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Ride Access Pass Systems and Disabled Access (pre 2024)

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Matt N said:
The old SRQ is now the exit, with the original exit having been sacrificed to make way for a larger RAP queue.
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Sorry I meant the split after the main entrance, where it divides into Fastrack and RAP. Is that still the case? Or has it changed again?
 
Skyscraper said:
Sorry I meant the split after the main entrance, where it divides into Fastrack and RAP. Is that still the case? Or has it changed again?
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I haven’t visited since March, so I couldn’t say, sorry. And even then, I wasn’t really paying a lot of attention to Fastrack/RAP locations, as I waiting in the main queue.

I do remember the RAP queue being extremely long back in March, though…
 
Even though Chessie wasn't THAT busy yesterday still found it somewhat amusing that quite a few rides didn't scan the RAP. Though this was only really a 'problem' first time riding Gruffalo, which was posting a 20 minute queue (though by the time we actually went on Vampire afterwards was probably the wait time anyway).

Online system was decent though. Even if the second Mandrill booking vanished was easily solved. Though when busy I'd imagine there's a different set of issues.
 
I recently spoke to a friend who qualifies for a RAP and visited Alton Towers. From what he told me, sadly it sounds pretty easy to abuse the system.

He said he went to the admissions window and asked for a pass, was given one, then once inside the park went into Guest Services and got another one. This meant that he could take the first pass to a ride, get it signed off, then during the time that he was supposed to be waiting for his next ride, he could take the second pass to another ride and get straight on whilst still waiting for the next ride time on the other pass.

Surely this should be better policed? I believe that at Chessington they have a fully digital system making this impossible. But even with the paper system at AT, why on earth are two places giving out RAPs? Surely that’s just asking for abuse. Alton should have a record of what RAP is linked to which person and they should only be able to pick up a second pass if they can prove that their first is used up.

I don’t condone what he did at all, but I’m posting this on here to highlight how, by the sounds of it, it seems like it’s a pretty easy system to abuse. He’s not a regular at the park, and if he was able to abuse the system this easily, then I’m sure plenty of other people are doing the same.
 
Enter Valhalla said:
I recently spoke to a friend who qualifies for a RAP and visited Alton Towers. From what he told me, sadly it sounds pretty easy to abuse the system.

He said he went to the admissions window and asked for a pass, was given one, then once inside the park went into Guest Services and got another one. This meant that he could take the first pass to a ride, get it signed off, then during the time that he was supposed to be waiting for his next ride, he could take the second pass to another ride and get straight on whilst still waiting for the next ride time on the other pass.

Surely this should be better policed? I believe that at Chessington they have a fully digital system making this impossible. But even with the paper system at AT, why on earth are two places giving out RAPs? Surely that’s just asking for abuse. Alton should have a record of what RAP is linked to which person and they should only be able to pick up a second pass if they can prove that their first is used up.

I don’t condone what he did at all, but I’m posting this on here to highlight how, by the sounds of it, it seems like it’s a pretty easy system to abuse. He’s not a regular at the park, and if he was able to abuse the system this easily, then I’m sure plenty of other people are doing the same.
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The question is, though; would it really occur to people to pick up two RAPs?

Perhaps it’s just my own mindset, but it certainly wouldn’t occur to me; prior to you posting this, I wouldn’t even have guessed that it was something people did.
 
Matt N said:
The question is, though; would it really occur to people to pick up two RAPs?

Perhaps it’s just my own mindset, but it certainly wouldn’t occur to me; prior to you posting this, I wouldn’t even have guessed that it was something people did.
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Yes, yes it would. As you have to pay for for the assessment some will also see it as a right and an entitlement. As you have to pay for the assessment there's also an incentive to try and get as much for your money as you can.
 
Enter Valhalla said:
I recently spoke to a friend who qualifies for a RAP and visited Alton Towers. From what he told me, sadly it sounds pretty easy to abuse the system.

He said he went to the admissions window and asked for a pass, was given one, then once inside the park went into Guest Services and got another one. This meant that he could take the first pass to a ride, get it signed off, then during the time that he was supposed to be waiting for his next ride, he could take the second pass to another ride and get straight on whilst still waiting for the next ride time on the other pass.

Surely this should be better policed? I believe that at Chessington they have a fully digital system making this impossible. But even with the paper system at AT, why on earth are two places giving out RAPs? Surely that’s just asking for abuse. Alton should have a record of what RAP is linked to which person and they should only be able to pick up a second pass if they can prove that their first is used up.

I don’t condone what he did at all, but I’m posting this on here to highlight how, by the sounds of it, it seems like it’s a pretty easy system to abuse. He’s not a regular at the park, and if he was able to abuse the system this easily, then I’m sure plenty of other people are doing the same.
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Are you talking about the plastic photo card or the paper leaflet that the times are marked on? You can get another leaflet if you fill all the boxes, but even I wouldn't consider getting two at a time. Would have thought guests would have to present their full leaflet to be given a new one, but apparently not.

The RAP queues were extreme yesterday. Went to Smiler and was told the RAP queue was an hour, and found out later that it had been up to two hours during parts to the day.

Thirteen's was very long but moved surprisingly quickly, and that was helped by a short 5 minute stoppage that caused some people to leave the queue. Can see why they've rerouted it now.

And they've also extended the path for Wicker Man's RAP queue beyond the shop with permanent wooden fencing. When we were waiting within the last hour of the day the Fastrack queue was really long as well. Staff were going along both of them checking RAPs and Fastrack tickets, both were that long. Didn't even mark a time either.

And my card was marked properly on only a few rides, the host on Thirteen only added two minutes! Think that was because the RAP was was so long though, like WM. And Spinball, Rita and Thirteen all broke down while I was in the RAP queue, although thankfully none were extended delays.
 
Skyscraper said:
Are you talking about the plastic photo card or the paper leaflet that the times are marked on? You can get another leaflet if you fill all the boxes, but even I wouldn't consider getting two at a time. Would have thought guests would have to present their full leaflet to be given a new one, but apparently not.

The RAP queues were extreme yesterday. Went to Smiler and was told the RAP queue was an hour, and found out later that it had been up to two hours during parts to the day.

Thirteen's was very long but moved surprisingly quickly, and that was helped by a short 5 minute stoppage that caused some people to leave the queue. Can see why they've rerouted it now.

And they've also extended the path for Wicker Man's RAP queue beyond the shop with permanent wooden fencing. When we were waiting within the last hour of the day the Fastrack queue was really long as well. Staff were going along both of them checking RAPs and Fastrack tickets, both were that long. Didn't even mark a time either.

And my card was marked properly on only a few rides, the host on Thirteen only added two minutes! Think that was because the RAP was was so long though, like WM. And Spinball, Rita and Thirteen all broke down while I was in the RAP queue, although thankfully none were extended delays.
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Please do forgive me for causing any offence by asking, but if someone (ambulant) can queue for an hour or two in a RAP queue, why can't the same person queue in the main queue line?
 
There'll be lots of different reasons that people are using the RAP queue line. This is one of the issues with them, that they are a single solution trying to tackle many different access barriers at once - and to be fair they are relatively good at tackling many of those barriers.

There's a very specific subsection of people that the current set up does not tend to work for, who struggle with the act of queuing itself. But this group will more than likely be a relatively small group - if they weren't I suspect we would have seen Merlin do more to reduce RAP queue times by now.
 
Squiggs said:
There'll be lots of different reasons that people are using the RAP queue line. This is one of the issues with them, that they are a single solution trying to tackle many different access barriers at once - and to be fair they are relatively good at tackling many of those barriers.

There's a very specific subsection of people that the current set up does not tend to work for, who struggle with the act of queuing itself. But this group will more than likely be a relatively small group - if they weren't I suspect we would have seen Merlin do more to reduce RAP queue times by now.
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In a couple of RAP queues I did get a little distressed because of the wait and other things, which is precisely the reason I qualify for the pass. The RAP is supposed to make queueing easier for us, but the amount of people using it now makes that impossible. I would actually support restricting the number of allocated RAP per day on busy days.

Also, nearing the exit on Thirteen I couldn't find my RAP photocard (one of the points I got distressed). Looked absolutely everywhere for it but it had somehow vanished. Explained to the host and they let us on, then afterwards I went to the Dark Forest Guest Services Hub and they printed me a new one straight away. Those kiosks are an excellent addition this year!
 
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Enter Valhalla said:
I recently spoke to a friend who qualifies for a RAP and visited Alton Towers. From what he told me, sadly it sounds pretty easy to abuse the system.

He said he went to the admissions window and asked for a pass, was given one, then once inside the park went into Guest Services and got another one. This meant that he could take the first pass to a ride, get it signed off, then during the time that he was supposed to be waiting for his next ride, he could take the second pass to another ride and get straight on whilst still waiting for the next ride time on the other pass.

Surely this should be better policed? I believe that at Chessington they have a fully digital system making this impossible. But even with the paper system at AT, why on earth are two places giving out RAPs? Surely that’s just asking for abuse. Alton should have a record of what RAP is linked to which person and they should only be able to pick up a second pass if they can prove that their first is used up.

I don’t condone what he did at all, but I’m posting this on here to highlight how, by the sounds of it, it seems like it’s a pretty easy system to abuse. He’s not a regular at the park, and if he was able to abuse the system this easily, then I’m sure plenty of other people are doing the same.
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This is something I also thought about the other week. Absolutely nothing stopping you from getting 2 or even 3 of the leaflets/cards that get signed off with times to go to the next ride. Guest services, FV, Dark Forest are at least 3 different places you could go to and get a fresh card to be marked. All they do is write the number in your party and your name and date on it (as far as I remember). It is a bit naughty but I don't doubt that some people do it quite regularly when there isn't really anything in place to stop it (that I'm aware of).
 
BarryZola said:
when there isn't really anything in place to stop it (that I'm aware of).
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All they'd have to do is require the guest to present their original leaflet before issuing a new one, although that would only work at the hubs and not admissions or TS Guest Services because those are where most people will collect their first one. I never crossed my mind that a guest could do that though, nor would I do that myself.
 
You could also get a card at each hub in the morning, if they ask to show your previous one you lie and say you haven’t got one yet/forgot to get at the entrance. Doubt they would question it. Easy to abuse, but can’t blame people taking advantage. An issue Alton Towers needs to look at fixing.
 
GooseOnTheLoose said:
Set up cost to the park
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When a system is as inherently broken as it is at present, severely detrimental to the park's operations for both standard queuing and RAP guests, no doubt uses a significant amount of time dealing with complaints and probably compensation such as free tickets, I'd argue the investment pays for itself.
GooseOnTheLoose said:
battery device problems
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This is unlikely for the vast majority of people these days, and the minority is easily solved by loaning battery packs.
GooseOnTheLoose said:
poor signal issues,
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The park has a good WiFi network these days.
GooseOnTheLoose said:
exclusionary if the visitor doesn't have a compatible device.
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Again for the majority this is highly unlikely for the majority these days, and it's easily resolved with loan devices.
GooseOnTheLoose said:
Neither system is superior, they both have their flaws.
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You can't cater a system to suit everyone, so yes every system does have its flaws. But, as above those flaws can be mitigated. So it's difficult to see how it can be argued that an electronic system, where the management of it is consistent and enforced electronically over hosts who might not be bothered to fill in a card properly can't be seen as superior.

Of course, said system wouldn't solve all of the problems, but it's hard to argue it wouldn't help when you see the examples given within this topic from users of the current setup. As has been discussed throughout this topic, RAP is still hideously oversubscribed.
 
Craig said:
When a system is as inherently broken as it is at present, severely detrimental to the park's operations for both standard queuing and RAP guests, no doubt uses a significant amount of time dealing with complaints and probably compensation such as free tickets, I'd argue the investment pays for itself.
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Also there is an off the shelf system with Lo Queue (Reserve & Ride / Q-Bot) systems from Accesso who already provide the ticket systems to Merlin and the reserve & ride stuff at Legoland.
 
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