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Ride Access Pass and Disabled Access - 2024 Discussion

rob666 said:
Could I add, conversely, that there are a lot of people who go to the towers who have mobility issues but do not use rap.
So wider paths, fewer steps, handrails and so on would be better for more than just rap users.
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Speaking of handrails, have they added them to the fence on the exit of Spinball yet as they were missing in photos taken.
 
Matt N said:
Out of interest; for all this talk of the system being oversubscribed, what actually are the current eligibility criteria for RAP? I seem to remember looking once, and even as a diagnosed autistic person, I’m not 100% certain I’d qualify even if I wanted it
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To qualify for an Access card you need to demonstrate any form of disability. Mobility, neurological, hearing difficulties, anxiety and so on. This can be permanent or temporary.

To have the queuing icon on your card you only need to fill in an online form stating your case. This element is reliant on honesty. (Similarly there are other icons).

It has been suggested in this thread that Merlin accept Access cards regardless of the queuing symbol requirement.

So as you can imagine, if they desire, most people can either qualify themselves or have a family member do so.

I understand the intention of making the system accessible in comparison to the endless hoops and bureaucracy one has to jump through to access any State provision in this country but it’s not without its flaws.
 
Smiley said:
I give up, as you have no clue about data analytics, marketing, customer experience management, merchandising,.... To quote Lord Kelvin: "When you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it".

And to quote @Smiley "If you can't measure it, you know absolute zero" 😁
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My point was that a lot of the data dosn't seem very useful, as knowing that someone like 13 is good and all, but what could they change to use that data?
you have said they can market merchandise, but I don't think a popup notification would be as effective as exiting into a gift shop.
in addition most of the data you could get from alternate scouces not requiring millions of pounds (or billions in disneys case) investing for instance using the mobile app's location data to see which ride you are queueing for, or for some cost a bluetooth reciever to check what queue you are in technology that is used in many other places especially in consumer markets reducing its cost.

Also numbers?
What can I say I have 500 data about customers which can effect virtually nothing.

My argument was rarther than inconvieniance guests (See BPB discussion for their turnstiles, comes up every couple of months) cost millions of pounds and require upkeep for little to no profit and only benifiting people in rare circumstances, or to try to prevent RAP misuse

or they could spend that millions of pounds into a new flat ride, increasing capacity improving guest experience and possibly generating foot fall.

edit: the data could also be manipulated, for instance if your family likes rita, but you don't like the launch so go on 13 a few times is 13 your favourate or did you want to stay close to your family?
I know people who hate a lot of thrill rides, they will hapily do the ride opposite 5 or so times waiting for the rest of us to finish.
 
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jibbsie said:
My point was that a lot of the data dosn't seem very useful, as knowing that someone like 13 is good and all, but what could they change to use that data?
you have said they can market merchandise, but I don't think a popup notification would be as effective as exiting into a gift shop.
in addition most of the data you could get from alternate scouces not requiring millions of pounds (or billions in disneys case) investing for instance using the mobile app's location data to see which ride you are queueing for, or for some cost a bluetooth reciever to check what queue you are in technology that is used in many other places especially in consumer markets reducing its cost.

Also numbers?
What can I say I have 500 data about customers which can effect virtually nothing.

My argument was rarther than inconvieniance guests (See BPB discussion for their turnstiles, comes up every couple of months) cost millions of pounds and require upkeep for little to no profit and only benifiting people in rare circumstances, or to try to prevent RAP misuse

or they could spend that millions of pounds into a new flat ride, increasing capacity improving guest experience and possibly generating foot fall.
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The park can gleam more from this sort of data than you'd think. They can gleam information about guest flow around the park, ride throughputs, what rides guests are using, the most popular rides, what demographics are using different rides, what rides certain demographics are riding most... the opportunities are endless!

In terms of the uses for this data; the park could use it for all kinds of means. They could ascertain where the knife should fall when planning things like staggered openings, for instance, and they can also see how well ride operations are doing, how accurate queue times are, see what certain demographics are enjoying, see what the guest populace as a whole is enjoying... there are all kinds of reasons why a theme park might want to know this sort of data and gather it on a large scale.

With that being said, I agree that there are probably less costly ways to do so. Alton Towers had technology that probably did most of the heavy lifting for this sort of data collection as long ago as the mid-2000s, when they did that DVD thing that was basically a spycam... wasn't it called YourDay or something like that?
 
Matt N said:
The park can gleam more from this sort of data than you'd think. They can gleam information about guest flow around the park, ride throughputs, what rides guests are using, the most popular rides, what demographics are using different rides, what rides certain demographics are riding most... the opportunities are endless!

In terms of the uses for this data; the park could use it for all kinds of means. They could ascertain where the knife should fall when planning things like staggered openings, for instance, and they can also see how well ride operations are doing, how accurate queue times are, see what certain demographics are enjoying, see what the guest populace as a whole is enjoying... there are all kinds of reasons why a theme park might want to know this sort of data and gather it on a large scale.
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Fair point, that is some acctual reasonable use cases with that data I just don't think the money for a disney style system would justify the data, especially as you said there are alternatives for cheaper and easier methods
 
Matt N said:
The park can gleam more from this sort of data than you'd think. They can gleam information about guest flow around the park, ride throughputs, what rides guests are using, the most popular rides, what demographics are using different rides, what rides certain demographics are riding most... the opportunities are endless!

In terms of the uses for this data; the park could use it for all kinds of means. They could ascertain where the knife should fall when planning things like staggered openings, for instance, and they can also see how well ride operations are doing, how accurate queue times are, see what certain demographics are enjoying, see what the guest populace as a whole is enjoying... there are all kinds of reasons why a theme park might want to know this sort of data and gather it on a large scale.

With that being said, I agree that there are probably less costly ways to do so. Alton Towers had technology that probably did most of the heavy lifting for this sort of data collection as long ago as the mid-2000s, when they did that DVD thing that was basically a spycam... wasn't it called YourDay or something like that?
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They actually already get this data, attractions.io gives them heat maps of visitor locations around the resort.
 
Matt N said:
The park can gleam more from this sort of data than you'd think.
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Finally, someone who understands. I wasn't suggesting Merlin implement a Disney-style system, but something lighter. Covers your ticket entry, RAP, FP, perhaps drink/food combos, etc. As for Disney, they have around 60m visitors a year - so if tech can nickel-and-dime them for an extra $10 they're good for ROI.

I just want to be clear - I'm trying to suggest alternates for RAP that benefit RAP users. I was quite disappointed last time at AT when I FP'd Wicker Man, rode it (superb!) and on exit the RAP queue hadn't moved much. The current model isn't working 😔
 
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