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Disscussion: theme park disabled policies/ride priority systems

Skyscraper

TS Member
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Nemesis
being (ambulant) disabled, i have experienced quite a few theme park's disabled policies and ride priority systems. they are all very similar; in order to use the priority system (each park has a different name for it), i have to have someone accompanying me on the ride, i can't skip the queue otherwise. this is annoying, as i am perfectly capable of riding alone (although i do prefer company), and have no problem sitting next to a rider i don't know. i fully understand why parks want disabled people to be accompanied (in case of evacuations, etc), but what if no one else in my group wants to ride?
i use the main queue if it is short or empty. even though i have the wristband, i will still use the main queue if it's short or empty. this is mainly just the case at Drayton Manor, due to the design of their access system. basically, as well as the wristband we (my group) get a card (called a "Carer Card"), which has 10 boxes. each ride i use it on, the attendant punches a hole in a box. as i can only use it on 10 rides, i only use it on rides that have large queues, so i use the ordinary queue lines on the other rides.
 
You require a carer as the park is not covered to care/be involved such the person in question need assistance to board/disembark... Technically park staff shouldn't assist in the slightest during it (and can suffer disciplinary action as a result if they do)...

It's easier to have a blanket ruling for anyone using the disabled band as it becomes all encompassing...
 
You require a carer as the park is not covered to care/be involved such the person in question need assistance to board/disembark... Technically park staff shouldn't assist in the slightest during it (and can suffer disciplinary action as a result if they do)...

It's easier to have a blanket ruling for anyone using the disabled band as it becomes all encompassing...
i understand why (I'm very heath and safety conscious), but, it's just typical, as i can board/disembark fine, but the most annoying this is that i can't use the system on a ride which only i want to go on.
i think parks should have a specially trained staff member, who has done both disability awareness training and restraint training, who can accompany priority guests on rides if no one else in their group want's to ride.
 
The problem with that thought is patient handling. The member of staff would have to go though the same persons movement training as carers and ambulance crew. This involves how to physically interact with another person in a assistive role, the moving and handling equipment they will need to buy for this purpose. how to assist without personal injury to themselves and the person they are assisting. Then you have, evacuation training and the subsequent moving and handing for that situation. liability insurance for this extra activity (medical liability may not cover it)
It just becomes a big bag of worms, that can be avoided by having the disabled rider to bring their own trained assistant, who knows the individual need of the disable rider.

I have been though the training for my volunteering with a large national first aid organisation, and i know anyone being paid to do this would want more that the usual wage, due to the extra responsibilities this entails
 
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I don't want to go into details and I am definitely not saying you are scamming the system! But if you are ambulant and able to exit the ride down the stairs if it were to stop on the lift hill then you should be fine to ride alone and don't need special provisions? My understanding was the second person is needed to help you evacuate as untrained staff cannot touch you. Unless of course it is not a mobility issue and it is a queuing issue, but I'm not sure how they could know you are able to self-evacuate.

Disney seem to have gone down the route that if you are in a wheelchair or similar then you join the normal queue and they adapted many queues for this. I've heard as well that for people who can't stand in a queue they advise renting a wheelchair and then again, they don't get a pass, just join the usual queue. If it is not a mobility issue then you get a time to return that is roughly the same as the current standby wait, so people with autism or similar who cannot wait can go and do something else until it is time to ride again.
 
i think parks should have a specially trained staff member, who has done both disability awareness training and restraint training, who can accompany priority guests on rides if no one else in their group want's to ride.

I don't want to sound harsh, but I think that is a totally unrealistic expectation.

Isn't the equality act wording along the lines of requiring any 'reasonable adjustments' is made to accommodate those with disabilities? A policy like that would be way beyond any realistic interpretation of 'rasonable' in terms of cost, effectively putting the onus on the park to provide carers for guests who need them. That would be just wrong.
 
This is not going to be easy to reply without upsetting someone, so I'll try and be reasonable but straight to the point.

First I won't dictate who is eligible or not to use the disable queue as that is down to each individual park to set their own criteria. It is also down to individual parks to determine whether you can ride without a carer. I should imagine part or it is down to the internal H&S team and the other is down to the insurance requirements.

The disable queue lines should be for those that have a disability which puts them at a disadvantage if they were to use the normal queue. It's not there for people to pick and choose which queue to use depending on how short the queue is. It's not there for people to skip the queues. I must admit I often seen people still waiting in the disable queue by the time I've ridden a ride for the third time back to back. So using the disable queue don't always ensure that you will access the ride quicker than the main one. Also once your 10 rides have been ticked off your RAP, you need to return to the guest services to get another one.

Before anyone shoot me down. My wife is 100% non-ambulant and can't ride the rides due to her medical condition. We do accept that people can have hidden disabilities which may not be apparent to us. So for this reason I not going to prejudge anyone individually. I also accept that a percentage of people will also abuse or milk the facilities which are designed for use by the disable but will use them for their own selfish gain (don't ask me what the percentage is as I don't know, but I also know it's not everybody so I won't also tarnish everyone with the same brush either). When people do abuse the disable facilities, not only is it not fair to the non disable people who have the curtsy to use the normal facilities, but it also prevents or makes it very difficult for those that really do completely depend on these facility to make full use of.


Roy :)
 
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