if they have a hotel package etc. I don't know what rules I'd enforce exactly, but the queue not moving at all because a whole ride worth of fast pass tickets is let on is not a situation that should occur.

Where that happens, perhaps they should alternate but do 2 x fast pass, then 1 x normal queue. I don't know. But there has to be a better way.

They do profit from it. If they had virtual queues, they'd just have people going on the less popular rides while they waited, which would ultimately mean they had to run the ride more times in a day, and therefore lost money. Having people standing around not actually riding is very beneficial to them.

Totally agree Op. We went to Disney in 2024 and the fast passes are insanely expensive but if you don’t get them it feels like you have wasted all the money you have already spent going to Disney. My niece (6 at the time) really struggled with the waiting on the non fast past day!

Have you ever played the theme park sim city type games. The thing you learn quickly is that people in queues take up very little space compared to people moving around. You can get a much higher people density if you have lots of queueing systems.

Yeah, that's it. Thank you. I knew there was a reason. It's the actual operating costs of the rides. They want to run them as few times as possible per day.

It's a bloody disgrace to have families waiting in line for like 2-3 hours for a 3 minute ride. In the boiling hot. I can't comprehend why people do it.

That's not what OP is discussing.
She's wondering whether it's still worth going if you don't pay for a pass.

Thank you! Another reason why they do it. Sneaky fuckers!

For those saying the nimbus card is a pain I got the full access card for DS for £15. It lasts 3 years and can be used most places.

I've discovered over the years I get free carer tickets to the theatre etc too and so it offset the cost immediately.

i dunno, I remember Alton towers and “the corkscrew” being a big deal, you thought yourself lucky if the queue was under 3 hours.

No she’s not wondering whether worth it. Clearly she’s just had an experience whereby she has concluded it isn’t worth it.

You’d think they’d been forced to go to this theme park

Meh. They're businesses, it's normal for them to want to make a profit.

I love fast passes, and definitely wouldn't go without them - 9 year old DS and his friends aren't exactly renowned for their patience with queuing, and an expensive theme park isn't the place to be teaching them life lessons about queues, I'd rather pay and get the most out of the day.

Exactly

The way some people are talking you’d think these theme parks were charities or public bodies that owed us something

Yeah but it's sad they can't run places like that in a much better way in terms of consumer experience. You pay your money, you should get better service than that. No other sector could get away with it.

I definitely wouldn't bother going and wouldn't recommend it as it stands now.

Is going to a theme park a normal thing to do frequently? Even once a year sounds a lot to me.

It isn’t “sad”

If it wasn’t working for many people, they’d go out of business

Yes, there's an interesting podcast called Keys To The Kingdom about people who work in theme parks. American but I can imagine a lot applies here. It sounds like a tiresome job a lot of the time, especially if you're doing something like dressing up in a sweaty costume in summer.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=open.spotify.com/show/4qOw4roJANLfrPGiuyZy0l&ved=2ahUKEwjW3cP39JOWAxVEVUEAHbzCFUkQFnoECBAQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0a-krrNKf-Ax1I_qioggx9

It’s the way of the world. The well off can do more. An increasing number of activities/fun day outs are becoming less accessible to more and more people (theme parks, zoos, theatre, cinema, even soft play). A shame.

Some people really like theme parks! Just like some people like beaches and some people like sightseeing. People who like things tend to do them as often as they can. Not controversial.

I cannot stand Chessington and Legoland for this reason. Can’t trust the app queue times either as you never know how many passes they’ll sell and subsequently how many people will push in in front of you.

Luckily, we live close enough to get to Paultons Park which is absolutely fantastic and I can’t recommend it highly enough.