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Ride Access Pass and Disabled Access - 2026 Discussion

Bowser said:
Moving the burden onto the healthcare system is not wise. GP's already refuse to do such letters for Blue Badges because it is a time sink. Refusal to give a patient what they want can result in repeat appointments until they acquiesce.

Imagine now overnight sending hundreds of thousands of people to their GP requesting theme park letters for their children.

Not to mention the determined could simply book a private GP appointment who will likely be far more willing to assist. Why wouldn't they, it's of no impact to them and better to get through these requests as quickly as possible.

The only viable method now would be to have an eligibility team, be they in-house or independent but one that is not driven by profit.
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I can see where you're coming from with regards to the limited time that GP's have. I somewhat expected that to be brought up. I'm good with the idea of an in-house or independent team, although it worries me that people are more likely to kick-up a fuss if they don't get what they want from Merlin or an independent service, as opposed to actual doctors. If you use Merlin or an independent service, how are they going to distinguish between the genuinely needy and the chancers? Apart from literally seeing someone in front of you with a physical disability you're still relying on the applicants honesty or a past diagnosis which may or may not explain if they can queue for over 20 minutes (or whatever). At that point, when there is a dispute, you're going to be asking for a doctor's opinion based on the applicants history. Then, we're back to square one.

It's tricky.
 
Bowser said:
Moving the burden onto the healthcare system is not wise. GP's already refuse to do such letters for Blue Badges because it is a time sink. Refusal to give a patient what they want can result in repeat appointments until they acquiesce.

Imagine now overnight sending hundreds of thousands of people to their GP requesting theme park letters for their children.

Not to mention the determined could simply book a private GP appointment who will likely be far more willing to assist. Why wouldn't they, it's of no impact to them and better to get through these requests as quickly as possible.

The only viable method now would be to have an eligibility team, be they in-house or independent but one that is not driven by profit.
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I'd add that bluntly, my (personal) experience with GPs at least with sick notes is that they do not want to be selective and will generally do as asked. I'd expect a lot to just wave through requests for letters to get accomadations (not least because my GP charges letters).

Come to think of it, the one time I did get a letter from a GP (to get a epi-pen through an airport) it was just a normal letterheaded paper, not rocket science to forge.
 
shaun3 said:
The general public, all people, are not nice and will take advantage of a system for their own gain. You seem intent on just splurging words on this forum. You even argue that alton towers has high capacity when it really does not. We're still many flat rides down on actual potential capacity and some coasters are low throughput by design or by their nature. You consistently have acted in this thread like all disabled people cannot possibly have anything other than a perfect moral compass which is just ridiculous. All the public are not nice. You seem to think that others have not spoken to others with RAP, or seen the actions of those in the park.

If you don't want an honest discussion why are you here?
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I'd probably say that around a third (give or take) are not nice people. There are just enough good people usually to just about keep the horrible lot at bay. However, when the good people are too nice, the bad minority will quickly take advantage. A life, war and RAP lesson for all :sweatsmile: 👍
 
I seem to have to point this out repeatedly, but this is not the place for you to have personal disagreements. Take up issues privately or just do not respond to the user. If your response is not for the benefit of the wider topic and its readers, then don’t post it. I’ve had to remove posts again for not adhering to this.

Likewise, this is not the topic to discuss your preferred wording for something. ”Casual visitor”, “General public” - it’s not relevant to the discussion that’s taking place in the topic. What matters is that the point they’re trying to make is understood, and that’s the element of their post that should be discussed. We do not need these micro debates/arguments taking place on what is already a busy topic.

As mentioned in my post not long ago in Guest Services:
  • Proof read your posts and use a spellchecker where necessary
  • Hit that “Goldilocks” length for a post. Not too long, not too short
  • Put yourself in the shoes of a casual reader to consider whether your post is of interest to as wide of an audience as possible
  • Be Nice! Do not assume everyone else is as comfortable with writing as you are
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Skyscraper said:
To help us get this right, we are launching a fuller consultation involving this community, accessibility experts, and industry partners. This is a shared challenge across the sector, and meaningful progress will require working together
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Umm, errr… I didn’t I read this somewhere on here?

Bert2theSpark said:
This isn’t an issue limited to Merlin, and all of the other operators (most notably Disney) pretty much get the same noise towards them. They all have similar ride models across their parks, what they might need is some sort of industry-wide agreement about what is eligible, bring in academics, bring in partners like Nimbus, bring in manufacturers and finally and most importantly bring in disabled people to get their input and perspective.
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Huh, that’s funny.
 
Alphe86 said:
So. To be constructive.
Allow +1 only on peak (upcharge for extra aka Blackpool ?)
1x use per ride aka Pultons

Either of those will help significantly
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1x per ride would be interesting as outside of quieter days that’s basically all the people in the “normal” queue get.

I suppose in theory RAP and virtual queues are supposed to do this anyway though so shouldn’t make much of a difference? It would only really disadvantage the people who want to eg lap the Smiler.
 
dave___ said:
1x per ride would be interesting as outside of quieter days that’s basically all the people in the “normal” queue get.

I suppose in theory RAP and virtual queues are supposed to do this anyway though so shouldn’t make much of a difference? It would only really disadvantage the people who want to eg lap the Smiler.
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From experience regularly the time out doesn’t match the main queue, (app might fix this?)
And while it sucks for those you highlighted it does spread the RAP population out a bit into the filler attractions at some point.
 
Alphe86 said:
From experience regularly the time out doesn’t match the main queue, (app might fix this?)
And while it sucks for those you highlighted it does spread the RAP population out a bit into the filler attractions at some point.
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Think my preferred option for them to do is +1 and be more responsive with the queues, aka do what Chessington claimed to do,but don't lie about it, actually close off when it gets busy till it dies down and not sooner
 
Alphe86 said:
So. To be constructive.
Allow +1 only on peak (upcharge for extra aka Blackpool ?)
1x use per ride aka Pultons

Either of those will help significantly
Click to expand...

The 1x use per ride is an interesting concept and Chessington did briefly trial this (it was 1x use on the big 5 rides of Vampire, Mandril, Dragon Fury, Kobra and Rattlesnake, no restrictions on other rides).

The problem is different height restrictions across rides make that unfair. For example if you're 1.1m you can only go on Vampire so might reasonably want to ride it twice on your visit. The solution for that could be you only get a certain number of e-ticket rides to use as you please... but i think this starts to make things a bit complicated and i'm not sure it provides much benefit to anyone. I expect this is why Chessington didn't adopt it and none of the other parks attempted it.

If it was going to work anywhere though i think Legoland would make sense. In fact, Legoland did have a one use RAP capacity on Flight of the Sky Lion for several years and Miniature Speedway in its first year. As did Hyperia. But again, the number of people in the parks and in the queues is no longer the issue, it's the lack of slots in the first place due to the necessary capacity. It could be the parks ultimately need bespoke solutions rather than a universal system (beyond the shared interface).

Equally i don't think the +1 up-charge would have any meaningful impact. It would have to be disproportionately high to deter misuse and that would bring about claims of discrimination from families.
 
Bowser said:
The 1x use per ride is an interesting concept and Chessington did briefly trial this (it was 1x use on the big 5 rides of Vampire, Mandril, Dragon Fury, Kobra and Rattlesnake, no restrictions on other rides).

The problem is different height restrictions across rides make that unfair. For example if you're 1.1m you can only go on Vampire so might reasonably want to ride it twice on your visit. The solution for that could be you only get a certain number of e-ticket rides to use as you please... but i think this starts to make things a bit complicated and i'm not sure it provides much benefit to anyone. I expect this is why Chessington didn't adopt it and none of the other parks attempted it.

If it was going to work anywhere though i think Legoland would make sense. In fact, Legoland did have a one use RAP capacity on Flight of the Sky Lion for several years and Miniature Speedway in its first year. As did Hyperia. But again, the number of people in the parks and in the queues is no longer the issue, it's the lack of slots in the first place due to the necessary capacity. It could be the parks ultimately need bespoke solutions rather than a universal system (beyond the shared interface).

Equally i don't think the +1 up-charge would have any meaningful impact. It would have to be disproportionately high to deter misuse and that would bring about claims of discrimination from families.
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Also you can almost guarantee that groups would circumnavigate the 1 ride per day rule by using multiple RAPs.
 
GooseOnTheLoose said:
One could argue that buying a cheap annual pass and visiting dozens of times a year, clogging up park capacity while spending absolutely zero pounds on secondary spend, is also "taking advantage" of a system designed for the Casual Visitor. Glass houses, stones, etc.
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That's a completely unfair comparison. Taking up Merlin on their offer and making the most of it is nothing like abusing a system outside of its intended purpose that is there to help the disadvantaged.

I hate their pricing structure and dirt cheap passes, but that's a choice by Merlin. I detest RAP abuse which is on the customer, even if Merlin have made it too easy.

--------

This still needs to happen, it just needs to be done and comunicated properly. I anticipate a revised and fairer, but essentially very similar, version will come in at a later date.
 
DanJB said:
I assume they are still keeping the daily cap rather than going back to the bedlam of 2023?
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They must get thousands of applications and thousands granted a RAP each year. I doubt many give them up either. This will continue to snowball each year until RAP tickets are so exclusive they'll become anything but "inclusive" People have chucked their toys out the pram, threatened to cancel passes or never visit again, threatened violence against staff and even legal action against Merlin. These see this as a victory, but for those who really need it, will see it as another defeat.
 
pluk said:
That's a completely unfair comparison. Taking up Merlin on their offer and making the most of it is nothing like abusing a system outside of its intended purpose that is there to help the disadvantaged.

I hate their pricing structure and dirt cheap passes, but that's a choice by Merlin. I detest RAP abuse which is on the customer, even if Merlin have made it too easy.
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My comparison was intended to highlight the danger of assumption and perception, rather than drawing a direct moral equivalence.

The user stated: "I see people taking advantage of the RAP all the time."

Unless they possess access to private medical records, they can't "see" whether someone is taking advantage of RAP. They're seeing a person who looks able bodied skipping a queue, and assuming abuse.

My point regarding the Annual Pass was to hold up a mirror. To a casual visitor paying £68 on the gate, a MAP holder visiting for the 20th time that year for "free" might look like they are taking advantage of the system. In reality, they are just using the product as sold.

Similarly, the vast majority of RAP users are using the system exactly as intended, for conditions which are not visible. The perception of "abuse" is often just a misunderstanding of how neurodivergence or chronic pain presents externally.

We agree that actual abuse is abhorrent. My argument is simply that we should be very careful about appointing ourselves as the judge and jury of who is "abusing" the system based on a glance in a queue line.
 
RIPCorky said:
I doubt many give them up either.
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I mean, the funny thing about disabilities is that they tend to be with you for your life. Unless they can regrow limbs or rewire/repair the brain.


I'm surprised they didn't wait until after half term to make a decision. But we're just back to square 1 again where people will be fighting to book trips instead. And thus the never ending circle of complaints will continue.
 
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