Honestly, I love how Adventure Island's RAP is just an Excel spreadsheet with zero effort and absolutely no branding. Iconic. Shame it's gone one step back with the disabled toilets though.
Meanwhile, I visited Alton Towers earlier this week and as my visit was largely different to my last one, I thought I'd recap the accessibility experience here.
Ride Access Pass
As we were visiting midweek term time, there were no pre-booking issues or queues to speak of at Carer Tickets & RAP in the Plaza. RAP card collection was swift and I was given a brand new A6 card. Everything had been simplified from the map-style guide I had used last year into a small booklet made with actual card and an overhauled Return Time section on the back. The section now includes 'Max Group Size' and 'RAP Colour', plus the boxes were expanded into a table including the ride host's initials and attraction name. I definitely prefer this new design and how it feels far less flimsy than the previous iteration, considering how often this goes in and out of pockets and gets exposed to the elements.
Most ride hosts were great at ID checking and signing the new card off and 6 out of the 10 rides we went on were accounted for. Neither The Smiler, Galactica, The Curse of Alton Manor or Wicker Man were signed off. The reason we weren't given a time for The Smiler, which had a 35 minute wait, was no-one had a pen and the ride host made us promise we wouldn't try to re-ride again in that time. Alton Manor's was walk on so wasn't signed. I don't remember looking at Galactica's queue time but still, annoying the ride host didn't sign the card. As Nemesis was walk on by the time we re-rode, the time card wasn't signed. And Wicker Man had just re-opened during the heavy rain that plagued the park, hence why the ride host didn't sign it off and we walked straight on.
So an overall positive RAP experience and visiting midweek certainly helped, though I'm sure the queues would've been a little longer had the afternoon weather not gone from Chiapas-level of wet to a Valhalla-level of wet. But still, staff need to maintain accountability even on quieter days.
Mobility Scooter
I learnt my lesson after thinking I could still traipse around Alton Towers with a mere walking stick last season and booked a mobility scooter for £50, inc £25 refundable deposit. Whilst the website did warn the scooters might struggle on steep inclines, I didn't want poor Cheese to push me in my pink wheelchair up them there steep hills after a long drive to/from home, I decided to take the risk. I picked up the hired mobility scooter from Guest Services and liked that it was substantially less bulky and easier to turn with than their supermarket counterparts. I weren't keen on the slow speed at first and eventually adjusted it to be at a more quick walking space and I had no issues with the park inclines, including going up X-Sector from The Smiler's exit or that one steep bit by Gloomy Wood. The power also lasted very well for 6 hours of use but I made sure to switch it off and remove the key every time I went to a ride. Honestly, no notes.
However, I've also now learnt another lesson. Since I have the red RAP and was using the scooter, I elected to try the non-ambulant queues to see if they helped me more. They mostly didn't. Many had paths barely wide enough to accommodate the scooter, i.e. Alton Manor, and it was made more awkward with some being tied in with ride exits. And sure, for some rides you can even park the scooter in the station but there's not much space to reverse and turn to get out of there with changing trainloads of people/blocking another path/blocking or potentially knocking over shop displays, i.e. Thirteen/Rita/The Smiler. It was awkward navigating through Towers Trading too, the ramped section heading up to the tills and the till queue was quite tight. There also aren't sheltered areas nearby to park wheelchairs or scooters under, and there's only so much a poncho can do to keep the seat dry during heavy rain.
So whilst I really liked using the mobility scooter and will book one again, I'm just going to have to park the scooter nearby and walk down the RAP queues instead. I don't fancy feeling embarrassed trying to get the scooter out of ride stations or tight corners again in front of visitors, and whilst I struggle with long distances, I can at least wait a few minutes standing up and lean against a wall or fence for support. It would be good if the park invested in more sheltered spaces by attractions and widened paths for those who wouldn't be able to park, get out and walk a short length.
Additional Accessibility Areas
Since I'm now a Blue Badge holder, we booked and parked right by the main entrance. It was strange not to go to our usual spot but it was worth not having to catch the Monorail or walk all the way to/from. The Blue Badge/Express car park was very standard, no additional magic touches beyond the ponds that would turn up when we returned at the end of the day. I feel maybe they could add more spaces beyond the current 16 and the paths could do with sprucing up and some signage.
The changing places toilets were decent, with enough room to park a scooter in and kitted out for visitors who require the equipment. It was troublesome trying to manually open/close the doors when on a scooter alone though, as you have to get close enough to insert the RADAR key then get the door handle and try backing up whilst pulling open the door and vice versa when exiting. I just about coped but for those who may suffer from upper body issues and visiting alone, automatic doors would help a great deal.
As mentioned in the RAP section, staff were overall friendly and considerate. Shout out to the Spinball Whizzer team offering to stop the ride car for me and other ride teams, such the pen-less Smiler ride host, taking/returning my crutch when boarding/exiting rides and letting me exit via the boarding platform. The only problem I had was on Galactica where no notice was given to me beyond being pointed to the last row or where I was supposed to exit afterwards. When we got off, we had to find an empty boarding gate to exit through back to the non-ambulant RAP queue. Just lack of communication, unfortunately, and I accept I should've told the host closest to me that I needed assistance getting back through.
Overall, I had a decent time with what Alton Towers offered accessibility wise and we had a considerably successful day trip to Alton Towers, albeit looking thoroughly rinsed out from the heavy rain.
