Alton Towers kehrt seinen Plan zur Einschränkung des Behindertenausweises für Menschen mit ADHS und Autismus um
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2gyggxv4no
Von doorstopnoodles
Alton Towers kehrt seinen Plan zur Einschränkung des Behindertenausweises für Menschen mit ADHS und Autismus um
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2gyggxv4no
Von doorstopnoodles
29 Kommentare
Good, it wasn’t a fast pass, it provided the ability to participate in a virtual queue.
Ergo someone with anxiety can sit in a quiet area of the park until it is their turn instead of waiting somewhere crowded or loud in queue.
You don’t jump any queues and the virtual wait is often longer than the regular queue wait, especially at Alton Towers I’ve found
Merlin 4 billion in debt and have had their credit rating downgraded recently. I’d say they don’t really need this negative attention right now. This whole episode has certainly made me think twice about ever going again, they’ve shown me what they’re all about.
oh NOW they put autism in the headline? When it was announced the focused on ADHD and anxiety, funny that.
I do wonder if they had legal advice that it might be classed as discrimination to do what they were intending.
As someone who has visited the park with someone who needs RAP, it’s a real shame. The system fundamentally didn’t work to support those who needed it and drastic change is still needed.
Alton Towers still acknowledge that, so I suspect their planned changes will be implemented anyway.
I didn’t realise it initially included people with autism, I’ve got anxiety myself but never felt like it was the type of disability to “deserve” the pass (much as I’m aware that it’s a spectrum and that one person may be far worse than another) but keeping it from people with autism is just straight up bollocks and the fact that it was somewhat hidden until they could use it for good boy points in their u-turn statement like they’re doing a nice thing is cunt behaviour.
It’s a shame they’ve U-turned, it was a step in the right direction imo. Far too many RAP users at the parks resulting in a terrible experience for both the normal and RAP queues.
I’ve got adhd and anxiety myself and I think it’s stupid to let people with it jump the que.
If you have anxiety the worst place you want to be is on a fucking roller-coaster.
All of a sudden I’ve got a random surge of anxiety
I think they were right in what they said they just worded it badly . If more people have disabled passes than non disabled they will end up waiting longer & this will have a knock on effect for the whole park .
I’ve gone to Merlin parks for years, these passes are constantly abused by people whose parents are pulling a fast one and jumping the queues because little Bob or whatever doesn’t want to wait like everyone else. My son has autism and he learnt like we all should that patience is part of life and at the end of the day we have all paid for a day out and deserve to be treated equally.
An example I saw was on Hyperia at Thorpe Park, we got chatting to a mum and her strapping six foot son who was queuing with us in a two hour line as they had already used the RAP pass earlier and wanted another go. There was absolutely nothing wrong with him and he waited patiently with us. I agree some people have issues but Merlin were just trying to reduce the passes to a more fair level and of course social media won again.
Lol, bottled it. Said what everyone was thinking and gave into the pressure.
Is it really that difficult to explain to people that are uncomfortable in large crowds that their recreational activities should not be planned for areas that are always crowded?
They used to do virtual queueing anyway, back when they cared about visitor experiences rather than limiting how many rides you’d get in a day
They should make them sit in an empty room while waiting instead of getting to walk around the park and do other things
I have a child who benefits greatly from queue passes due to ASD/ADHD. Never got one of these Access Passes with the icons as we only do Paultons, and they’ve been fine with other evidence in the past – so not sure what thresholds she would meet (she receives a low rate of Mobility DLA and middle rate Care)
She cannot stand still as her ADHD is very high Hyperactive. Something has to be moving at all times. Even when she’s trying to sleep, she’s wiggling constantly. Anyone who doubts ADHD is real would soon change their minds meeting her.
This makes queuing extremely difficult as she will bolt off (as well as the expected meltdowns, becoming a dead weight on the floor etc).
The first year we went before I realised this scheme was in place, we were chasing her down queues (extremely difficult and stressful when you are packed like sardines as you can imagine). This is also very difficult for the people in the queue who need to patiently accomodate for us, and listen to me try everything to calm her down before usually just bailing on queuing at all. Most of the day ended up being spent in the playgrounds or splash bits.
I think there needs to be a threshold though, as people are absolutely taking the piss. IMO, I can’t see any good reason why these passes cannot be given to those who attend with their legal carer. I have ASD and ADHD too, but taking every „nice to have“ ruins it for those that genuinely cannot have a day out without these accommodations. These schemes are heaving under questionable entitlement.
I still think they need to adopt the pleasure beach system
Merlins system now is
One person has a disability that means they get a RAP
They can choose to take 3 others with that RAP
This means that if a family of 4 go and one person has a disability thats 4 slots taken on the RAP which caps at 50 for example.
This means that the RAP fills FAST so theres been limited availability for years and people complain about it constantly but they can’t make it unlimited because if they did then people who need the RAP because of impairments that mean they CANNOT or struggle to queue would struggle just as much with the RAP as they do with standard access.
People have been caught abusing this CONSTANTLY because Nimbus does not require proof for ADHD or Anxiety because these things can often take years to get clear proof for so they removed them along with Autism(which was dumb)
As an example i once saw a woman in a queue to try her luck at picking up a fully booked out access pass in Alton Towers to „Look more disabled“ oh and yeah thats the fun part you have to queue for about 30 minutes in some cases to get the access pass.
The counter to this was that the nimbus system would allow you to submit proof that you actually struggled to Queue due to bathroom needs, physical disability or other needs that did not get diagnosed. So somebody with Anxiety would still get the pass if they had proof that their anxiety was debilitating enough to stop them from being able to queue.
Now Blackpool pleasure beach system is easy you show proof, you get one access pass and one carers ticket who is included in that access pass. You want to add family on you pay a reduced access pass price and that maxes at 4. That need to pay to add it on actually puts people off abusing the system.
A u-turn on a sensible plan because of the outrage from the chronically offended who didn’t read what they were planning to do. All they were proposing was to remove the pass from people who only had „struggles in crowds“ on their disability card.
It wouldn’t have affected any of the more disabled visitors, just the group of people who like to take advantage of minor disabilities to the detriment of those that actually need that access.
This news sucks if you have a kid who has „severe“ autism, but those voices are drowned out by the TikTok autistics who were furious their special treatment was going to be taken away.
I have ADHD and I don’t think that should qualify me for a disability pass. I might fidget when I’m in line but I’ll probably fidget on the ride too to be honest.
Poor. What should actually be done is kids being taken off video games by their parents instead of them leaving them to play on it all day long.
Good. I’m Autistic and queues are manageable for me but my autistic nephew cannot cope with queues.
Never mess with families that have neurodivergent children. They have filled in more forms and shouted at more people down the phone than Merlin Entertainment staff have had hot dinners.
Just leave them be, they’ve been through enough already
And they refused my ticket for my ‚arachnophobia‘, 2 tier ticketing I think!..
I hate queues and crowds too. No medical reason as far as I’m aware but if I can skip ahead that would be cool.
I have anxiety in crowds but love theme parks. How can I get a free fast pass?
Email I have sent to alton towers sick to death of this system being completely abused
Dear Alton Towers Guest Relations Team,
I am writing to formally express my dissatisfaction and frustration regarding the decision to revert back from the changes you were going to implement to the RAP (Ride Access Pass) system.
I completely recognise the importance of accessibility arrangements; however, reverting back from the proposed changes to the RAP system appears to create an uneven experience. General admission guests are required to physically queue for extended periods, while RAP pass holders are able to wait virtually and still access rides in a way that seems to reduce their overall queuing burden and access more rides then those in the general queue.
When RAP queues themselves can sometimes exceed an hour, it feels contradictory that the system exists on the basis that these guests cannot queue, yet they are still able to wait in a dedicated line for a significant length of time — just not in the general queue.
This creates a perception of inconsistency and unfairness in how waiting time is applied across different guests.
Meanwhile, general queue guests are required to physically stand and shuffle forward for the full published wait time, unable to leave for food, rest, or other attractions. No one enjoys queuing, but it is generally accepted as part and parcel of visiting a theme park.
If this system is to remain in place, I strongly believe changes are needed to ensure fairness for all guests.
For example:
One member of a RAP guest’s party could be required to wait in the standard queue.
Wristband or digital tracking could be implemented so guests cannot queue (physically or virtually) for multiple rides at the same time.
A restriction period (for example, 30 minutes) could be introduced preventing RAP holders from joining another ride queue while already virtually waiting for one.
At present, the system feels open to abuse and disproportionately disadvantages those in the general queue, who are often waiting longer than the stated ride times.
I am completely in favour of equality and accessibility, but not when it appears to come at the expense of fairness for other paying guests. There must be a balanced solution that supports accessibility needs without creating resentment or inequality within the park experience.
I would appreciate clarification on the reasoning behind reverting this decision and what steps, if any, are being considered to ensure fairness for all visitors.
Ehhhhh, to be honest, it’d probably be best brought back to the table for further review.
Issue is, you’re running into the same issue where you’re cutting out mental diseases, because pricks are taking advantage of the fact theres no way to tell if they’re telling porkie pies without putting it into practice, and as a result anyone who genuinely has those issues, is getting punished as a result.
And the exact same outcome happens here, where the people with ADHD/Autism/Whatever are being shafted, because now those same pricks are just getting a cut rate fast pass cos „oh, yeah, I’m kinda autistic“.
Just a case of damned if you do, damned if you don’t, and I find it hard to make a convenient middle ground other than requiring claimants to provide a doctors note to say „yeah, this guy genuinely does have autism“
The solution to stop the abuse of this system is to find a way to prevent RAP holders from also being allowed to join the regular queue.
People who genuinely need it would not be able to handle the main queue anyway and it will stop the advantage of double dipping that all the fakers do to get more rides.
This would both stop the abuse and make the ride acces experience better for those who really need it.
Only problem is that Merlins theme parks are on the verge of bankruptcy and they would never invest in a proper rfid wristband system that would be needed to enforce it.
On the opening day of hyperia the RAP queue was almost as long as the regular at rope drop, and later on the day I saw at least half of the same people queueing perfectly fine in the regular queue.