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Ride Access Pass Systems and Disabled Access (pre 2024)

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Has anyone been successful this year trying to communicate with Nimbus or Merlin to have their RAP colour changed from Red to Yellow? Ive had no luck at the moment, Merlin say its Nimbus’ responsibility and Nimbus say its Merlin’s responsibility…
 
Ollytp said:
Has anyone been successful this year trying to communicate with Nimbus or Merlin to have their RAP colour changed from Red to Yellow? Ive had no luck at the moment, Merlin say its Nimbus’ responsibility and Nimbus say its Merlin’s responsibility…
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It's merlin who decide the colour, your best bet is to have a polite chat with guest services.
 
Saw on Twitter this afternoon that the RAP situation is horrifically bad today. Wicker Man's RAP queue is stretching back to the ride's main entrance from where RAP users queue for it ☠️💀
Also saw that Sub-Terra is letting less than 7 people through on the main queue, and filling the rest with ambulant and non-ambulant RAP
The Smiler's RAP queue is snaking back up the steps down from the entrance.
 
Not sure if it’s new or not, but noticed at the weekend there was someone from guest services stood on the plaza handing out Rap leaflets, I assume for those who have already registered and then don’t need to go to guest services.
 
djtruefitt said:
Not sure if it’s new or not, but noticed at the weekend there was someone from guest services stood on the plaza handing out Rap leaflets, I assume for those who have already registered and then don’t need to go to guest services.
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That's good to know, last Scarefest a lady went along the guest services queue handing them out.
 
If it makes any difference it would appear that Accessibility Access systems are swamped at festivals as well as theme parks these days.

Lots of issues with overcrowded viewing platforms and queues forming everywhere. So gave me that theme park experience fix I've not had for 2 years.
 
Mhoowee said:
I still think the amount of people they let through the RAP queue is utterly ridiculous.
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pluk said:
- I need to skip the 90 minite line, I can't queue, i have a pass.
- OK sir, join this 60 mintute line instead.
...
...
joins queue.

Mental.
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Mhoowee said:
Now here is the thing, it was a 1 hr line and the RAP line took 2 HOURS.
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If ambulant guests can and do join a 2 hour queue while in possession of RAP they should have their entitlement removed. Then there'd be minimal wait for those who actually cannot queue.
 
I was at alton towers today, they seemed to have given the staff more training or something because i was being properly timed out on my RAP. Sometimes even more that the actual queue. So that was good. The RAP lines were also basically clear due to people actually getting proper return times on their cards and not just 10 or 20 mins like usual! good job alton. :)
 
Going to have to ring Access Card/Nimbus tomorrow as I applied for the Blackpool Pleasure Beach Access Register (essential companion ticket and Easy Pass) two weeks ago but haven't heard anything yet. Says in the email that the current processing time is within 10 days. I can't really book my tickets until I know the result and my visit is in 1 week (Sunday).

I did put the date of my visit on the form, so my theory is because it was more than 10 days away they've held my application for a bit to prioritise more urgent ones. As I said though, I need enough time to book my tickets before Sunday, and I'm travelling to Blackpool the day before as well.
 
My, that looks like one long queue… pictures like that show that the RAP system is clearly creaking under the strain when the park is busy.

It is a complicated one, as pictures like that would suggest that it isn’t working in its current form, but at the same time, any kind of change would risk causing arguably worse ramifications…
 
Matt N said:
It is a complicated one, as pictures like that would suggest that it isn’t working in its current form, but at the same time, any kind of change would risk causing arguably worse ramifications…
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This line is used every time this circular conversation reaches this point, but it cannot be true. The park have plenty of evidence to back up the fact that the current system does not allow people who actually need the pass access to rides. It doesn't do the one thing it is for and itself must be pushing the boundaries of falling foul of their legal responsibilities.

They can and should easily be able to justify a complete overhaul of the system to make it bookable, limited and single use. Only those currently abusing it could possibly have a problem with such a move.
 
pluk said:
This line is used every time this circular conversation reaches this point, but it cannot be true. The park have plenty of evidence to back up the fact that the current system does not allow people who actually need the pass access to rides. It doesn't do the one thing it is for and itself must be pushing the boundaries of falling foul of their legal responsibilities.

They can and should easily be able to justify a complete overhaul of the system to make it bookable, limited and single use. Only those currently abusing it could possibly have a problem with such a move.
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The problem I could foresee if the park tried to tighten RAP is that people with conditions that fall outside of the new criteria could feel that they’re being discriminated against, go to the Daily Mail, the Sun or whatever and complain, and then generate a media storm that sees Alton Towers/Merlin come under fire for being ableist.

I remember Alton Towers coming under considerable fire a few years ago when a Facebook post from a wheelchair user who experienced a number of examples of sub-par accessibility went viral. I feel like any kind of change to the RAP system has the potential to generate a similar, if not greater, issue. I know of people who feel that Merlin’s RAP system is already too tight; I’ve heard some suggest that you should just be able to self-certify as disabled rather than go through the “harrowing” process of having to present medical evidence. If the RAP system were to be tightened, it could result in people who genuinely need it being shut out, and a great many people feeling discriminated against.

I do agree that the RAP system probably needs tightening or at very least altering to some degree, but I’m not sure how they could realistically do it without causing new issues and/or facing considerable backlash. I certainly don’t envy the people in charge of RAP at Alton/Merlin…
 
pluk said:
Surely any ambulant person joining that should have their pass taken off them? They very clearly can queue for a sugnificant time and are chosing to do so.
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Not done Wickerman's standard queue, but might be that a number of ambulant guests can't do the stairs that are spread throughout the queue. Besides that, what about the ambulant carers?

Needs working on it. Busy seasons always bring these issues though, would be intrigued to compare this to Big Thunder Mountain's equivalent at DLP.

No matter what they do they'll get backlash. You had people whinging about the accessible changes to the Duel/Alty Mans queue after that nonsense happens because it ruined the room.

Of course depends if management are just ignoring the issue. Maybe their view is it'll start to be a deterrent if it's an unmanaged mess as it is now. Not that that's working at all.
 
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