Ride Access Pass and Disabled Access - 2026 Discussion

[Bowser]

you'll potentially have wheelchair bound people sitting at home because they couldn't get a slot

All those who qualify for RAP will be in the same position, not just wheelchair users.

This then begs the question, why have Merlin not cancelled the bookings if they've basically shut down peoples RAP accounts

As i said, people are appealing so presumably if they are successful their access will be restored and they will have their slots. If Merlin cancelled those peoples now they’d have another uproar on top of things.

 

[Petals]

First of all, a very big welcome @Petals! Thank you for sharing your experience, though I was genuinely appalled to read of your particular situation.

Whilst I appreciate that you're feeling a lot of strong emotions at the moment, it's not Merlin who have forgotten you. In fact, the new RAP system is supposed to cater exactly for people in your position. It's Nimbus who have forgotten you.

This absolutely goes back to something I attempted to bring up yesterday, regarding Nimbus's flawed and opaque recategorisation process.

Nimbus claims that they have reassessed every Access Card holder, using the information that they originally submitted, to assign them new symbols. They've done this despite claiming that they also only retain medical information for 90 days.

Nimbus have decided that you, as someone who is visually impaired, and has documented physical access needs, qualifies only for the "Difficulty with crowds" symbol, which is frankly preposterous.

This is precisely the danger of outsourcing critical access decisions to a system that appears to prioritise categorisation over individual circumstance. I would strongly urge you to appeal this decision with Nimbus directly, citing the clear physical barriers you face which make the standard queue line not just difficult, but unsafe for you to use. This isn't about crowds, it is about physical access, which is exactly the situation which Merlin now exclusively accommodate for with RAP.

Thank you for this, @GooseOnTheLoose - I think it's a really important point about Nimbus. I've looked back through my emails and I think it was 2023 that I applied for an Access Card via Nimbus, so it's coming up to three years. I'd be very interested to know what data of mine they've kept since then, and how that was used to reassess my eligibility recently.

I've emailed Nimbus as many of you have suggested - I'll post an update when I hear back (though I imagine they have quite a full inbox at the moment so it may be a while!). Thanks all for the support.

 

[havaska]

It seems the Jeremy Vine Show on BBC Radio 2 have picked this up for today’s show.

 

[BarryZola]

All those who qualify for RAP will be in the same position, not just wheelchair users.

I know yeah, it was just an example.

 

[Pharaoh]

The nuance being missed in this coverage is the lack of ride capacity and resulting queue lengths. I'm assuming this would have had less backlash if queues, especially during school holidays, were shorter. I wonder if this will finally be the encouragement the park needs to have consistently good operations and uptime and build some more high capacity rides.

 

[BarryZola]

The nuance being missed in this coverage is the lack of ride capacity and resulting queue lengths. I'm assuming this would have had less backlash if queues, especially during school holidays, were shorter. I wonder if this will finally be the encouragement the park needs to have consistently good operations and uptime and build some more high capacity rides.

It has been discussed on this forum in the past, probably just not in the last week or so. I think most people agree with what you say, but on the other side of the coin lower queue times would lead to less Fastrack sales for Merlin so the cynical side of me thinks that they're not in a massive rush to substantially lower queue times.

 

[pluk]

Merlins comms on this have been atrocious, like they really hadn't thought through the messaging at all.

A glance through social media, most people perception of the real issues and numbers involved is way way off, there is no understanding of what they have tried with time slots, there's no acceptance that even one of those who have had the pass didn't really need it or haven't abused it.

A couple of clear infographic sheets, some usage and queue time stats, some data on the attempt to limit slots, an acknowledgement and evidence of previous abuses that take away access from the most needing. Some acknowledgement that initial implementation might see some with need disadvantaged and will be reviewed following a trial period.

It would have got ahead of all this, but now they are firefighting with public opinion against them. I've been advocating for a sweeping change for years, and believe it is both right and achievable, but this implementation is just asking to fail.