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Ride Access Pass and Disabled Access - 2026 Discussion

RAP update from Merlin:

Hi all

You will have received our most recent update, which we know has generated some concern within the Ride Access Pass (RAP) community, and that’s why we’re getting back in touch.

We recognise that this communication was not as clear as it could have been, and we’re genuinely sorry for this. We want to provide some further clarity, reassurance and guidance ahead of February half-term. We are also asking for direct feedback, so we can hear from the voices that really matter on this topic - yours.

Over the past year, we’ve worked hard to improve the RAP experience, by tackling pre‑booking issues and making the virtual queuing system easier to use, more accurate and reliable. Even with these improvements, demand for RAP has continued to grow to a level that is now affecting the very reason it exists – helping to reduce queue times for those who need it most.

Last year, we know that many of you were unable to secure RAP availability when you wanted it – and those who did often faced longer than expected wait times during peak periods. This is not the experience we want for you. Our intention has always been -and will always remain - to provide a positive, supportive experience for those who need RAP. This hasn’t always consistently been the case, and it needs to be addressed. Getting this right matters and we’re working hard to find solutions.

Over February half‑term, at the three parks which are briefly open, we are trialling changes to RAP eligibility criteria. More information about and the trial can be found in updated information on our resort websites ( Alton, Chessington and LEGOLAND). We’re sorry that the trial nature of this change this wasn’t clear enough.

While we know there is always more we can do, we’re proud of the range of support we offer guests. Over the years we have broadened our focus beyond queueing alone and have introduced a number of adjustments and support measures across the whole attraction to better support guest in their specific needs throughout every part of their day. Detail of these adjustments can also be found on our resort websites.

This trial gives us the opportunity to listen, learn, and review these support measures, and to explore whether we need to do more ahead of the main season opening in March. Your feedback is genuinely important to us, and we would really appreciate you sharing your thoughts through this survey.

Your voice matters to us and this input will play a key role in our review over the coming weeks and shaping next steps. We remain committed to ensuring our attractions are as welcoming and inclusive as possible. We won’t get everything right first time, but we will keep listening, learning and evolving our approach.

We want to thank you for your patience, and we will be back in touch ahead of season opening.

Merlin Accessibility Team
 
Should Merlin reply to the feedback with two options for guests.

1. Allow all RAP users and people in with any disabilitiy and then say don't complain about the queues as that is the consequence of allpwong everyone in

2. Keep the new RAP policy in to keep lines shorter and get people who can't stand long on quicker.
 
Bowser said:
RAP update from Merlin:

Hi all

You will have received our most recent update, which we know has generated some concern within the Ride Access Pass (RAP) community, and that’s why we’re getting back in touch.

We recognise that this communication was not as clear as it could have been, and we’re genuinely sorry for this. We want to provide some further clarity, reassurance and guidance ahead of February half-term. We are also asking for direct feedback, so we can hear from the voices that really matter on this topic - yours.

Over the past year, we’ve worked hard to improve the RAP experience, by tackling pre‑booking issues and making the virtual queuing system easier to use, more accurate and reliable. Even with these improvements, demand for RAP has continued to grow to a level that is now affecting the very reason it exists – helping to reduce queue times for those who need it most.

Last year, we know that many of you were unable to secure RAP availability when you wanted it – and those who did often faced longer than expected wait times during peak periods. This is not the experience we want for you. Our intention has always been -and will always remain - to provide a positive, supportive experience for those who need RAP. This hasn’t always consistently been the case, and it needs to be addressed. Getting this right matters and we’re working hard to find solutions.

Over February half‑term, at the three parks which are briefly open, we are trialling changes to RAP eligibility criteria. More information about and the trial can be found in updated information on our resort websites ( Alton, Chessington and LEGOLAND). We’re sorry that the trial nature of this change this wasn’t clear enough.

While we know there is always more we can do, we’re proud of the range of support we offer guests. Over the years we have broadened our focus beyond queueing alone and have introduced a number of adjustments and support measures across the whole attraction to better support guest in their specific needs throughout every part of their day. Detail of these adjustments can also be found on our resort websites.

This trial gives us the opportunity to listen, learn, and review these support measures, and to explore whether we need to do more ahead of the main season opening in March. Your feedback is genuinely important to us, and we would really appreciate you sharing your thoughts through this survey.

Your voice matters to us and this input will play a key role in our review over the coming weeks and shaping next steps. We remain committed to ensuring our attractions are as welcoming and inclusive as possible. We won’t get everything right first time, but we will keep listening, learning and evolving our approach.

We want to thank you for your patience, and we will be back in touch ahead of season opening.

Merlin Accessibility Team
Click to expand...

Interestingly I haven't received it, despite receiving the others 🤔
 
Hid said:
Should Merlin reply to the feedback with two options for guests.

1. Allow all RAP users and people in with any disabilitiy and then say don't complain about the queues as that is the consequence of allpwong everyone in

1. Keep the new RAP policy in to keep lines shorter and get people who can't stand long on quicker.
Click to expand...

I’m going with option 1 but option 1 is also good.
 
BarryZola said:
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.
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Of course theme parks are incentivised to lower queue times. Whilst you are in a queue, you're not generating them income at concessions, going to the restaurants, going to upcharge attractions, or having a positive day in general. It's short sighted to think that Fast track has anything to do with this.
 
shaun3 said:
Of course theme parks are incentivised to lower queue times. Whilst you are in a queue, you're not generating them income at concessions, going to the restaurants, going to upcharge attractions, or having a positive day in general. It's short sighted to think that Fast track has anything to do with this.
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Of the flip side, you could argue that longer ride queues mean guests are more likely to use the in-queue F&B kiosks
 
I am fairly cynical when it comes to businesses such as Merlin so I am in the camp of thinking potential additional fasttrack sales are a likely driver for this and that the trial/feedback aspects are suddenly being presented as the plan all along.

I also think the effect of this will be very much throwing the baby out with the bath water. I'm sure while there are those capable of queueing using RAP unnecessary, there are certainly those across the neurodiverse spectrum who are as equally incapable of using some queues as wheelchair users are incapable of using queues with non level wide ground.

Those who have been taking unnecessary advantage currently would presumably have no qualms using the very strong correlation between neurodiversity and joint hypermobility as a way of getting a difficulty standing classification. Meanwhile those who really need it, but describe their conditions accurately will miss out if it doesn't involve a physical disability.

Not that I have a solution to working out who is accurately describing a condition they have that is not immediately visible and it is a shame that there seems to be a sizable portion of society having the populist attitude of "if I can't see your disability I cannot accept your word it is real"
 
Skyscraper said:
That's really strange, glad it's not just me who didn't receive it then!
Click to expand...

Perhaps they’re only sending it to non-RAP users so the survey is overwhelmingly in favour of the changes.

Think About It GIF by Identity
 
shaun3 said:
Of course theme parks are incentivised to lower queue times. Whilst you are in a queue, you're not generating them income at concessions, going to the restaurants, going to upcharge attractions, or having a positive day in general. It's short sighted to think that Fast track has anything to do with this.
Click to expand...
It's naive to think that they would welcome anything that lowers their fastrack sales when it's a good chunk of money gained without having to supply any kind of physical product.
 
I did the survey, it was quite interesting.

The main questions of note were:

- "If you could suggest one realistic improvement to support your family on future visits what would it be?"
- "Are there particular attractions, queue layouts or environments where you feel additional support would make the biggest difference?"

And this one which i thought was easier to screenshot:

bkA7w.png
 
Hey long time listener, first time caller. Make of that what you will, but I’m not suggesting they’re demolishing Katanga Canyon. Obviously it’s Cred Street, but that doesn’t require any insider information and I personally know nothing specific about Merlin. But I do know that plenty in the industry are unsurprisingly very interested in what Merlin are doing and why.

To add some context, Merlin a very good platform to run their app and provide guest analytics data. These data are anonymised so they can’t be linked to individual guests at all, but it’s incredibly detailed. Primarily it generates the live queue time data you see in the app - but it also provides Merlin rich info like heat-maps on where guests are in the park over time, how many rides per day they go on and what those rides are. These reports can be segmented by a bunch of data points; ages, groups size, if they are hotel guests, how often they visit, if they have an annual pass..anything you can think of.

They will also able to segment by RAP pass status. They know exactly how many more rides per day those with RAP are getting and which rides those are on etc. They will be able to count guests that go on a ride via RAP then the normal queues for another. They can tell groups that are using multiple RAPs to just go from RAP queue to RAP queue.

Basically, they have an incredibly clear picture of the extent of RAP abuse is. They’ll have a figure in minutes that this abuse adds to regular queue times per hour, how many more rides abusers get on and a whole load more.

I’ve seen figured banded about here and elsewhere but they are a significantly lower that those I know of - it’s a huge issue. Look at the MAP Facebook group and the crazy the percentage of posters going on about this to give a better ideal of scale. In the same vein, you can find a tonne of FB and TikTok posts detailing how to get RAP when it’s not necessary and how to abuse it best.

Merlin bang on about how queue times are the number one guest priority and in the last few years they’ve made real strides with ride ops. The actual throughput is probably as good as it’s ever been for the most part. Queue throughput isn’t improving in the way they would expect and it’s seen as a real reason why the park is getting bad feedback, fewer return visits, lower growth and lower revenue. It’s totally unsustainable.

Providing the same accommodation for all conditions, physical and neurological, is an unreasonable burden parks and prevents the adjustments working for anyone at all. By offering tailored support for different needs, they are arguing that this is a more sustainable approach - allowing those with physical conditions who can’t queue a reasonable adjustment that works for them, whilst providing a different adjustment for those who can’t queue for other reasons.

What they’ve offered now - a carer ticket plus more rest rooms/sensory spaces - is a shift to the sensory and support models that have been legal tested at festivals and other large events. It shifts the focus from avoiding the access barrier (the queue) to providing tools to manage it, using a free carer tickets as the primary adjustment for navigating wait times.

Legally that’s pretty sound, even if the bare minimum. They’ll probably operate like this for the February half term and introduce something else for the main season - maybe a limited reintroduction of RAP for smaller groups of 2 max and/or a version of Parent Queue Share, where one or more members of a party queues, and those that need to can wait in sensory spaces and receive an exit pass to go one the ride - or some variation of that. That way they can say ‘hey we’ve listened’ and act like they're meeting in the middle or something.

Whatever happens RAP has gone in its current form for those particular conditions and ain’t coming back. Other parks and the wider industry will look at this closely and likely mirror the approach once the furore has died down.
 
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