Theme park fast pass for SN children?

[genieinabottle]

Hi, i'm aware some theme parks offer a free 'fast track' service to children with SN and their families.
I know Legoland and Chessington do it, but what about Paultons'park (in Hampshire) do they do it?
I've looked through their website but saw nothing about it.

I have heard that the theme park staff want to see an NHS letter from a professional stating the dx, to check eligibilty for the pass.
We haven't received the dx report for DS. But we have a letter from SALT (re: his latest salt assessment) and it says in black and white DS has a dx of autistic spectrum disorder.
Do you think that would be accepted???

Thanks.

they have a queue assist policy here just scroll down.

Thanks for the link Bigcar.
I hadn't seen this info when i looked on the website... i need glasses!

They say 'any official type letter staing the disbility' ...
So we should be fine with the SALT letter/report as it has the NHS logo and it clearly says about DS's autism.

would have thought so, so long as headed paper, can't see why not

my friend has boy with autism, just takes letter, and its fine

I had never heard of 'fast track' for sn children.

Can i ask if you go as a family of say 1 adult and 2 children and the other child does not sn, what would happen?

I called it fast track but i'm unsure what the exact name for this is.
On the paultons park website they call it 'queue assist'

The child with SN gets a blue wristband to allow them to 'jump' the queue on the big rides and up to 3 other family members get another colour wristband to accompany the child.

normally the dc with sn gets a band/stamp and up to 3 others as well. So family of 4 would all be allowed on the ride at the same time.

cross-post with bigcar

Thank you, thats brilliant, i have never taken ds to a theme park of any sort because of the queues.

I did wonder if 2 adults would have to go, 1 to go on the ride and the other to wait with any other children.

Thanks for clearing that up.

We will be able to visit a theme park now

I think different parks call it different things Some places you just need to prove disability, others specify inability to queue.

Can i ask another question please of anyone who has used the 'fast track' or anything similar. Just how fast, is it?

We've only used this system at Alton Towers and Disneyland but it is always very fast. Most of the time you go straight to the exit of the ride and get on there. We've never waited more than 5mins anywhere we've gone :)

hth

Thank you

I haven't used it yet but a friend has.
She said you just walk up to the attendant for the ride, shows them your wristbands/stamps and they let you in through the fast track entry, very little or no queueing she said. You're restricted to using it only once every hour for the big popular rides though.

Sounds like a brilliant idea, now all i need is about the £200 it costs for the tickets!

200 pounds!!! christ that is a lot!
Merlin magic wand can somtimes help towards ticket costs.
Here is the link.
www.merlinsmagicwand.org/

Haven't used them yet, but planning to for our Chessington trip.
Paultons is costing us 51 pounds for DH, me , DS and DD (free as she is under 1 metre in height).

Link again...www.merlinsmagicwand.org/

Make sure you check if there are discounts for disabled people.
When we go to Alton Towers we get half price tickets with DD's blue badge. :)

Well, there is me and dp, 2 teenager sons who count as adults, 1 teenager son who counts as a child and ds!

So 4 adult tickets and 2 children, Legoland adult prices are £38 per adult and about half that price for a child. Then there is the price of the travel and food too, a very expensive day out for us, even if we take a packed lunch!

At some Theme Parks NT people can pay extra for 'Fast Track' passes and play at having SN for a day.

Thanks for the link, i also seem to remember being able to collect tokens of some sort for 2 for 1 offers etc. I will have to keep my eyes open for such offers for next year, now i know about the sn fast tracking.

Claw, if you think you might go more than once, look into Merlin passes. You can get a disabled one, and then free for a carer. And then of course, multiple entry all year.

We go a lot with the dds, they love it, and we used to live round the corner from chessington.

Legoland exit pass fast rack is excellent. SN person gets a red hand stamp, then up to 4 other (I think) get black hand stamps. Turn up at the exit or queue bot entrance, and be next on the ride, total priority.

I think we paid £380 for 4 merlin passes (still don't claim dla for dd1, so no disabled pass/free carers pass for us) - that gives is unlimited entry to legoland, chessington, Thorpe park, Anton towers, sea life centres, and also London aquarium, London eye, madametussauds, but these are restriced in august I think. So, expensive but cheap over the year if you think you'd go reasonably often.

Thanks Silver i will look into it, im sure ds would love theme parks and we would use them more than once, he is a real thrill seeker and loves fun fair rides, the faster the better!

We've just been to Paulton's park and it was on a whim as we were camping in the area so didn't have a letter. They were still very good and gave us the wristbands without question, although ds being in the Major as he hates crowds might have helped. We only tried to use the bands a couple of times (ds being a pain not in the mood) but it did seem difficult to attract the attention of the staff without pushing past people which felt a bit awkward. We went on the little train because ds could stay in his buggy (and sulk if he wanted to ) and the driver couldn't have been more helpful with putting down the ramp etc. It's nice when someone is so cheerful and doesn't make you feel like you are putting them out.