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?

The last time I ever visited a theme park was when I was a teenager, and I so t be going again because if the queues are so long you need to spend £300 on a ‘fast pass’, then frankly it’s not worth it 🙄

My husband and daughter waited 2 1/2 hours to go on the vampire at Chessington 2 years ago. Never going back

Two and a half hours is a joke isn’t it.
It’s sad there isn’t a better way of doing all of it, but it sounds like it’s also crowd control too.

Land in the UK is five times more expensive than in Germany

If you're questioning that then going to worship at the cathedral of capitalism is probably not for you!

Added to which, Germany is just a teeny tiny bit bigger than the UK

lets face it, the majority of things like this are better in Europe, not sure why or if people demand better , but it seems we have all sleep walked into expecting bad service and treatment and nobody has stopped the rot have they.

Not for us - had to send EHCP and get a GP letter (as well as DLA evidence) so it was a major faff.

if I’d known, I would have just bought fast passes (and probably will next time). At least I can use the fast passes while I wait for the RAP slot.

How odd. Not what the website says at all

Theme park operators have found a way to monetise queuing, absolutely zero incentive for them to do anything to reduce the queues, because while people are buying fast passes, they're laughing all the way to the bank.

Wow I don't remember any of that. I do remember walking back onto Nemesis for a second go once.

We used to go for 2 days though so maybe that's the secret to going during peak time.

Defo and they get away with it.

Nemesis always had multi hour queues when I went. Oblivion and the Black Hole (that is going back some as it is no longer there.. Smiler in its place now), you could go on, and run back round the line and go straight back on.

They do, because people are prepared to buy them.

Some people are wealthy enough not to notice the expense.
Some people are prepared to save, or sacrifice other leisure activities to buy fast passes.

Personally, I stopped going to theme parks when fast passes became a thing. I don't mind queuing if the queue is moving steadily, but standing still in the queue while fast-trackers go to the front of it (excepting for disabled access) - nope - and I'm certainly not spending my hard-earned on fast passes when the ordinary entrance fees aren't exactly minimal.

I have recently renewed DS’s Nimbus pass and got the impression that they may be tightening up eligibility. Last time we applied we just needed a diagnosis letter. This time there were multiple specific questions on the form about what type of disabilities he has and how they affect him with regard to being in a theme park. The form stated that they may come back to request more evidence, so I sent several documents to ensure they had enough. It was a significantly more faffy process than I remember from before.

They aren’t “getting away with it”,

They are selling something. And people are buying it or not buying it .

This isn’t pharmaceutical corruption or similar!

Sorry, but I think they are being exploitive. We all have different opinions on this. I know people can vote with their feet , but it feels off to make the whole day out experience another division between rich and poor.
only my own opinion though.

A “poor” person is unlikely to be able to afford the entry.

This is silly. There is absolutely no obligation to go.

They are only "getting away" with it because people want to pay. There is no social good from a theme park it is pure capitalist entertainment. It is not some kind of human right. Some people value it enough to pay the £40 to get in and queue, some people value it enough to pay to get in and then pay more for the rides. Some people don't value it enough to even go in the first place.

Theme parks are busy because a lot of people put high value on that type of entertainment. It is simple supply and demand capitalism. Just like theatre tickets are expensive because a lot of people put high value on seeing a performance live.

No , I made the point that people can vote with their feet, but it’s clear the companies are trying to fleece people. That’s all. It’s like most things these days though! I used to save up vouchers for the odd trip to theme Parks, but I bet that’s not as easy to do anymore.

Noones being exploited. Noones being rounded up and forced to go to Chessington. People go out of their own free will. Most people appear to enjoy it from the level of return visits.

They are trying to make as much money as possible
Why?
They are a business
if they thought it was putting people off… they would have abandoned long ago

Theme parks are not an essential service. No one is being exploited. If you think fast passes etc are unfair, then vote with your feet. I can guarantee that you not going is not going to affect the theme park and their profits whatsoever.

No, fair points. I just hate how people are ripped off that’s all.

Theme Parks are a great example of where quite a few people think there are too many other people without considering that they are one of excess of people in someone elses eyes.