A work colleague is Diabetic and is eligible for RAP on the basis that the RAP queue is easier to evacuate him from in a medical emergency. And there in lies another problem. The standard queues are too off limits for some meaning RAP is dished out to too wide range a person
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Ride Access Pass and Disabled Access - 2024 Discussion
- Thread starter Leigh
- Start date
Bowser
TS Member
There has been reports on Twitter that RAP queue times reaching 40 minutes plus recently at Towers.
From: https://twitter.com/Sophie_Bone_/status/1774069362250358996
If a person can queue for 40 minutes in a RAP queue they should not have access to a RAP. This is very clear from the Alton Towers website:
Ride Access Pass | Alton Towers Resort
We offer a Ride Access Pass to guests who may find it difficult or cannot stand for long periods of time either due to a physical disability or a learning/emotional impairment. Applications should be submitted at least 7 days in advance of your visit.www.altontowers.com
The Nimbus application is also clear with the restrictions people should have in terms of queueing:
So, to be blunt & no doubt unpopular. Those people standing in a queue for 40 minutes to access attractions should not have access to a RAP. I am not going to say that these people are "abusing the system" or doing anything untoward... but this really needs to be dealt with. Someone [again, on Twitter] is seriously suggesting every other train should be for the RAP queue!
I’ve shared similar unpopular sentiments about the slack criteria for RAP but to play devils advocate, there is no indication of how long that queue would take for the people unwittingly joining it.
Only regular visitors to the park will be able to visually gauge an estimated queue time. Sadly some may have joined a queue like that then have had to give up.
It’s a complete failure of the intention of RAP.
Upon further consideration, seeing as they are unlikely to realistically reduce capacity in a meaningful way, single use virtual queuing may be more appropriate for the most popular attractions. This was incredibly effective for Mandrill Mayhem, one of the most popular attractions with a low throughput yet we never queued more than 5 minutes for it under that system.
Of course it’s not without flaws as it means a slot is not guaranteed, rerides are impossible and hours are spent on your phone but perhaps it would be enough to deter the abusers of the system.
Bowser
TS Member
Whilst that’s true and almost certainly the cause of the worst ever RAP queues, now that we have an idea of the capacity numbers I think it’s fairly clear they’re going to need a further reduction.
We can estimate from those tweets that it took
60 RAP users approximately one hour to ride Thirteen. With a sold out capacity of 800+ that’s a pattern repeated across the park so even once the designed capacity kicks in I’d be stunned if we see much improvement.
Caveat to add obviously the abysmal ride availability hasn’t helped.
ScottishChris
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Legend
My thoughts are a cap is not the right answer. The correct answer is stricter implementation. What is happening now, and will happen when the cap is brought in, is that those who genuinely need the use of a RAP will be excluded.
The requirements are really clear from both AT and Nimbus... you get a RAP is you can't queue for long periods of time. I understand that Towers have embraced a fluid understanding of who should be able to use a RAP... it needs to be very specific and binary. If a large percentage of people currently with RAP's have them because of a potential need to be evacuated from a queue line.... this could easily (other than Smiler) and relatively cheaply be remedied by having evacuation points throughout the queue and a basic evac path.
Bowser
TS Member
Any idea how it is at TP? It is odd how it disproportionately affects certain attractions (anecdotally).
Squiggs
TS Team
I suspect it won't be as bad at TP, because TP is more focused on Thrillseekers, so has less crossover demand from different demographics, like families.
The reason RAP issues are particularly common on family-thrill attractions is because they have the largest numbers of guests in the park that can and want to ride them. So there's a bottle neck on attractions where families and thrillseekers can all decend on a few rides at the same time. Spinball is another example of this.
This is one of the reasons a park capacity cap won't solve the issue. The issue is centred on particular rides, rather than at a park level. Virtual queuing would seem like a much more satisfactory solution, as this would not only cap numbers on the most popular rides, but also distribute guests more evenly.
The reason RAP issues are particularly common on family-thrill attractions is because they have the largest numbers of guests in the park that can and want to ride them. So there's a bottle neck on attractions where families and thrillseekers can all decend on a few rides at the same time. Spinball is another example of this.
This is one of the reasons a park capacity cap won't solve the issue. The issue is centred on particular rides, rather than at a park level. Virtual queuing would seem like a much more satisfactory solution, as this would not only cap numbers on the most popular rides, but also distribute guests more evenly.
We went to Thorpe Park on Friday and Sunday. RAP queues we acceptable and the staff are great. We arrived around 12pm on Friday and got on everything we wanted to. Went to Chessington Saturday - loads of people kicking off about no communication regarding the RAP changes. We could hear staff saying that 5 emails have been sent, notice on the website, etc. We explained as others did that no emails have been sent and it is useless putting a notice on the website when most people have already booked to visit months ago.
Easter Sunday at Thorpe was excellent and we left at 2pm as we had done all the rides we wanted to. We had a long drive home so glad we left at 2pm.
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Sorry, just to confirm, are you saying anyone with RAP in that queue shouldn't have RAP, or anyone with RAP that can stand in that queue shouldn't have RAP?
Trouble is, with us for example, we only visit AT a couple of times a year, sometimes only once ( at great expense), and so we wouldn't necessarily know that was a 40 minute queue, and we will be thinking at the back of our minds that this trip has cost a lot of money so we will just have to tough it out anyway - at least others in the queue may understand the meltdowns. Also, depending on operations/staff member on the RAP queue/many other factors, that 40 minute queue might be 25 minutes later on or another day.
Another issue could be, how many in that queue are trying to get more than 4 on with a single RAP? Only yesterday at Chessington we say a family of 5 in front of us go down the RAP queue with one pass.
Looking at the Nimbus card and RAP rules, for people that struggle to queue for physical issues and other issues what would be classed as a significant amount of time. Would we say that if you can queue for more than x number of minutes then you don't need RAP. Could we go into a main queue that is 60 minutes long with our son - maybe. Would it be a hellish experience for us and those around us that don't understand - yes, it would.
Also, and I'm trying to remember the Thirteen main queue line, but for that ride for example you could technically send wheelchair users down the main queue and then have them join the RAP queue just before going into the building? I realise that maybe isn't practical, but just shows the many issues that currently exist.
I don't know what the solution is, would a Paultons style one go on each ride system work at AT?
Sorry, this is a bit of a ramble and not very coherent, typing out as things come into my head and while walking and it isn't quite working
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We got an email from Alton Towers last Wednesday because we have a booking at their hotel in May. If it wasn't for that then we would have not known anything for our recent trip and could have spent a fortune on hotel and travelled a long way for Easter weekend and being unable to use RAP.
We have had no email to the registered RAP holder and no email to registered Merlin Pass holders. We were lucky to get pre-book RAP at very short notice and I had to try many times and luckily some popped up when previously sold out.
Last summer we had problems with Galactica - the RAP queue hardly moves and sometimes Rita also gets quite long. It's all down to timing it right and choosing the rides in the correct order but hopefully pre-book RAP will improve things but it sounds like Alton Towers isn't being as strict as the parks down South.
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DiogoJ42
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- The Metropolitan Line
Just like the normal queues then.
Which is what influenced my comment yesterday about wanting a digital system with estimated RAP wait as well as normal queue times