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Ride Access Pass and Disabled Access - 2024 Discussion

Just charge £10pp refundable if you turn up or cancel more than 2 weeks out. Restaurants are getting wise to the practice of booking then cancelling at the last minute, leaving them with empty tables and lost profit

GP appointments are so difficult to get I just book a GP appointment for every day of the year and then cancel it if I don't need it!
 
Smiley said:
Just charge £10pp refundable if you turn up or cancel more than 2 weeks out. Restaurants are getting wise to the practice of booking then cancelling at the last minute, leaving them with empty tables and lost profit

GP appointments are so difficult to get I just book a GP appointment for every day of the year and then cancel it if I don't need it!
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Somehow I don’t think punishing vulnerable people financially is the way to go.

Cancelling a RAP slot in advance frees it up for others so not comparable in any way to empty restaurant tables. Worst case an unused slot means shorter queues for everyone else.
 
Skyscraper said:
There is still a court case going on, apparently, accusing Merlin's RAP cap of being "unlawful". 🤦‍♂️


From: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRLTAe_Mt-c


Removing the cap is not the solution, if that's what he's trying to achieve, as we all know how bad the RAP queues were before it was introduced.
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It appears that someone is not familiar with the concept of contempt of court but, if this claim of a lawsuit is real, they're about to be.
 
I wasn't aware of this court case being a thing and would like to see more information on it (as I can't find anything about it on his socials), but I'm very interested in knowing the outcome.
 
If Paultons managed a cap for years prior to Merlin introducing it without complaint (and given the furore around the charge for carers, it does not seem they are immune from public complaint around accessibility), how is it illegal when Merlin does it?
 
Matt N said:
If Paultons managed a cap for years prior to Merlin introducing it without complaint (and given the furore around the charge for carers, it does not seem they are immune from public complaint around accessibility), how is it illegal when Merlin does it?
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There was no reason to complain about Paultons capacity because it was rarely reached and the park was generally still usable for many who qualified without it.

In terms of that video, I’m curious where the man berating Merlin for their lack of evidence has obtained data that illustrates 80% of RAP bookings are either unused or used by people who don’t qualify.

I’ll criticise Merlin as much as the next person but this is so unfair, they clearly do accommodate disabilities and the downfall of the RAP system is due to misuse and flawed eligibility criteria, neither of which are Merlin’s fault beyond the vulnerable time card system.
 
Bowser said:
In terms of that video, I’m curious where the man berating Merlin for their lack of evidence has obtained data that illustrates 80% of RAP bookings are either unused or used by people who don’t qualify.
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Lol, is that really what he claims?

A half decent lawyer would kill that case in an afternoon.

Citation needed, as they say.

Must say even with the cap going on the staff are still failing to put down the correct times on cards.


Edit - Will add because bored and sent the video to the Mrs who was also incredulous about the stat claim. Currently all of August is available to book, and the only date currently unavailable is 7th September after July.

So yeah, any lawyer will piss over his chips.
 
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When I visited the other week, 17th June, the staff were often very helpful but always stuck to what the queue time was. However there was a situation in which I'm curious to see what peoples opinions of it are.
We entered the RAP queue for Galactica in the afternoon and my card was signed, and then joined the normal queue. The ride was subsequently closed after 5 mins of queuing and my group decided to exit the queue and go on nemesis instead. The person signing the RAP cards changed our time so that we could go on nemesis immediately without having to wait for the Galactica time to end. I thought it was fair but I want to hear others opinions on it.
 
Hazza said:
We entered the RAP queue for Galactica in the afternoon and my card was signed, and then joined the normal queue.
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How come you entered the regular queue after getting your RAP cards signed? Wouldn’t you be in the RAP queue at that point, assuming they sign the card at a merge point before you board? (I’m not a frequent visitor so unfamiliar with processes.)
 
Hazza said:
When I visited the other week, 17th June, the staff were often very helpful but always stuck to what the queue time was. However there was a situation in which I'm curious to see what peoples opinions of it are.
We entered the RAP queue for Galactica in the afternoon and my card was signed, and then joined the normal queue. The ride was subsequently closed after 5 mins of queuing and my group decided to exit the queue and go on nemesis instead. The person signing the RAP cards changed our time so that we could go on nemesis immediately without having to wait for the Galactica time to end. I thought it was fair but I want to hear others opinions on it.
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Just checking. You qualify for RAP, you have a RAP card. You used your RAP card for Galactica Ride 1 and got an appropriate time out.

After Galactica Ride 1, you joined the main queue for Galactica (because you were timed out of RAP) for Galactica Ride 2. Whilst in the main queue for Galactica Ride 2, the ride closed and the queue was evacuated. Despite queueing in the main queue for Galactica Ride 2, and already having had your RAP ride with Galactica Ride 1, you asked the ride host to amend your RAP timeout and they did... Effectively meaning that you no longer had a timeout for Galactica Ride 1, and having been in the main queue for Galactica Ride 2.

You would like to know whether it's ok to work the system in this way, and whether we approve of your actions?

Well that's a loaded question.

I'd be curious to know why you thought it was fair, given that no one else in the main queue you elected to join had that advantage.
 
GooseOnTheLoose said:
Just checking. You qualify for RAP, you have a RAP card. You used your RAP card for Galactica Ride 1 and got an appropriate time out.

After Galactica Ride 1, you joined the main queue for Galactica (because you were timed out of RAP) for Galactica Ride 2. Whilst in the main queue for Galactica Ride 2, the ride closed and the queue was evacuated. Despite queueing in the main queue for Galactica Ride 2, and already having had your RAP ride with Galactica Ride 1, you asked the ride host to amend your RAP timeout and they did... Effectively meaning that you no longer had a timeout for Galactica Ride 1, and having been in the main queue for Galactica Ride 2.

You would like to know whether it's ok to work the system in this way, and whether we approve of your actions?

Well that's a loaded question.
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Sorry, I worded that wrong, they signed my card at the merge point and I entered the queue, what I call the main queue because everyone was in that queue. I only entered the queue once for Galactica but never got on because it closed. The attendant then changed the RAP time as I was leaving the queue. I never went on it a second time and used the RAP to get onto nemesis, and then waited for my next ride from the time out from nemesis. I thought it was fair because i never actually waited to go onto Galactica and so did the people leaving the main queue therefore I didn't need to wait for the time out because other people were going straight onto nemesis.
 
Hazza said:
Sorry, I worded that wrong, they signed my card at the merge point and I entered the queue, what I call the main queue because everyone was in that queue. I only entered the queue once for Galactica but never got on because it closed. The attendant then changed the RAP time as I was leaving the queue. I never went on it a second time and used the RAP to get onto nemesis, and then waited for my next ride from the time out from nemesis. I thought it was fair because i never actually waited to go onto Galactica and so did the people leaving the main queue therefore I didn't need to wait for the time out because other people were going straight onto nemesis.
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Then yes that seems perfectly reasonable as you were about to board Galactica but couldn’t.
 
Actually we had a similar situation at Legoland today when Speedway went down just as we were about to get on and had to be evacuated. I asked what happens in regards to our timeout (being digital) and they said come back when the ride reopens and gave me the hosts name to verify.

This was at 4pm, one hour before park close so i'm not sure if the ride did reopen as we instead went to the nearby 4D cinema (which has no RAP) then left. Tbh i felt that was quite unfair as we essentially lost a slot and they should have a system to reset it or given us a physical ticket but i wasn't in a position to debate it.
 
Bowser said:
Actually we had a similar situation at Legoland today when Speedway went down just as we were about to get on and had to be evacuated. I asked what happens in regards to our timeout (being digital) and they said come back when the ride reopens and gave me the hosts name to verify.

This was at 4pm, one hour before park close so i'm not sure if the ride did reopen as we instead went to the nearby 4D cinema (which has no RAP) then left. Tbh i felt that was quite unfair as we essentially lost a slot and they should have a system to reset it or given us a physical ticket but i wasn't in a position to debate it.
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Though how is that different to someone in the main queue queuing an hour and then the ride breaks down and told to leave without a ride. That person has wasted an hour without a ride?
 
pjanvil said:
Though how is that different to someone in the main queue queuing an hour and then the ride breaks down and told to leave without a ride. That person has wasted an hour without a ride?
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Usually in those situations (full queue evac) Fastrack would be given out for the inconvenience.

Unless things have changed due to reliability being a bit of a problem in recent years.
 
The guy will see Merlin in court soon - at a new libel case 😁 Mathematically, if you get rid of the RAP cap then the queue times (return times) just become longer for everyone - more RAP users = longer main queue = longer RAP return time. So it doesn't solve the issue, it just makes for a worse customer experience for everyone.

Would love to know who's funding his case, as I don't see Merlin skimping on lawyers in a disability discrimination lawsuit. Looks quite frivolous to me, so I'd be expecting the judge to award costs.
 
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