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Ride Access Pass and Disabled Access - 2024 Discussion

Has anyone used the RAP at Plopsaland de Panne? We're planning on going in a few weeks. I've already contacted them and they've said they will accept the Nimbus card but just wondered if anyone had experience of how the system works as doesn't seem clear on the website. Are there any restrictions on usage such as time outs?
 
Has anyone booked a Chessington or Legoland RAP slot and not redeemed it? I'm wondering if there are any repercussions for doing so.

Against my ethics it's becoming increasingly apparent the only way we'll be able to visit over the summer holidays is to block book as many dates as possible. Inevitably this may result in me being unable to cancel some unused slots due to the process requirements so slightly concerned if there are ramifications for this beyond guilt.

Chessington is already fully booked bar one day till August 5th and Legoland is even worse!
 
Bowser said:
Has anyone booked a Chessington or Legoland RAP slot and not redeemed it? I'm wondering if there are any repercussions for doing so.

Against my ethics it's becoming increasingly apparent the only way we'll be able to visit over the summer holidays is to block book as many dates as possible. Inevitably this may result in me being unable to cancel some unused slots due to the process requirements so slightly concerned if there are ramifications for this beyond guilt.

Chessington is already fully booked bar one day till August 5th and Legoland is even worse!
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Whilst there may be no ramifications for you personally there are for other people who would have used it. This isn't just applicable to RAP mind. If all MAP holders booked up park tickets and didn't turn up that wouldn't be right either. Check the terms and conditions just to be sure. Also consider that people not using a system as intended make it harder for the park to return to the more relaxed rules of they suspect any bending of the current rules.
 
Manchester1894 said:
Whilst there may be no ramifications for you personally there are for other people who would have used it. This isn't just applicable to RAP mind. If all MAP holders booked up park tickets and didn't turn up that wouldn't be right either. Check the terms and conditions just to be sure. Also consider that people not using a system as intended make it harder for the park to return to the more relaxed rules of they suspect any bending of the current rules.
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Sure, i thought i was pretty clear with my wording it's not something i want to do. Unfortunately the only way to amend CWOA and Legoland bookings is by phone or live chat during working hours and with so many bookings on top of working and looking after a severely disabled child i was voicing the concern that a mistake may be made and subsequently questioning whether there would be ramifications. And really, whilst cancelling a booking at 430pm on the day is within the rules, it's also of no use to anyone so a waste of all parties time.

As you mentioned the MAP situation i'm aware technically there's a three strike rule and your pass is cancelled for missed bookings (though i don't know how strictly this is enforced), hence my concern for a similar situation with RAP.

I still don't understand why AT and TP have the option to amend online (and avoid this) whilst the other two don't, presumably it's something to do with their digital RAP systems.
 
Yesterday at Towers I was with a friend who genuinely cannot stand in a noisy queue, so we had RAP - but there were several rides we had to skip or delay (Smiler and Wicker) because the accessible entrances weren't accessible. The new system is interesting, but overcrowding is still crippling, and preventing those who genuinely need the RAP system from experiencing said attractions.
 
Benzin said:
In what way were the entrances not accessible?

Wouldn't be surprised if the system was being overrun with the school trips.
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The RAP queue on Wicker Man was full, and Smilers was outside the entrance - thus for people who cannot queue, they would have no choice but to try their luck.
 
Bowser said:
Sure, i thought i was pretty clear with my wording it's not something i want to do. Unfortunately the only way to amend CWOA and Legoland bookings is by phone or live chat during working hours and with so many bookings on top of working and looking after a severely disabled child i was voicing the concern that a mistake may be made and subsequently questioning whether there would be ramifications. And really, whilst cancelling a booking at 430pm on the day is within the rules, it's also of no use to anyone so a waste of all parties time.

As you mentioned the MAP situation i'm aware technically there's a three strike rule and your pass is cancelled for missed bookings (though i don't know how strictly this is enforced), hence my concern for a similar situation with RAP.

I still don't understand why AT and TP have the option to amend online (and avoid this) whilst the other two don't, presumably it's something to do with their digital RAP systems.
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Literally not a single merlin passholder has ever been punished or even warned for no shows, mainly because merlin don't actually know for sure you didn't enter Vs pass didn't scan, if a pass doesn't doesn't scan they don't manually mark it as scanned, they just issue what's effectivly a day ticket.

Digital rap on loqueue they do know if you didn't start the session (aka sign in), but I'm not aware of any sanctions actually being enforced.
 
All the parks except Thorpe are now booked up 3-4 weeks ahead.

We did manage to bag a Chessington slot that appeared a few days ago for yesterday so that shows at least some people are taking the time to cancel unused slots. It does mean i'm now obsessively checking multiple times a day and discovered another flaw. If you find a more attractive slot but have used your allotted 3 you're unable to amend one of your existing bookings and have to wait until working hours to do so. I have mentioned this every time i cancel a booking so hopefully the volume will get the message across eventually 😂
 
It's incredibly weird how Thorpe and Towers are easy to rebook but Chessie and Lego require more effort.

Wonder why Towers are taking ages to release October dates.
 
Benzin said:
It's incredibly weird how Thorpe and Towers are easy to rebook but Chessie and Lego require more effort.

Wonder why Towers are taking ages to release October dates.
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Did some digging and asked a few people who visit parks that aren't merlin but also use loqueue (which merlin use for digital rap) and apparently it's just not a thing that anywhere does self service, guessing here that loqueue can only be issued or cancelled not changed.
 
Just a little note on the RAP for Plopsaland if anyone is interested:

- Incredibly effective system. You use the ride exit and it's shared with FastTrack but we barely saw anyone else using it the whole day. There's no timeouts and no limitations on number of rides. I compared it to Paultons in my comments in the park thread because it's one of those places that seems so well run, the vast majority. of people don't need to use fast-track and seemingly only those who genuinely are unable to queue can access the RAP.

- There's no capacity limit on it afaik. We applied on the day and there's no mention of that anywhere. As above, with those operations and number of open attractions i don't see why there would be. I'm not really sure how things have come to be that Merlin parks and seemingly only Merlin parks are completely overwhelmed with RAP users.

- Probably somewhat related to my first point, we really stood out all day as RAP users, to the point that everyone was staring at my son, both in the theme park and water park. I'm guessing it's much more unusual for people with severe neurological/developmental disorders to be seen at theme parks out here. It wasn't hostile, people often smiled and it didn't impact our visit but it was very noticeable so i suppose something for others to be aware of if relevant.
 
Bowser said:
Just a little note on the RAP for Plopsaland if anyone is interested:

- Incredibly effective system. You use the ride exit and it's shared with FastTrack but we barely saw anyone else using it the whole day. There's no timeouts and no limitations on number of rides. I compared it to Paultons in my comments in the park thread because it's one of those places that seems so well run, the vast majority. of people don't need to use fast-track and seemingly only those who genuinely are unable to queue can access the RAP.

- There's no capacity limit on it afaik. We applied on the day and there's no mention of that anywhere. As above, with those operations and number of open attractions i don't see why there would be. I'm not really sure how things have come to be that Merlin parks and seemingly only Merlin parks are completely overwhelmed with RAP users.

- Probably somewhat related to my first point, we really stood out all day as RAP users, to the point that everyone was staring at my son, both in the theme park and water park. I'm guessing it's much more unusual for people with severe neurological/developmental disorders to be seen at theme parks out here. It wasn't hostile, people often smiled and it didn't impact our visit but it was very noticeable so i suppose something for others to be aware of if relevant.
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Merlin's main issue is staff aren't backed up to enforce the existing rules so they decide to restrict disabled guests visiting
 
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imanautie said:
Merlin's main issue is staff aren't backed up to enforce the existing rules so they decide to restrict disabled guests visiting
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Not sure i agree with this. That's the end result of the system failing but not the cause.

Whilst i don't think Nimbus have helped the situation (if anything they made it worse), parks like Paulton's and Drayton use the exact same qualification system and don't seem to suffer the same issue.

Ultimately it's probably a combination of factors creating a perfect storm, namely Merlin parks generally having poor ride availability/operations and social media enabling the unscrupulous to combine unqualified RAP access with cheap MAP access. Though i'm still not sure that fully explains the discrepancy in numbers as it's not like Drayton has multitudes of lower visitors than Merlin parks.
 
I'll always have the belief that there is a far more appropriate cultural approach to disabled people abroad than in the UK.

Hence why the park's systems aren't completely overwhelmed by people. Think they're also slightly stricter in obtaining it and the information wasn't as readily available until recently.
 
Alton Towers RAP is now fully booked for every date of the summer holidays till September 2nd.

Legoland RAP is now fully booked for every date of the summer holidays till September 2nd.

Chessington RAP is booked till August 26th (bar August 23rd)

Thorpe Park RAP has availability from the 15th August (excluding weekends).

This Is Fine GIF
 
Does anybody know when pre-booking RAP for Scarefest is likely to go live? Just received my cousin's new pass and need to pre-book October 11th and don't want to miss out on it when it goes live
 
Danscott22 said:
Does anybody know when pre-booking RAP for Scarefest is likely to go live? Just received my cousin's new pass and need to pre-book October 11th and don't want to miss out on it when it goes live
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I'm wondering if they're waiting untill the mazes are announced as that will be when most will book.
 
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