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Ride Access Pass Systems and Disabled Access (pre 2024)

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I think this is always going to be a difficult topic to talk about.

First I should mentioned that any one who is giving abuse to the disable, please stop and don't. People need to realise that you are committing harassment which is a hate crime, which is an arrest-able offence, so please stop giving the disable abuse. Even staring, comments which could be over head as well as invading the person space are also deemed to be harassment/hate crime.

We are on the receiving end of harassment/hate crime each time we go out and it sometimes can be constant throughout the day.

More info on disability harassment can be found here

https://www.equalityhumanrights.com...ed-harassment/background-disability-related-0

As for more people using the RAP, I just think the disability spectrum has grown wider over the years. More and more people at the mild end of the spectrum are now classed as having a disability.

Unfortunately we now live in a world where people want equal rights, entitlements etc... Unfortunately Equality and Equity are often confused. Buy making every thing Equality, the ones at the severe end of the spectrum will lose out, while those at the mild end are given a good advantage over those at the severe end of the spectrum.

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Sometimes all that those at the severe end simply ask for is just access

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Roy :)
 
When I used my RAP on Galactica last week I could not believe how many people were waiting in the priority queue. We had to wait a very long time, and people even pushed past us! :mad:

Plus when we got near the station we discovered that there was a medical emergency (a paramedic walked down the path past us), which meant we had to wait even longer (but unfortunately cannot be helped due to both the ride and VR's nature).
 
Galactica and nemesis are 2 rides I've frequently as both a VIP and rap user had to pass on :(
skyscraper said:
When I used my RAP on Galactica last week I could not believe how many people were waiting in the priority queue. We had to wait a very long time, and people even pushed past us! :mad:

Plus when we got near the station we discovered that there was a medical emergency (a paramedic walked down the path past us), which meant we had to wait even longer (but unfortunately cannot be helped due to both the ride and VR's nature).
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Sent from my Swift 2 X using Tapatalk
 
On a TST meet shortly after Galactica's retheme I was in RAP queue whilst the majority of the group were in main queue and both were the same length - nearly an hour.

It is not possible for Galactica to comply with the "rear row only" policy for RAP Air always operated with whilst maintaining an acceptable wait time, even on full capacity (i.e. fastrack using the other station rather than the RAP entrance).
 
John said:
It is not possible for Galactica to comply with the "rear row only" policy for RAP Air always operated with whilst maintaining an acceptable wait time, even on full capacity (i.e. fastrack using the other station rather than the RAP entrance).
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When I rode it via RAP a couple of weeks ago i got allocated one of the further-forward rows instead of the back as i didn't want to do VR.
 
Galactica was clearly intended to run 1 row RAP from 1 station and 1 row fastrack from the other, that was abandoned as due to the hopelessly low throughtput those allocations were inadequate. Now that VR/no VR is a thing the process has become a complete mess anyway.
 
The primary reason for the RAP system was wheelchair users (as wheelchairs obviously are wide and cannot navigate stairs), but as nowadays the rules have changed so that almost anyone with a disability can use it, the RAP queues can sometimes be longer than the main queue.

Bear in mind that a while ago Towers RAP policy stated something along the lines of "being registered as disabled does not automatically guarantee quests qualify for a Ride Acess Pass."

Not any more, I don't think.
 
Last time I checked it still did
skyscraper said:
The primary reason for the RAP system was wheelchair users (as wheelchairs obviously are wide and cannot navigate stairs), but as nowadays the rules have changed so that almost anyone with a disability can use it, the RAP queues can sometimes be longer than the main queue.

Bear in mind that a while ago Towers RAP policy stated something along the lines of "being registered as disabled does not automatically guarantee quests qualify for a Ride Acess Pass."

Not any more, I don't think.
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Sent from my Swift 2 X using Tapatalk
 
I quite liked Disney’s system having used it with a relative. The pass you get depends on the reason you need access support. So a wheelchair can queue in most queues so there is an expectation if it’s physical access needs that you join the queue and you get greater support in the uneven queue lines.

If you can’t tolerate queuing (for what ever reason), you go to the ride entrance (the disabled guest doesn’t have to, but someone physically has to go there), then you get a return time based on the queue length, You then go straight on. You still have access to the fast pass system if you want to shorten your wait. It’s all managed through the app.

Just felt that everyone was treated as fairly as possible.
 
It's sad to read some of the experiences in this thread. I hope the good days far outweigh the bad days :)

On the basis of RAP not being as strict, I would rather some chancers get through and everyone with a disability gets RAP. Rather than people with less visible disabilities get harrased due to more stringent checks.

After reading Dave's review of Disney. How do Merlin parks fare to other parks? Are they good in this regard?
 
Robert Jones said:
It's sad to read some of the experiences in this thread. I hope the good days far outweigh the bad days :)

On the basis of RAP not being as strict, I would rather some chancers get through and everyone with a disability gets RAP. Rather than people with less visible disabilities get harrased due to more stringent checks.

After reading Dave's review of Disney. How do Merlin parks fare to other parks? Are they good in this regard?
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@spinball can tell you a bit.
From what I gather from the various additional needs groups Merlin are overall fairly good with systems like rap compared to some that limit disabled guests to only 10 rides a day (like Chessington used to).

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ihaveaspergers said:
@spinball can tell you a bit.
From what I gather from the various additional needs groups Merlin are overall fairly good with systems like rap compared to some that limit disabled guests to only 10 rides a day (like Chessington used to).

Sent from my Swift 2 X using Tapatalk
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I think there needs to be all the access everyone needs but without attracting those who abuse the system. Nothing will remove all abuse but the Disney world system allows everyone to wait equitably for a ride but in a manner that means no one is made to wait in intolerable conditions.

To be fair to Towers they have made some good strides with the accesable toilets which is something that is pretty woeful in many public spaces.
 
Dave said:
I think there needs to be all the access everyone needs but without attracting those who abuse the system. Nothing will remove all abuse but the Disney world system allows everyone to wait equitably for a ride but in a manner that means no one is made to wait in intolerable conditions.
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Doesn't Disney's system work like Legoland Windsor's qbot/qsmart based system?
Merlin don't handle that very well at times based on reports.

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ihaveaspergers said:
Doesn't Disney's system work like Legoland Windsor's qbot/qsmart based system?
Merlin don't handle that very well at times based on reports.

Sent from my Swift 2 X using Tapatalk
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I haven’t used Lego’s but I think it’s a bit slicker at WDW. That said Disney have the benefit of the RF ID tickets/ magic bands.
 
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